The following day, IRB chairman Syd Millar came out and stated, off the top of his head it seemed, that the days of the November and summer internationals were coming to a close and that a new biannual tournament could take their place in the coming years. As we all know, the French clubs then issued their intentions on Tuesday and it's dif"cult to believe that all three pronouncements are not in some way linked. Syd, it would appear, was pre-empting the French moaning about not enough time in the calendar for club rugby by assuring them that the International game is likely to be less frequent in the future.

Meanwhile the RFU plans, which they've half denied, show that they have no intention whatsoever of giving Premier Rugby Limited, the umbrella organisation of the 12 Guinness Premiership clubs, 50% of the English shareholding in ERC. In essence, that issue is what the entire dispute with the French boils down to. If both the French and English clubs pulled out of next year's Heineken Cup, there's no way the competition could go ahead and that would leave a complete power vacuum in European Rugby.

In a situation like that, however, the French and English clubs (not their Unions remember) would be in a position to go to the Scottish, Welsh, Italian and Irish Unions and ask them whether they were interested in entering their regions or provinces in a European competition. A new company could in theory be formed, with the shareholding split equally between the four unions still involved and the French and English club organisations. In effect, that would remove the RFU and French Rugby Union from the equation and the European Cup money in both those countries would flow directly to the clubs. The one caveat in all of this, however, is that the Celtic Unions and their Italian cousins are highly unlikely to leave the RFU and French Rugby Union high and dry, which leaves something of a stalemate.

This could go on for quite a while.

LACK OF GROUNDS IS NOT THE GAA'S FAULT We hoped it wouldn't happen, but then again it was bound to. Calls have been made in both Munster and Leinster to make GAA grounds in the respective provinces available for any potential home Heineken Cup quarter-final but it's about time we left the nice people of the GAA alone. If the IRFU and the provincial branches hadn't the foresight to ensure that at least one of their provincial grounds wasn't up to scratch while their main ground was being redeveloped, then it's hardly the GAA's fault.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IRISH RUGBY NUMBER 17 - The New Zealand 'Invincibles' come to Ireland The second touring All Blacks came to Europe in the second half of 1924 and Ireland at Lansdowne Road was the "rst international on their 32match itinerary. The game took place on 1 November and despite a brave Irish performance, the visitors still won by a penalty goal and a try, or six points, to nil. The following week they thrashed Ulster 28-6 in their only other game in Ireland and as the tour progressed, the All Blacks appeared to get better and better. The tourists beat Wales 19-0, England 17-9 and France 30-6, and by the time they returned to their homeland in the early months of 1925, they had posted a record of 32 wins from 32 games. Which explains their moniker.

THE LAW LIBRARY A couple of weeks back we told you about the experimental law variations being tried out in the Scottish Super Cup and after one round of matches in the competition, it would seem that the changes have been reasonably popular. One aspect noted straight away by our spy in Scotland is the increased amount of time the ball spent in open play over the course of a game.

Also, with the tackle area becoming much more competitive, he noted the increased tendency for players to play the ball out of contact, rather than hit the deck and risk losing possession. Our man, however, does warn that players will need to be a good deal fitter if these laws do come into force in the future, and that the rule changes do make union look a little more like league.

RUGBY BY NUMBERS: 304 The number of successful kicks, both penalties and conversions, that Ronan O'Gara has landed in the Heineken Cup for Munster before yesterday's game.

RUGBY POSER ? How many teams competed in the first Heineken Cup in 1995?

MOUTHING OFF. . .

Ireland will compete very well at both the Six Nations and the World Cup.

Whether they will win things I don't know, but what is certain is that Eddie O'Sullivan has his head screwed on in the right way. He won't allow them to look further ahead than the next game IRB chairman Syd Millar admits that he likes the way Eddie O'Sullivan's head (below) is designed. Either that, or he thinks the Irish coach is doing a great job at the moment. We're not sure which This is a heartbreaking decision to have to make but we are convinced that if we did not do this our domestic championship will be dead by 2009 Serge Blanco on the news that French clubs won't be competing in the Heineken Cup next season