Viagra Corner: Dispatches from the Frontiers of Medicine

RUGBY HAS always been viewed as a sport for truly hard men but deep in the Welsh valleys the lads have been getting a little extra help from Viagra.

A veterans' team from Machen, near Caerphilly, have become the first British team to be sponsored by Pfizer, the manufacturer of the impotence drug, and have renamed themselves the Machen Tripods.

Dave Watts, tight-head prop for the team, said: "The company agreed to sponsor us after one of our players got talking to one of their reps at the Wales v England game at Wembley. There are a number of mini-tournaments running at the same time as the World Cup in October and we have entered the veterans competition." The team, which has an unbeaten record stretching back seven years, is trying to come up with a new logo for its shirts. "We've had some pretty rude suggestions, as you can imagine, and the favourite is about us rising to the occasion," said Watts. "The whole village thinks it's hysterical but we're actually proud to be the first team sponsored by Viagra, despite what some people say it says about us."

Contrary to rumours in the village, team members, whose ages range from 36 to 52, have not been given free samples to ensure a rock-solid performance on the day.

Kate Watson-Smyth

Wimbledon Corner is having a rest day and will return tomorrow.