Other rugby news in brief
Roberts on comeback trail
• Wales centre Jamie Roberts is set to make his comeback on Saturday - just six weeks after suffering a fractured skull.
Roberts has been named among the replacements for Cardiff Blues' Magners League appointment with Leinster.
The 22-year-old was injured during Wales' final autumn Test against Australia following a sickening collision with Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock.
Roberts played on for 15 minutes, not realising the extent of his injury, helping to create a try for wing Shane Williams as Wales triumphed 21-18.
Stuart Mangan appeal charity hike
• Midnight in Dublin city centre can be lively or even dangerous, but tonight will bring a very different spectacle to the capital.
Some 210 people will set off from Dublin Castle at the witching hour to walk the 55 kilometres to Glenmalure Valley in the Wicklow Mountains. The moonlit charity hike is in aid of Stuart Mangan, a young rugby player who broke his neck and will need constant care for the rest of his life.
The event is being dubbed the Art O'Neill Challenge and will retrace the route of the escape of Art and Henry O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell in 1592.
The chief organiser, Gearóid Towey, says the walk has already raised €12,000 for the Stuart Mangan appeal and this could rise significantly as the participants raise individual sponsorship. At 2am a small group of ultra runners will set off to cover the same course.
Towey, an Olympic oarsman who is now studying acting in London, has reason to remember this time of year. On January 8th 2006 he was lucky to escape with his life when the boat in which he was hoping to row across the Atlantic Ocean capsized.
Yesterday, he joked about his continuing inability to avoid big challenges. "You'd think I'd have got sense by now!" said the 31-year-old Corkman.
White moves to Clermont Auvergne
• Jason White will quit Sale Sharks at the end of this season after agreeing a two-year deal with French club Clermont Auvergne.
The former Scotland skipper, currently sidelined because of a finger injury, joined Sale from Glasgow in 2003 and has made more than 100 appearances.
Backrow forward White's departure comes with Sale losing rugby director Philippe Saint-Andre later this year, while lock Sebastien Chabal also looks poised for a move to France.
White, who captained the Sharks last season, has won 69 caps and was an injury replacement for the 2005 Lions in New Zealand.
He will follow the likes of Scotland colleagues Nathan Hines, Chris Cusiter and Simon Taylor, who all currently play their club rugby in France.
White, 30, said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Sale Sharks and I have played with some great players at the club. The highlight of my time here is undoubtedly the Premiership (title) win in 2006."
Tindall on three year drink-drive ban
• England rugby player Mike Tindall was banned from driving for three years and fined €500 yesterday for his second drink-drive offence.
Police had pulled over the 30-year-old Gloucester centre on the M4 motorway in Berkshire on March 15th last year as he was on his way to Twickenham to commentate on England's Six Nations game against Ireland.
Reading Magistrates Court heard that police had spotted Tindall's Range Rover Sport being driven erratically at around 10:45am and apparently exceeding the 70 mph speed limit. The car swerved across all three lanes into Reading Service Station where officers spoke to Tindall and smelt alcohol on his breath.
He said he had not drunk any alcohol since the night before, but was arrested and taken to Newbury police station where a blood test found him over the legal limit.
At the time of the offence, Tindall was out of action with a torn liver, an injury suffered while playing against Wales which left him in intensive care for five days.
His lawyer said a liver specialist had examined Tindall and found his body was poor at getting rid of alcohol.
The player, who admitted the latest offence, was disqualified for 16 months in 2000 over a previous drink-driving incident.
• Samoan Lemi cited
Bristol wing David Lemi has been cited for an alleged dangerous tackle during last Saturday's English Premiership defeat against Northampton.
The Samoa international - alleged to have committed the offence on Saints back Paul Diggin - will face a disciplinary hearing in London next Tuesday.
