Mad Hatter's Box

Irish international scrum-half, Peter Stringer, is put in the hot seat this week.

How much is a batch loaf?

"I think it's 85p. I do eat batch and I do the shopping, so I should know, but I don't."

Name one way to improve rugby as a spectator sport?

"I'd have 15 backs playing - it would be a faster game with much more skill and there would be no one-yard grunting."

Your favourite line from a movie?

"`Seven little chipmonks sitting on a bench, eating lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch.' The hitchhiker in the film `There's Something About Mary'."

`Loaded' magazine or `Rugby World'?

"Definitely `Loaded', I like bit of variety."

Nickname?

"With Shannon it's Sonny after Sonny Kiely, but everywhere else it's Strings, always has been."

What book are you reading at the moment?

"`Midnight Train', a biography of the boxer Joe Louis. It depicts the life of a guy who rose from extreme poverty to the high point of being a professional sportsman, and one of the greatest at that. It's a good read."