Saipan and stabs in the back

ALL THINGS considered, it’s been a pretty fraught few days in France for Ireland. Early in the week, there were allegations in the French press about Ronan O’Gara, not to mention the rumours of Geordan Murphy’s wish to leave the camp.

This column can certainly confirm that Murphy walked out of the team hotel yesterday morning, though only as far as a waiting taxi. He, Brian Carney, Stephen Ferris and Peter Stringer appeared to head for the shops of Paris, however, rather than Charles de Gaulle Airport. (Note to French media: when there’s speculation about someone pulling a “Saipan”, it has nothing to do with what one newspaper here breathlessly described as “one of the biggest battles in the Second World War”. Contact Sunderland AFC if you want the context explained).

It hasn’t been that rosy in the French camp either, by the way. Quite apart from the pressure one would expect for a team hosting a World Cup there have been extraneous factors: coach Bernard Laporte has been dogged all week by reports in Le Canard Enchainee, a satirical journal, that he will not be appointed Minister for Sport if France do not impress in the rest of the tournament.