England did a fantastic job of keeping the Irish crowd quiet, but the passion that was so evident here, back in November, was strangely absent this evening. It is often said that Irish teams do not like the favourites tag. Their fans seems to like it even less. Last March, at Twickenham, thousands of Irish […]

7 years ago

Joe Schmidt was obviously playing it down but CJ Stander may be out of action for a while. Saturday evening at the Aviva Stadium and CJ Stander poured it all out for the Irish cause again. The Munster back-row made 11 carries and 17 tackles, as well as hitting in excess of 20 rucks, on […]

7 years ago

Sky Sports tried to tee up Eddie Jones for a boastful response but the England coach was all business. Two years ago, when Ireland tore into England to deny them a Grand Slam, Eddie Jones admitted Joe Schmidt had done a number on his side. On Saturday night in Dublin, after witnessing his England team […]

7 years ago

Joe Schmidt admitted his Ireland team had been thoroughly “bullied” by England and Rory Best said his team were bettered in every aspect of the game. No-one in the press briefing room at the Aviva Stadium disagreed with them. England won 32-20 after bringing a relentless intensity from the first to the 80th minute, in […]

7 years ago

There is a reason why only two nations have won back-to-back Grand Slams in the past quarter century, and no-one since 1998. Ireland have started yet another Six Nations campaign badly and they will now have to win the next four games to have any chance of reclaiming the title they won at Twickenham last […]

7 years ago

IRELAND 20-32 ENGLAND The Six Nations has been blown wide open as reigning champions Ireland were blown away by England at the Aviva Stadium. England’s backline scored four tries but it was their pack that did most of the damage as Joe Schmidt’s men were completely outgunned. England hared out of the traps and scored […]

7 years ago

“We’re feeling good. Feeling confident. Feeling strong.” So says Maro Itoje as he sits, wrapped up warm, at England’s training base at Pennyhill Park. Having endured a tough run of it in early 2018, England have won four of their last five games heading into the Guinness Six Nations. Itoje has reason enough to be […]

7 years ago

The former England captain was welcomed to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium like a pantomime villain, but he left with cheers ringing in his ears. Over the past four months, Mike Tindall has become somewhat of a dissenting voice amid the din of praise for Ireland. Sure, he says, they are Grand Slam champions and win tight […]

7 years ago

A lot may change between now and September, when Ireland set out to achieve their best-ever World Cup, but this Ireland squad looks very settled. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, Joe Schmidt handed out Test debuts to 36 new players. The idea was to add to his squad’s depth chart and have three, possibly four […]

7 years ago

The Grand Slam champions have gone with a strong first XV. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made a couple of big calls in his team to face England in Saturday’s 2019 Guinness Six Nations clash with England. The front row features the familiar trio of Cian Healy, captain Rory Best ad Tadhg Furlong while […]

7 years ago

As much as the Ireland assistant coach was pressed, he tried not to take the bait. Simon Easterby would have been expecting this question – and these questions – at the Tuesday afternoon press briefing, at Carton House. He handled the question well, all eight variations on it. In an interview with the BBC’s Rugby […]

7 years ago

A wealth of options and little intention of looking beyond our shores. Days out from the opening weekend of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, Irish fans will be hoping the lack of fresh injury news from Carton House is good news. Despite the fact that several of the Irish team – Johnny Sexton, Sean O’Brien, […]

7 years ago

It says a lot about the high regard Rory Best is held in that every other Six Nations captain spoke in glowing terms about him, on and off the pitch. The Ulster star has revelled in the captaincy role since taking over from Paul O’Connell after the World Cup. He had to deal with two […]

7 years ago

Talk about an impact sub. Eight minutes into the second half of their Allianz Football League clash with Dublin, Malachy O’Rourke freshened up his attack by bringing on two players. The Monaghan fans in Clones let out a roar as Conor McManus entered the fray, but the young forward keeping him company would swing the […]

7 years ago

36 years young and now with a professional Mixed Martial Arts record of 1-0. Jake Hager is off and running in Bellator. The American, who portrayed the character Jack Swagger in World Wrestling Entertainment, has followed in the foot-steps of Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley and Dave Bautista in swapping pro wrestling for […]

7 years ago

Some going, especially when you consider he was +3 for his final round after six holes. Finishing 10 shots off the tournament winner is not how Shane Lowry would have preferred it, but an incredible birdie blitz on his final 12 holes has earned the Offaly native another tidy wedge and will see him climb […]

7 years ago

This was a sickening blow and the fight was over as soon as the connection landed flush. You simply don’t rally when you get caught like this. Aaron Pico was done the moment he got clipped. In the past six months, two of the top, young Bellator prospects have been savagely starched. Back in August, […]

