And now for something completely...

Plenty of noise around this weekend’s forthcoming Six Nations fixtures, particularly in relation to the match in Cardiff and mostly generated by Eddie Jones.

Amid all the claims of dirty tricks and projectile daffodils and the debate over the stadium roof are, however, a couple of wider rugby stories – both somewhat bizarre – which have almost passed unnoticed.

The first of these concerns the charging of a man over the planting of a listening device found in the All Blacks’ Sydney hotel room in the build up to last August’s Bledisloe Cup, a story that is all the more strange given that the alleged perpetrator is understood to be a security consultant working for the New Zealand team.

Meanwhile, serial tabloid fodder Danny Cipriani has also made the papers this week after 2 strippers received suspended jail sentences having admitted blackmailing the Wasps fly half after one of them aborted his child. His mother must be so proud.

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