Warren Gatland, the former Irish coach, has had his knuckles gently rapped by his former employers, the IRFU, over comments attributed to him. The union "make contact with Gatland's representative" to remind him of the contractual terms regarding his severance agreement, according to an IRFU spokesperson.
The union spokesperson stressed that this was purely an informal reminder, that the message had been conveyed, and as a result the matter is now over. Gatland denied making some of the comments attributed to him in the Daily Mail, such as the quote that he "didn't kiss enough butts or massage the egos of the right committee guys."
Yesterday the former Irish coach was noticeably more conciliatory towards the union, and while maintaining he was still "very disappointed with the decision" he said: "You have to look forward. The last thing I want to see is for Irish rugby to go backwards. I want to wish the players and I want to wish the management success. I also know that there are a lot of people who have voluntarily put a lot of work into Irish rugby to get the structures right."
The Irish coach was in Dublin yesterday where he met representatives of English Premiership side Wasps, who are interested in Gatland becoming their forwards coach.
Meanwhile, Alain Rolland has been appointed to referee his first Six Nations game. The 35-year-old official takes charge of the Scotland-France game in Murrayfield on March 23rd.
The former Blackrock, Leinster and Ireland scrumhalf, who was capped three times, bridges a gap of over 40 years in emulating Ham Lambert as the last Irish international player to also referee at Test level.
Admittedly, Rolland already has refereed at international level when overseeing Wales' win over Romania in Cardiff last September but, as Rolland himself admits, taking charge of a Six Nations game constitutes his big breakthrough.
"It's a tremendous honour. I nearly dropped the phone when Owen (Doyle) rang me to tell me. I couldn't believe it. I was hoping for one or two touch-judges during the championship but that's all."
Rolland's achievement is made all the more remarkable in that this is only his fourth season as a referee. "My main objective is be involved in the 2003 World Cup but things are happening an awful lot quicker than I would have thought possible. A lot of credit must go to the work Owen Doyle has done and the structures here. Of the 45 appointments in the Six Nations, 10 of them are Irish. That's very healthy for such a small nation."
In addition, Alan Lewis will referee the France-Italy game on the opening Saturday, February 2nd, while Dave McHugh will oversee the Wales-France game in Cardiff a fortnight later.
Munster will announce their team for Saturday's Celtic League final against Leinster tomorrow at around 4.0. David Wallace, John Hayes and Rob Henderson have been ruled out while many others are receiving medical treatment, Dominic Crotty, John Kelly, Jason Holland, Peter Stringer, Marcus Horan, Frank Sheahan and Anthony Foley.
Owing to an error, some terrace tickets for next Saturday's Celtic League final at Lansdowne Road (k.o. 3.0) have been sold at £15, instead of the intended cost of £10. Anyone who has purchased terrace tickets at £15 by credit card via Ticketmaster or the IRFU website will have their account credited with a £5 refund. Those who have bought terrace tickets for cash will be refunded on receipt of that ticket at the Leinster Branch office.
Referees and touch judges for the 2002 Six Nations championship are:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd: In Paris: France v Italy - referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Alain Rolland (Ireland); Steve Lander (England); In Edinburgh: Scotland v England - referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand), Peter Marshall (Australia); Joel Jutge (France).
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd: In Dublin: Ireland v Wales - referee: Pablo Deluca (Argentina), Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand); Rob Dickson (Scotland).
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16th: In Cardiff: Wales v France - referee: David McHugh (Ireland), Pablo Deluca (Argentina); Rob Dickson (Scotland). In London: England v Ireland (Twickenham) - referee: Peter Marshall (Australia), Steve Walsh (New Zealand); Joel Dume (France). In Rome: Italy v Scotland - referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand), Chris White (England); Nigel Whitehouse (Wales).
SATURDAY, MARCH 2nd: In Paris: France v England - referee: Andre Watson (South Africa), Alain Rolland (Ireland), Andrew Cole (Australia). In Cardiff: Wales v Italy - referee: Chris White (England), Rob Dickson (Scotland), Alan Lewis (Ireland). In Dublin: Ireland v Scotland - referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales), Steve Lander (Eng), Joel Jutge (France).
SATURDAY, MARCH 23rd: In Dublin: Ireland v Italy - referee: Rob Dickson (Scotland), Joel Dume (France), Nigel Whitehouse (Wales). In London: England v Wales - referee: Andrew Cole (Australia), David McHugh (Ireland), Joel Jutge (France). In Murrayfield: Scotland v France - Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand); Steve Lander (England).
SATURDAY, APRIL 6th: In Paris: France v Ireland - referee: Paddy O'Brien (New Zealand), Chris White (England); Nigel Whitehouse (Wales). In Cardiff: Wales v Scotland (Cardiff) - referee: Joel Jutge (France), Alan Lewis (Ireland); Alain Rolland (Ireland).
SUNDAY, APRIL 7TH: In Rome: Italy v England - referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Joel Dume (France); David McHugh (Ireland).
