Dec 15, 2000: In his latest column for Scrum former British Lion and now ITV commentator, John Taylor claims that on the evidence of the autumn internationals all three 'Celtic Nations' have made tremendous strides in the test arena in the past few years
Dec 14, 2000: The Irish Rugby Football Union have made the ground-breaking step of laying down the foundations for limiting the number of games their top players are subjected to
Dec 14, 2000: British Lions coach Graham Henry has continued his preparation for next year's tour to Australia by drawing on the input of who he regards as the finest Bristish coaches over the past decade
Dec 14, 2000: Llanelli and Ireland scrum-half Guy Easterby hopes to make return to rugby action in January after recovering form a broken leg
Dec 14, 2000: The major professional rugby clubs of Europe met for the fist time in Lyon yesterday and set about creating an agenda for the future of European rugby
Dec 13, 2000: Rugby greats Serge Blanco and Peter Wheeler have formed an unlikely allegiance to help look after the interests of Europe's top clubs
Dec 11, 2000: Springboks skipper Andre Vos today predicted a ``very interesting'' Six Nations Championship after South Africa completed their tour of Europe and Argentina with a 41-31 victory over the Barbarians
Dec 10, 2000: London Irish out up a valiant show against but it was not enough to prevent Newcastle advancing to the semi-finals of the Tetley's Bitter Cup at Kingston Park on Sunday afternoon
Dec 9, 2000: Ballymena maintained their place at the top end of the table when Scott Young scored a late try - his second of the game - to snatch a 20-16 win over Blackrock at Stradbrook
Dec 8, 2000: The International Rugby Board has dropped five of their most experienced officials from the panel for the 2001 Six Nations Championship
Dec 8, 2000: The second round of All Ireland League games this weekend sees yet more comings and goings as Ireland's test players regulate the number of games they play
Dec 8, 2000: Despite several options being put forward for the future of the club game in Ireland the IRFU have decided to keep the current structure in place for the next two seasons
Dec 8, 2000: A back injury to Mark Andrews might give Hottie Louw the big chance to prove himself in elite company in Cardiff on Sunday when the Springboks take on the Barbarians
Dec 7, 2000: Gaffie du Toit will step up into the full-back position for South Africa when they end their tour of Britain and Ireland with a match against the Barbarians in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Sunday
Dec 7, 2000: Gaffie du Toit's return to big-time rugby will reach full circle when he runs out at fullback in the Springboks' tour finale against the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday
Dec 7, 2000: France coach Bernard Laporte on Thursday attacked the British rugby union establishment over the total exclusion of French players from the Barbarians squad to face South Africa Sunday
Dec 7, 2000: Springbok coach Harry Viljoen is expected to give Chester Williams another run on the left wing when he announces his side for Sunday's tour finale against the Barbarians at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff
Dec 7, 2000: A plan to condense the Six Nations Championship into a seven-week block has been backed by the Rugby Football Union
Dec 6, 2000: Although it won't be a Test match, Harry Viljoen's so-called new game plan will be on trial in Cardiff on Sunday
Dec 6, 2000: The IRFU has agreed to a request from the four Provincial sides to play warm up matches on the weekend before the return to European action next month
