The retired arose and appeared to many. Peter Clohessy turned up for the Heineken European Cup launch in Dublin this week and in contrast to those still involved, he didn't have to be too careful with his words.
Claw tells it like it was
"In the early stages when we travelled to France it was more of a social weekend," he recalled. "We used to go out, get the shit kicked out of us and then go out afterwards. In 1995 we didn't stand a chance but credit to the IRFU, they brought in a greater professionalism. We always had heart but with the move to full-time training and a few wins we grew in confidence."
Scrummaging has changed too. "Players got bigger and stronger. I couldn't have continued at tighthead so like Reggie (Corrigan), I took the easy option and finished at loosehead," he said, nodding toward the smiling Leinster captain.
Aside from his bar, Small Claws on Lower Shannon Street, and his nightclub, The Sin Bin on Howley's Quay, Clohessy has a 72-acre farm on which he has 40 bullocks and spends most of his spare time horse-riding.
He still goes to Munster's home matches in Europe, but asked if he enjoys them, admitted: "Not particularly. It's worse watching them than playing with them."
Fly boys always on go
Virtually anyone involved in topflight rugby these days, what with TV-dictated, staggered kick-offs right through the weekend, must rack up the air miles. Take the Irish management, who linked up in CityWest on Thursday, with forwards coach Niall O'Donovan and team manager Brian O'Brien flying to Cardiff on Friday morning, then driving on to London on Saturday morning, from where O'Donovan flew to Glasgow.
As there was no flight home until tea-time last night, it would have been well into Sunday night before he returned home to Limerick. But the least enviable case was surely that of Leinster's operations manager, Dave McHugh.
Following Leinster's defeat in Cardiff he drove overnight to Stansted for a 6 am flight to Treviso to video their 47-24 home win over SKG Gran Parma and check out team hotels, returning home yesterday. These kind of itineraries can't exactly do much for your social life.
O'Concrete floors Bath
After their opener in Treviso, Leinster's second European opponents, at Lansdowne Road, are Bath, who experienced a strong sense of déjà vu when kept at bay by Wasps' extraordinary defence in a 19-16 home defeat; Johnny O'Connor (or Johnny O'Concrete as he's known nowadays over there) putting in another tackling tour de force.
Leinster's third opponents, Bourgoin, beat Brive 37-16 at home to move up to seventh place in France, although they are only four points behind joint leaders Perpignan and Toulouse, who went down 22-0 at Pau and 26-22 at Clermont Auvergne respectively. Indeed, for the second week running in the French Top 16, there wasn't one away winner.
The closest any team came was Stade Francais, Ulster's back-to-back opponents after the autumn internationals. Fabien Galthie's French champions earned a seven-all draw at Castres to remain level with Munster's back-to-back opponents in early December, three points off the pace in joint fourth.
Matches for sale
The disturbing possibility of a host union selling its allocation of Rugby World Cup matches raised its head this week, with the Scotland Rugby Union considering offering up its matches for the 2007 World Cup to the highest bidder, in an attempt to ease the financial pressure it is experiencing. Wales have emerged as willing buyers, although the idea is sure to incur the ire of main hosts France, and perhaps the RWC.
Clubs may stymie Scots
Scotland coach Matt Williams is livid with a move by English clubs to keep their Scottish stars out of the November 6th Test against Australia in Glasgow. The clubs say the game doesn't fall on an international weekend, and as such players like Tom Smith, Stuart Grimes and Jason White could be missing from the line-up. Williams has labelled the move "a disgrace", and has called on the clubs to rethink their position.
A similar rift has developed between Wales and Toulouse over the release of their newly appointed captain, Gareth Thomas, for their international on the same day against the Springboks. The WRU claim the IRB have confirmed club players must be released that weekend and have written to French federation president Bernard Lapasset.
Good cause
The Cork CABAS School has been selected as the designated charity for the Munster Supporters Club pre-match function prior to Saturday's Euro opener against Harlequins.
The Cork CABAS School is part of pilot project examining the effectiveness of Applied Behavioural Analysis in the education of autistic children.
The pre-match lunch will be in Dolan's Bar, Dock Road, Limerick, before the Harlequins match. Tickets, including lunch, are 20. There will be a question-and-answer session with Tony Ward and Ned van Esbeck with Len Dineen as MC. Members should email prematch@munsterrugby.ie.
Competition time again
The Irish Times, in conjunction with Leinster Rugby, are offering five lucky families (2 adults, 2 children) tickets for all three home European Cup matches at Lansdowne Road, against Bath (October 30th), Bourgoin (December 4th) and Treviso (January 14th-16th). Email information@leinsterrugby.ie with the answer to this week's question. Who is the most capped player in the Leinster squad? Include name, address and telephone number. The judges' decision is final. The winners will be announced on www.leinsterrugby.ie on Wednesday.
