Sir, - The defeat of the Irish rugby team by France is not something which we should be despondent about. Our lads looked a lot more fierce than did the French when the Mel Gibsonesque blue paint transferred itself from the field to the faces of the boys in green, and gave us a fleeting yet Braveheartian pride in our valiant warriors. - Yours, etc., Robert O' Sullivan,
Bantry, Co. Cork.