That was fun. We’ll see your David Clifford and we’ll raise you Brian Fenton. But it was only the beginning. We all knew that Dublin and Kerry were going to be the rivalry but we expected the real fireworks to come later. Peter Keane was blue in the face telling us that he had a young, […]

6 years ago

DUBLIN 1-19 KERRY 1-19 It was all looking so good for Kerry with 13 minutes to go. Once again, however, Dublin showed their mettle and Ciaran Kilkenny stepped up. Still, it wasn’t over. Dublin and Kerry is the rivalry Gaelic football needs and we just got another enthralling chapter this evening. The first half was […]

6 years ago

Davy Byrne started off his evening by getting the better of David Clifford. It did not last long. All eyes have been on David Clifford since his first moments in the Kerry minor team. Having just turned 21 on Wednesday, Clifford captained Kerry for the first time against none other than All-Ireland champions Dublin. The […]

6 years ago

“We’re sticking to what we believe in. I’ve got full faith.” Ahead of an FA Cup tie with Tranmere, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke with the press and attempted an ambitious house restoration analogy to tie in with the predicament of his side losing four of their last seven league games. “The foundation has to be […]

6 years ago

“Sounds like more of a team-talk than a selection. Just get on with the team!” The 2020 Guinness Six Nations was officially launched in London on Wednesday and new Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says his team ‘are in a great place’. For the Irish rugby supporters that watched their side get flaked out of […]

6 years ago

‘Ah, I just don’t see a guy that wants to fight right now’. Ahead of his main event fight against Conor McGregor at UFC 246, Donald Cerrone looked to have had his fill of questions about his opponent’s lightning fast starts. Near the end of the pre-fight press conference, Cerrone picked up his microphone and […]

6 years ago

“For me, personally, and for a few other girls, we’re kind of fed up with Tipperary being intermediate and that mind-set of accepting second best.” 2018 saw Aishling Moloney and the Tipperary Ladies crowned the Lidl Division 2 champions. 2019 had Tipp mixing it in Division 1, staying up and winning the All-Ireland Intermediate title. 2020 […]

6 years ago

“It was phenomenal… it was really rewarding to see what collaboration looks like.” As most of us were recovering from the Christmas festivities, Sene Naoupu and Leinster headed to London for first ever women’s club match played at Twickenham. Following Harlequins’ 30-30 draw with Leicester, their women’s side took on Leinster in front of a crowd […]

6 years ago

We have heeded your many, many requests. Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby is coming to Cork! Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby Live is coming to Rearden’s bar in Cork on January 29 and we want you to be there. Especially all you penguins. Ahead of Ireland’s 2020 Guinness Six Nations opener, Barry Murphy […]

6 years ago

It is worth noting that UFC 246 was pulled together on relatively short notice. If Conor McGregor wants to fight, the promotion could easily fill a card. John Kavanagh believes McGregor will stay training, and stay ready, just in case the UFC 249 [Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson] headliner hits trouble. Should that lightweight title fight finally […]

6 years ago

“He’s sealed Usman’s fate, now.” Jorge Masvidal was wrestling with the idea of going across the road to the T-Mobile Arena, on Saturday night, or scrubbing it to stay in his hotel room. He eventually opted to go see Conor McGregor take on Donald Cerrone, at UFC 246, and was not surprised by the Dubliner’s […]

6 years ago

“Put them to work over here. Get like, yeah the English come over here and do a bit of building for us!” Saracens are facing up to the reality of being in the English Championship, next season, and losing a host of their big stars. The three-time European champions, who also collected five Premiership titles […]

6 years ago

“I have a feeling there are dark days ahead for Leinster… “ 16 wins on the bounce, this season, a home quarter final in Europe and 16 representatives in Andy Farrell’s first squad for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations. Leinster are flying high. The Guinness PRO14 champions and last season’s beaten Champions Cup finalists were […]

6 years ago

“Yes, I think so. Yes. Yes… YES!” That was Conor McGregor’s response when asked, by Ariel Helwani, if he would fight again before the summer. If he stays true to his word it makes Justin Gaethje and Jorge Masvidal the likeliest opponents to next face ‘The Notorious’. In the aftermath of McGregor’s 40-second destruction of […]

6 years ago

Leinster’s reward for winning all six of their pool games and securing No.1 seeding for the knock-out stages is… not great. Toulouse’s victory over Gloucester knocked the English side out of the Champions Cup and finalised the make-up of the Champions Cup quarter finals. For Leinster and Ulster, two tough tests await. Saracens’ gripping win […]

6 years ago

“It’s different with Cerrone. He likes Cerrone.” Conor McGregor says it was an honour to fight ‘a legend of the game’ in Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. McGregor needed only 40 seconds to pick Cerrone apart and force a Technical Knock-Out after a typically rapid start. Away from the UFC for 15 months, the Dubliner […]

