FORMER All Black back row forward Mike Brewer, who has been coaching the Ireland forwards this season, cannot have any involvement as Ireland complete preparations for the international against Australia at Lansdowne Road tomorrow.
Brewer, who is player coach with Blackrock, was sent off on Tuesday night while playing for his club in the Smithwicks Old Belvedere Floodlit Cup match against Bective Rangers. He stands suspended until the matter is dealt with by a disciplinary committee.
The law is clear and specific with regard to any person sent off, not alone in relation to playing but also any involvement in training or team preparation. The player stands automatically suspended until his case is dealt with by the relevant disciplinary committee.
The law states: "During the period of suspension, a player is not permitted to play, or 19 take part in any organised training activity at any level." That rules Brewer out, not alone of coaching the Ireland forwards but indeed of coaching his club.
The Ireland manager Pat Whelan said yesterday: "We are aware of the situation and the law in relation to a player sent off the field. That is unfortunate but we accept that it rules him out of any involvement and we understand that."
Meanwhile Whelan, who said last Sunday that he will be recommending to the IRFU that additions be made to the list of Ireland's contracted players, will submit that list to the IRFU for consideration today.
He said last night: "I will not be releasing the names of the players concerned. The IRFU will release their names at the appropriate time."
One of the names sure to be submitted is that is of hooker Keith Wood, who will captain Ireland tomorrow. Wood is riot a contracted player. He was not included in the list announced at the start of the season as he was just returning to the game after being out for over 12 months in the wake of a shoulder operation.
Centre Mick McCall, who also plays against Australia, is another who is not contracted, nor is full back Jim Staples. The fact that these players are in the side tomorrow does not, of course, mean they will automatically be contracted.
Other names that will probably be considered by the manager are Gary Halpin, Eric Miller and Ben Cronin. Miller and Cronin played with the A side against South Africa and Halpin was on the bench for the match against Western Samoa.
Ireland trained in Limerick yesterday morning before travelling to Dublin in the afternoon. The squad will train again this morning but the manager announced that it will be a closed session. He did not release either the time or venue for the session which is likely to be brief.
"We are happy with the way our preparation has gone. The players have recovered quickly from the disappointment of the match against Western Samoa and have got it out of their systems. But we have not forgotten the lessons we got from that match," said Whelan.
Wood said last night that the fact that he had been made captain had not "really sunk in yet. I will be nervous before the match as I always am, but once I get on the field, the nerves will go."
In fact he has a 100 per cent record as a captain. He led the Ireland A side to victory over South Africa A and captained the Munster under 20 team to win the Interprovincial Championship. He also led the Munster under 21 team that beat New Zealand Youths. "It would be very nice to keep that record. This will be my seventh cap and it will be my third against Australia."
He made his international debut against Australia in Brisbane in May 1994, as did two of his team mates tomorrow, Jonathan Bell and David Corkery, while a fourth member of the side, second row Gabriel Fulcher, made his debut in the second Test on that tour.
David Campese will be on the bench for Australia tomorrow. He has been named to fill the vacancy left when the squad was announced.
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