Planet Rugby: On the same weekend that Leinster and Munster proved victorious in Heineken European Cup quarter-finals, another Irish team were in the thick of international action, though it failed to grab headlines.
In the sports hall of the Irish Wheelchair Association in Clontarf, the Gaelic Warriors wheelchair team hosted sides from Nottingham, Newcastle and Cardiff, their home matches in the 2006 British and Irish League.
The Triple Crown won by Brian O'Driscoll and co was on display in the hall for the weekend, but however much it inspired them, the home team still lost to their more experienced rivals.
The Warriors, who signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Ulster Bank, headed for Germany the following weekend and the Bernd Best tournament in Cologne. It is the biggest club tournament in Europe and the Warriors won the Advanced League division in 2005, therefore gaining promotion to the Professional League this year.
The Irish lost to the Rugbears from Munich (42-41) and to the eventual winners, ETAC Seagulls from Sweden, but did manage to beat the Dutch Crashing Dream Team (45-27) and the Newcastle Bulls. To round off the weekend the Warriors beat a Dutch team, Scorpions 1, eventually finishing fifth in the tournament.
Those interested in learning more about wheelchair rugby can check out the Warriors website at www.gaelicwarriors.com
Higgins takes rap
Bath's feisty young wing Andrew Higgins has received a stern letter of warning over his onfield conduct after his display of petulance in the Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final. It is not the first time he has courted controversy.
Higgins was sinbinned for a professional foul, his fourth yellow card of the season (he has seen red once), and visibly and audibly showed his disapproval of Scottish referee Malcolm Changleng over the incident.
He told the Bristol Evening Post newspaper in a recent interview, "I've just had a letter from the (English) RFU saying, 'you are not allowed to publicly show your anger at the referee's decisions'. That's fair enough, I agree with that completely. And in that Llanelli game I did, I publicly showed my anger.
"It is frustrating when decisions you don't think are correct go against you. It's frustrating and it's always going to be frustrating, but I don't think it affects the rest of my game. You can have aggression and you can be as competitive as you want, but it's about the verbal side."
Higgins did, though, point out the obvious, something that escapes many players: the referee is right even when he is wrong. "Once a ref has made a decision he's not going to change it, even if he's clearly wrong. It's about learning to deal with that, and I think I can."
This case does highlight rugby union's respect for referees, one of the most admirable aspects of the sport.
Kaino back in action
While Leinster's Jamie Heaslip goes from strength to strength in his first full professional season, a fact illustrated most recently by his man-of-the-match performance against the Llanelli Scarlets, a young adversary from his underage days is about to rejoin the sport after a year on the sidelines through injury.
Jerome Kaino was named under-21 World Player of the Year when Heaslip made the shortlist of five. They met in the Under-21 World Cup final at Hughenden, Glasgow, in 2004, a match the All Blacks won. Kaino was then taken on tour the following autumn by the senior New Zealand side.
He has, however, had a torrid last 12 months, with a shoulder requiring surgery post-2005 NPC, and the athletic 23-year-old is understandably looking forward to getting back into action next week.
Dr Vioreanu on call
Last weekend, the popular former DLSP and Romanian international Mihai Vioreanu sent the following letter to the club in an effort to raise funds for a young compatriot paralysed in a tragic rugby accident.
"A few weeks back during a trial match for the Romanian U-19 one of the hookers . . . suffered a severe spinal-cord injury and remained paralysed from the neck down.
"Spinal-cord injuries in rugby are a reality still. They are extremely rare injuries . . . In Ireland the incidence is 1.2 per 90,000 players per year. In the last 10 years we had here 12 similar injuries.
"In Australia and New Zealand the figures are slightly higher, 3.5 in 100,000. All the regulations and new rules are implemented to limit and reduce such injuries."
Vioreanu, a medical doctor, ran a marathon in Rome - posting 3 hours and 46 minutes - to raise funds for the injured player. He also received 600 from DLSP when he attended a function there recently - and in the letter offers thanks for their support.
If you would like to help, contact DLSP for further details.
