With Anthony Foley due back from injury in the middle of January, Kidney would have been left with a tricky decision to make regarding the composition of his back row had Quinlan been eligible for action, but now that the Tipperary man is banned, it looks like the durable number eight will come straight back into the starting line-up. Which is funny because Kidney was spared another decision back in October.

At the time, there were calls for Foley to be dropped and Quinlan to come into the side in a reshuffled back row but Kidney was once again spared making a tough decision when his number eight was carried off against Leicester at Welford Road.

If events keep occurring like this, Kidney mightn't have to make a selection decision for the rest of the season.

ANOTHER REASON TO HOPE FOR A BIG YEAR While we complained a few weeks back about some of the sequencing on the official Munster DVD, Munster Rugby - The Brave and the Faithful, we're looking forward to catching a glimpse of any future DVD on the Irish national team over the next 12 months.

Dave Berry, the man who compiled the excellent documentary of Ireland's Triple Crown win back in 2004, has been granted exclusive inside access to the Irish team over the coming year and he's already been out in Portugal this week as the team went through their paces at a warm weather training camp.

We're pretty sure that his efforts won't be allowed to leave the editing room should Ireland have nothing to show for their efforts by the end of the World Cup next October, so we all have yet another reason to keep our fingers crossed over the next 12 months.

CONNACHT BOYS COOK UP A WESTERN STORM The single men on the Connacht rugby team are going to make a lot of women very happy some day. Last week, the majority of the squad were treated to a cookery demonstration by the IRFU's Performance Nutritionist Ruth Wood-Martin at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and we've been reliably informed that the lads were scribbling away furiously as the recipes were created before their very eyes. So what can the ladies of Connacht expect to be served up to them if they're ever so lucky to be invited to an evening's dining with one of the players?

Mexican tortilla wraps, a potato omelette, stir-fry pork with cashew nuts and steak kebabs and egg fried rice are just a few of the dishes the players should know how to cook after the demonstration. Although we wouldn't put our money on that just yet.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IRISH RUGBY NUMBER 14 - Ireland get their first genuine half-backs Rugby Union was an odd old game back in the day. At various points since the inception of the game, flankers did the job of the scrum-half, wingers threw the ball into the line-out, teams lined out with 10 forwards and just the five backs. And it was only back in 1910 that Ireland got their first genuine scrum-half and out-half.

Previously, the half-backs interchanged positions at will (much like a number of French teams still do to this day) but the arrival of Dickie Lloyd and Harry Read into the Irish team changed things dramatically. The pair played for Trinity College but unusually for the period, Read was exclusively a scrum-half and Lloyd an out-half. By the time the pair made their international exits, they'd reinvented the positions.

THE LAW LIBRARY The turn of the year will see a series of IRB experimental laws been tested in Scotland's Premier 1 Club Super Cup. The rules have already been tried out by students at Stellenbosh University over the past 18 months, with some pretty drastic results.

Games played by the students have, according to reports, been far more free-"owing under the experimental laws, with an awful lot more points being put on the scoreboard.

The laws, which include allowing the use of hands in the ruck and permitting teams to collapse the maul, will undoubtedly bother a lot of rugby traditionalists but if they prove a success in Scotland, they could be introduced at some point before the next 2011 World Cup.

The Super Cup competition gets underway on Saturday 6 January and we'll keep you posted on its progress.

WHAT WON'T HAPPEN IN RUGBY THIS WEEK A report authored by Rob Andrew on the way forward for English rugby is leaked to the press. "The only way forward for English rugby is to follow the Irish model, " the confidential document reveals. "The first step is to appoint Brian Ashton as head coach. After one season in charge, Brian will be sacked after a row with the new team manager, and that team manager will then disappear into the sunset after decking a journalist in the toilet of a nightclub.

Appoint a Kiwi and after a bit of success, we'll throw him out midseason having almost beaten the All Blacks and give the job to his ambitious assistant. It worked for Ireland so there's no reason why it won't work here."

RUGBY POSER ? When Brian Ashton was appointed Irish coach in 1997, how long did he sign a contract for?

MOUTHING OFF. . .

"He, as you boys would know, loves playing against Munster, so he will be doing his damnedest to get himself right for that match."

Michael Cheika admits that Felipe Contepomi (right) might just make it back from injury in time to play against his favourite neighbours "In all the sport I was involved with, it was always the rugby guys getting together and having barbecues.

That's why I liked it so much."

Wasps and England flanker Tom Rees explains exactly why he likes rugby. Good to see he's in the sport for the right reasons