All in the scrum

A rugby miscellany compiled by JOHNNY WATTERSON

Flush with success

FRANKIE SHEEHAN has had some luck with television work and newspaper columns following his retirement from rugby. But Frankie has always had luck as highlighted in Simon Easterby’s biography. Easterby describes the Irish team’s down time after they lost to France in the 2003 World Cup quarter-final. Some of the players went to a Casino in Melbourne: “The Munster hooker . . . sat next to Anthony Foley and started playing. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the first hand he’d been dealt. It was a Royal Flush.”

Frankie won Aus$90,000 (€65,000).

Best book: Paralysed player's story up for award

THE ONLY rugby book this year to make the six-book shortlist for the Sports Book of the Year award is that of Dublin sportswriter Paul Kimmage, who tells the story of paralysed former English rugby player Matt Hampson in Engage, The Fall and Rise of Matt Hampson.

Kimmage also wrote the seminal work on professional cycling, A Rough Ride. Kimmage is not known as a specialist writer on rugby, illustrating you do not necessarily need to be closely involved in a sport to be able to write a good book about it. Hampson, who was a promising England Under-21 international, was paralysed when a scrum collapsed during a training session. The book looks at Hampson's life after the accident and how he put his life back together after the life-changing injury.

One of the other books in the running is about cycling, by Tour de France rider Nicolas Roche, who has written diaries about his professional experiences.

Just one question. Why are most of the judges on the panel primarily known as broadcasters with at least one of those having published a biography that was ghost written?

Endgame: Stringer's Barbarians call-up highlights where he stands at Munster

PETER STRINGER will have some decisions to make at the end of the season when his contract runs out with Munster. Currently behind Conor Murray and Tomás O’Leary in coach Tony McGahan’s thinking, the iconic scrumhalf started and was replaced in the weekend’s friendly international between Australia and the Barbarians.

Coach Graham Henry emptied his bench as the Aussies proceeded to wipe the floor with the Mickey Steele-Bodger’s Baa-baas 60-11. The embarrassing scoreline, not to mention South African 110-times capped lock Victor Matfield’s penalty effort at the end, summed up the money spinner perfectly.

But Stringer’s involvement in the Twickenham romp, while Munster were preparing for their match against Edinburgh, reflected better than anything just how far away from the Munster shirt the frustrated former Ireland nine is right now. Looking at options seems eminently sensible.

BLACKROCK RFC captain, Michael Carroll appeared before an Irish Sports Council independent tribunal last week but a decision on an adverse finding following a doping test has not yet been made. It is expected in the coming days.

Carroll tested positive for methylhexaneamine (MHA) after the opening league fixture against Clontarf on October 1st and has not played for the club since.

A former professional rugby player for Connacht and Racing Métro 92 in France, Carroll appeared before the three-man panel with his legal team to explain how MHA appeared in his system.

All athletes must adhere to the principle of strict liability, which means that they alone are responsible for what goes into their body.

MHA was placed on the World Anti-Doping Authority (Wada) prohibited list in 2010 and this year was downgraded to a “specified stimulant” prohibited in-competition only.