You never know what is going to happen in football, but Mauricio Pochettino proclaims to know that certain things will never happen. The Tottenham manager knows, or at least proclaims to know, that he will never manage Arsenal, given his ties to Tottenham. He also claims that he will never manage Barcelona, given his ties […]

8 years ago

The English FA are aware of the name and they are monitoring one of Ireland’s most promising players. Declan Rice, 19, has made 13 appearances for West Ham United this season and he’s now on the radar of England manager Gareth Southgate and FA technical director Dan Ashworth. The London born defender – who can also […]

8 years ago

Tiger Woods returned to the game of golf for the first time in 12 months on Thursday with a level-par 72 at the Farmers Insurance Open, which included a near ace on the par-3 16th hole. Woods spent the majority of 2017 sidelined following spinal fusion surgery and returned to Torrey Pines with a bogey on the […]

8 years ago

Arsenal, Manchester United and the FA have all to declined comment on Alexis Sanchez’s missed drugs test. With the Chilean in Manchester to finalise his move from Arsenal earlier in the week, Uefa officials turned up at the North London club’s training base to conduct routine drug tests with some of the players. Sanchez is […]

8 years ago

Conor McGregor will return to the UFC in 2018. McGregor has not fought in the Octagon since his Lightweight title win over Eddie Alvarez in 2016, and he has been negotiating a return to the promotion since his professional boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather Jr. last summer. It had been suggested that the plan was […]

8 years ago

When Ronan O’Gara walked down the tunnel of Thomond Park last year for Racing’s Champions Cup visit to Munster, it was the first time he had touched the playing surface, in an official rugby capacity, since his playing days. O’Gara had played 240 games for Munster across a glittering 16 year professional career, but like […]

8 years ago

Each year a new star is born in the Six Nations. Garry Ringrose emerged as last year’s breakout talent. In 2016, Maro Itoje announced himself to the rugby world with a stellar campaign. A lot of this year’s pre-tournament hype has centred around Leinster star Jordan Larmour, who has made headlines over the last month […]

8 years ago

Some people love the beach. Some people don’t. Munster captain Peter O’Mahony seems to belong to the latter rouping. With the Irish rugby team in Spain preparing for the Six Nations, O’Mahony and his teammates headed off for a day at the beach. Josh van der Flier took in the views, Johnny Sexton figuring out […]

8 years ago

Ireland’s unofficial, yet concrete policy of not selecting foreign based players has been one of the hallmarks of the Joe Schmidt era. The New Zealander and the IRFU have taken a hardline stance against selecting overseas based players since the return of Johnny Sexton from Racing 92 in 2015. Marty Moore, Gareth Steenson and Ian […]

8 years ago

Michael Conlan will fight on St. Patrick’s Day, albeit under a new trainer. The Belfast featherweight has left Manny Roble’s The Rock Gym in Los Angeles for London, where he will now train under Adam Booth. Booth guided WBA and IBF bantamweight champion Ryan Burnett to a world title last summer and Conlan will aspire […]

8 years ago

Last summer, I had the opportunity to sit down with former Donegal manager Rory Gallagher at a Super Valu launch at Croke Park. I had never met Gallagher before, so I decided that the best course of action would be to engage in the smallest of small talk upon our introduction. “Do you get down to […]

8 years ago

On February 8, 2008, Bournemouth entered administration and were docked 10 points by the Football League. The club’s debts stood at £4m at the time and their points deduction ultimately cost them a place in League One, as they were relegated by just two points. Administrator Gerald Krasner said after they entered administration: “If it wasn’t […]

8 years ago

Ireland internationals Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray and Tadhg Furlong have all been nominated for the EPCR Player of the Year award. The Irish trio are currently in Spain for a Six Nations mini-camp but have received nominations for European Rugby’s highest individual honour. The trio are listed among the 15 players nominated for the award […]

8 years ago

Manchester United are once again the word’s leading football club for revenue generation according to Deloitte’s 2018 Football Money League table. United retained top spot for a second consecutive year, generating total revenue of €676m (£581m). The Manchester club pipped Champions League winners Real Madrid to top spot with just €1.7m (£1.5m) separating the two clubs; with […]

8 years ago

I remember sitting in Croke Park’s Hogan Stand suite last summer listening to GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghaíl underline the importance of the GAA’s link to the community. Ó Fearghaíl was speaking at Super Valu’s #BehindTheBall launch where the supermarket chain would donate 55,000 GAA ‘First Touch’ footballs to clubs across the country, ‘an ambitious initiative designed […]

8 years ago

Joe Schmidt has called up Munster prop James Cronin to Ireland’s 36-man Six Nations squad. The Munster loosehead has been called in as injury cover for provincial teammate Dave Kilcoyne who suffered a knee injury during Munster’s win over Castres on Sunday. Cronin will join Jack McGrath, Cian Healy, Andrew Porter, John Ryan and Tadhg […]

