As befitting a goalkeeper during his youth in pre-war Poland, Pope John Paul II took a passing interest in footballing matters whatever the shape of the ball.

His Holiness granted audiences to a number of rugby teams, but only one club can claim to have had a hotline straight into the Vatican. St Peters RFC is unique, not least as authors of a David-and-Goliath story of such biblical perfection that it could have come straight from the Book of Samuel.
While ‘The Rocks’ slaying of Cardiff has long passed into history, the Vatican’s role in the story has been shrouded in mystery but no longer...