When you are idle in a hotel room in Johannesburg, the pre-match statistics booklet for the Heineken Cup final offers welcome respite from the boredom. Where’s the oul paddies out here when you need one for a chat? Which is why a mass of statistics has become my coffee buddy for part of the week.

MOMENTS after the final-whistle blew at Croke Park yesterday, signalling the end to the Rebels’ 20-year football title famine, Micheál O Muircheartaigh stood out of his familiar seat in gantry for the last time on All-Ireland final day.

“HE leaned against the rail of the Cape Town, the ship of his flight.

Australia coach Eddie Jones is upbeat about his team’s chances of ending a 42-year hoodoo at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in a fortnight’s time.