Political footballClontarf rugby club are hoping to negotiate a deal for an undisclosed sum with the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to attend all the first team's home games over the next three seasons.

The decision was taken in the wake of last Saturday's events which saw Ahern turn-up at Castle Avenue, a fact that coincided with Clontarf beating Terenure College 35-0.

There would be a stipulation in any contract agreed that Bertie wouldn't actually stay for the match as he didn't do on Saturday. He would be free to attend the pre-match function, in the marquee no less, and help himself, metaphorically speaking of course, to some gift grub.

Of course Clontarf would have to come up with a different reason on each occasion of his fortnightly visits to Castle Avenue. At the weekend, the Taoiseach was present to cut the tape on a couple of new dressing rooms and a brand new corridor. The club were quick to deny the rumour that Joe Duffy had been approached initially, pointing out that it was a bit of gossip started by a woman from Clontarf.

Web worth waiting for

The Leinster Branch confirmed the launch of their new website recently - it can be found at www.leinsterrugby.ie - and due to the horrendous circumstances and stress under which this column has to operate, it could not find the time to cast an eye over the site for last week's column.

However, having been given time off for good behaviour, it was possible to peruse Leinster rugby's new offering. It's pretty well laid out and the links are easy to follow but there are obviously some teething problems.

It is expected that the site will be updated on a daily basis starting within the next 10 days and so for those who may require the site for statistics or to download player profiles, it would be better to wait until that time period has elapsed.

For example, some of the current player profiles have not been updated since the start of January and there is a technical glitch with the Leinster League tables that needs to be ironed out. Some pictures in the on line shop are missing (very important if you want to see what you're buying) so again it's probably more prudent to bide your time.

However, it is possible to purchase tickets on line for Ireland's Six Nations Championship game against Italy at Lansdowne Road next month. According to the site, those will be available to buy from 9.0 this morning. One obvious attraction of the site is the deal concluded with Ross O'Carroll-Kelly to contribute a regular column. It will kick off with his account of a trip, taken with his cousin, to watch a Provincial Towns Cup match.

Wanderers get going

Those folks down Merrion Road way probably raised a glass or two on Saturday night in celebration. The occasion was Wanderers breaking their duck, so to speak, by recording their first victory of the season in Division Two of the AIB League. All 47 teams in the three divisions of the league had at least one victory to their names prior to the weekend.

It looked like Wanderers were going to be left on the shelf for at least another week especially as they had to travel to Rosbrien where they would face Old Crescent, currently third in Division Two. Undaunted though, they produced the performance of the weekend, to claim a 13-10 victory.

It wasn't a great weekend though for two other clubs, Carlow and Young Munster. They became the first two clubs in any of the three divisions to concede over 300 points to date for the season. Carlow shipped 44 against Shannon to take their tally to 305, a mark they share with Young Munster following the latter's 24-13 defeat to Galwegians.

Semi-final saga

The Leinster Schools Senior Cup semi-finals were originally scheduled for Lansdowne Road early next month. They were then informally switched to Donnybrook simply because of the condition of the Lansdowne Road surface.

Given the traffic that's due to go through headquarters during next month, which includes two Six Nations games, it was decided that Donnybrook would host the semi-finals between St Mary's College and Castleknock College and Cistercian College Roscrea and Belvedere College.

That may now not be the case for the Leinster schools committee have not yet abandoned hope of persuading the IRFU to change its mind and approve the use of Lansdowne Road for the semi-finals. A decision will be taken and revealed some time this week to bring an end to the saga.

Irish left waiting

Rassie Erasmus may not after all be on his way to London Irish. Although he signed a contract with Irish, there is a get-out clause should he make the South African squad under the new Springbok coach (whoever gets the position) in June.

Erasmus had been promised a contract by the outgoing coach Harry Viljoen and the South African rugby union has decided to honour it. Erasmus will play with the Cheetahs until the end of the season but will leave for London Irish if the new Springbok coach does not include him in the squad for the Tri-Nations series. Erasmus is currently trying to recover from a foot injury that will keep him out of Super 12 action for a further two weeks.

No stone unturned

Speaking of the New South African coach, an announcement will be made as to his identity next Saturday. The executive committee of SA rugby meet in Cape Town today to discuss and evaluate the candidates for the post and they will make a recommendation to the full board of SA Rugby. The four candidates are Allister Coetzee, Rudy Joubert, Rudolf Straeuli and Jake White.

The executive committee will receive the report of the chairman of the Technical Committee, André Markgraaff, who interviewed the candidates on technical aspects of coaching. They will also receive a report on the psychometric tests conducted by Elna van Niekerk of FNB's human resources department. The South African Rugby Players' Association (SARPA) also canvassed the opinion of the players. They sent a questionnaire to the four Super 12 regions and received 110 responses.

SARPA met with Rian Oberholzer on Monday and gave him a merit list of the players' choice of coach, pointing out that the players' choice was obviously limited by the announcement of the short-list of four coaches before their voting.

Oberholzer told SARPA that there was no haste in making the appointment. We watch with interest.