PLANET RUGBY

Compiled by Johnny Watterson

O'Sullivan has his say

EDDIE O'SULLIVAN was interviewed on Saturday morning on RTÉ radio and spoke at length about the disappointing World Cup and the fact himself and Wales coach Warren Gatland got together after their Six Nations match this season and had a friendly beer and said he was told some Irish journalists celebrated when France beat Ireland in this year's Six Nations Championship. No names were mentioned.

O'Sullivan also spoke about the rumours that proliferated in Bordeaux, where the Ireland side were based during the World Cup.

"There was a constant drip feeding of problems in the camp," said O'Sullivan. "I remember talking to Denis Hickie and he said that the hardest part (of the World Cup) was standing up every day and denying the rumours."

So quickly did some of those rumours travel that when the gossip machine wrongly had Geordan Murphy leaving the camp, Murphy's friends in Ireland texted him to let him know the word in Dublin was that he had been spotted at the airport.

At the time, Murphy was in his room at the team hotel.

Survey of all  they master

THE ENGLISH RFU are conducting what would be one of the biggest rugby surveys ever. In order to discover what participants in rugby union in England actually feel and assist in formulating the RFU's response to proposed law changes, the union have complied an online questionnaire.

The governing body are urging everyone with an interest in the game to go to www.rfusurvey.co.uk and complete the questionnaire so they can assess popular sentiment in relation to various law changes.

The survey is scheduled to go live on Thursday and is open to players, coaches, referees and supporters. The aim is to give people a chance to compare and vote on existing laws and associated ELVs (Experimental Law Variations) before the RFU formally respond to the International Rugby Board in May.

Resulting changes could come into play in next year's Guinness Premiership.

Ulster push back borders

IT'S GOOD to see Ulster have been stretching the good name of rugby a little bit beyond the borders of Northern Ireland. And very successfully, too, judging by some of the nominations for their end-of-season awards.

One of the three candidates for the Youth Player of the Year is Jarryd Bennett. Bennett does not come from Ballymena or Harlequins or Dungannon or Queen's University but from the relatively unheralded hinterland of Letterkenny.

The Donegal club is also in the running, alongside Armagh and Portadown, for Club of the Year.

The winners will be announced on May15th.

London Irish on the move

THE SKY Sports commentary struck a quirky note during the London Irish semi-final against Toulouse on Saturday. Following a scrum close-up we were informed the prop Faan Rautenbach was born in Bethlehem, South Africa. Attention was drawn to his fearsome beard and the fact stables might come to mind when you looked at him.

"I'm not joining you on that journey - he's a big man," quipped Stuart Barnes to Miles Harrison. Indeed. And no miracles for Irish either.

Hairy moment

LONDON IRISH are looking at a new site to build a spanking new rugby "centre of excellence" no more than a mile and a half from their current location in leafy Sunbury.

The club, which owns quite a nice spread off "The Avenue", not far from the Thames, cannot get planning permission to develop their present grounds, the area being "residential".

The council - not to mention the well-heeled neighbours - do not want the nuisance of streams of cars and hordes of fans flowing in and out every time the club have a home game.

London Irish expect to make an announcement in the coming weeks about the new location and more details of the cost of their project.