Numbers game

St Mel's school lost to Marian midweek in the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup `A' rugby semi-final. Not a bad run at all. But the St Mel's team had no numbers on their shirts, causing some distress to photographers who had hoped to identify the players in their pictures.

This all took place the day before the IRFU announced a scheme to invest £2 million targeting non-playing rugby schools in order to broaden the appeal of the sport.

After the match a photographer approached an official from the St Mel's camp and asked why they had no numbers (a running Irish Times headache is explaining to parents why their sporting loved ones are occasionally named incorrectly in printed photographs) as he had the impossible task of fixing the correct name with the correct photo.

The official told him that Mel's are better known for their GAA success and didn't really expect to get so far in the rugby competition. As a result they had to borrow the gear. Maybe the IRFU should take note and spend the first £500 of their £2 million investment on buying the lads from St Mel's some numbers.