Rugby news from around the world

Propper bad luck

London Irish could consider themselves unfortunate at the Madejski stadium yesterday when losing props Neal Hatley and Rob Hardwick in the same passage of play within the first five minutes. One twisted his ankle, the other appeared to suffer a concussion.

The upshot was that Irish had to empty their bench, with replacement hooker Adrian Flavin and prop Doug Wheatley getting an early call. To their credit, Irish managed to draw, 15-15, thanks to five Barry Everitt penalties.

Blackrock lead way

It's been a superb season for Blackrock College in terms of achievement in schools competitions; they won both the Leinster Schools Senior and Junior Cups as well as a host of other trophies.

Adding further distinction and possibly making history is the fact the school provided the captains of the Ireland senior, under-21 and schools team. Brian O'Driscoll is the senior captain, second-row David Gannon led the under-21s and flanker Diarmuid Laffan leads the schools team.

It is doubtful any other school has provided the three captains in the one season.

Grey area for Blacks

It seems the New Zealand RFU may overturn their policy of not picking players who leave the country to play elsewhere. The fact New Zealand teams are struggling for form in the Super 12 has prompted All Blacks coach Graham Henry to seek change.

Henry is pushing to be allowed fast-track New Zealanders playing overseas into his squad for the All Black trial at the beginning of June. His first approach to the NZRU Board has been knocked back but Henry will be given another hearing on his return from Europe, where he met with his co-coaches Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen.

The NZRU Board ruled that to be eligible for All Black selection a player must have participated in the previous season's NPC or Super 12. Former All Blacks based in England like Andrew Blowers and Bruce Reihana are believed to be on Henry's wish list, according to New Zealand's Sunday Star Times newspaper.

At grassroots level, the NZRU has committed a million dollars to counter the drop in youth participation. The lessening in interest among children has been blamed in part on the declining numbers of male teachers with a rugby interest.

Diaspora XV

This column has again been inundated with information about Irish-born players capped for other countries. One contribution is from Steve Knowles, who plays for Luxembourg:

"Nice of my mate Gavin Belton not to mention the rest of the Irish playing international rugby in Luxembourg. Apart from him and Enda there's Rory Guilfoyle, Johnny Orr and myself. I have been capped eight times and scored five tries.

"I played the 2003 RWC qualifiers and we start the 2007 RWC qualifiers next season. Back in Ireland I played with Clontarf. We (Luxembourg) play Bulgaria on April 24th in Lux and Austria in Vienna on the May 8th. This season we already have beaten Bosnia and Lithuania."

Continuing the Luxembourg theme, we were particularly taken with an email from David D'Arcy, who outlines the contribution of a former college buddy who played for the archduchy in the 1980s and 1990s.

D'Arcy writes: "Charles Courlander was born in England but moved to Ireland with his parents at a very young age. Although most of his schooling was in Dublin and Wicklow he spent the last three or four years at the famed Haileybury public school in Hertfordshire . . .

"Charles returned to Ireland to study at Trinity College, at a time when the First rugby team contained in its ranks the likes of Hugo MacNeill and Donal Spring. However, we both failed to make any impression on the teams at the opposite end of the scale, which were sensitively called the Third Cs, Ds and Es to spare their players the embarrassment of playing for the ninths, 10ths and 11ths.

"Fed up with the Blackrock/Terenure/

Belvedere cliques that dominated selection for such teams he turned his attention to other sports that had been on the Haileybury curriculum and represented Trinity at hockey while remaining virtually unbeatable among his classmates on the squash court.

"When work brought him to Luxembourg he joined the only rugby club in the country and may have become the first Irishman to play for the national side when he lined out against Bulgaria in Sofia in April 1989. Although Luxembourg lost a close game he had the satisfaction of scoring his side's only try, for which he was rewarded with seeing his name (of Latvian origin) displayed on the electronic scoreboard in Cyrillic script.

"Shortly afterwards he was part of the first Luxembourg side to win an international match when he played in a stirring encounter against Andorra. He continues to live and work in Luxembourg."

We're also grateful to John O'Lehan, who informed us that Galway-born Jim Berry, who played for UCG, Corinthians and Highfield, captained either Sierra Leone or Liberia to win the African Nations Cup.

We'd be interested to know which. Keep the e-mails coming (josullivan@irish-times.ie).

Spot the difference

Those with a bit of time on their hands and a short attention span might like to check out the lookalikes on the Planet Rugby website (www.planet-rugby.com).

We picked out a few with an Irish aspect: Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Oliver; Simon Easterby and Riley from Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Donal Lenihan and Sam Allardyce; Mick Galwey and Louis van Gaal; Warren Gatland and Bill Clinton; Jeremy Davidson and Buzz Lightyear.

This column will entertain suggestions from readers for further rugby lookalikes.