Planet Rugby

Apparently New Zealand's remarkable 45-6 victory over France in Paris last Saturday week was inspired, at least in part, by the memory of the New Zealand soldiers who gave their lives whilst fighting in France.

All Blacks honour Irishman

In a departure from their strict rules regarding the kit policy, the All Blacks took to the field wearing a red poppy on their right shoulders, where normally there would only be the silver fern.

The symbolism was apt - the two teams were playing for the Dave Gallaher Trophy, named after the wing forward who captained the Originals (the fabled New Zealand team) when they toured Europe in 1906 and later fought in the first World War and died from his wounds at Passchendaele.

Born in Ireland, Gallaher was nearly 44 when he died on October 4th, 1917, and the All Blacks visited his grave at a war cemetery in Belgium in 2000, the year of trophy's inauguration.

Gallaher captained New Zealand when they visited Paris in 1906. The tourists scored 10 tries on their way to an emphatic 38-8 win. Nothing's changed obviously.

If anyone knows anything about the aforementioned Dave Gallaher, this column would be delighted to hear about it and can be contacted on josullivan@irish-times.ie.

Hook line gets tangled

Don't be alarmed if this little snippet is accompanied by the sound of breaking glass in the background. When it greenhouses it is important not to throw too many stones for obvious reasons. It is therefore with great sympathy we recount an incident that arose at the Legends in Sport Dinner held recently in Dublin.

Some of the former world's leading rugby players were there including David Campese and Sean Fitzpatrick. Just as an aside, Will Carling spoke very well apparently.

Anyway the inimitable George Hook and Brent Pope were hosting the show and doing so with their usual aplomb.

Now unfortunately for those who live by the quip, there is a corollary and as a final resting place you're not likely to choose a packed hotel room.

George was introducing the aforementioned former All Black hooker Fitzpatrick and quite effusive he was in his praise and rightly so, listing all his achievements of which there are many. He then called for "Steve" Fitzpatrick to join him on the stage. In fairness to the New Zealander he just smiled, did his party piece and when he was finishing turned and thanked "Harold" Hook before returning to the table.

This column is officially worried and hopes there won't be as many e-mails when a mistake next crops up here.

Torpedo hits the spot

One of the world's leading rugby brands, Adidas, unveiled their latest rugby ball on Tuesday - the Torpedo X-treme. The ball was used for the first time in competition in the Barbarians game against the All Blacks at Twickenham last Saturday.

The ball is a successor to the company's previous offering that was decommissioned in 2002 after All Black outhalf Andrew Mehrtens likened it to a pig's bladder or a lemon depending to whom you spoke.

A couple of Irish outhalves in David Humphreys and Ronan O'Gara also got to experience the nasty yellow ball in New Zealand that year.

Obviously the old cliché suggests a week is a long time in politics so in two years it must have been a mere bagatelle to get the new ball right and avoid the embarrassment of its predecessor.

The bumph suggests the new ball "doesn't harden in cold weather and is well balanced for precision passing and kicking".

The makers have worked closely with England and Lions kicking guru Dave Alred and top players like Jonny Wilkinson, O'Gara and All Blacks star Daniel Carter. The testimonials were understandably effusive. Wilkinson offered: "I am very impressed by the responsiveness of the new ball. It is great to kick and has a good feel when handling and passing." "Lovely handling and goes a mile," O'Gara enthused.

You get the gist there was about another 10 guys queuing up to say what a top ball it was. Undoubtedly they'll still be as enthusiastic when they're three from seven following some game.

Rala rallies for Terenure Terenure Rugby Club has come up with a novel way of arresting the increasing financial demands in the club rugby game in Ireland. Apart from managing to sell a whopping 900 tickets in the monthly draw in September the club had the good fortune to have in its membership Paddy "Rala" O'Reilly, bagman to the Ireland squad for what seems like a generation but it's probably slightly shorter than that.

Rala and a few of his friends in Terenure have put together a unique collection of 50 items for auction on Saturday December 11th - immediately after Terenure's All-Ireland League Division Two fixture against Bective Rangers. The venue is Lakelands Park but those interested can also bid on the website: www.terenurecollegerfc.com.

As would be expected rugby-connected items dominate, but it's possible to see from the attached summary there are some unique items and Keith Wood, Brian O'Driscoll, Rob Henderson, Girvan Dempsey and even Damien Duff have come up trumps to give Rala a dig out.

There's something there for everyone (including a round of golf with Keith Wood) from the sports aficionado, pub owner to those ladies searching for an appropriate gift for a husband/partner/lover/friend.

Terenure College confirmed bidding instructions are on the above mentioned website. This is a real case of the professionals giving the amateurs a helping hand.

This column would like to point out it's typical of Rala to do something like this. Having shared several journeys across the world you'd have to go further to find a more popular soul with players, management and press corps.

Tri-Nations Draw

The draw for the 2005 Tri-Nations series has been released, with the scheduling of matches suggesting that the outcome could be in doubt until the final match. Champions South Africa are at home in the first two rounds, which has the potential to head off the slow starts that have plagued the Springboks in past years.

This, coupled with New Zealand's re-emergence, and Australia showing signs of overcoming a fear of playing away, are all indicators of a highly entertaining series ahead.

Tri Nations Draw - July 30th: South Africa v Australia, Securicor Loftus, Pretoria (3.0) August 6th: South Africa v New Zealand, Newlands, Cape Town (3.0) August 13th: Australia v New Zealand, Telstra Stadium, Sydney (5.0) August 20th: Australia v South Africa, Subiaco Oval, Perth, (tbc). August 27th: New Zealand v South Africa, Dunedin, Carisbrook, (tbc) September 3rd: New Zealand v Australia, Eden Park, Auckland (tbc)