Cap in hand: Stringer fourth

ALL IN THE SCRUM:A rugby miscellany

PETER STRINGER will become the fourth most capped Ireland player when he dons the green jersey for the 93rd time against Samoa at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon.

When introduced as a replacement in last weekend's defeat by South Africa, the Munster scrumhalf equalled the 92 caps that the recently retired and long-time record holder Malcolm O'Kelly had amassed. Stringer (92) remains a little adrift of Ireland's three centurions, Ronan O'Gara (100), John Hayes (102) and captain Brian O'Driscoll (104), all of whom play today.

O'Gara, Hayes and O'Driscoll were honoured during the week at the Guinness-sponsored Rugby Writers of Ireland (RWI) awards at the Aviva when they received specially-commissioned glass sculptures to commemorate passing the landmark.

Tommy Bowe won the player of the year, the Ireland Under-20s took the Dave Guiney trophy for the team of the year, Cork Constitution were chosen as the club of the year, former Ireland coach Gerry Murphy won the Tom Rooney award while Cecil Pedlow and Willie Duggan were inducted into the RWI Hall of Fame.

Point to prove: O'Gara's target

If Ronan O’Gara manages to score three points or more this afternoon he will move into fifth place in the list of all-time top points scorers in world rugby. The Munster and Cork Constitution outhalf currently stands two points behind New Zealand’s Andrew Mehrtens (967). O’Gara overtook David Humphreys as the leading Irish scorer in the 2006 Six Nations Championship opening game against Italy when he scored 16 points that included his eighth Test match try.

WORLD LIST

1178– Jonny Wilkinson (1111 – England, 67 – Lions).

1143– Dan Carter (New Zealand).

1090– Neil Jenkins (1049 – Wales, 41 – Lions).

1010– Diego Dominguez (983 – Italy, 27 – Argentina).

967– Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand).

965– Ronan OGara (Ireland).

911– Michael Lynagh (Australia).

893– Percy Montgomery (SA).

878– Matt Burke (Australia).

877– Stephen Jones (815 – Wales, 53 –Lions).

Isaac boss of the silver screen

IT IS almost 14 years to the day that Samoa – then known as Western Samoa – enjoyed their only victory over Ireland in four meetings to date, when they prevailed 40-25 at Lansdowne Road on November 12th, 1996.

Rob Henderson and James Topping made their Irish debuts that day while there were three debutants on the Western Samoa team, one of whom was Isaac Feau’nati. The latter was born in Wellington, New Zealand but would go on to win 13 caps for the homeland of his parents.

He played for London Irish and Bath amongst other teams but arguably the big ball-carrying number eight’s greatest role in rugby came on the silver screen. Zak, as he was known to his friends, played Jonah Lomu in the Clint Eastwood-directed film Invictus that starred Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.

It could get rocky for winners

THE UNDER-17S of Bandon RFC and Waterpark College in Waterford have each won a competition run by the Munster Branch to train with three of the Australian squad ahead of the Wallabies game against the Irish province at Thomond Park on Tuesday. Entrants were invited to submit a 60 second video clip with the theme “How will Munster beat Australia” and were asked to introduce a touch of humour. It’ll be interesting to see if former Leinster and current Aussie captain Rocky Elsom is one of the three Aussies who will preside over the session.

Heads up on brain injuries

ACQUIRED BRAIN Injury Ireland (ABI) is urging all sports people to be aware of the dangers of concussion and to “Watch out for a Knockout” as they launch an awareness campaign to highlight the importance of appropriate headgear in sports.

Ireland and Leinster rugby player Isaac Boss and his scrum cap helped to launch the campaign at the Aviva Stadium.

Every year ABI Ireland holds a “Mind Your Head” campaign seeking to raise awareness of the serious consequences of brain injuries. This year ABI Ireland is highlighting dangers that players will endure if they insist on continued play following a concussion or “blow to the head”.

Barbara O’ Connell, chief executive of ABI Ireland expressed her belief in the campaign saying: “I don’t know how many times I have heard a player say ‘I’m grand, it was just a knock’.

“These ‘knocks’ are in fact mild traumatic brain injuries induced by mechanical forces, that immediately disrupt the normal functioning of the brain and stepping back onto the pitch afterwards can cause serious and sometimes long-term brain damage.”

ABI is urging sporting players of all ages and standards, coaches, and parents of young children to realise the importance of wearing protective headgear during sports. Concussion can be serious condition and as our sporting bodies develop and expand it is extremely important that we begin to highlight the issue of concussion; educating our players on the signs, symptoms and consequences.