Portsmouth, who are facing a winding-up order from the Inland Revenue for pounds 405,000 in unpaid tax next Wednesday, applied at the start of the week to go into administration to help rescue the club from financial ruin.Ruud Gullit has dismissed talk of a rift with his players. The Co-operative Bank, which holds the mortgage on Portsmouth’s Fratton Park ground, had set Pompey a noon deadline yesterday to pay an outstanding debt of pounds 350,000.However, Portsmouth now have until 9am on Monday to pay the outstanding money following a last-minute meeting between the club’s directors and the bank. Middlesbrough, Wimbledon, Leicester and Southampton want the chance to take an alternative route into Europe while there is still time for other teams to put themselves forward.Portsmouth have won a reprieve in their endeavours to stop the First Division club’s bankers calling in receivers. But apart from specifying that no souvenirs worth more than pounds 70 can be offered, there has been no significant crackdown.
One report had suggested that England’s 2006 bid organisers would be prevented from making too many foreign trips, but in reality, the only requirement is for a campaign team undertaking an overseas visit which does not form part of a more general footballing purpose to inform Fifa in advance.Four Premiership clubs have expressed their interest in taking part in next season’s InterToto Cup, but only one place is on offer.

Football’s world governing body has drawn up guidelines for the 24 members to be issued to all bidding countries, including England, in the hope of avoiding the sort of bribery scandal that has recently embroiled the Olympic movement. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE members of Fifa, who will decide on the host nation for the 2006 World Cup, have been told to report any country which offers “excessive hospitality”. Everyone lucky enough to be involved will take their memories of this occasion to their graves.”ULSTER’S ROUTE TO THE FINALGROUP MATCHESUlster 38 Edinburgh Reivers 38(Mason: 3 con; 4 pen;1 try, 23pts)Toulouse 39 Ulster 3(Mason 1 pen, 3pts)Ebbw Vale 28 Ulster 61(Mason: 4 con; 1 try, 13pts)Ulster 29 Toulouse 24(Mason: 1 con; 4 pen; 1 try, 19pts)Ulster 43 Ebbw Vale 18(Mason: 7 con; 4 pen, 26pts)Edinburgh Reivers 21 Ulster 23(Mason: 2 con; 3 pen; 13pts)QUARTER-FINALUlster 15 Toulouse 13(Mason: 3 pen, 9pts)SEMI-FINALUlster 33 Stade Francais 27(Mason: 1 con; 5 pen; 1 drop, 20pts)Mason’s total: 126 points. Will we win this one? Who knows? No matter how meticulously you prepare, a cup final is bound to be a swirl of passion and emotion That is what makes the experience so special Only one thing is certain. We can scrummage better, we can spruce up our restarts, we can cut out these errors.’ By taking a professional approach and setting the right standards, we can strike a balance between lapping up all the attention and actually doing the job.”Irish sides have this reputation of flattering to deceive, but by beating Toulouse and Stade Francais we’ve proved we can win the tight ones.

We’ve looked at the tape of the Stade Francais game over and over again and we’ve said to ourselves: `Yes, we played out of our skins, but we can still improve technically. In fact, I haven’t had a run of form like this since my Orrell days and I’m treasuring every second of it.”But while we’re having a lot of fun, we’re also very serious about our rugby We’re not just happy to be in the final. “The side is so close-knit and so mutually supportive that it was easy to settle in and find my feet again after the disappointment at Richmond. Above all, we need to stay calm and stay together.”Whatever happens this afternoon, Mason intends to stay in Belfast; happily, an extension to his one-year contract, up for renewal at the end of the season, is likely to be agreed sooner rather than later “It’s been pure enjoyment, playing here,” he said. Those of us fortunate enough to have played international rugby will be able to draw on the experience and help those who haven’t to avoid the pitfalls. It’s easy to get carried away in this sort of atmosphere, as some of the Leicester guys discovered two years ago.

The team that handles the nerves and copes with the uniqueness of it all will lift the trophy. I seem to remember people saying the same things about Brive just before they hammered Leicester in the 1997 final.”There aren’t any lines you can sensibly draw in advance of a game of this magnitude It’s a final, isn’t it? That’s as much as you can say There are no favourites, no underdogs. They have a big physical presence up front, lots of skill out wide and one or two of their players, Jean-Luc Sadourny especially, are world class. I’ve heard the old cliches, all that stuff about the French not travelling well and how Colomiers will hate playing at a Lansdowne Road full of hollering Ulstermen. “I came across them twice with Richmond in last season’s European Shield and we copped a hiding both times They’re an excellent side, really very accomplished.