The coming All Blacks tour, which includes a sell-out game against Ireland at Lansdowne Road on November 17th, is set to go ahead as scheduled despite Australian reservations over their proposed tour and the cancellation of the Australian rugby league tour due to the unsettled world climate.
New Zealand Rugby Union officials have assured their IRFU counterparts by telephone in the last two days that their four-match tour of Ireland and Scotland will go ahead.
The tour begins with a fixture against Ireland A in Ravenhill on Tuesday, November 13th, before the Test against Ireland that Saturday. They then move on to Scotland for a similar two-match itinerary.
Australian Rugby Union (ARU) managing director John O'Neill arrived in Dublin yesterday, ostensibly for a 2003 World Cup planning meeting, though the repercussions of the September 11th atrocities and the current military action in Afghanistan were sure to have been discussed with representatives of the International Rugby Board.
Australian officials are monitoring events ahead of their European trip, which features Test matches against England, Wales and France. The 30-man squad is scheduled to arrive in London on October 21st for a five-week, seven-match tour.
"We are still going ahead with our plans," said ARU spokesman Derek Nelson. "And that will be the case unless any deterioration of the situation causes a possible reassessment."
The issue was discussed amongst the Wallaby players at their base in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday.
South Africa will call an emergency meeting next month to reconsider plans for the three-Test European leg of their tour, which encompasses matches against France, Italy and England, as well as the American Eagles in Houston in December.
Meanwhile, Llanelli centre Leigh Davies has been drafted into the Welsh team for Saturday's championship match against Ireland in Cardiff after 21-year-old centre Jamie Robinson withdrew due to a hamstring strain after being selected for his first Six Nations start.
Robinson is reported to have sustained the injury in training at their Vale of Glamorgan base, though there is a rumour circulating in Cardiff that the unfortunate centre actually incurred it while descending a flight of stairs after he attended a press conference on Monday which announced his impending debut.
Davies (25), won the last of his 18 caps two years ago in a World Cup warm-up match against Canada, his only appearance for Wales in Graham Henry's three-year tenure as coach.
Options were thin on the ground for Henry given the non-availability of converted winger Gareth Thomas and Mark Taylor. Craig Morgan, Mark Jones and Nick Warne have all been sidelined, while the man who had been expected to play on the wing, Cardiff full back Rhys Williams, effectively ruled himself out of contention with a shocker in their defeat in Montferrand last Saturday when he was largely culpable for all three of the home side's tries.
As it is, no one was more surprised to be playing this Saturday than Neath left-winger Shane Williams, who completed his first full game of the season only last Saturday. Williams badly damaged his left arm in a cycling accident in the summer. On his return a month ago against Newport, he pulled a hip muscle and, in the act of falling, managed to re-open his wounded arm, so sidelining him for a further three games.
Bath scrumhalf Gareth Cooper has also been forced to withdraw from the Welsh replacements' bench after failing to recover from a stress fracture of his right foot. His place goes to 20-year-old Llanelli player Dwayne Peel.
Leinster and Ulster will have a practice run-out against each other on Friday week, the night before the Ireland-England game, without their respective international squad members. As opposed to a full-scale encounter, it is expected to be played in four periods of 20 minutes so as to keep things ticking over a week before the European Cup resumes. Munster and Connacht are to have discussions regarding a similar venture, though as yet nothing is planned.
Leinster and Munster had agreed to have a practice match on Friday week but their scheduled interprovincial meeting is being brought forward from January 18th to November 24th, which has become a free date since the planned Ireland-Canada test was called off due to the Canadians' internal dispute. Hence, they didn't think it wise to meet twice in three weeks.
The Connacht-Ulster interpro is also being brought forward from January to November 24th, which in turn will give the provinces a free weekend between the conclusion of the pool stages and prior to the European Cup quarter-finals. That January weekend has instead been pencilled in for an international squad get-together.
