Ban blow for Italy's Troncon

Alessandro Troncon discovered yesterday that he had punched himself out of the biggest match of his life at Twickenham a week tomorrow, Italy's first before a sell-out 75,000.

A three-man tribunal banned the scrum half for three weeks after his dismissal in Rome last Saturday for laying out his opposite number, Ireland's Peter Stringer.

Scotland offered James Craig new hope yesterday that he may not be a one-cap wonder much longer.

Four years after his fleeting appearance against Australia, the son of ex-Celtic defender Jim Craig is in a 22-man squad for next week's home game against Wales. Ireland welcome back Brian O'Driscoll and Dennis Hickie from injury in place of Mike Mullins and Shane Horgan for their match against France in Dublin. Their opponents will pick from the same 22 who scraped a win over Scotland.

When Wendell Sailor switched codes for Australia this week, his annual salary was originally reported at £270,000. Then it started to come down, as if to keep the other Wallabies sweet.

By last night, it stood at £164,000, some way short of captain John Eales'£210,000.