7 years ago

The weather conditions were wretched in MacHale Park, on Saturday evening, and the same could be said for some of the on-field antics. Mayo defeated Roscommon in their opening round of the Allianz Football League Division 1. Brian Reape’s second-half goal ultimately decided the contest but there was late drama as Roscommon scored a deflected goal […]

7 years ago

Passionate words from an Irish rugby legend

7 years ago

There is a real possibility that Joey Carbery may have to do most of his best work off the bench. Despite tipping along extremely well in his eight Guinness PRO14 appearances, so far, this season, the Champions Cup form of Joey Carbery has seen him flash big and bright on the English rugby radar. The […]

7 years ago

“I know it has happened to us a couple of times.” Timing is a funny thing. The week before the 2019 Guinness Six Nations launch, in London, Leeds boss Marco Bielsa spoke openly about spying on opposition teams’ training sessions and compiling dossiers on the players and tactics. The Argentine even went so far as […]

7 years ago

Sounds great, but what is this about paying to watch Six Nations games? The leading, Tier One rugby nations will meet with World Rugby chiefs in Los Angeles, early next week, and the future of the game may well be set on a new course. A number of areas will be covered at the get […]

7 years ago

Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Galway and Limerick are all hosting the ‘Rugby Nights’ events. Over the next week, at 22 bars across five cities, Guinness will set the scene ahead of the 2019 Six Nations and offer up a number of rugby-themed prizes, including tickets to Ireland’s opening game against England. The ‘Guinness Six Nations Rugby […]

7 years ago

So close, yet so far away. This time next week and we’ll be right in the thick of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations. Wales play France in the championship curtain-raiser before Scotland entertain Italy, on Saturday, and reigning champs Ireland welcome England to the Aviva Stadium. Ireland go into the championship as favourites and they […]

7 years ago

The former Sunderland captain only featured briefly in the documentary, but there were plenty of images of him looking forlorn. Sunderland ‘Til I Die was supposed to be a documentary that charted the Black Cats’ rise from the trauma of Premier League relegation to get back in the big time for the 2018/19 season. Unfortunately, […]

7 years ago

“Is there anything worse than that?” Most rugby players would tell you that, 20 seconds or 20 minutes, length of time on the pitch matters little when you make your Test debut. Getting onto the pitch is getting on to that promised land that you have worked so hard to reach back from your days […]

7 years ago

As Rob Kearney would tell you himself, the Leinster fullback plays better when he gets a run of games. 2018 was the first time since Simon Zebo’s Ireland debut, in 2012, when Rob Kearney was away from the spotlight and the team selection debates. The No.15 jersey was his and he was doing well in […]

7 years ago

The buzz is back. Manchester United are on a roll and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is gathering momentum. Conor McGregor is in his element. United have now won eight games on the spin since the Norwegian was appointed as caretaker manager, in December, after Jose Mourinho parted ways with the 20-time league champions. Solskjaer and assistant […]

7 years ago

“F**k off, you can have as many captains as you want.” As much as Owen Farrell tells us that he will be fit for the opening game of the Guinness Six Nations, against champions Ireland, talk abounds about who will lead England out at the Aviva Stadium. With Dylan Hartley out injured, and with Farrell […]

7 years ago

Let the games begin. The Hurlingham Club is hosting the 2019 Guinness Six Nations launch today and we will soon be inundated with quotes, predictions, platitudes and fitness updates in the coming hours. The days are often heavy going for the head coaches and captains of the six countries involved. They have to pose for […]

7 years ago

“What the f**k is he doing in that squad?” Eddie Jones has claimed his latest England squad, for the opening rounds of the Guinness Six Nations, is the strongest one assembled since he took up the head coach job. The make-up of England’s squad certainly looks better for the inclusion of Mako and Billy Vunipola, […]

7 years ago

Thomond Park on a Saturday evening, autumn, winter or spring, and you are usually in for a fun night. If it is an interpro or a big European game, the noise rockets off the charts. In the past three weeks, Munster fans raised the roof as their side battled to wins over Leinster and then […]

7 years ago

Anyone that watched the games against Castres (home and away), Gloucester and Leinster will tell you an altogether different story. Arm-wrestle of a match aside, there were some worrying sights in Munster’s 9-7 Champions Cup victory over Exeter Chiefs. The first was Conor Murray receiving treatment, and looking in some discomfort, after receiving a hefty […]

7 years ago

The southern province needs its frontliners to be out on the pitch as much as possible and the IRFU have given them some leeway. The Guinness Six Nations is just over a week away and most of the 38-man Ireland squad are unlikely to feature in this weekend’s PRO14 fixtures. Joe Schmidt will, of course, […]

