Ciaran Archer has confidence and he has the game to back it up too. In Dublin, there always seems to be another one coming and the St Maurs’ youngster looks like the next best thing. Niall Scully, Brian Howard. Both leapt in seamlessly and Archer could be next. He could even be the best. For […]

6 years ago

After seven successful years as All Blacks head coach, after infinite displays of scintillating rugby and after one hell of a journey, this was Steve Hansen’s last competitive game in charge of New Zealand. He’s been a great coach. One of their most successful ever. Yet it would all end on a sour note. Not […]

6 years ago

England were up for it. Oh they were wired to the moon. 12 years since their last final. 16 years since they last lifted the Webb Ellis trophy. They think it’s too long and they think this is the team to bridge the gap. They showed it against Australia. The Wallabies never stood a chance […]

6 years ago

For Conor Browne, 2019 has been a breakthrough season. Last year, he was knocking on the door. Come January, he was already on his way to knocking it down. Ten months on and Browne has a Fitzgibbon Cup medal in his collection, he has the experience of starting an All-Ireland senior hurling final to look […]

6 years ago

It’s hard to keep a good man down. All the best with Ronan Sweeney. A stalwart of Kildare club football since the late 90s, it was back in 2000 when a Moorefield youngster was called into the county panel. For 13 years he’d represent the Lillies with pride, Sweeney was always one of those lads […]

6 years ago

Kerry legend John Egan was the St Michael’s coach the last time they won the Cork intermediate championship. His son, the Republic of Ireland international and Sheffield United star, was the team’s mascot. Skip on 21 years and St Michael’s are back in another decider.  Plenty of water has gone under the bridge since ‘98. […]

6 years ago

When a lad plays senior for his county before his club, you know there’s something special going on. Cian Johnson is something special, and that’s been known in Offaly since he was very young. As an underage player, he was the best in the development squads. As a school-boy, he almost single-handedly drove his school, […]

6 years ago

Conor McDonald meets every challenge head on but this Sunday’s will arguably be his toughest yet. A marathon on a month and a half’s training. It’s not for the feint-hearted, it’s probably not advised either but the Wexford hurler is fighting fit and he’s as motivated as they come. He has no past experience of […]

6 years ago

“It won’t really hit me I suppose until January. Not that I haven’t been thinking about it, I have. I’m trying to put it out of my mind…” Ann Downey wears the loss. Winces at its mere mention. It’s nearly lost two months since Kilkenny were beaten in the All-Ireland senior camogie final but you […]

6 years ago

Dessie Hutchinson has seen both sides of it. Just five years ago, he was a Premier League hopeful with stars in his eyes. Brighton and Hove Albion were a club on the rise and the Waterford youngster was highly rated. The sky was the limit. He had high hopes. Hutchinson was on the cusp of […]

6 years ago

Only 22 yet, Dessie Hutchinson has already lived a life less ordinary. As a youngster, he played everything. Won a Tony Forristal with the Waterford hurlers, played football with Waterford Bohemians. Could turn his hand to anything with a ball. Understandably, the football took priority. Though he had dreams of winning county finals with Ballygunner, […]

6 years ago

Trust. That’s the key word. The team – that’s everything. Few teams have captured the imagination of GAA followers far and wide over the last few years quite like the footballers of Corofin. Slick, free-flowing forward play. Fast, fluorescent movements and daring attacking plays. That’s the Corofin way. On Sunday, they played themselves out of […]

6 years ago

The Crossmaglen dressing room was hollow, sombre even. As if the news had landed that a close friend had passed away. You’d swear the community had experienced some sort of tragedy. By Crossmaglen’s metric, Jamie Clarke’s decision to up and leave midway through the 2014/2015 season was exactly that. A sad tale. A sorry story. […]

6 years ago

What a difference a year makes. This time 2018, Ross King was on the floor. Laois had a poor year but that wasn’t the worst of it. The club season rolled around and despite making it to the county final, heartbreak lay in store for Rathdowney Errill. For Ross King, it was much worse than […]

6 years ago

If he had gotten a bit more luck, Paudie Clifford could have been making a difference for Kerry this year. Having shown well for East Kerry in the 2018 championship, it was fair to say he’d put himself in the shop window. Playing a key role in UCC’s Sigerson Cup triumph, this fella was on […]

6 years ago

And that ladies and gentlemen, is why Peter Keane saw fit to start Diarmuid O’Connor in this year’s All-Ireland final replay. The Kerry club quarter finals and all eyes are on Austin Stack Park in Tralee. The county weren’t far off an All-Ireland this year and the hope down in these parts is that they […]

6 years ago

124 caps, four Six Nations, four Triple Crowns and two Grand Slams. Rory Best was one of the good ones. Having burst onto the Ireland scene in 2005, the Ulsterman remained virtually an ever-present in the 15 years that followed. Saturday morning’s heavy loss to New Zealand was a gut-wrenching way to finish it but […]

6 years ago

It’s never an easy thing to do. Stephen Ferris played for years alongside Johnny Sexton. They went to battle together, won battles and lost battles. The respect between the pair is unquestionable. But that doesn’t get in the way of the cold, harsh truths. Ferris, the Ulster man is a straight shooter. He calls it […]

6 years ago

“I literally sat there for two hours weeping. It was one of my biggest regrets.” France in the final pool game. It was time for Ireland to make a statement at the 2015 World Cup. The French had been yapping all week, talking the talk and giving Ireland lots of it. Hearing all of this, […]

