ALL IN THE SCRUM: A rugby miscellany

DESPITE ranking among the best rugby teams in the world, Argentina still have a whiff of the old school about the team.

Once upon a time you could cast an eye over an Irish rugby squad and pick out a few doctors and lawyers.

David Irwin springs to mind and indeed Brian O’Driscoll’s father, Frank, are both doctors.

That may never happen again in the professional game in Ireland but with Felipe Contepomi, Rodrigo Roncero and Mariano Galarza, Argentina is well equipped with professionals.

Lock Galarza plays for Universitario de La Plata and is a student of medicine, while Roncero, one of the world’s most destructive scrummagers, is a qualified doctor.

Outhalf Felipe Contepomi also famously continued his medical studies at the Royal College of Surgeons while he played for Leinster and qualified as a doctor before he departed Dublin for France.

Game on: Turning up the heat

ONE of the miracles of the new Aviva Stadium compared with the old Lansdowne Road is the frost and snow is no longer a threat. Yesterday morning the IRFU were publicising the fact the under-ground heating kept frost off the pitch and allowed the game to proceed as planned despite the heavy overnight snowfall.

The obvious problem was the ground would harden and pose a threat to players. Undersoil heating can also be a threat to the grass if used incorrectly and can break up the surface of the pitch. Combined with concerts on the grass causing compaction and the lack of natural sunlight getting through in modern wrap-around stadiums, the pristine grass you see on TV is the end process of many hours of tender loving care.

Costly business: All Blacks duo miss bus and get taxi

THE All Blacks seemed to have cut loose after their final match of their European tour against Wales on Saturday. Seasoned prop Neema Tialata twittered to the world that he had missed the team bus from Cardiff and together with New Zealand centre Ma’a Nonu jumped into a taxi for London. Two hundred and twenty quid to London “ain’t too bad,” said Tialata. “Me and my boi Ma’a missed team bus this morning.”

* "The Wallabies'scrum was as soft as a creme brulee," said Australian newspaper The Agecommenting on Saturday's match against France.

“It’s pretty simple, really. If your scrum resembles melting jelly, not even Mandrake the Magician at five-eighth can save you,” said the Sydney Morning Herald about the same match. Still, the Wallabies managed to amass 46 points even though they were trailing 16-13 with just about a half an hour remaining in the match. In an extraordinary turn around, they finally ran out 59-16 winners. The result was Australia’s biggest win over France in what you can truly say was a game of two halves.

Ticket talk: Pay your money but no say in seat loaction

DOES there appear to be a growing frustration with the way tickets are provided to the paying public for international rugby matches. Recently a disgruntled Irish fan pointed out to this column that when he buys a ticket for the theatre he can go on line and see where his seat is located in the auditorium. But when he purchases a ticket for a rugby international, it is pot luck where his seat is situated.

For the first of the November series of matches against South Africa his €100 bought him a seat at ground level in a corner of the pitch. He had a great view of the linesman and players warming up but little else.

For the game against New Zealand he found himself up in the gods and unable to see the large screen. Why he asked, if you spend that much money on a ticket you don’t have any say in where you sit in the stadium?

Yes, that would mean paying more for the better seats and less for poor positions.