Planet Rugby

Rugby stories from around the world

Fearful load of bull

Chris Latham, the Wallaby full back, probably wished he had taken up Munster's offer of a contract in the short space of time he had to ponder the course of his life as he was being charged by a bull elephant.

Latham and fellow Queensland Reds players John Roe and Sean Hardman enjoyed a fortunate escape while on a jeep safari in Hluhluwe Umfolozi Nature Reserve in northern Natal.

Their jeep was charged by an angry bull elephant, which had broken away from a herd of about 200. Latham shuddered: "I can safely say that I have never been more scared in my life." Luckily the driver managed to ferry his charges to safety just in time, the elephant getting to within a few metres before giving up the chase.

Hardman said: "I thought we were goners; it was that close and that massive."

Factory fit fixtures

France may have won the Grand Slam in this season's Six Nations Championship but the players aren't too enamoured with their union after the governing body of French rugby decided to increase the number of games in the French domestic rugby season by 10 matches. The 16 teams are now scheduled to play each other home and away.

France and Toulouse captain Fabien Pelous told the sports daily L'Equipe the players could go on strike. "If being a professional rugby player means clocking in at the factory every day then I don't want any part of it. We're going to consider every option; we have to be heard. If there's no other solution we're ready to go on strike."

Rugby's rising sons

Former Ireland and Lions tight-head prop Paul Wallace will be acting as tour manager for Crescent College Comprehensive's forthcoming tour to Japan.

Crescent were nominated by the IRFU to represent Ireland in an international under-17 tournament in Japan later this month. Paul is a former pupil of Crescent and enjoyed considerable success on the field, winning two Munster Schools Senior Cup medals.

The Sanix World Youth Tournament will be held in Fukuoka City in Japan and during Crescent's two-week stay they will receive support from Opthtecs (Euro) Ltd, a Japanese company with an operation in Limerick, in coming to terms with local conditions. Opthtecs are also the team's main local sponsor.

The tournament will involve eight high schools from Japan, and they and Crescent will be joined by teams from South Africa, France, Samoa, Scotland, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The event opens with a league format, with four teams in each section, leading to a knock-out competition. For the opening round Crescent have been drawn with South Africa and two Japanese schools.

The tournament has been held for a number of years and attracts some of the top rugby-playing schools from the participating countries.

Leinster Open Day

An Open Day for fans to meet the Leinster squad will take place next Sunday, May 9th, in Old Belvedere RFC from 11 am to 2 pm.

Following the success of last year's event, the Leinster squad will be on hand to coach, meet and greet supporters and sign autographs. There will be a Canterbury roadshow and a training drill for one hour.

Fans are reminded to bring old, unwanted rugby kit, which will be forwarded to the IRB's Kit Aid Appeal www.sosirbkitaid.org, as their admission.

These rugby kits will be donated to needy players in Romania, Georgia, Moldova, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

Italian adventure

Greystones under-17s sent a squad bolstered by a few young and upcoming players from the province to Rovigo, Italy, to compete in the Aldo Milani International Tournament 2004 over the Bank Holiday weekend. As well as the Greystones XV from Ireland there are teams from Croatia, Georgia, France, England, Wales and Taiwan.

In 2001 an under-16s Greystones side, reached the final of the same tournament and were defeated by a talented Northampton Schools team before a crowd of 3,000 Italian fans.

The Rovigo organisers have hailed several Irish sides over the years for their excellent attitude and sportsmanship during the tournament, making them great favourites with the local fans.

Greystones squad: S Cranley (captain), K Tonetti, S Quinn, T Parker, D Wildes, B Mitchell, T Corr, S Nelson, J Ryan, E Lynch, J Kavanagh, A Lewis, J Harris-Wright, J Beery, J Covney, D Davis, S Armstrong, J Harmon, B Cawley, M MacElroy, C Gaffney, B O'Shea

Kiwi cash kings

The IRFU can only look enviously at the profits announced by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) recently. Despite missing out on co-hosting the 2003 World Cup, the NZRU is in the black by a record 93.6 million New Zealand dollars.

NZRU Chairman Jock Hobbs said while it was "not possible to look back over 2003 without immediately acknowledging the shadow cast over the year because we did not win the World Cup, to solely judge the performance of New Zealand rugby on one 80-minute match would be too harsh and would ignore the many on- and off-the-field achievements by New Zealand rugby in 2003."

Who said money can't buy happiness?