McAllister for Lions: Leinster haven't quite completed their full quota of contracts for next season but one player who has joined the set-up is former Ireland Schools and under-21 international outhalf David McAllister (Clontarf).
Educated at Terenure College, where he was on a winning and losing team in successive Leinster Schools' Senior Cup finals, he played for the Terenure club before moving on to Clontarf.
McAllister comes into the squad in place of Matt Leek. It appears a couple of others, Niall Breslin and Aidan Kearney, are to quit full-time rugby in favour of a "proper" day job, with Lansdowne flanker Niall Ronan one of the likely beneficiaries. It appears only two players, Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and prop Emmet Byrne, have yet to sign contracts.
Harrison has his say
It seems New South Wales Waratahs lock Justin Harrison has become embroiled in another verbal dust-up. He was the target of England's Austin Healey during the Lions tour to Australia in 2001 - Healey described him as an "ape" and a "plank". It seems Harrison was quite prepared to trade insults with his former coach David Nucifora, recently let go as coach to the ACT Brumbies. Nucifora had allegedly been instrumental in sending Harrison to the Waratahs, deeming him surplus to requirements at the Brumbies.
Harrison is reported as saying: "He didn't feel much for me so I'm not feeling much for him. Parting words were said last year when he said I wasn't required there any more. So I've moved on well and truly from devoting any mental energy to Nucifora."
Not to be outdone Nucifora responded: "I said we weren't going to enter into any verbal stoushes with them and predicted all the talk would come out of Sydney, so that's pretty right."
Put down those handbags, please.
Kronfeld falls short
Former All Blacks and Leicester flanker Josh Kronfeld is known for his wide-ranging interests. The legendary flanker is a keen surfer and is particularly into his music, but he recently also displayed thespian tendencies.
Kronfeld made a short list of 12 to play a 100-foot gorilla in the upcoming film blockbuster King Kong. Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson, fresh from his triumph with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, held auditions for men with "exceptionally long arms". All those years of toiling on the ground in rugby matches obviously helped Kronfeld, but unfortunately he didn't get the nod from his fellow Kiwi Jackson. Others were deemed better qualified to stunt-double for the skyscraper-scaling simian. Still, he'll probably keep his hand in, in the future.
Ashbourne on fire
Congratulations to the Ashbourne ladies' rugby team, who recently beat Blackrock College in the final of the All-Ireland Plate at Clonmel. It represents the biggest achievement in the club's 11-year history and no doubt will be a springboard to future honours. Ashbourne beat Blackrock 5-3 in a tense game, the winners hanging on for dear life at the end. Blackrock had led 3-0, but Justine Walsh grabbed the all-important try.
Kiwis do homework
It's not simply by accident that New Zealand unearths generations of great players. Recently New Zealand's top under-17 players attended a training camp in Palmerston North, some 46 of them having been identified as having the potential to excel at a higher grade in future.
New Zealand Schools' selectors watched with interest as they prepare for games in New Zealand against Japan and Australia later this year. The New Zealand Schools' team will also tour the Pacific Islands in 2004.
Their Ireland counterparts head for Australia this summer.
Evans crosses lines
This column must confess to telling a fib when it said there would be no more stories about Irishmen playing for other countries.
We couldn't leave out an amusing submission sent by Brother Timothy McGrath of Glenstal Abbey School in Limerick.
He wrote: "A recent past student of Glenstal Abbey, Luke Evans, played for Austria against the Czech Republic. Before the game commenced, some of the cameras panned to him as he stood rigidly to attention for the national anthem, his right fist squelching the jersey over his heart in the familiar patriotic mode.
"One might have sworn that he was weeping with passion, his face was so contorted with deep concentration. The only problem was that it was the Czech anthem to which he was displaying such fervour!"
And finally, here's a missive from Jim Clancy: "Sligoman Gavin Macarthur has been selected in the first full Tanzanian national rugby squad for internationals against Burundi on May 1st and Rwanda in June. Although the Cliffony-born lecturer hadn't played since turning out for Barnhall thirds in 1999, he returned to rugby after moving to Dar es Salaam last year to complete research for his Ph.D thesis in anthropology.
"After joining Tanzanian Super League side Leopards, Gavin was selected for the Tanzanian team at loosehead prop for the Hima Tens tournament in Uganda last October. Tanzania finished fifth of 16 representative sides.
"Gavin used to play on the wing with Sligo Grammar in his school days, but because he has gained a few pounds and lost a couple of yards of pace since then, he has moved to the forwards. He also represented Maynooth College in water polo in the early 1990s.
"The Tanzanian Rugby Union was formed in 2001 and the Super League, comprising three teams, was formed last year. The sport is beginning to catch on in the east African nation and national coach Tinus Aucamp observed: 'There is a bit of rugby fever among the three clubs at present, and it is very good to see how they compete against each other, as well as how the different communities support the clubs.'
"Aucamp hopes Tanzania can some day reach the standards of neighbouring nations such as Kenya and Uganda, who have IRB rankings of 50 and 68, respectively."
