Ireland are punished with trip to Siberia

How absurd that Keith Wood and Co, the men who wrecked the English Grand Slam last year and almost beat the All Blacks in Dunedin this year, should be made to go to such lengths.

The cost is pretty absurd, too. As well as hiring their own aircraft to avoid what otherwise might have been a 24-hour journey, the Irish Rugby Union have to hire a Russian navigator, presumably to point them in the right direction afterrefuelling in Moscow.

The Irish reckon they will lose £200,000. 'While the costs are enormous, logistically it's a complete nightmare,' said chief executive Philip Browne. 'We have to take our medicine and get on with it but, as an employer, we are mindful we have a duty to treat our players in a reasonable manner.'

Ah, player welfare, the very subject on which the Board spared no expense in flying the great and the good to the Dublin conference, hence the recommendation that players are given a minimum 12-week summer break. They will be lucky to get 12 days next year.

Player welfare? Wales, for instance, will play so many internationals during the 12 months from November that nobody is sure of exactly how many.

England, who will be expected to go all the way for no better reason than that they are England, have so many dates on their fixture list that they can only fulfil them all by sending a second XV to Romania and Japan.

At least three times more Tests are played worldwide annually than 10 years ago, a fact which poses an increasing threat to the credibility of the Test match. Between now and the end of the World Cup, England will play a maximum of 20 Tests, Scotland a minimum of 17 and Ireland anything up to 25.

The Board have steadfastly refused to clamp a limit on the number of internationals, a failure which may have something to do with their paranoia, lest rugby should ape soccer, where club tends to matter more than country.

The North-South Hemisphere match in November is another example of squeezing still more into a congested calendar and yet the clamour to get rugby into the Olympics persists.

Elsewhere, the English Premiership are promoting a four-club European playoff at the end of the season - a completely superfluous event given that the clubs ought to have qualified for Europe, or not, with their final Premiership position.

At least someone has seen a bit of sense. European Rugby Cup Ltd came to the reluctant conclusion yesterday that now is not the time to promote the Super Cup between the champions of Europe and the Super 12.