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

The Heineken Cup organisers have refused to sanction scheduled tournament appearance payments, plunging European club rugby into an even deeper limbo.

The survivors of the ‘battle of Christchurch’ gathered in Dublin on Saturday night to swap old war stories.

WILLIE JOHN McBride has been voted the greatest ever Lion by best-selling magazine Rugby World – though there is no place in the Top 50 for 2009 captain, Paul O’Connell.