The local folk at Eaton Park, Ballymena, looked more than a little surprised when the white stretch limo pulled up in the car-park a minute before Galwegians kicked off against "The Blacks" in last week's All-Ireland League match.

Doing away with the drive or train journey from Galway to the north of Antrim, the Heaslip clan and friends, all Galwegians stalwarts, decided to travel in relative luxury at £75 a head.

Rugby writer for the Galway Advertiser, Linley McKenzie, was graciously offered the remaining place in the salubrious vehicle along with the seven chaps, but declined the offer. Linley later said the ample booze and the black-tinted windows had absolutely nothing to do with her decision.

Snooker's firefighters arrive right on cue

The appointment of Hill and Knowlton as public relations consultants to the WPBSA appears to indicate what a parlous state the game/organisation has found itself.

Hill and Knowlton have consciously or unconsciously carved out a name in the industry as firefighters of the public relations world (aren't they all!). When the International Olympic Committee were bedeviled with pesky bribe allegations and their name was going down the sewer, they called Hill and Knowlton.

After the biggest nuclear disaster to hit the US at Three Mile Island, authorities paid the company to sell the public a sweeter picture than a nuclear meltdown and when people baulked about the farmers using daminozide on apples to retard growth, enhance colour and lengthen storage life, who did they call? Hill and Knowlton.

Now, after the collapse of the rebel TSN tour, snooker has called them in presumably to convince everyone what a wonderful job the current administration is doing. They should start by convincing the players.

Role of the referee in schoolboy rugby

A recent case in the UK could change the way Irish teachers or parents view the refereeing of schools matches. Having been paralysed after breaking his neck in a rugby match, Andrew Masters this week launched a £1 million damages claim against the match referee. Masters (21), from Beckenham, Kent, suffered severe spinal injuries when he was at the centre of a scrum which collapsed during a school match in 1997.

He is confined to a wheelchair, paralysed from the chest down with only limited use of his arms. The High Court action against amateur referee Robert Ockendon claims he failed to make sure the scrums were safe during the match.

Michael Morrow, Masters' solicitor, said: "We are expecting at least a seven-figure sum in compensation. We will succeed so long as we can show that the referee failed in some way to properly control the match.

"It all comes down to the conduct of games and how scrums are monitored. There is a precedent as far as rugby is concerned - in 1996 the High Court (UK) ruled in favour of a 17-year-old boy's claim against a referee."

Masters was 17 when he was injured while playing as a loosehead prop at Reigate Grammar, Surrey, for his school St Dunstan's College, in Catford, south east London.

He got an undisclosed pay-out from his school insurers which was used to buy a specially-adapted bungalow. Ockendon, who has insurance cover through the Rugby Football Union, was not available for comment but the RFU confirmed he denies liability.

Puck's fair for ice hockey advertisers

Following on from Gillian Bowlers' bottom ad for travel company Sun holidays, Benetton's long-running shock billboard campaign and the recent Paddy Powers contribution which featured two old ladies crossing a road, a speeding car and odds on them making it safely to the other side, it appears advertisements which people complain about ultimately pay dividends.

Claims this week that the London Knights ice hockey team's promotional advert was "crass and offensive" were dismissed by industry watchdogs. The objections were made about a bus-side poster which stated: "120 pucking miles an hour."

Advertisers said their objective was to raise awareness and use a phrase or term that was unique to the sport. The Advertising Standards Authority said: "The authority noted the advertisers had merely intended the word `pucking' to be a lighthearted reference to the advertised sport and considered that most readers would understand that."

SportsSpeak: The week in quotes

"Sell David Beckham."

- Johnny Giles on what Alex Ferguson should now do to rebuild a Manchester United team capable of winning the European Cup.

"A neighbouring county can play without players from the exclusion zone, but the county in question can't play at all despite the fact they might have fewer players in that same exclusion zone."

- Tyrone county secretary Dominic McCaughey arguing the under-21 side's case for inclusion in the championship.

"The players gave it their all tonight but we are not good enough and maybe it's time to move on. Maybe it's the end of the road for this team."

- Roy Keane adding an edge to the general criticism aimed at Manchester United after their exit from the European Cup.