Anthony Foley will win his 50th cap when Ireland take on England in Saturday's RBS Six Nations Championship game at Twickenham and Puma have made him a special boot to celebrate the occasion.
Shoeing for Foley
The boot includes the Shannon, Munster and Ireland number eight's name, the number of caps won and the match in which he reached the landmark.
The connection is tenuous, but during the week this column was facing divorce proceedings unless the domestic mountain of match programmes was reduced considerably or packed into boxes.
A couple fell on the floor in transit and they just had to be programmes of Schools internationals dating back to April 4th and 11th, 1992, when Ireland played Scotland in the Sportsground and Wales at Musgrave Park.
Playing number eight for Ireland was one Anthony Foley, in his second season on the team. The previous year he would have toured New Zealand with the Irish Schools, losing the test match to a late Jeff Wilson penalty.
His pen-picture in the programmes reads: "Anthony Foley (St Munchin's College). No 8. (Born 30/10/73). (6'3"). (15st 6lbs). Anthony played for the Irish Schools last season and has represented Munster schools for the last three seasons. He has played hurling for Clare. Hopes for a career in marketing."
Indulging a little further in the nostalgia of those Corinthian days, the following is the team that played against Scotland.
IRELAND: J Bell (Coleraine AI); G Davis (BRA), C de Gascún (Terenure), D Blewitt (Regent House GS), J O'Carroll (Cistercian Roscrea); G Gamble (BRA), C McGuinness (St Mary's); W O'Kelly (St Paul's), J Blaney (Terenure, capt), C Boyd (RBAI), D Moore (Blackrock), R Coveney (Clongowes Wood), J McGovern (Terenure), A Foley (St Munchin's), C Davis (BRA). Replacements: B Begley (Crescent College Comprehensive), J Philpott (Belvedere), K Hillman (RBAI), J Davidson (Methodist College, Belfast), I Cummins (PBC Cork), D Lee (CBC Cork).
Connacht flying
A number of packages have been organised between Connacht Rugby and their official travel agents, Keller Travel of Ballinasloe, for the first leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final against Harlequins at the Stoop in London on Sunday, April 11th.
All packages include air fare, one or two nights' B&B at the four-star Radisson Portman Hotel (near Marble Arch), airport and match transfers included. The single-night trip leaves Dublin airport at 11.20 a.m. and returns on the Sunday, leaving London at 5.40 p.m. That package costs 245 per person (taxes +33) with a match ticket at 20.
The two-night package flies out of Shannon at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday and returns at 3.05 p.m. on Monday. It costs €399, not including taxes of 46 and the match ticket at 20.
Those interested should contact Kelleher Travel at 0909 642131.
Fans branch out
The Connacht rugby supporters club are holding an open meeting in Dublin on Wednesday (7 p.m.) in the Bankers' Club, St Stephen's Green. It's an informal affair but there is a commitment to getting an east-coast-based branch up and running.
They hope to have a couple of players and the usual sprinkling of politicians present, among others.
Blacks humour
Last week this column mentioned a DVD produced by Brian O'Flaherty chronicling Munster's famous victory over New Zealand at Thomond Park in 1978. We recommended it to all Irish rugby supporters, and now, having had a chance to sit back and enjoy it at length, we'd like to rubber stamp that assertion.
There is only a modest amount of footage of the match, about 16 minutes, but many of the principals are interviewed and provide some very humorous anecdotes.
Former All Black legend Andy Haden, one of the best locks ever to play the game, makes a lengthy and amusing contribution, but one story in particular will make people smile.
Though Munster deservedly won the match 12-0, Haden recalls that for him the game did not go too badly as he managed to nick a few of Munster hooker Pa Whelan's throws. He was marking one of the characters of that or any other era, the former Ireland second-row Moss Keane, in the lineout.
Things weren't going so well for Munster and Moss, and Haden cites one incident. "I heard the call 22-34-22 and there was a slight pause before this voice suggested: 'Oh, fuck, not me again.' It was wonderful and made me laugh."
Stu Wilson, the brilliant All Black wing, was interviewed for the DVD and nowadays looks like Michael Douglas's character Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street, complete with the slicked-back hair. Wilson is wonderfully irreverent throughout, including his summation of the thunderous tackle he received from Munster centre Séamus Dennison: "Oh it was very good and quite painful as I recall." Keane's observation was that "Dennison sent him back to Auckland without a plane ticket".
Donal Spring, Donal Canniffe, Graham Mourie, Bryan Williams, Mark Donaldson, the then Munster coach Tom Kiernan, Brendan Foley and Tony Ward are just some of the names that contribute to the DVD.
It's worth recalling that Munster's previous game was a hammering suffered away to Middlesex while the All Blacks had roasted all four previous opponents, including one London Counties team of which Middlesex were only a constituent. Great match, wonderful memories, excellent production.
Kefu stays onside
The Australian Rugby Union has announced that no action will be taken against Queensland Reds player Steve Kefu following his treatment for the viral disorder Bell's palsy.
Kefu was administered prednisone in oral form, a prohibited substance when taken in competition, following expert medical advice that the drug provided his best chance of recovering from the rare form of facial paralysis.
The Queensland Rugby Union advised the ARU, who concluded there had been no breach of their anti-doping laws, which mirror those of the IRB.
ARU officer Matt Carroll said they had examined the case meticulously and under the terms of the relevant bye-law, prednisone was a "prohibited substance" only if used in competition - "in competition" being defined as a time during or shortly after a match.
"Steve Kefu had not competed in a match after he was administered oral prednisone," added Carroll.
