WITH so many Irish internationals now at English clubs, it is unusual to find a top division match without one. Such a rare beast was the Bath and Wasps dash on the Courage League champions' home turf. And a rare beast of a match it was with 76 points scored in a pulsating encounter which Wasps revived from 24-14 down to win 40-36.

It was the first time Bath"conceded so many points in the league and the turning point came when the dynamic centre Henry Paul limped of with ankle ligament damage early in the second half. Marshalled by Vainga Tuigamala at the front and Damian Cronin to the rear, the London club staged a remarkable fight back as their hosts unravelled in atypical fashion.

There were four Irish internationals, two on either side, on display in the Northampton-Bristol match, with Jonathan Bell and Allan Clarke helping to end Bristol's two-game winning streak. The Northampton advantage was bigger than the 29-21 scoreline suggests but some woeful place kicking by England international fly half Paul Grayson kept the winning margin to eight points. For the vanquished David Corkery once again made an immense contribution.

Talking of contributions, that word, along with Wallace and Saracens, are now spoken of in the same breath. The international pair got five points apiece in the north London club's 41-11 defeat of lowly Gloucester. Paul Wallace got his side moving with a try, an unusual feat for the prop, just after the break.

Half an hour later, Richard Wallace crossed the Gloucester line to help cement the emphatic victory for Saracens, the winger reinforcing his claims to step back into the international team should Simon Geoghegan's rehabilitation from foot surgery require a prolonged absence from the field.

If Simon Mason was expecting an easy life in the second division with money-bags Richmond he got a rude shock last week but against inferior opposition he got 34 of his side's points, including two tries, in their 68-38 defeat of Rotherham.

Courage League second division rugby is almost as star-spangled as the first these days.a Scottish scrum half Gary Armstrong scored four tries in Newcastle's 74-29 demolition of Nottingham.

John Gallagher did not get on the scoresheet for Black heath in their 11-3 victory over Bedford but once again had a major influence on his side. The man who a decade ago could rightly have been called the world's best full back may now be a yard slower but is still challenging for an Irish international place after his recent club performances.