6 years ago

“What the **** was that guy waiting for?!” UFC president Dana White was livid after the referee in the bantamweight fight between Drew Dober and Nasrat Haqparast, at UFC 246, dithered before eventually stopping the fight. In the opening bout on the Preliminary Card, broadcast live on ESPN, Dober dropped his opponent with a left hook […]

6 years ago

“I’ve been asking for that for years.” Ahead of his UFC 246 main event against Donald Cerrone, Conor McGregor spoke about what the support of the Irish fans meant to him. “The support of the people means a lot to me,” he told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “I do this to entertain the people. “This is […]

6 years ago

Conor McGregor has since commented on the tweets, and Usman’s manager. These Usman tweets were reprehensible but the fighter’s management insists his Twitter account was hacked. A few hours out from Conor McGregor’s first UFC fight in 15 months, a series of tweets started cropping up on the account of welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. It […]

6 years ago

“I’m very grateful to the people who stuck by me through this trying time. This one’s for them.” As most of the T-Mobile Arena lost their minds, and Conor McGregor got excited, John Kavanagh kept his cool. Saturday night in Las Vegas was the first time in 34 UFC fights that Donald Cerrone failed to […]

6 years ago

If many fight fans were expecting a fast Conor McGregor win, no-one was expecting that surprise call-out. McGregor vs. Usman. McGregor vs. Masvidal. McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov. All three fights had been mooted before UFC 246 but how about a ‘McGregor Felder’ contest? ‘The Notorious’ claimed he wanted to accumulate rounds at welterweight in his fight […]

6 years ago

“I was like, ‘Oh, it happened this fast. I got whopped THIS early?!’” We know all about The Notorious’ left-hand but how about the ‘McGregor shoulder’ move? Conor McGregor is known for his fast starts and Donald Cerrone is often guilty of being slow out of the blocks. ‘Cowboy’ told us all he would be […]

6 years ago

ULSTER 22-15 BATH It was not often pretty but Ulster got the job done against Bath, even if it took a reckless red card to swing the tie in their favour. Ulster led 19-15 with less than 10 minutes to go, and were just about hanging on, when sub hooker Ross Batty put in a […]

6 years ago

Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone both came in at 170 lbs exactly for their welterweight bout headliner but there was still weigh-in drama. The main card of this Saturday night’s [Sunday morning, Irish time] UFC 246 has been rejigged after women’s straw-weight Alexa Grasso came in 5.5 lbs over the 115 lbs cut-off point. The […]

6 years ago

“He’s in the rare position of getting first team football at 16, which is rare. He’s excelling.” Jude Bellingham has already totted up 24 appearances for Championship side Birmingham City this season, and he does not turn 17 until June. The young midfielder is not hanging about. Manchester United went into the 2019/20 season short […]

6 years ago

After fighting just twice in three years, in the UFC, we could get two ‘Notorious’ bouts in the space of two months. UFC 248 was hit with another blow, overnight, but Conor McGregor is willing to pony up. The UFC have invited welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and B.M.F title holder Jorge Masvidal to Las Vegas […]

6 years ago

“At the get together in December we challenged the players to put their hands up for selection.” So said Andy Farrell in the IRFU press release that accompanied Wednesday’s announcement of Ireland’s 2020 Guinness Six Nations squad for the opening two rounds of fixtures. 45 Irish players – some of whom are now injured – […]

6 years ago

Farrell’s reign has begun. The Ireland Six Nations squad for the 2020 edition of the storied championship was today announced by new head coach Andy Farrell. It’s a case of not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, although Farrell has wielded the axe on a number of previously untouchable players under Joe Schmidt’s reign. […]

6 years ago

‘First one to shoot is a cowb**ch’. So taunted Conor McGregor last week. The man wants to stand and trade. Fortunately for everyone planning to tune into the Cerrone McGregor main event at UFC 246, ‘Cowboy’ is game. Despite having 17 submission victories on his professional resumé, Donald Cerrone says he is more than happy […]

6 years ago

“The gulf is widening.” On the latest episode of Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby, former Munster stars Jerry Flannery and Barry Murphy devoted a large portion of their wide-ranging show to the recent travails of the province. The southern province are on the brink of a Champions Cup exit and require a series of results to […]

6 years ago

‘Cowboy’ even did a little jig to prove he was in good shape. Days out from his UFC 246 main event against Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone was forced to answer some questions on his readiness to fight ‘The Notorious’. In the second of the UFC’s ‘Embedded’ episodes, cameras caught Cerrone limping as he headed for […]

6 years ago

Taking a rarely tread path for Irish players. From Cashel to Shizuoka, via Pau, Paddy Butler is on the move. The former Munster back row has today confirmed that he will be playing for Yamaha Jubilo in Japan’s Top League for the next two seasons. The Shannon clubman made his Munster debut, at the age […]

6 years ago

Some of Leinster’s talented young fawns are being hungrily eyed up. Something that stuck with me at the tail-end of the impressive, double-winning Leinster season of 2017/18 was how all of their senior stars were on message. Before flying back from Bilbao to Dublin, with the Champions Cup trophy in tow, Luke McGrath, Jack Conan […]

