BBC BLOGS - Rugby Union

Who would be the ideal chief exec of Scottish Rugby?

John Beattie | 17:49 UK time, Sunday, 24 July 2011

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I've been chased by head-hunters twice in my life.

In Borneo as a small boy I got lost in the mangrove swamps and my father organised a troupe of Dayak hunters to look for me with blow pipes, parangs (jungle knives) and a dose of high hopes, or whatever else it was they called the stuff they chewed.

Actually this is fiction, and just as fictitious as the head-hunters looking for the new Scottish Rugby chief executive asking me last week if I'd like to use my considerable experience in writing short articles and hosting radio and TV programmes to lead Scottish Rugby to glory and earn £300,000 a year or so in the process.

The only truth in these first three paragraphs is that Scottish Rugby do indeed seek a new chief executive.

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Awesome Leinster leave Saints shell-shocked

Bryn Palmer | 21:50 UK time, Saturday, 21 May 2011

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Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

"That was some match," said a stunned but immensely satisfied Leinster supporter as he reluctantly left the scene of his side's greatest triumph.

You're not wrong, mate. Even by the standards of this ridiculously exhilarating tournament, this Heineken Cup final was a match for the ages.

The best ever? Quite probably. Stade Francais-Leicester in 2001 might have matched it for drama, Wasps-Toulouse in 2004 for quality.

That was a topic for debate as supporters stepped out into the Cardiff evening to put the final touches to a remarkable weekend of European rugby.

All one can say without fear of contradiction is that none of the 72,456 souls fortunate enough to be at Millennium Stadium on Saturday will ever forget the experience.

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Can Northampton stop Leinster in Heineken Cup final?

Bryn Palmer | 08:58 UK time, Friday, 20 May 2011

Comments

On paper at least, the 16th Heineken Cup final has all the ingredients to be a classic.

Leinster and Northampton are two top-drawer sides, chock-full of Test stars, brimming with attacking talent, both eager to give full freedom of expression to their particular brands of positive, attractive rugby.

Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, nigh-on packed to capacity and hosting its fourth final in 10 years, should be in for a treat.

Victory for either side will see them join the elite band of clubs - Leicester, Wasps, Munster, plus four-times champions Toulouse - who have won the title on two or more occasions.

And while 2009 champions Leinster start marginal favourites, Saints - bidding to become the first side to go through a Heineken Cup campaign unbeaten after winning all six of their pool games - are far from outsiders.

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