Plaque is back as postman delivers

GLASGOW rugby club Cartha Queen’s Park has welcomed back a piece of memorabilia which seemed to have been lost for good in the far east.

The club was one of just a handful of venues which hosted the Under-21 Rugby World Championship in Scotland in June 2004.

To commemorate the event, the International Rugby Board presented each club with an IRB plaque, with CQP putting their plaque on display in the clubhouse.

However, within a matter of months, the shield had disappeared, suspicion falling on a visiting east of Scotland women’s team. No admission of guilt was forthcoming.

In the past few days, the plaque has been returned anonymously... with an Edinburgh postmark.

Past president of CQP, Alan Irons, said: “Cartha Queen’s Park is delighted to have the plaque returned and is grateful to the sender. What was particularly ironic was that, with the club’s name appearing above the IRB logo, the plaque could not be displayed in public without being clearly out of place.

“It was unique, in the true sense of the word, to Cartha Queen’s Park. It’s nice to have it back.”