Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline...

There are four Irish coaches responsible for the fortunes of non-Irish teams in this season’s Heineken Cup and, by a quirk of fate, three of them will be plotting the downfall of Irish teams in round two this weekend.

NEVER mind the congratulations for his call-up to the Lions squad in New Zealand, the first thing Simon Easterby received from his Ireland colleagues was a 2,000 yen fine for leaving the Japan-bound squad early.