There was some footage over the Christmas of one of Ireland's Triple Crown winning matches from 1982 and the central figure was out-half Ollie Campbell.

The man's unerring accuracy is legendary but one of the things which caught my mind was the absence of the kicking tee.

It was many years later before the kicking tee was introduced but, my goodness, the amount of damage caused to pitches must have been horrendous.

Or, more to the point, you can imagine the damage that would be done now, not least in England where a lot of the rugby teams groundshare with soccer clubs.

Each time there was a penalty, Campbell would run up and unleash four huge back-heels into the surface before planting the ball and taking his kick.

I know many laws have changed in the interim and we accept them without thinking of what went before. You can just imagine Ronan O'Gara in the Millennium Stadium rooting up the ground for a kick . . . actually I can't!

THE AIB League will not, unfortunately, be back up and running until the weekend after next. One would wonder would it have been better to stage a few games over the holidays when there was a chance people might come out and go to a match.

When it does resume, on Saturday week, Galwegians, Corinthians and Buccaneers will all be at home, all kicking off at the same time. You just suspect the towel has been thrown in with regards to trying to attract supporters.