All in the scrum

A RUGBY MISCELLANY COMPILED BY JOHN O'SULLIVAN:

Moore makes a start

FORMER LEINSTER Academy and Blackrock College scrumhalf David Moore managed a rare start for Harlequins at the weekend but could not prevent his side from losing 15-9 to London Irish at the Madejski Stadium. Danny Care was on England duty while Karl Dickson was injured so Moore was given his opportunity. Bob Casey returned to Irish colours following a calf injury. Gareth Steenson managed three penalties but missed with two further chances as the Exeter Chiefs, led by Tom Hayes, went down 12-9 to Bath at Sandy Park.

Food for thought: Williams' faith may pose problems

SONNY BILL Williams faces something of a dilemma during the month of Ramadan in trying to reconcile honouring his Muslim faith while playing three Tri-Nations matches for New Zealand during that period. It has only recently emerged the All Black centre converted to Islam in 2008; as an aside, according to rugbyenews.com, the first New Zealand player to do so.

The main curiosity is how the player and his coach Graham Henry will handle a decision by the player to fast during this time. Devout Muslims do not eat or drink during daylight hours. The implications are obvious as to what impact it could have on Williams’ training, especially with the team.

The August 6th and 27th Bledisloe Cup matches in Auckland and Brisbane respectively will be evening affairs, but the August 20th Test in Port Elizabeth is likely to be late afternoon. It seems no one was forthcoming on the matter when contacted by Rugby News, including Williams’ manager Khoder Nasser.

Lievremont lets rip at the Irish referee: Clancy decisions perplex French coach

IT HASN’T been Marc Lievremont’s week. Having made his pre-match comments about England, he then watched his side misfire during their defeat on Saturday at Twickenham, perplexed not alone by the loss but the officiating of Ireland’s George Clancy.

When asked why his team conceded so many penalties, Lievremont suggested: “You’ll have to ask George Clancy. Because I didn’t understand any of them.”

He went on to suggest England number eight Nick Easter was fortunate to avoid a yellow card for blatant handling in a ruck in the England 22. The French coach continued: “I have to ask myself what would have been the referee’s decision if a French player had killed the ball in a ruck, five metres away from the posts.”

He wasn’t alone in his misgivings as French scrumhalf Dimitri Yachvili claimed: “I don’t want to say it was a home-town referee, but it was almost like that.”

Lievremont wasn’t completely churlish pointing out England are the best side in the Six Nations and then borrowing a quote from one of his hosts’ most famous statesmen. “I’m disappointed because we could have won. But as Mr Winston Churchill said, success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

Given how precious a commodity good tighthead props are in Irish rugby, it’s great to note how former Connacht player Brian McGovern is faring in France.

The 25-year-old recently won a man-of-the-match award while playing for Narbonne against Pau, scoring his side’s only try of the game.

There was an Irish frontrow reunion of sorts at the weekend with McGovern’s Narbonne coming up against a Carcassone team that contained Peter Bracken. They are joined in French club rugby by former Connacht players like David Connellan (Aurillac), David McGowan and Peter Durcan (La Rochelle), Damien Browne (Brive) and Mark McHugh (Nice) amongst others.

Breaking ground: Tapala helps sow Oatlands seeds

THERE IS no doubt that whatever Oatlands College go on to achieve in rugby circles, Kevin Tapala will hold a unique place in that particular aspect of the school’s proud sporting history.

The Stillorgan college is renowned for its hurling, Gaelic football and athletics programmes but thanks to coaches Mark Bonfil and Brian O’Connor are now able to offer the boys an opportunity to play rugby.

Their first competitive rugby fixture took place in NUI Maynooth against Salesian College, a match Oatlands won with wing Tapala not only scoring the first ever try recorded by Oatlands, but finishing the game with a brace.

Eoin Collins scored the Stillorgan school’s other try with Mark Ingram adding a penalty and a conversion.

It’ll be interesting to see if there is sufficient interest in the school over the next few years to push Oatlands College towards a place in the Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup.

ON THIS DAY IN RUGBY

February 28th, 1948: Ireland beat Scotland 6-0 to claim the Championship for the first time in 13 years.

Tries from outhalf Jack Kyle and winger Barney Mullan saw off the Scottish challenge as Ireland set themselves up to complete an historic first Grand Slam when they beat Wales in their final outing of the season against Wales at Ravenhill.

It would be 61 years until Ireland claimed a second Grand Slam under the captaincy of Brian O’Driscoll when Wales were once again the victims, this time at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in 2009.