Carlow prove there’s a place in the game for all

IRISH rugby is not the preserve of the traditional areas like Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Limerick. There is a place in the game for everybody, or at least there should be in spite of the campaign to get rid of Connacht, and anybody disputing that point of view ought to have been at Thomond Park on Saturday.

The occasion was the AIB League Division One relegation cliffhanger between UL/Bohemians and Co Carlow, which finished 41-26 in the visitors' favour. Carlow held the whiphand as they made the 200-mile return trip to Limerick but they knew that defeat by an eight point margin would plunge them back into the second division from which they had emerged a couple of years ago. They were taking no chances.

Winger Maurice Logue remained in Carlow long enough to be present for the birth of his second son and only arrived at the ground five minutes before the kick-off and was gone as quickly after the final whistle!