BEALE MAKES A RIGHT WALLABY OF HIMSELF If there's another alcohol story from the southern hemisphere doing the rounds it must mean the Super 14 is back. Last year, at various stages, we brought you news about Scott Fava and Wendell Sailor's drinking escapades (he then progressed to even harder stuff) and this week young Waratahs utility back Kurtley Beale became the latest name to be shamed. The 18-yearold was found guilty of driving two times over the legal limit and was fined $1500 for his troubles.

At least, though, Beale has the support of Wallaby coach John Connolly. "I think he's just a young guy who's made a mistake, " said Knuckles after the court case. "It's a good lesson for the young man. Hopefully it's a bit of a reality dose for him."

LAST WORD NEED NOT END AT 7.00 The rugby coverage on Today FM's The Last Word has long been of the must-hear variety on a Friday night but listeners now have a chance to hear Matt Cooper, our own Neil Francis, Paul Wallace and other guests on Wednesdays throughout the Six Nations thanks to the advent of 'O2's Irish Rugby Podcast on The Last Word with Matt Cooper'.

Although it could do with a snappier title, the content, which will include interviews with Ireland players, is top notch and it's certainly worth a listen on the commute into work. All you technophobes can "nd out how to download the content at www. todayfm. com.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IRISH RUGBY NUMBER 19 - Ireland wear numbers for the "rst time In the early months of 1926, Ireland defeated England 19-15 at Lansdowne Road but a rare victory, as it was then, over the old enemy wasn't the only reason the game has gone down in the history books. For the first time in the history of the sport, Ireland wore numbered jerseys when they took the field at Lansdowne Road. The rest of the five nations fastened onto the trend pretty rapidly but in England there was some variety on Ireland's innovation around the country.

Leicester decided to use lettering instead of numbers, which flowed from A to O, from loose-head prop to full back (with H being the openside flanker, G the number eight), while Bristol's similar alphabetic system went in the opposite direction, from O to A.

As recently as last year, the NSW Waratahs attempted to wear no numbers on their jerseys, just on their shorts, but were banned from doing so by the Super 14 committee. Ireland's decision to don numbers a good 80 years previous was too precious to alter.

THE LAW LIBRARY Last week we threw a whole flurry of stats from the 2006 Six Nations in your general direction and here's a few more to keep you satisfied heading into this afternoon's game at the Millennium Stadium. It's interesting to note, for one, that Ireland were the least penalised team in last season's competition, giving away just 47 penalties over the course of their five games. Wales, meanwhile, conceded 59 penalties over the same number of fixtures. If that trend keeps up, you can expect Ireland to be awarded two more penalties than Wales this afternoon, which could be crucial if those two offences occur in the home side's half. Other statistics show that referees from both hemispheres (New Zealand's Kelvin Deaker officiates today) awarded roughly the same amount of penalties per game, and that the Television Match Official (TMO) was used in six of the 15 Six Nations games. In all, the TMO was referred to on 11 separate occasions over the course of the tournament.

RUGBY BY NUMBERS - 111 The number of times Ireland and Wales have met in international fixtures. The first game between the countries, which ended in a draw, took place on 28 January 1882 at Lansdowne Road.

Overall, Wales have won 61 encounters, Ireland 44.

RUGBY POSER Who is the oldest starting Irish player at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon?

Ans MOUTHING OFF. . .

Hopefully he'll be back in the loop next week but it is a suck-it-and-see situation The Irish coach introduces another 'Eddieism' to the public We can't play, we can't input to it, we can't in"uence things and that's a bit frustrating Keven Mealamu admits his annoyance at not being able to take part in the opening rounds of the Super 14's because of All Black reconditioning training