8 years ago

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino praised Ireland U19 striker Michael Obafemi as a good finisher following his Premier League debut against Tottenham on Sunday. Obafemi, born in Ireland and raised in England, came on for Saints striker Manolo Gabbiadini in the 82nd minute but squandered a late chance to seal a win for Southampton when he […]

8 years ago

New Zealand World Cup winner Stephen Donald will not be moving to Ulster. SportsJOE reported earlier this month that the World Cup winner would sign for the province on a short term deal until the end of the season with incumbent fly-half Christian Leali’ifano set to return to the Brumbies for the start of the […]

8 years ago

The New England Patriots will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl after their 24-20 come from behind win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Foxborough. The Patriots trailed 20-10 heading at the start of the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns through Danny Amendola to reverse a 10-point deficit. Brady hit Amendola on both strikes while […]

8 years ago

Munster and Leinster will once again circle each other like sharks in the murky waters of the Champions Cup knockout stages. Just like last year’s tournament, there is a path there for both sides to face each other in the final in Bilbao should they advance through the quarter-final and semi-final stages, which, naturally, will […]

8 years ago

As part of their effort to show that they are broadcasters of the people, Sky Sports conducted their post-match show from the Munster-Castres game with hordes of Munster fans surrounding them. Not only did the fans get the opportunity to listen to analysis from former Ireland international Alan Quinlan and England World Cup winner Will […]

8 years ago

Ulster continued their abysmal run away from home with a third consecutive defeat to Wasps on Sunday. The loss ended Ulster’s European run before the quarter-final stages for the fourth consecutive season after Les Kiss’ side entered the afternoon as Pool 1 leaders. While another European adventure has ended abruptly for Ulster in the Les […]

8 years ago

Ulster winger Jacob Stockdale limped off during the first-half of his side’s Champions Cup trip away to Wasps. Stockdale was seeing grimacing after five minutes with what looked like a leg injury. BT Rugby commentator Nick Mullins said that he was told that Stockdale had suffered a dead leg, but the manner in which the […]

8 years ago

Everton and Ireland midfielder James McCarthy broke his tibia and fibula in a freak accident on Saturday when he tackled West Brom striker Salomon Rondon in the Toffees 1-1 draw at Goodison Park. McCarthy had to be stretchered off just before the hour mark after breaking his leg while chasing down Rondon who was through on goal. […]

8 years ago

Wayne Barnes dished out 22 penalties during the Scarlets three-point win over Toulon on Saturday, and it seems that former All Black centre Ma’a Nonu had something to say about a lot of them. On one particular instance, Scarlets flanker Aaron Shingler sat in the middle of a Toulon ruck before Barnes penalised him for […]

8 years ago

Five-time All-Ireland winner Marc Ó Sé has hit out at drinking bans in the GAA and fears that if players are unable to control their downtime they will begin to resent their existence. Ó Sé’s comments come on the back of Tipperary All-Ireland winner Kieran Bergin’s remarks that no other sport is asking players to abstain […]

8 years ago

Connacht duo Niyi Adeolokun and Tiernan O’Halloran were both omitted from Joe Schmidt’s Ireland Six Nations squad. O’Halloran can consider himself unlucky given his form over the last month, while Adeolokun was always going to be a long shot with the presence of Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale, Fergus McFadden and the ever impressive […]

8 years ago

What a hit! With his side leading 2-1 with just over 10 minutes to play, Lugo goalkeeper Juan Carlos Martín Corral caught his Sporting Gijon counterpart Diego Mariño off his line with a wonderfully weighted lob from inside his own half. The goal was not a Paul Robinson-esque goal kick that caught the opposition’s goalkeeper on the […]

8 years ago

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has said that he wants Ireland midfielder Harry Arter to stay at the club despite reports linking him with a move to West Ham United. Arter has been linked with a £15 million to the Hammers and was fallen out of favour with the Cherries recently following a calf injury last month. […]

8 years ago

It’s the final round of the Champions Cup Pool stages but it’s also the last chance players will have at impressing their national team coaches ahead of next month’s Six Nations. Ireland enter this year’s tournament with high expectations following an impressive November series, and while the team should largely remain unchanged from November, injury […]

8 years ago

Rob Kearney has been recalled. After he was dropped for Leinster’s landslide win over Glasgow last weekend, the Ireland international returns to the starting side for this weekend’s trip to Montpellier, with Jordan Larmour moving to the wing in place of Fergus McFadden. McFadden moves to the bench in a reshuffled backline with Ross Byrne […]

8 years ago

On Tuesday, December 22, Liverpool FC defender Jon Flanagan  “slammed” his partner Rebecca Wall against the wall and kicked her “while she was on the floor”. CCTV footage of the assault shows Flanagan hitting Wall, pushing her against a wall twice and then kicking her on the ground of Duke Street in Liverpool City centre. On […]

8 years ago

This should have been put to bed on Monday, if not much, much earlier. Buried before Johan van Graan had to address the issue for a second time. Buried before Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray had to speak to the media on Tuesday. Before I had the chance to write this article. I should have […]

