FORMER international Nicky Barry, who has played for both Munster and Leinster, is one of a host of newcomers to the Connacht squad for a two match tour to Sweden next month.
Although the IRFU has brought in a rule that no player can play for three provinces, that rule was not in place when Barry, now with Clontarf after switching from St Mary's College, declared for Connacht. Consequently, he has been ruled eligible to play for the province. It was felt that it would be unfair to make the rule retrospective.
While international Noel Mannion has been omitted from the 26 man squad, the panel includes some notable new recruits from the other provinces. They include David Beggy, Dermot Finnigan, Barry, Ray Ward, and Mick O'Neill, all of whom have played for Leinster at senior level. Centre Alan Reddan, who has played for Munster, joins his brother, scrum half Dermuid, who has been a Connacht regular.
Other newcomers with previous Leinster affiliations are Owen Cobhe, Conor McGuinness and David Coen. Shane Leahy has returned to Connacht after a brief flirtation in the Leinster squad while former Trinity player Mark Reilly, who played for Oxford University last season, is another recruit.
The Scottish Rugby Union is to seek a broadcasting valuation for international matches outside the Five Nations Championship along with their domestic competitions.
The current contract with the BBC ends this season and SRU commercial convenor Charlie Bisset said: "We want to be fully prepared well in advance so we can derive the greatest benefit for Scottish rugby."
Preliminary meetings with three London consultancies, with one to be appointed within the next six weeks, are due to take place at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Scotland have made two changes to their A team management set up, with former international Ian Forsyth named as a selector and Iain Laughland replacing Ken Crichton as convenor.
