Planet Rugby

Today's other stories in brief

Replays gone to dogs

Few could deny the new clubhouse at the Sportsground in Galway is a huge improvement on what went before. The glass-fronted building with bar and perfect views of all the action on the pitch - and everything enclosed in a warm space - is quite a change for hardy fans.

The stand also has many television screens, highly visible, hanging from the ceilings.

Pity then that when the Ulster flanker Kieron Dawson attacked the Connacht nine-10 space on the blind side off a lineout and scored a try on Friday night all we could see when we looked for the action replay on the screens were greyhounds racing around the perimeter track. Yes, it's a dog track but rugby replays, please, during rugby matches.

Bingham Cup on way

So what is the Bingham Cup? In these days of professional rugby, the main focus of attention is what happens in Test matches and at European level in the Magners Celtic League and Heineken European Cup. The amateur game is largely, well, forgotten.

So let's hear it for the Bingham Cup, the second-largest biennial amateur 15s rugby tournament in the world.

The 2006 version of the Bingham Cup, which took place in that hotbed of rugby New York, was the biggest so far; 30 club teams from many countries competed in the three-day tournament.

The honour of hosting next year's event was won by a Dublin team, The Emerald Warriors, formed only in 2003, beating off competition from Paris and the cup holders, Sydney.

The Dublin tournament is expected to exceed the New York figures; over 600 players have already registered. It will take place at the DCU Sports Complex, Dublin, from June 12th to 15th, 2008.

Two-try turnaround

Leinster's game against Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium was fascinating for more reasons than one. Cian Healy was denied a try when a call went upstairs to the TMO. The referee could not see for certain whether the ball was grounded so asked for adjudication. The slow-motion replay showed Leinster had a case for the try to be awarded because the ball looked very much grounded. Without the TMO the referee probably would have given the try, but with the TMO it was disallowed.

Almost immediately the ball went up the other end of the pitch in an Ospreys attack and again the ball ended up over the tryline. This time the referee blew immediately to award the try, much to the annoyance of the Leinster captain, Brian O'Driscoll.

And sure enough, the replay showed O'Driscoll had brilliantly inserted a hand and forearm between ball and ground and so prevented the score.

And yet the try had been awarded without recourse to the video referee.

Had the match referee gone upstairs on that occasion he would almost certainly have been told not to award the try. Why didn't he go upstairs? No one knows.

The end result was that Ospreys ended up with a losing bonus point, while Leinster were denied a third try that would have probably spurred them on toward a fourth and a winning bonus point. Go figure.

White takes plaudits

Just take a look at what the Springboks captain John Smit had to say about Jake White after South Africa beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

"That [ winning for White] was the most important factor in the whole week's process," said Smit. "The biggest thing to gain out of this game was to send off Jake White after what he has given us. It's never been about one person before, but I think tonight was. It was about the group of players saying goodbye in the best possible way."

When White took over as Springbok coach in 2004 he was tasked with turning the Springboks into a competitive team after a disastrous 2003 World Cup campaign under Rudolf Straeuli. That's exactly what he did.

"The amount of hard work and sacrifice that White has made as an individual and what he has given to us players and to South African rugby is just beyond words," the 29-year-old Smit added.

"Today was certainly a celebration of the kind of impact he has had on our lives."

That is not hollow rhetoric; earlier in the week winger Bryan Habana had similar things to say about the coach, who is leaving because of national politics in South Africa, not his ability to lead. Sport and politics should never mix? A noble ideal perhaps, but this is an ongoing saga and will probably end in tears.

Quotes of the week

Already we are well down the road to the creation of an elite Anglo-French group of clubs in Europe. The Celtic teams will not be able to compete.

- Jim Glennon, former player, coach and politician and current media punter.

The Lions in 2009 is the next big target for me. I would definitely like to be part of that tour and Test series. I watched the 1997 tour and it was unbelievable to see the aura they brought to South Africa. We sort of owe them one, so 2009 is definitely a goal I have set myself.

- South Africa's Bryan Habana eyes a new challenge.