8 years ago

The acquisition of Gerbrandt Grobler is the story that refuses to die, and for good reason. The South African lock has been at the centre of a media storm this week having tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone in 2014. The 25-year-old has spent most of this season sidelined with an ankle injury, but his […]

8 years ago

Who are Katie Taylor’s fans? That was the question I asked myself as I drove to Dundrum Town Centre on Monday where Taylor would be holding a scheduled meet and greet with her fans at a JD Sports store. ‘Who are these people?’ I thought. Are they male or are they female? Are they young […]

8 years ago

Leicester City manager Claude Puel has said that winger Riyad Mahrez could demand a transfer fee in excess of £100 million should he leave the club during the summer transfer window. Mahrez has been linked with a move to both Liverpool and Arsenal this month as both clubs look for respective replacements for Philippe Coutinho […]

8 years ago

Ireland underage international Jack Byrne has signed a permanent deal with Oldham Athletic. The former Manchester City youth player signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Latics on Monday after initially joining the club on a loan deal from Wigan Athletic. Byrne, who was called up to train with the Ireland senior team in 2016, said […]

8 years ago

It has been interesting to monitor the conversations surrounding Leinster this season. Having attended a number of their press conferences over the last few months, the questions from the press have been just as interesting as the answers from the players and the staff. At the start of the season a question would be posed […]

8 years ago

Mathieu Bastareaud, the Toulon captain and France centre, is facing an EPC Rugby investigation after he was caught on microphone calling Benetton Treviso flanker Sebastian Negri a ‘faggot’ during Toulon’s 36-0 win on Saturday. Bastareaud could be heard using the slur on referee Luke Pearce’s microphone and was cited for the incident by match Citing Commissioner, […]

8 years ago

It was the blue of Manchester or the red of Liverpool for German international İlkay Gündoğan heading into the summer transfer market of 2016. The then Borussia Dortmund midfielder had been courted by former manager Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and Pep Guardiola at City, and deliberated offers from both clubs before making a decision on his […]

8 years ago

386 days had passed since Rory Best’s last win in an Ulster jersey. Best’s last victory for the province came against Connacht back in December 2016, a 23-7 victory in the PRO 14, before his next nine starts all resulted in winless ventures for Ulster. An array of injuries, the Six Nations and the November internationals, […]

8 years ago

It can be hard to tell whether the Kingspan Stadium is a fortress for Ulster or whether they are just abysmal outside of Belfast. An outside shot heading into Saturday’s 1pm kick-off against Pool leaders La Rochelle, Ulster were seeking redemption following a one-sided trouncing at the hands of Leinster at the RDS last weekend. […]

8 years ago

‘My name is Kevin and I’m the biggest Liverpool fan in Cork and I have a great song that would be great on the kop. Everyone should get it going for the Man City game it’s always been my dream to have a song sung by the Kop’. The song was sung in offices, cars […]

8 years ago

The Rooney Rule, named after former Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, is the rule that states that NFL teams must interview at least one ethnic minority candidate for every head coach or senior football vacancy. That’s what the rule is officially known as. Unofficially, it has been described in NFL circles as the rule that introduced […]

8 years ago

Just your standard flat or inverted T-wave heartbeat irregularity, no big deal. Rory McIlroy is set to return to the golf course for the first time in 2018 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship next week following an injury plagued 2017. In a year where he battled rib and back injuries, McIlroy said that the only […]

8 years ago

‘We tried everything’ – was the message from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp regarding Philippe Coutinho’s transfer to Barcelona. Coutinho moved to the Catalan giants last week for a fee of £106m, plus a further £36m in variables, as the Brazilian international secured his long awaited move to the Camp Nou. Klopp, who said in August […]

8 years ago

Bobby Knuckles bows out. UFC Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has withdrawn from his scheduled title defence against Luke Rockhold next month with an undisclosed injury. Whittaker was originally scheduled to fight Rockhold for the Middleweight title, however, Rockhold will now fight Yoel Romero for an interim belt in the main event on February 11. #getwellwhittaker […]

8 years ago

‘Martin O’Neill has agreed a contract extension and will continue as the Republic of Ireland manager for the EURO 2020 campaign!’ – A tweet from the FAI’s account read on October 5. On January 12, O’Neill will return to Dublin, having still not signed that contract, after meeting with Stoke City officials this week regarding […]

8 years ago

Munster full-back Simon Zebo is still hopeful of a call up to Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad for next month’s Six Nations. Zebo, who will move to Racing 92 next season, was overlooked for last year’s November internationals as Schmidt continues to uphold the IRFU’s policy of only selecting domestic based players. Johnny Sexton, Tommy Bowe […]

8 years ago

I remember sitting at a Leinster Rugby press conference a few weeks after Joey Carbery first broke into the club’s senior team at the start of the 2016-17 season. Carbery had dazzled in his first few games with Leinster, and his talent was clear, but his problem was that he had started the first three […]

8 years ago