7 years ago

Joey Carbery has played New Zealand twice and beat them twice. But he’s not one of the answers you’re looking for. It took Ireland 111 years to win a Test match against the All Blacks but that day eventually came at Soldier Field in November 2016. Just over two years later, they did it again. […]

7 years ago

Paul O’Connell. Doug Howlett. Peter O’Mahony. The legacy. On Saturday, at Thomond Park, Peter O’Mahony strapped up his damaged ribs and went at it against one of the toughest English club sides in recent years. 80 minutes later, he was still going; still hounding Exeter Chiefs. Some fans feared O’Mahony would be forced to sit […]

7 years ago

A fistful of players are making strong cases to force their way into Joe Schmidt’s starting XV for the Guinness Six Nations opener against England. News, on Monday morning, of a knee injury for Tadhg Beirne would have been a real downer for Munster fans after witnessing him have another class performance in the Champions […]

7 years ago

It was all going too smoothly. Tadhg Beirne picked up his fourth man-of-the-match award of an impressive first season with Munster but he also injured his knee during his side’s Champions Cup win over Exeter Chiefs. The Kildare native damaged ligaments in the second half of his side’s 9-7 victory and, despite playing on for […]

7 years ago

That would mean ‘The Eagle’ would not be back until July at the earliest. There was always going to be a punishment heading down the line for Khabib Nurmagomedov after he instigated a post-fight brawl at UFC 229, last October. The UFC lightweight champion climbed and sprung from The Octagon into the crowd in order […]

7 years ago

Book the weekend of March 29-31 off. You’ll be busy. Leinster taking on Ulster in Dublin, just two weeks after the Guinness Six Nations wraps up. Munster’s travelling hordes swarming all over Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium with a place in the last four at stake. Yes, please. Another weekend of European club rugby and another clean […]

7 years ago

“With that putt going in, it was in my court going down 18.” Shane Lowry had one hell of a rollercoaster on the final day of the Abu Dhabi Championship but he showed some incredible nerve to birdie the 18th and win €1,024,000 in the process. Having faltered from a leading position on the final […]

7 years ago

Nice try. Paul Pogba is flying under new Manchester United boss, scoring five goals and setting up another four since the Norwegian took over from Jose Mourinho. In Saturday’s Premier League clash with Brighton, Pogba was the man to get United going again. Midway through the first half, Pogba was given a nudge in the […]

7 years ago

From February 2016 to March 2017, Jack McGrath started 15 Tests and was afforded a rest against Italy in the 2017 Six Nations. Around the same time, for Leinster, he started 18 times and was a sub on seven occasions. For province and country, the loosehead was first choice. The number one No.1 in blue […]

7 years ago

Once as high as 17th in the world, the Offaly native was down in 74th coming into the Abu Dhabi Championship. Shane Lowry is back in the winners’ enclosure, but this one was as hard-fought as they come. The 31-year-old blew a three-stroke lead to trail by four shots with seven to go, only to […]

7 years ago

Short-lived. Well, that did not last long. A meeting of the GAA’s Central Council has concluded with a vote on the proposed imitation of hand-passes to three in the 2019 National Football League. The hand-pass rule had been imposed in regional inter-county competitions and was expected to be trialled in the Allianz Leagues. It had […]

7 years ago

Drama all over the shop. Shane Lowry began the final day of the Abu Dhabi Championship leading by three shots. By the 11th hole, he was four behind Richard Strerne. On the last hole, after a remarkable comeback, he pulled off a miraculous three-wood approach shot and followed that up with two putts and a birdie […]

7 years ago

England could be without their captain and vice-captain for the 2019 Guinness Six Nations opener. Wrist or thumb injury? Saracens could not get that message clear but, they stressed, Farrell should be fit for the start of the Six Nations. Just over an hour before their Champions Cup clash with Glasgow Warriors, Sarries announced a […]

7 years ago

“I didn’t think I’d be playing professional rugby until my second year with Ireland Under 20s.” Andrew Porter likes to list out his goals at the start of each year. Back in 2015, when he was playing for Leinster U20s and in their sub-academy, he had one goal at the top of his list – […]

7 years ago

And you’d have strong arguments for the Irish players that missed out, too. Having worked with All Blacks legend Sean Fitzpatrick for well over a decade, Will Greenwood always knew when England were really doing well. The former New Zealand captain has often been asked to pick combined teams and, whenever the All Blacks are […]

7 years ago

James Haskell looked at Richie McCaw lift the World Cup trophy at Twickenham, in 2015, and retire after the final. He knows, though, that the All Blacks captain was the exception, rather than the rule. Haskell, who has won three Six Nations titles with England, is 33 now and has been hampered by injuries over […]

7 years ago