The strongest link

Planet Rugby: A letter has been sent to 62 Lansdowne Road suggesting what seems an interesting innovation. It comes from Mark Kane of Synge Street, Dublin, who envisages a special kind of crowd involvement for Ireland's games against France and England at Croke Park.

Mark writes: "The games to played at Croke Park, and in particular against England, are hugely symbolic, representing both an entente cordialebetween (firstly) the sporting traditions of Irish rugby and Gaelic games and (secondly) more powerfully, the modern relationship between Ireland and England of the 21st century.

"As an avid rugby fan and GAA fan, and reflecting on Eddie O'Sullivan's stated desire for Croke Park to become 'our coliseum', I would humbly like to suggest the following gesture be adopted for the upcoming games against France and England.

"We are all familiar with the Irish team linking arms and standing 'shoulder to shoulder' during the singing of Ireland's Call. My vision is to have the entire Croke Park crowd link arms and stand shoulder to shoulder during the singing of Ireland's Call. For the French games this display of Irish fraternitéwould add to the intimidating atmosphere against our recent bête noire. For the English game, its significance is that of representing Irish unity of purpose and reconciliation . . . I believe this could become one of the enduring images of 2007, in a season that holds so much promise for Irish rugby."

Over to the IRFU then.

Horgan looking good

The speed with which players recover from what appear to be serious injuries can sometimes amaze. But much of it has to do with the player's diligence at undertaking the recovery work prescribed by team doctors and physiotherapists.

So it was that barely a day after Ireland's Shane Horgan had surgery on his injured knee he hobbled on crutches along the foyer of the Irish team hotel in Killiney, Dublin. The knee was of course bandaged and the foot was suspended above ground.

No he wasn't looking for sympathy; indeed he had just completed a session on the bicycle in the hotel gymnasium. The injury, he happily acknowledged, was not quite as serious as the doctors had thought.

That is tremendous news for Ireland and Leinster.

Trust the Munster fans

In the current climate, in which issues off rather than on the pitch grab headlines, it was nice to note a demonstration of détente that took place at Thomond Park on the day of Munster's Heineken European Cup clash with the Leicester Tigers.

The Munster Rugby Supporters Club (MRSC) handed over a cheque for 11,800 to the Matt Hampson Trust in honour of a young Tiger prop who ended up paralysed from the neck down after a training-ground accident while away with the England under-21 team.

The money was raised from two sources. Steve Garvey, a Munster supporter living in Leicester, approached the MRSC with two tickets given to him by a friend and landlord at the Blaby Arms in Leicestershire. The committee used the tickets as prizes in a raffle for the Matt Hampson Trust, whereby members of the MRSC bought raffle tickets on-line for 5.

In five days a phenomenal €10,800 was raised for the Trust. For good measure, a further €1,000 was raised at the pre-match lunch. And so Ger Quinn presented the cheque for 11,800 (£7,760) to John Griffiths, representing the Matt Hampson Trust.

The largesse did not stop there. During the pre-match lunch, a cheque for 2,000 was presented to the former Ireland outhalf Mick Quinn, of the IRFU Charitable Trust.

The money was the proceeds of the sale of commemorative pins to Munster supporters.

Conor pass good enough

One young player catching the eye at present is the Connacht scrumhalf Conor O'Loughlin. He's demonstrating the quality that should push him very close to contesting a spot in Ireland's upcoming A international against England at Ravenhill.

Plagued by injuries over the past couple of years, O'Loughlin hasn't had a consistent run in the team. But this season he has conspicuously delivered on the promise he showed in his underage representative days.

He is strong and quick, has a fine pass, is a good tackler, aggressive on the fringes, covers intelligently and also finds time to score tries. All in all, he certainly merits a place in the A squad.

It will be interesting to see if those displays are rewarded with a call-up. Certainly Michael Bradley, his coach at Connacht, and presumably the A side, would need little convincing.

Walk of life . . .

The IRFU Charitable Trust is organising its fourth walk during this year's Rugby World Cup in France, in September and October, to raise funds for seriously injured players. The walk will take place in Paris and Nice between the semi-finals and final of the tournament.

Participants are required to raise a minimum of €3,950, for which they will receive flights, accommodation (twin share) and tickets to the semi-finals and final.

Only 10 places remain.

Those interested should contact Eleanor Connolly at 086 8098363 (eleanorconnolly@eircom.net) or Bryan O'Neill at 086 2561216.