6 years ago

“Ireland baby… we did it!” The famous words still evoke a gush of giddy feelings that many Irish fight fans experienced in the chaotic moments after Conor McGregor sparked Jose Aldo at UFC 194. McGregor had just defeated the legendary featherweight in just 13 seconds to claim his first UFC title. McGregor roared out an […]

6 years ago

We’ll know a lot more about the direction this rugby team is heading as soon as the first squad is announced. By Wednesday afternoon, we should all know Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad for the opening two rounds of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations. If he follows similar announcements by his predecessor, Joe Schmidt then there […]

6 years ago

Smiling as he delivered this fight proposal, ‘Coach’ fully expected this one to be picked up. John Kavanagh has admitted elements of Conor McGregor’s last UFC fight camp were “heartbreaking” but he has seen his fighter refocused and duly renewed. Kavanagh is with Team McGregor in Las Vegas ahead of The Notorious’ comeback fight, on […]

6 years ago

Four Munster players started Ireland’s World Cup quarter final against New Zealand with another four on the replacements bench. Heading into his first Six Nations campaign as Ireland head coach, Andy Farrell will have seen his fair share of games. Anything he has missed out will be packaged into video clips for his viewing while […]

6 years ago

“I’ve made mistakes… I’m not going back there.” McGregor drinking and disappearing for days on end was part of a “heartbreaking” fight camp, says John Kavanagh. Conor McGregor is days out from his UFC return and he appears to be in a much better place than when we last saw him prepare for a trip […]

6 years ago

Munster reaching the last eight of the Champions Cup needs not just a miracle matches but a set of miracle results next weekend. After a long stretch of weeks when Irish rugby recovered some of the sheen, and confidence, lost at the World Cup, along came some more chastening results in the Champions Cup. Leinster […]

6 years ago

RACING 39-22 MUNSTER Munster’s hopes of reaching the knock-out stages are hanging from the dingiest, thinnest thread possible after a late burst of tries for Racing 92 in Paris. The mathematical likelihood of Munster reaching the quarter finals is outlandish and next weekend’s results should confirm what we already know – Europe is done disappointingly […]

6 years ago

LEINSTER 42-14 LYON Quarter final place already secured, Leinster have now secured themselves a match at home in the last eight. More likely than not, that tie will be in the Aviva Stadium. Despite the final scoreline, Lyon put up another good fight against Leinster but they were always facing an uphill battle against a […]

6 years ago

“I ain’t Oliver Twist but, yeah, it wasn’t easy, by any means.” Having come into professional rugby by the lesser tread path – growing up in a working class family in Bristol’s Knowle West estate – Ellis Genge takes nothing for granted. Not his big 2016 switch from Bristol to Leicester Tigers, not his (to […]

6 years ago

CONNACHT 7-21 TOULOUSE Three weeks out from the start of the Six Nations, Andy Farrell will not have enjoyed Saturday’s viewing. Connacht started brightly against the four-time champions before being swept away in the second half. Injuries have blighted Connacht’s 2019/20 and so it proved again today at The Sportsground as Toulouse left Galway with […]

6 years ago

CLERMONT 29-13 ULSTER Alexandre Fischer wasn’t even named in the Clermont starting XV but he took his early introduction off the bench like a lad that knew opportunity had come knocking. The 21-year-old was one of a whopping 19 uncapped players named in Fabien Galthie’s French squad for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations, this week. […]

6 years ago

The last UFC event Dillon Danis and Conor McGregor were at ended in sheer chaos. We are just over a week away from Conor McGregor’s first UFC fight in 15 months and the anticipation is building. As he has done for the past few years, Dillon Danis is helping McGregor to prepare for a big […]

6 years ago

“Tom Youngs absolutely hates me for it, as you can imagine, being from farming stock.” We are in the midst of what many – especially those on a 2020 health kick – are calling ‘Vegenauary’. That means forgoing a regular diet that includes the daily consumption of meat and other meals containing animal by products […]

6 years ago

Munster will roll the dice on two players and back their big names to deliver big performances. After four rounds of their Champions Cup pool, Munster lie on 11 points. If they are not mathematically heading into a must-win game, they are not far off. 18 points is often looked upon as the cut-off point […]

6 years ago

Munster are sweating on the fitness of two key players and may have to roll the dice. Munster head coach Johann van Graan faced the media down at the province’s University of Limerick base and there was plenty of dicey news to get through. Van Graan confirmed to Sinead Kissane of Virgin Media that Joey […]

6 years ago

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said the Manchester United midfield is in urgent need of quality reinforcements. United fans on the look-out for a post League Cup humiliation pick-up will be buoyed by a report linking the club with a £50m move for Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek. Having allowed Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera […]

6 years ago

And so it comes to this. “We are Man United.” On Tuesday, when beating Manchester City in consecutive games and taking a stride towards a League Cup final were still possibilities, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer talked up the club he loves so dearly. “We have been up and we’ve been down but we’ve always come back.” […]

6 years ago