Scrum-half Kieran Campbell learned he would be on the right wing only an hour before the kick-off. I think today we have also learned a lot about ourselves." There was also an opportunity for a disappointing crowd of 3,131 to learn about an exciting youngster on the Exiles' staff. We will learn a lot of other stuff in the Shield and get an idea of how other countries play. But it does give us the opportunity to get our game plan off pat, and it is great to get away from the élite world of the ADP, where everyone knows how we play. "I think this is a serious competition, but there is nothing at the end of this.

We get a chance to play different sides in Europe and see their varying styles of play, but the only means we have of progressing to the competition that matters - the Heineken Cup - is by winning either the French Cup or the French championship." And his counterpart at London Irish, Dick Best, was just as frank, if a trifle more diplomatic. It merely gives us an opportunity to consolidate our rebuilding programme, which we have just begun. And it is unlikely the prospect of a sponsor for the knock-out stages would sweeten the pill any further. There is no doubt, though, that the clubs will be competitive, but the Brive coach, Francis Leta, was brutally frank when he said: "We have absolutely no interest in the Shield. The winners do not even gain automatic entry into the Big One - the Heineken Cup. Yet some of the groupings in the Shield must have had the coaches of Calvisano, Caerphilly and Roma shuddering as they contemplated the likes of Bristol, Bÿgles-Bordeaux and Dax; or Pau, Perpignan and Sale; and especially Agen, Brive, and London Irish. There is plenty of pedigree beef, good enough to grace the superior competition, but when you get down to the bones of it the clubs just are not interested. It looks like an aimless competition, leading nowhere but up a flight of steps to collect some silverware. Officially there is not any prize money, or no set amount anyway.

The winners do not even gain automatic entry into the Big One - the Heineken Cup. The European Shield would appear to be the pariah of the rugby world; unimportant, unsponsored and unloved. It looks like an aimless competition, leading nowhere but up a flight of steps to collect some silverware. Officially there is not any prize money, or no set amount anyway.

But on the next I was only about a minute down on the leaders and I was quite happy with that.". The European Shield would appear to be the pariah of the rugby world; unimportant, unsponsored and unloved. I was finding more and more confidence and the pace notes were good. But I guess that's rallying." Yet Brundle thoroughly enjoyed his second taste of Britain's most-watched sporting event - and admitted he was astonished by the number of spectators lining the route. "It completely blew my mind on today's first stage," said the former McLaren, Jordan and Benetton driver. "It meant I was much too cautious and did a bit of a poor job on that stage.

We went through some magnificent corners, I'd stayed out of trouble and feel quite angry to have got caught out by such a silly little thing. "Everything was really starting to work well. We went over a little hump-back bridge where you had to stay left and I just wasn't far enough over," said Brundle. "As we jumped over the top we ended up missing the road, hit a tree stump and broke the radiator, although the rest of the car was absolutely fine. "Although we lost a lot of water we managed to reach the end of the stage but could not make the 18 miles back to the service area. "I'm completely gutted. Martin Brundle's second crack at the Network Q Rally of Great Britain ended today in the same way as the first - with a spectacular crash. The previous attempt three years ago by the ex-Formula One star to prove himself in a vastly contrasting type of motor sport came to a shuddering halt in a Welsh forest. And it was a case of deja vu as 40-year-old Brundle, driving a Toyota Corolla, squandered the chance to achieve his primary objective of simply completing the rally. Brundle, who revealed before the event that he would have been "ecstatic" with a top-30 finish, was on target for a respectable result when he occupied 40th position after 12 stages. But on the next section ITV's Formula One summariser got his car out of shape approaching a crest and paid the ultimate price for the mistake. "It all went wrong at Myherin. I'll be really happy to finish in the top 30 tonight." Happily for him, he finished in 28th place. NETWORK Q RALLY (After first day): 1 J Kankkunen (Fin) Subaru Impreza 27min 00.7sec; 2 F Delecour (Fra) Peugeot 206 +3.5secs; 3 M Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 206 +4.5; 4 R Burns (GB) Subaru Impreza +8.1; 5 C Sainz (Sp) Toyota Corolla +16.8; 6 D Auriol (Fr) Toyota Corolla +23.2; 7 T Makinen (Fin) Mitsubishi Lancer +23.7; 8 C McRae (GB) Ford Focus +23.9; 9 P Solberg (Nor) Ford Focus +27.2; 10 T Radstrom (Swe) Ford Focus +32.1.. Martin Brundle's second crack at the Network Q Rally of Great Britain ended today in the same way as the first - with a spectacular crash. The third member of the Toyota works team said: "Blenheim was a disaster for me I did very badly.