Manoeuvring into position

IF Serge Blanco wanted ammunition for his assertion that there’s too much international rugby at present, the announcement of the respective touring squads from Ireland, Wales and England over the past two days plays right into his hand.

Irish supremo Eddie O’Sullivan has chosen to leave his entire first team at home with a view to preparing for the World Cup in September. Welsh coach Gareth Jenkins has adopted a similar approach with 18 front line players excluded from his squad to tour Australia.

Brian Ashton’s hopes of building on the measured improvement of England’s Six Nations campaign has been disrupted with up to 30 capped players unavailable — including those involved with Wasps, Leicester and Bath in the finals of the two European competitions on the week prior to their opening test against South Africa.