Fancy a Flutter?

If there is any proof needed that you can bet on anything then this is it.  Place your bets for the wedding of Ireland international Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman.

O'Driscoll will tie the knot with his actress girlfriend in Leitrim today and if you fancy a flutter there is a whole host of big day betting specials.

Bookies Paddy Power are offering odds of 4/7 that the Ireland skipper will start blubbing during his speech and a controversial 10-1 that his old flame, model Glenda Gilson, will turn up at the wedding.

Then of course there is the traditional bet on the the length of the best man's speech.  Just how long will Damien O’Donoghue talk about Ireland's favourite son?  More than 10 minutes pays out at 9/4.

Another bet that could grab your imagination is who will catch Amy's bouquet. Rob Kearney, Brian's Leinster and Ireland teammate, might be sweating as current squeeze Susie Amy is looking likely with odds of 8-1.  Kearney's ex-girlfriend, Ruth O'Neill, will also be jostling for position at 12-1. Then again if you fancy an outside bet you could plump for Ms Gilson at 100-1 - if she turns up that is.

Finally, if you're feeling fruity, why not have a punt on when the happy couple will have their first baby?  With odds of 6/5 that we will hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet sometime next year it seems the bookies think it's almost a certainty.

All this is very romantic I'm sure you'll agree.  Still, the newlyweds could be laughing all the way to the betting shop in a few years' time as the bookies have given them two free €100 bets - the first will pay €100,000 if their first daughter wins an Oscar while the second will pay €10,000 if their first son follows in his dad’s footsteps and plays rugby for Ireland.


Betting aside, I would like to wish Brian and Amy a lovely day and a long and happy marriage.  Aw.

Our Friends in the North

Just when you thought that the lesser-spotted Gavin Henson was finally starting to focus on rugby, it turns out he's been galavanting around Norway for a new reality show.

The long term Ospreys absentee has been jumping into fjords and trekking up glaciers for ITV's 71 Degrees North - the Arctic Circle version of I'm a Celebrity Get Me in the Papers.

Henson lines up alongside stellar names such as cockney wide-boy and Nolan fancier Shane Richie, operatic warbler Leslie Garrett, and Rob Kearney's girlfriend Susie Amy.

The question is why?  Maybe Gavin was feeling a bit strapped for cash after his lengthy spot of unpaid leave?  Or maybe he thought climbing snowy mountains would be a good way to get back in shape?  Then again, he could have been answering the call of the Norwegian Tourist Board - the Northern Lights have been lacking a certain orange glow of late.

Whatever the case may be, I hope that Mr. Charlotte Church will be back next season with his eyes totally on the game and not halfway up some fjord in Norway.

Lykke boyo!

Rob Kearney: Future Ireland Captain

Rob Kearney looks set to take over the captaincy of Ireland when Brian O'Driscoll hangs up his boots in a couple of years.

The Ireland and British and Irish Lions full back has cemented his position in the Ireland team with his excellent footballing skills, and now he is upping his claims for the captaincy role after revealing his relationship with his new celebrity girlfriend.

Move over Bramy (Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman), Rosie is the hot new couple in town.

Rob is dating British actress Susie Amy, and the pair revealed their new relationship when they stepped out for the opening night of Queen musical "We Will Rock You" in Dublin.

Susie, who is best known for her role as WAG-tastic Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe in TV show Footballers' Wives, has traded in her character's trappings of WAG-dom and is the latest "scrummie" on the block.

I asked Susie if she will be travelling to Paris this weekend to support her rugby playing beau when Ireland take on France in the Six Nations.
She said: "Yes I am.  I reckon it'll be a tough one.  That's just my opinion!".

Susie also travelled to watch Rob play against Italy in the Six Nations opener at Croke part, and jetted into Dublin to support her man during last year's November tests.

With Brian O'Driscoll almost ready to draw his pension and Paul O'Connell seven years Kearney's senior, Kearney is a strong candidate for Ireland captain in the future.  The fact he has bagged a celebrity girlfriend in true O'Driscoll style will launch his star further into the stratosphere.

Kearney's rise into rugby stardom has been meteoric.  He started his rugby education at Clongowes Wood College in County Kildare, before being part of University College Dublin's U-20s team which won the McCorry Cup in 2005.  Kearney played for Leinster at both schoolboy and U-19 level before making his debut in the senior squad in a Magners League game against the Ospreys in 2005.  A rapid ascension through the Ireland A ranks led him to win his first full Ireland cap in June 2007 on the tour to Argentina.  Now at only 23 he is a regular fixture in the 15 shirt for both Leinster and Ireland and was one of the standout players on last year's Lions tour to South Africa, scoring a memorable try in the second test in Pretoria.

Kearney takes a calm and focussed approach to his rugby and is already displaying all the qualities required by an international captain.  Of course he may fall into the celebrity trap and flail around in the rugby wilderness like messrs Henson and Cipriani, but I think Kearney is too savvy to make that mistake.  If he keeps his feet on the pitch and his head in the game, then I tip Kearney to be Ireland captain in a few years. 

Of course, if he truly is going to follow in the footsteps of Ireland's rugby messiah, Brian O'Driscoll, then a celebrity girlfriend definitely helps. 

Rob Kearney: captain in waiting.  Just don't tell Jamie Heaslip.

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