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Contepomi philosophical

Leinster captain Felipe Contepomi was philosophical in the aftermath of his side's crushing 30-28 defeat to Bourgoin at the Stade Pierre Rajon, remaining defiant that the Irish province's interest in the remainder of the tournament was far from academic.

He first spoke of the mistakes that had cost the team dearly. "If you take them as a teaching lesson you can grow a lot. It's not about the last penalty of the last minute. It's about the tries we gave up. Then you pay hard for that. We had a go and that's important. Another time we might have surrendered, said that we were in France and made some excuses. Here we don't have excuses.

"The attitude was good and we are getting better in the type of game that we want to play. That's the most important thing."

He conceded that the Leinster dressingroom was a quiet place in the aftermath of that defeat. "(We are) more than disappointed, gutted. We came back strongly and nearly had the victory but couldn't nail it. We have to keep on looking forward because this is a new type of rugby that we are playing and we have to try and build it up.

"It's hard to speak when you lose (in the) last minute. We are not out of it mathematically. One thing for sure this team will not give up. Hopefully, we can have a happy ending."

Backing for cup

New Zealand Rugby Union deputy chief executive Steve Tew is doing his bit to guarantee the status of next summer's Churchill Cup, which takes place in the US and Canada. The tournament will see A teams from Ireland, England and Scotland compete with the US, Canada and the New Zealand Maoris in two separate pools in America and Canada.

Tew pointed out: "We are delighted to be in a position where we can help the growth of rugby in Canada and the United States. It is important for the world game that developing rugby nations get a chance to play international rugby sides and the competition certainly offers them that opportunity."

England A will be guided by former Ireland and incoming Bath coach Brian Ashton.

He admitted: "I will be expecting a series of outstanding performances from each player at the Churchill Cup - the sort of performance that makes the opposition realise that England are different and difficult to play. It is absolutely vital that we have these England A games."

This is a view shared by the IRFU who view this tournament as an opportunity to blood the young players of the future in a competitive environment.

Rallying call for Bourgoin

Prior to Saturday's match between Bourgoin and Leinster the freesheet newspaper dedicated to the local rugby team, L'Esprit-XV, carried a rallying call from the team's sponsor Pierre Martinet. In it he called for the supporters to remember that "Stade Pierre Rajon is an impenetrable citadel that has not known a defeat in the French Championship throughout the campaigns in the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons."

What he didn't mention was the fact that the last team to defeat Bourgoin at the aforementioned fortress was none other than Leinster a little over 11 months ago during last season's European Cup campaign. Unfortunately for the Irish province Bourgoin exacted a measure of revenge for that defeat by beating Leinster 30-28 on Saturday.

Award for Peclier

Bourgoin fullback Alexandre Peclier who was sinbinned along with Leinster captain Felipe Contepomi for a bout of unscheduled wrestling during Saturday's game is obviously a more temperate person than those actions appear to suggest.

At the interval in the recent France-South Africa Test match he was awarded the lauriers de l'ethique, in recognition of an outstanding gesture of sportsmanship in last season's French Championship match against Biarritz in the south of France. He drew attention to an injured Biarritz player whom the referee had not noticed by stopping the game.

Scrum not counted

We couldn't help but giggle when we received this email, noted in an English newspaper with regard to post-match dissertations at the November Test match between England and Australia.

The following represents the priceless exchange from an interview with Eddie Jones, the now former Australia rugby union coach. Jones, defending the Wallabies' defeat by England: "If you take the scrum out of the equation, we played well." Mike Carlton (Australian broadcaster): "If you take the assassination out of the equation, the president and Mrs Kennedy quite enjoyed the drive from Dallas to the airport."