Munster Cup tie appeal rejected

Garryowen's latest appeal to a special appeals committee of the Munster Branch to have the club re-instated in the Munster Senior Cup was rejected yesterday, thereby ending their season. Their opponents, Cork Constitution, will thus go ahead with their second-round tie against Richmond this Saturday. No explanation was given by the Munster Branch, even though they have agreed to the secondround tie between Old Crescent and recently crowned AIL champions Shannon being deferred from tonight to another unspecified date - most probably this coming Friday evening or Saturday afternoon. It is believed that Shannon would be unable, never mind unwilling, to find 15 players capable of standing upright.

The Munster Cup semi-finals will thus go ahead the weekend after next, with the final being scheduled for the weekend of May 16th-17th. Similar disruptions have been caused to the Ulster Senior Cup by the AIL Division Two/Three, two-leg play-off between Ballynahinch, which goes ahead over the next two Saturdays. Both have reached the Ulster Cup semi-finals.

The Connacht semi-finals press ahead this weekend, with the final a fortnight subsequently, by which stage the Leinster decider is due to take place. The second round will be completed this weekend, with the quarter-finals to be held in the middle of next week, the semifinals on May 9th-10th and the final at Lansdowne Road on May 16th.

London Irish's hopes of Premiership survival have been dealt a dual blow by first an injury to their England A star Peter Richards and then by last night's comprehensive defeat by Bath.

Scrum-half Richards broke his jaw while making a first-half tackle during the club's record 6214 League win over Harlequins on Saturday. He was replaced by Niall Hogan for last night's match in which Irish were given a 20-3 beating by Bath.

Richards has proved a key performer during Irish's up-turn in fortunes since the arrival of rugby director Dick Best and would have been influential during the closing Premiership fixtures with Bath, Saracens and Leicester.

Last night though, Irish had little response to Bath tries from Butland, Evans and Nicol, with the only score for the relegation threatened visitors coming from a Woods penalty.