Football fiasco has coaches seething

ANOTHER European Rugby Cup cock-up has the rival coaches seething ahead of today’s Heineken European Cup clash between Gloucester and Munster at Kingsholm.

Incredibly, ERC were unable to acquire a sufficient number of footballs to cater for all the weekend’s matches and have come up with a quite extraordinary solution. A young lady was commissioned to attend last night’s game between Sale and Bourgoin and at the final whistle collect five balls there and bring them to Gloucester today.

She will then take possession of the balls at the final whistle and head off for the English midlands where they again go into action in tomorrow’s clash of Northamption and Ulster at Franklins Gardens.

As I understand it, similar arrangements were in place for other venues and that Leinster manager Ken Ging and his Bristol counterpart threatened to use their own footballs at Donnybrook last night unless those in use at the game were made available to them yesterday morning.

That had the desired effect but there was nothing Alan Gaffney and Gloucester’s Nigel Melville could do yesterday about the situation.

Gaffney said: “Of course I’m angry and upset that I may not know exactly what kind of ball we’re going to be playing with until we run out on the field. The only mitigating factor is that it’s the same for both teams.”

Munster place kickers Ronan O’Gara and Jeremy Staunton practiced with old Heineken Cup balls for 20 at Kingsholm yesterday but there is every chance they will be presented with a different type of ball for the real thing.

The problem, apparently, has arisen because the Gilbert company, makers of rugby balls, is in administration. Why replacement company Octagon couldn’t have things in order long before now isn’t apparent but they didn’t have sufficient branded balls with the Heineken Cup logo ready in time.