I DO not known if Chris Coleman is familiar with the phrase 'delusions of grandeur', although if questioned on that fact it is easy to imagine he would claim to be the man who invented it.

Coleman is currently in negotiations with the Football Association of Wales over whether or not to extend his six-year tenure in charge of the national team, although that has not stopped him talking about his desire to manage a club in the Champions League.

Whether he decides to remain in the role or not, the 47-year-old's time in charge of Wales will undoubtedly be judged a success - mainly on the back of their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

But for someone who's track record in club management can best be described as patchy and has just seen his side fail to even reach the play-off round of the qualifiers for next year's World Cup, it seems a tad arrogant to be talking about managing in the Champions League.

Still, it's nice to have dreams.

In fairness, Coleman deserves huge credit for overseeing the recent revival of the fortunes of the Welsh national team, although that is also in no small part to the abundance of talent at his disposal.

Yet at the same time, barely anyone seems to take note of the job Michael O'Neill has done across the Irish Sea - and all without players comparable to Gareth Bale or Aaron Ramsey to choose from.

Had it not been for a dubious penalty decision in the first leg of their play-off with Switzerland, O'Neill and his Northern Ireland team may well have booked their place on the plane to Russia.

But the fact a team whose star men are probably Kyle Lafferty and Steven Davis even made it to within touching distance of being at football's global gathering for the first time in 32 years is in itself some achievement.

It should be no surprise the Portadown man has worked wonders with a country who have spent most of that time since 1986 bouncing around among the also-rans and never-weres.

After all, this is someone who cites his former manager Jim McLean - the maverick who dragged unheralded Dundee United to the top of Scottish football in the 1980s and almost conquered Europe with them - as one of his biggest coaching influences.

Strangely, it was south of the Irish border at Shamrock Rovers where O'Neill made his name, ending the Tallaght side's 16-year title drought and securing back-to-back League Of Ireland triumphs in 2010 and 2011, followed by steering Rovers into the group stages of the 2011/12 Europa League.

O'Neill's time in charge of his homeland has seen a similar turnaround, guiding them to Euro 2016 by topping their qualifying group and reaching the knockout stages in France.

Ultimately, an own goal from Gareth McAuley saw them go down 1-0 to Coleman's Wales in the last 16, despite nullifying the dangerous Welsh attack and having the better of a close-fought match.

Luck may have been against Northern Ireland there and in the recent clash with the Swiss then, but do not bet against O'Neill and his team to continue quietly defying the odds.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HISTORY MADE<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NZLvTON?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NZLvTON</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RLWC2017?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RLWC2017</a> <a href="https://t.co/31pUXKbNs0">pic.twitter.com/31pUXKbNs0</a></p>— RLWC2017 (@RLWC2017) <a href="https://twitter.com/RLWC2017/status/929438607814803456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

AS news of Tonga's win over New Zealand started to filter through from Down Under last Saturday morning, I scrambled to find out if there was a Tongan branch of the Bazeley family to latch onto.

Sadly, my efforts proved futile, but that still did not dampen any enjoyment of the Pacific Islanders pulling off the biggest shock so far of this year's Rugby League World Cup.

Tonga now have a superb chance to advance to the semi-finals for the first time in their history, with Lebanon their opponents in the last eight this Saturday.

Should they do so, it would more than vindicate the decision of some of their players turning their back on New Zealand to represent their ancestral homeland.

As always though, the challenge for Tonga - and, indeed, regional rivals Samoa, two-time semi-finalists Fiji and England's quarter-final opponents Papua New Guinea - is how to harness this performance to set them up for long-term success.

Regular Tests against the sport's 'big three' would be a good start.

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IT WAS heartening to see winger Reece Hodge lining up to take a shot at goal from a penalty in Australia's 29-21 win over Wales last Saturday.

I've always had a soft spot for goal-kicking wingers, particularly in this day and age when they seem to be something of an endangered species in rugby union.

Sadly, successful 33rd-minute penalty was the only chance we got to see him kicking at goal due to Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley handling all of their conversion attempts - thereby denying us the chance to see two opposing non-half-backs handling the kicking duties in the game.

Wales, of course, stuck with the trusty boot of full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who seems to have been knocking them over for fun in the iconic red shirt for as long as anyone cares to remember.

It says much that head coach Warren Gatland continues to designate the responsibility to Halfpenny despite the presence of Ospreys number 10 Dan Biggar - himself no slouch with the boot.

Over at Twickenham, predictable old England had George Ford handling the kicking duties in the absence of Owen Farrell, although opponents Argentina did feature wide man Emiliano Boffelli taking shots at goal.

It should not really come as a surprise there is less of a variety of players in different positions taking kicks since the 15-man code legalised professionalism.

And with the fly-half normally kicking the ball most in general play, it is logical they would be designated with handling goal-kicking duties as well.

English rugby especially is in thrall to the number 10 in this role, no doubt as a result of the success of Rob Andrew and Jonny Wilkinson on the international stage.

Farrell is perhaps the exception here, having played much of his international rugby at inside centre, although he honed those skills in the fly-half role at Saracens.

Even Australian Hodge, who kicks for Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby, is considered something of a utility back as opposed to an out-and-out winger.

Followers of rugby league will know Farrell's father Andy was quite the prolific kicker too. Yet much of his career in the 13-man code was spent in the second row.

And who could forget the sight of burly prop Terry Clawson helping boot Great Britain to World Cup glory in 1972?

There is, of course, no reason for teams not to continue with fly-halves kicking. It is, however, still nice to see some variety.