Munster fan's passport to fameOne Munster supporter showed tremendous determination and composure to get to Saturday's Heineken Cup quarter-final against Stade Francais in Paris. The son of west Cork, living in Dublin for the past 22 years, arrived at the airport only to find he had left his passport at home.
Undaunted, he would manage to get through passport control in both Ireland and France four times and also endured checking-in in Ireland and at Charles de Gaulle. His job certainly facilitated his passage and he was able to enjoy a superb day's sport. This column has been sworn to secrecy about his identity.
Eye on the ball
One Munster supporter wanted a little more than to treasure than simply the memories of the province's victory at Stade Jean Bouin. During half-time Stade Francais ball boys had kicked 100 rugby balls into the crowd for the supporters to keep.
This eagle-eyed Munster fan, having a pint after the game, noticed two young Frenchmen who had managed to catch a ball each. The conversation went as follows:
"How much for the ball. I'll give you 20 euros.
"Non."
"All right then 40." A slight hesitation. "Fifty is my final offer."
Out came the wallet, off went the fan clutching his ball. Wonder what the wife got?
Castaignede's crusade
French international full-back Thomas Castaignede (right) is considering taking the French Rugby Federation to court (FFR) over loss of income as he has spent the last 14 months on the sideline following an injury sustained while on international duty.
The FFR are reluctant to pay Castaignede's salary because he plays his rugby in England, having accepted it is a national union which assumes the responsibility for paying a player's wages should he become injured while on international duty. The player damaged his Achilles tendon in a warm-up before France's Test match against Australia in November 2000.
Saracens have continued to pay Castaignede's wages even though it ceased to be their responsibility after six months, a gesture for which the player is extremely grateful. Saracens owner Nigel Wray has tried but so far failed to reach a compensation agreement with the FFR. As a result Saracens will stop paying Castaignede's wages at the end of the month,
The player has taken his case to the French rugby players' union, the SNJR. He said: "They will see what legal measures are available to me. I hope it doesn't come to that, and the federation will make a gesture of some kind."
Sounds suspicious
The inference that rugby union is getting a bit like American football was given credence by events at a recent match in England between Coventry and Rotherham. Coventry have accused Rotherham of using ear-pieces under their scrum caps to receive coaching instructions during a game between the sides.
The midlands side made the allegations during and after the Division One match at Coundon Road, claiming at least one Rotherham player had a receiver the size of a 20-pence piece under their cap. Coventry chief executive Keith Fairbrother insists if sufficient evidence can be gathered then a formal complaint will be made to the English RFU.
Referee's assessor John Barnard was notified of Coventry's complaints but did not include the accusations in his report. He told the Times: "I was wearing an RFU coat and he asked me if it was legal to be wired to players via a headset à la NFL. I said it was illegal under International Rugby Board regulations. He said then I had better talk to the Rotherham coaches.
"I wandered over and heard comments from a coach who appeared to be talking to players, rather than to another coach. He was saying things such as 'next phase left, now right'."
You could imagine the connotations if the International Board legalised the ear-pieces, turning the sport into a pantomime. Of course, the next step would be for one team to jam the frequency of the opponents'.
Players on parade
Using the schoolboy French for which this column is renowned, we tried to delve into the Stade Francais website last week in search of a few pearls of wisdom ahead of Saturday's European Cup quarter-final between Munster and Stade Francaise.
Imagine the surprise we came across a series of revealing (naked) snapshots of various Stade Francais players including French internationals Christophe Dominici (left) and Thomas Lombard. Albeit with dubious translation skills, it appears Stade have compiled a calendar showing several players, not all with strategically placed balls, if you'll pardon the expression, and it's available to buy for all their fans.
Forgotten hero
Aaron Matte, a 31-year-old Canadian rugby player, became a hero when he disarmed a passenger intent on heading for the cockpit on board a Czech airlines flight from Prague to the United Arab Emirates according to the Ottawa Citizen newspaper.
Matte was asleep in the business-class section of the plane when he was woken by a flight attendant requesting help. According to Matte, who said her English wasn't very good, she said: "There's a man on the plane and we need to catch him. When we catch him you fight him."
The former Carleton Ravens player leaped into action. He went to the upstairs cockpit door where he saw two flight attendants blocking the agitated man - with one of them holding handcuffs at the ready.
Matte pointed out: "The flight attendants probably didn't want to tackle the man by the door themselves in case they didn't succeed. "I said 'what?' to him in Arabic, hoping he would snap out of it. One of the men reached out to handcuff him. As soon as he tried to resist, I tackled him. I leaned in with my shoulder, grabbed on and didn't let go."
Matte then took off his belt, securing the man's feet, while instructing other passengers to get the shoes off of him. Matte estimates it took about 45 seconds from the time he woke to the final belting of the man's legs.
The pilots made an emergency landing in Bahrain, where authorities arrested the man without further incident. The Czech airline denied the intervention of anyone outside the crew.
