Rugby referee Nigel Owens is more used to dealing with fly-halfs than flight schedules, but yesterday he found himself wading, not for the first time, into the hotly-contested public relations scrum between Ryanair and Aer Lingus.

Brian O'Driscoll has confirmed that he will be fit for Leinster's RaboDirect Pro-12 final against the Ospreys on Sunday.