A couple of weeks back Against the Head was "icking through the Munster v Borders programme and we came across what we presumed to be a faux pas from Director of Celtic Rugby David Jordan in his note to supporters. Jordan spoke about how important the Magners League was becoming . . . blah, blah, blah . . .

and then stated: "It was of particular signi"cance when Munster's captain, Paul O'Connell (right), was asked what the next ambition for his team was and answered 'to win our domestic competition'."

At that point in time, we all presumed Anthony Foley would be the Munster captain for the coming season and that Jordan had made an understandable mistake but as this week's announcement con"rmed, O'Connell will actually be the man wearing the captain's armband for the Heineken Cup champions this season. All of which makes us think that maybe David Jordan knows a hell of a lot more than we give him credit for. We'll be avid readers of his programme notes from now on.

TRYING TIME FOR TRIALISTS

Little positive news for the trialists we highlighted on these pages a few weeks ago. James Downey, who had been doing more than a half decent job for Munster over the past couple of weeks, has been let go by the province and has linked up with Italian side Calvisano.

August Collins, meanwhile, appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth, or at the very least, gone back to Wellington, while Andy Dunne still appears as far off an appearance in Leinster's squad as ever. Michael Berne now "ts into that category, despite providing Michael Cheika with a decent direct running option in the past few weeks. The Australian centre was omitted from the 22 to play Connacht as Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll returned to action for the "rst time this season and you can't help but feel sorry for the guy, who performed admirably well over the season's "rst three games. But that's the harsh world of professional rugby, there's no room for sentiment whatsoever.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IRISH RUGBY NUMBER 3 . . .

Munster get equal representation on the IRFU committee Ever wonder where that Munster sense of hardship came from? Back in the 1880s the IRFU was formed and the Leinster and Ulster Branches ruled the roost. It was decreed in the Union's forming notes that Munster could be a member of the new ruling body but there was one condition. It is decided by the two in"uential provinces that the southern province wouldn't be entitled to full IRFU committee representation until the Munster senior side either drew with or defeated one of the sacred two.

You can only imagine what that stipulation did for the psyche of rugby people in the province and later that very year, Munster beat Leinster for the very "rst time to claim their full IRFU representation.

They remember it well in Munster.

THE LAW LIBRARY Serial Celtic League watchers have been perplexed by the refereeing of Scottish brothers David and Malcolm Changleng over the past couple of seasons and while we thought the pair (or at least one of them) would get better over time, instead, they continued to baf"e with their interpretations of the law. Last week at Stradey Park, David was the one in charge and Michael Cheika, for one, wasn't one bit happy with the whistler's performance. During one period of play, a series of Changleng decisions prompted one member of the press pack to ask whether the law on unplayable ball at a ruck had been changed during the summer.

It was a valid point because Changleng appeared to be awarding the scrum to the defending team, not the attacking team, when the ball became unplayable on the ground. It turns out, though, there's been no change, it was just a Changleng interpretation of things because the law book (16.7a) still reads: "A ruck ends unsuccessfully when the ball becomes unplayable and a scrum is ordered. The team that was moving forward immediately before the ball became unplayable in the ruck throws in the ball. If neither team was moving forward, or if the referee cannot decide which team was moving forward before the ball became unplayable in the ruck, the team that was moving forward before the ruck began throws in the ball." We'll forward him a copy.

YOUR 30 WORDS' WORTH

Apart from a few rants about our mate David Changleng, Against the Head readers have been pretty quiet this week. Or have been doing some work for a change. This week we'd like to open the "oor to contributions in asking what laws would you like to see amended, or added, when the moratorium on law changes ends after the 2007 World Cup.

Email ccronin@tribune. ie with your 30-word contribution.

RUGBY POSER. . .

Who captained Munster in their "rst ever Heineken Cup match?

MOUTHING OFF. . .

'It is a privilege to work alongside Paul; he is a new voice, an outstanding player and an undoubted captain of Ireland in the future' Anthony Foley gives his express approval of Munster (and possibly Ireland's) new captain 'I like the French lifestyle and there's de"nitely something attractive about waking up every morning and seeing that big yellow dot in the sky shining down on you. But I'm fully committed to Leinster and very happy here' Brian O'Driscoll (right) professes to being fully happy at Leinster, despite providing the French Tourist Board with a new advertising slogan