Exclude me, if you will, from the ranks of the ‘media toerags’ whose foul agendas were purportedly dashed in Abbotstown on Wednesday night.

France captain Thierry Dusautoir has been named International Rugby Board player of the year at a ceremony in Auckland.

THE All Blacks never forgave Stephen Donald for the missed touch kick which ultimately condemned them to defeat by Australia in Hong Kong this time last year.

A couple in Britain are celebrating after beating odds of 133,225-1 by having a baby son on the birthday they themselves share.

FRANCE number eight Imanol Harinordoquy is the only player from the northern hemisphere to make the six-man shortlist for the International Rugby Board’s Player of the Year award.

France number eight Imanol Harinordoquy is the only player from the northern hemisphere to make the six-man shortlist revealed today for the International Rugby Board’s Player of the Year award.

Australia’s forgotten man Berrick Barnes has been recalled to the starting line-up for Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup game against New Zealand in Melbourne.

I AM astounded that Brian O’Driscoll has been sensationally passed over for the International Rugby Board player of the year award for 2009 in favour of New Zealand’s Richie McCaw.

South African rugby chiefs and several Springbok players have been punished following a controversial protest during this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour.

SCHALK BURGER has been recalled to the South Africa squad for the next stage of their Tri-Nations campaign, following the eight-week ban he picked up during the British and Irish Lions tour of the country.

THINK BACK to the really competitive rugby sides over the last 30 years and the one constant in all those teams was a second row combination that complemented each other and competed as a united force.

WALES coach Warren Gatland has hailed nominations for two of his Grand Slam stars to contest the IRB’s prestigious player of the year award.

A WARM Australian smile and handshake greets you when you inform Luke Burgess you’re Irish because the new Wallaby scrumhalf isn’t shy to talk about his Irish roots — and it’s quite a lineage.

South Africa prop Os du Randt was happy to call time on his distinguished career just moments after joining a select band of players to have won two World Cups.

AUSTRALIAN coach Kevin Sheedy claims International Rules football is “the fastest game in the world”.

AUSTRALIA skipper George Gregan’s international future is likely to come under renewed scrutiny after the Wallabies’ laboured 20-18 win over South Africa in the Tri-Nations.

FRIDAY sees one of the most formidable collection of legends in one room since Homer sat down to write the Odyssey.

THE SURVIVING 22 Munster Rugby Lions - and the three Wallace brothers, Richard, Paul and David in particular - will be honoured at a corporate lunch at the Maryborough House Hotel, Cork, on January 27.

Keith Wood became the sixth Ireland player to be inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame last night in London.

AUSTRALIA unveiled its team of the decade yesterday which included nine of the starting 15 from the Wallabies’ first series win over the British and Irish Lions in 2001.

Former New Zealand coach John Mitchell has been appointed head coach of the new Super 14 rugby franchise in Perth.

Australia coach Eddie Jones is hoping the upcoming European tour will help the Wallabies develop their wet-weather play.

Gordon D'Arcy and Jamie Heaslip have both been short-listed for the IRB World Players of the Year awards at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel on November 28.

AS a kid in the 50s and 60s, you were aware of some terrific rugby teams and outstanding individuals.

Australian coach Eddie Jones believes England’s rolling maul tactics are fundamentally illegal and has called on referees to adjudicate on that area of the game more closely.

CLIVE WOODWARD yesterday declared himself unconcerned about what “myths” the New Zealanders may have of English rugby and instead promised his side would go all-out to succeed on their three-match tour Down Under in the most effective style possible.

Double European champions Leicester could miss out on Heineken Cup qualification next season – and Dean Richards today admitted the Tigers are up against it.

Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O’Neill has rated England as “absolute and deserving favourites” to win the World Cup in November and all but dismissed his own side’s chances.

IT’S the great Malcolm O’Kelly debate.

COACH Eddie O’Sullivan believes the ongoing battle between Ronan O’Gara and David Humphreys for the number-10 position is one of the real plus points as Ireland build up to the Six Nations and, hopefully, the 2003 World Cup.

World champions Australia recorded their eighth successive victory over Wales today - but it was a Test match to forget at the Millennium Stadium.

Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll, who along with England’s Martin Johnson was nominated for the international player of the year award, won the Investec try of the year for his spectacular score in the first Lions Test against Australia.

Coach Eddie Jones has the added agenda of making the prospect of playing Australia even more daunting as his formidable side embark on their seven-match tour of Europe this weekend.

Australia winger Ben Tune is hoping to finally overcome the injury woe which has plagued him for the past two years and recapture his place in the Wallabies Test team.

Long-serving Australian scrum half George Gregan has been appointed captain of the Wallabies following the retirement of record-breaking skipper John Eales.

Australia number eight Toutai Kefu charged over the New Zealand line for a last-minute try as the Wallabies retained their Tri-Nations crown with a pulsating 29-26 victory in Sydney.

A Mathew Burke-inspired Australia finally defeated New Zealand at Carisbrook Park to retain the Bledisloe Cup with a 25-13 win.

Australia will have a gaping hole to fill when their legendary lock John Eales hangs up his boots after the Tri-Nations clash with New Zealand on September 1.