Getting up to business

As we approach the end of May another season almost draws to a close. The tour of the Americas was preceded by two all-important matches, Northampton v Munster in the European Cup final and Ireland v the Barbarians in a pre-tour warm-up.

The latter match had been slightly disjointed by the fact 10 of the touring party were unavailable due to their obvious Munster commitments.

The rest of the squad assembles in the Forte Post House (Dublin Airport) burning with anticipation for the journey ahead.

We are all informed of an innovative news approach to combating jet lag, namely staying up and getting up later than usual (it's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it).

And so to the weekend's rugby. The remainder of the Irish squad huddled around numerous television sets in the Berkeley Court Hotel cheering on Munster's finest and hurling abuse at out-of-ear-shot Northampton players and officials alike.

The mood after that match was slightly deflated but almost a tonic for the Barbarians match to come.

As for that match, injuries abounded on the field on top of two late withdrawals - my own strained groin due to a Herculean effort to dab a ball over from 60 metres - did not add up to a happy weekend.

Watching from the sidelines it was tense, fraught with big hits, and decorated with some scintillating running, not least from my own replacement, Kevin Maggs.

If a late selection is usually a headache then Maggsie's performance was certainly the paracetamol.

The dust then settled following a disappointing, but encouraging, weekend for Irish rugby. The brave men of Munster just missing out on European glory, followed by an injury-hit, stirring performance by Ireland against the star-studded Barbarians, which concluded with the talented Miller showing his footballing abilities in the number 15 jersey.

The loss of Brian O'Driscoll, Denis Hickie, Geordan Murphy and Girvan Dempsey, although a cruel body blow, has not dampened spirits as we make the first leg of our three-week tour to Buenos Aires, home of the Pumas, in what many see as a revenge match for a lacklustre performance in the World Cup.

But, before the small matter of the test match on Saturday, comes the more pressing arrangements of tour committees and, even more importantly, seating for the initial 13-hour plane ride.

On the committees, the same old faces have adopted time-honoured roles: the Claw (Peter Clohessy) and Gaillimh (Mick Galwey) as tour judges and their tight-five counterparts - Paul Wallace, Justin Fitzpatrick, John Hayes, Jeremy Davidson, Malcolm O'Kelly and Robert Casey still in their apprenticeships, ranging from laundry to cleaning the team room (Paul Wallace's promotion to cleaning the team room is being celebrated in his native Cork).

The entertainments have been placed in the safe hands of Shane Horgan and myself, and for the spattering of single players, they have found their own cultural attache to check out local talent(s) and sights of interests.

But back to the plane and the all important seating. Having a limited number of business class tickets, it is decided that the large members should use the more roomy seats. A bad idea, as even Peter Stringer is heard to say that he is 6ft 2in.

The conclusion is an honourable one. The management decide to adopt the majority of economy class seats to give the players the best preparation for the week (and possibly get some sleep themselves) along with newcomers to the squad, Tyrone Howe, Peter McKenna, Mike Mullins and the mighty Munster half-back pairing of Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara.

For one fortunate passenger there is a chance upgrade from business to first class and, after some serious milliseconds of thought, Gerry Thornley steps forward to fill the breach.

The journey itself is relatively nondescript with talk of narrow defeats and injuries taking a back seat to the all important decision of what movie to watch.

I was fortunate enough to sit next to a telecommunications guru who took great pleasure in telling me the ins and outs of fibre-optic technology . . . . for seven hours!

We have arrived in Buenos Aires and, after a brief meeting and light stretching session, begin to prepare for what promises to be a tough test against the Pumas.