Smal was the overwhelming favourite to succeed Pieter de Villiers but he is intent on seeing out his contract with Ireland which expires at the end of the 2012-2013 season.

Read the article here…

A week later they will bring international rugby back to Christchurch at the redeveloped Rugby League Park before a final game pencilled in for the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton June 23rd.

Ireland will also play a match against the Barbarians in the week prior to departing for New Zealand – the date and venue for that game have yet to be confirmed.

IRB WORLD RANKINGS (as of Monday, October 24):

Last week’s positions in brackets -

1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.43 rating points
2(2) AUSTRALIA 87.42
3(3) FRANCE 84.70
4(4) SOUTH AFRICA 84.34
5(5) ENGLAND 81.58
6(7) IRELAND 80.65
7(8) ARGENTINA 80.28
8(6) WALES 80.18
9(9) TONGA 76.63
10(10) SCOTLAND 76.20
11(11) SAMOA 75.81
12(12) ITALY 73.99
13(13) CANADA 72.92
14(14) GEORGIA 71.09
15(15) JAPAN 70.45
16(16) FIJI 68.78
17(17) USA 65.63
18(18) ROMANIA 63.98
19(19) NAMIBIA 61.24
20(20) PORTUGAL 60.67

Despite relying on foreigners to open the scoring their were strong performances from your Munstermen looking for a place in the Irish setup in World Cup year.

Felix Jones justified his selection showing a different style to Rob Kearney who is expected to be the natural selection. Conor Murray has staved off Peter Stringer for the Munster number 9 shirt since O’Leary was ruled out through injuries and put in a solid performance.

Murray probably won’t get much playing time in New Zealand with O’Leary, Murray, Reddan and Boss all looking for spaces it would be no surprise if Pete Stringer wasn’t picked.

Add these Munster youngsters in wiht the Leinster names you’re already familiar with (Sean O’Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Jonathan Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald and Fergus McFadden) and you have to say Ireland have a bright future!

Rugby was last played at the 1924 Paris Olympics, when a row erupted after game between France and America. In Stade Colombes about 40,000 French supporters were amazed to see their side beaten by what was considered a week American side 17-3. A couple of French players were floored by suspicious American activities and the booing and hissing continued for the rest of the match. Trouble started on the terraces where “The Star Spangled Banner” was drowned out by booing, an American spectator was knocked out by a walking stick and the police had to escort the Americans from the field at the end of the game!

Fortunately it appears England, Scotland and Wales will amalgamate to form team GB and are not roping in Northern Ireland where athletes can declare for Ireland if they wish.

Injuries to Rob Kearney, Geordan Murphy, Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Shane Horgan, Jamie Heaslip, Stephen Ferris, John Hayes and Jerry Flannery all mean Ireland are making new call-ups, calling in from the Irish Wolfhounds and rethinking decisions.

In World Cup year when the Six Nations can be a strange affair, this may not be a bad thing for Irish Rugby.

15 – Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 – Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 – Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 – Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 – Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 – Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
1 – Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 – Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
3 – John Hayes (Buff/Munster)
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 – Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
6 – John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:

16 – John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster) *
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
18 – Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster) *
19 – Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
20 – Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 – Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
22 – Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers)

* Denotes uncapped player

Horgan was a late withdrawal from Ireland 29-23 defeat to a stomach bug that saw him heading to hospital instead.

McFadden has a broken jaw which will require surgery and a six to eight week recovery.

Flannery is staying put to allow the leg injury that saw him substituted at Thomond Park to recover..

“I am like the Queen this year,”
“My official birthday is June 6 but I was celebrating it on June 2, the most convenient date.”

480 people agreed with him!