All In The Scrum

O'Kelly answers his province's call: But Leinster A suffer dose of the Blues -MALCOLM O'KELLY came out of retirement to play 40 minutes for Leinster A in what proved to be an ultimately severe 50-15 thumping by Bedford Blues in their British and Irish Cup quarter-final at Goldington Road.

The former Irish international secondrow played the first half minutes before being replaced by Jordi Murphy.

Bedford completely outclassed the visitors, with South African winger Handre Schmidt helping himself to four tries; he had started the afternoon as the tournament's leading try scorer on six, alongside Leinster's Andrew Conway.

The Irish produced an appreciably depleted side based on international commitments and the fact they had a Magners League game the previous night against the Scarlets. Old Belvedere number eight Leo Auva'a capped a fine performance with a brace of tries for the losers, one of which Ian Madigan converted while also adding a penalty.

There was a minor consolation from an Irish perspective as Barnhall and former Leinster wing Brendan Burke played 70 minutes in the centre for Bedford.

BEDFORD BLUES:J Pritchard (capt); H Schmidt, B Burke (E Thrower 70), T Bedford (J Sharp 69), O Dodge; M Dorrian, W Chudley (D Veenendaal 58); S Walsh (R Boot 64), D Richmond (J Clarke 66), D Seal; M Howard (S Tomes 69), A Rae; G Gillanders, S Harding (C Goodman 69), P Tupai.

LEINSTER A:I Madigan; D Hudson (C O'Shea 73), D Riordan, E Sheridan (N Reid 69), M Keating; I McKinley, P O'Donohoe (capt, J Cooney 47) ; J McGrath, A Dundon (T Sexton 62), S Shawe (S Maguire 54); M O'Kelly (J Murphy, half-time), C Ruddock; E Sheriff, P Ryan (M Kearney 73), L Auva'a.

All eyes on Cricketers' bid

IRELAND'S HEROICS at the cricket World Cup are being followed by the entire country, but there is a particularly keen interest being taken by squad, management and administration at Leinster rugby.

It seems that when cricketing commitments allow, Ireland cricket coach Phil Simmons and all-rounder Trent Johnston (above) are regular attendees at matches at the RDS. Another member of the team, John Mooney, who played so brilliantly in the victory over England, was spotted at Leinster's Magners League victory over Connacht at the Sportsground.

* Ireland supporters can do their bit for the earthquake disaster in New Zealand by bidding on sports memorabilia that will be auctioned to raise funds for the Christchurch victims. Radio Sport, in conjunction with TradeMe, are organising the auction, the details of which can be found on the website radiosport.co.nz.

One of the items - it was donated by the IRFU, the union contacted by Oliver Lee - is a signed 2011 Irish jersey which is on the TradeMe site now. Lee has undertaken to frame it and courier it to the winning bidder.

Golden Oldies Back In Action: Legends Take On England

SOME OF the biggest names in modern rugby history will be on show when Ireland host the Legends match against England on Friday week, March 18th, at Donnybrook (7.30).

Tickets begin at €5 right up to €15 for the main stand and are available from ticketmaster.ie. Cash will also be taken at the turnstiles.

The money raised from the match will be donated to the IRFU Charitable Trust in Ireland and to improving the lives of inner city youths. The game is being sponsored by insurance group Validus.

Ireland's team will be captained by Irish Lion Shane Byrne (right) and includes Nick Popplewell, Rob Henderson, Mick Galway, Mal O'Kelly, Eric Miller and Girvan Dempsey.

England will be led by former captain and Lion Martin Corry and includes several members of the England 2003 World Cup-winning team, including Jason Leonard, Josh Lewsey, Austin Healy, Kyran Bracken and Dan Luger. See irelandenglandslegends.com. Corporate hospitality is also available at €95.00 + vat per head.

Tyrrell Takes The Plaudits: Maria Shows Her Expertise

THE WINNER of the Irish Times Six Nations Quiz is Maria Tyrrell of Killucan, Co Westmeath.

QUIZ ANSWERS:
1. Silver Rupees.
2. France and Italy.
3. 1988.
4. Stephen Ferris.
5. Evans, Lamonts, Leslies, Dallans, Bergamascos.
6. Athletico Roma.
7. Played at Wembley.
8. Karl Mullen.
9. Ards RFC.
10. San Diego, Tiberius, Chelmsford.
11. UCD.
12. Tour de France.
13. Willie Sexton, flanker.
14. Johnny Moloney.
15. They made their Ireland debuts on the same day, January 17th, 1976, against Australia at Lansdowne Road.
16. Drink aftershave.
17. Dean Richards, John Jeffrey.
18. John Pullin.
19. RBAI (11).
20. Sent them off.
21. Win the championship outright.
22. First player to be sent off in a Six Nations match and it was unusual because it was on receipt of two yellow cards.
23. Brian Smith.
24. Broughton Park.
25. One hand/arm.

* Leinster and Ireland scrumhalf Eoin Reddan was in Riverview - it's where Leinster are based - last Friday evening, but it wasn't for training. Instead, he was there to cheer on his friend and Ireland's number one tennis player Conor Niland in the Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg. Both hail from Limerick and Reddan could not but have been impressed by his friend's excellent performance in the opening singles tie.

"Kickers win you games, they don't lose you games." - Leicester coach Richard Cockerill after Billy Twelvetrees missed a last-minute penalty in the 15-14 lost to Saracens