O'Gara in no mood for Munster to be the nearly men

English rugby has been on the end of a rare old Celtic battering these last 24 hours. Not on the field, of course - Andy Robinson's variety of red rose may not be able to claim complete domination of the British Isles union landscape these days, but the white shirts will still be joint favourites, at the very least, for this year's Six Nations title. When it comes to chit-chat, however, the born-and-bred Irish and the honorary Welsh have been in full voice ahead of the Heineken Cup, which begins with games in three cities tomorrow night.

Justin Marshall, the former All Black scrum-half now earning his keep in Wales with the Ospreys, put forward the jawdropping notion that Magners League rugby is every bit the equal of that on offer in the Guinness Premiership, if not better. Meanwhile, the Ireland outside-half Ronan O'Gara, a central figure in ending Munster's interminable wait for a European title last season, gave the English game both barrels in asserting that he and his brethren no longer felt remotely threatened by the prospect of a trip to Twickenham - or, indeed, anywhere else in England.

As one very senior England player commented in reaction to O'Gara's criticisms: "Ronan's going it a bit, isn't he? Those are bloody silly things to say a few days before a trip to Leicester." Sure enough, O'Gara turned down the temperature yesterday by praising the Welford Roaders to the high heavens before leaving southern Ireland for Munster's opening game with the 2002 champions on Sunday.

"Playing Leicester is going to be hugely difficult," he said. "It will be a massive challenge, because they have been the driving force for the last 10 years in both English and in European circles."

So far, so conciliatory. But O'Gara also stressed that Munster's desire would be every bit as great as in their season of seasons last time out. "We worked bloody hard to win this tournament and we don't want to be the nearly men when people talk about great sides in the Heineken Cup," he continued. "There is absolutely no way we will take our foot off the pedal. We want to go on from here. You can be called a great side only when you win this tournament on more than one occasion."

Two of this term's European also-rans, Newcastle and Worcester, have taken internal disciplinary action against players ahead of their opening Challenge Cup matches. Newcastle have suspended their lock Jason Oakes for a week for stamping on the ankle of Lawrence Dallaglio during his side's Premiership defeat at Wasps last Sunday, and the Midlanders have taken similar action against the centre Dale Rasmussen, who had been accused of hitting the Gloucester forward Jonathan Pendlebury with a dangerous tackle 48 hours previously.

Oakes was sent to the sin-bin for his misdemeanour, and made a full apology yesterday. Rasmussen's alleged offence was not punished at the time. Both players have been ordered to appear before Rugby Football Union tribunals in London on Monday.