Interruption to scheduled programme

THERE WERE many delicious ironies to Saturday’s game at Twickenham. Chief among them the presumptuous Grand Slam final scheduled for 9pm in Paris on March 27 is now a non-runner.

It seems the BBC decided on the kick-off time without consulting the Six Nations Championship committee of their plans. When they were eventually informed, there was nothing they could do about it.

You're taking our money, said the Beeb, now we want value for it. Somebody told them only two teams counted in the championship and that was good enough for them. It will be France v England in the last match on the last day and we'll put it on as late as possible so that we can sell the rights for 'live' transmission to the Southern Hemisphere as well. Nice and cosy, until a bunch of Irish players kiboshed the whole deal.

OK, so France will probably be going for the Slam but a final it can never be.

Now that those plans have gone west, surely it is time for the Six Nations to pluck up the courage and point out to the television people that just because they pay the piper doesn't necessarily mean they also call the tune.

Irish fans should note that the game against Italy on Saturday week starts at the rather unusual time of 1.30pm. No need to ask why.

And won't the Irish team for that fixture make for some very interesting speculation? There was a time when anybody suggesting a change in a side that has beaten England at Twickenham would be taken away by the men in the white coats. However, that is no longer the situation and, given the results of medical reports over the next couple of days, it could well be that Geordan Murphy, Marcus Horan and Donnacha O'Callaghan all included yesterday in a mini-panel for this week's Citywest camp will come roaring back into the equation.

Any one of Saturday's heroes who had to make way would be entitled to feel extremely hard done by, not least try scorer Girvan Dempsey. Yet he may well be the one most under pressure; not because he did anything wrong at Twickenham, but because Murphy, potentially one of the greatest talents in the world, is rapidly returning to full fitness after long-term injury.

Sentiment doesn't appear to have any place in Eddie O'Sullivan's make-up and while he rightly lauded Dempsey's contribution on Saturday and complained that he had been given a raw deal over the past few weeks, the temptation to add Murphy to a back division already blessed with the talents of Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll will be enormous.

Question marks still hang over the fitness of Horan and O'Callaghan, and the former, especially, would probably have to line out for Munster against Gwent this Friday to have a chance of returning to the bench. Horan trained with Munster yesterday where, according to coach Alan Gaffney, "he looked good and frisky".

O'Callaghan's absence has been much shorter and if his knee damage has recovered, he will be back among the replacements for Gary Longwell. It's another matter, though, as to when O'Callaghan will again displace Malcolm O'Kelly as Paul O'Connell's second-row partner.

O'Kelly answered his omission for the Welsh game in the best way possible at Twickenham with his try saving tackle on Mark Regan already a piece of Irish rugby folklore and just one of many elements of a towering contribution.

Meanwhile, the texts and e-mails celebrating the victory and gently ribbing the English keep arriving. The poor old chariot, that never did any harm to anybody, is at the receiving end of most. But there were others as well and this is one I especially like: 'For Sale 100,000 Grand Slam t-shirts, ties and scarves unused (choice of 1998/99; 1999/2000; 2000/2001; 2003/2004. Contact RFU Twickenham.'

However, I'm less impressed with this: 'Lost (on way to Twickenham). (i) Plan B; (ii) graciousness; (iii) bottle. Please contact Lawrence Dallaglio and Sir Clive Woodward.'

Whatever about (i) and (iii), I can't go along with (ii). In fact, neither Woodward nor Dallaglio could have taken their beating any better.

Might I suggest it was about the only thing they got right all day?