6 years ago

After 25 years as Ballymacarbry and Waterford ladies football manager, Michael Ryan stepped down in 2006. His three daughters were on the team by then and Ryan, the Waterford legend, felt it might lead to unnecessary headaches. “When your daughters are playing, you’re either accused of being too soft or too hard,” he said, before […]

6 years ago

Andy Moran is out, for the first time in 17 years, but he’ll always have the eye-in. He cares too much, just to forget about it. Was too invested just to leave it all behind now. Playing with Mayo was his life and times and even though those days are gone, the Ballaghaderreen man looks […]

6 years ago

Like any club, it comes in cycles for Ballaghaderreen. Go back to 2006 and a golden generation was rising on the Mayo/Roscommon border. Hopes were high, and a second ever county title was the club’s target. Eventually, they hit the bulls-eye. Twice, in 2006 and 2007, Ballagh went close but it wasn’t until 2008 when […]

6 years ago

They don’t make ’em like Cian Mackey anymore. Flame-headed and grizzly. Raw and stocky. Uncompromising, thoroughly uncompromising. Looks like he’d go through you for a shortcut. Like he’d eat you without salt. He could do, mind. But most of the time, he doesn’t need to. Beats you with skill and genius instead. Mackey’s is deceptive, […]

6 years ago

15 men. 15 men ready for the biggest day of their lives. For four years, everyone associated with Ireland rugby has been waiting for this Saturday. That Argentina loss still lingers. It was a painful one. It was a gruelling one. But 2019 would be different. Yes, we’d be losing a few but we’d still […]

6 years ago

35 years young. 89 minutes said the clock when Glenn Whelan was on the end of a nasty one. Another 60:40 ball, another improbable interception from Ireland’s battle-worn warrior. Granit Xhaka is almost ten years his junior. But he doesn’t have the anywhere near the same hunger the Clondalkin man has. Whelan gets the leg […]

6 years ago

It was a day for the Genevan ducks. From dawn until dusk, the rain never stopped in Geneva on Tuesday and Stade De Geneve bore the brunt of it. The rainfall congregated and the puddles formed. The pitch was sapping and the organisers were worried. Eventually, they called a pitch inspection for 6.00, before Ireland […]

6 years ago

Ulster 2018 was always going to be a write off for Castlerahan. A club burdened by the heartache of years previous, their Cavan county final win was the be-all and end-all. And it was the sweetest thing ever. The provincial championship was a mere footnote to the perfect campaign. Beyond the Oliver Plunkett cup, everything […]

6 years ago

Declan O’Mahony wouldn’t let Conor McHugh go for 15 full seconds. 15 full seconds. Nerveless goalkeeper Darragh Gogan had just slotted the leveller for Ballyboden St Enda’s from a 45. It wasn’t over yet though. This Dublin SFC quarter final had more swings and roundabouts than the Kilkenny ring road, and Na Fianna were tearing […]

6 years ago

There ain’t no season like county final season. Droughts ended, empires extended, heroes made. There were sixteen county finals all over the country, from Clare to Tyrone at the weekend. There was hurling in Kilkenny and Tipperary. The football was entertaining in Dublin. Here are the 15 best players of the weekend. 1. Derek Fahy […]

6 years ago

Ireland will need to beat either Switzerland away or Denmark at home now. A late Yusuff Poulsen goal earned Denmark a priceless home win over Switzerland in their Group D Euro qualifier on Saturday night to put them in the driving seat of this group. And it puts Ireland in an extremely difficult position. That’s […]

6 years ago

For Bundee Aki, Saturday morning’s clash with Samoa was a roller coaster of emotions. It all started with the Samoan Haka. If things had worked out differently, Aki could easily have been on the other side of the line in Fukuoka. He could easily have been wearing the blue jersey, representing the land of his mother […]

6 years ago

Aaron Connolly expects to score goals. He’s not interested in moral victories. He’s not here to ease himself into international football. Ireland were fairly poor for 80-odd minutes in Tbilisi on Saturday afternoon. From the word go, the team were flat as the lively Georgians controlled the game and created a whole host of chances. […]

6 years ago

Tokyo is in the eye of the storm and World Rugby aren’t too far away. And this isn’t just any storm. Typhoon Hagibis will land on Tokyo and the surrounding areas on Saturday, and it’s expected to be the fiercest storm of the Japanese year. Powerful winds, biblical and we mean biblical rains from dawn […]

6 years ago

38 years of winning. It all started in 1982. Michael Ryan didn’t have many ideas back then. In reality, he was just doing his wife and sister a favour. In Ballymacarbry, the ladies footballers were stuck for a manager and Ryan agreed to step in for the season. That would be the longest season of […]

6 years ago

Four nights in Wexford. Three nights in Sixmilebridge. It’s a high paced, non-stop, flat to the mat routine but Davy Fitzgerald wouldn’t have it any other way. Hurling defines who that man is, and it would take something special to keep him for so long as a night away. People talk about his commitment to […]

6 years ago

“They’re disappointed they didn’t win it. We had the better goalscoring opportunities.” Stephen Kenny’s words told the story of the Tallaght night. Winning games, big performances and plenty of plaudits – that’s what these Ireland under-21s have grown up on – and they expected to win on Thursday night. Never mind that it was Italy, one of […]

6 years ago

Paul Galvin is ready for a new challenge in the sunny south east. The Wexford senior footballers. Far from a basket case but they’re hardly flying high at the moment either. From the highs of 2008, when the county made it to an All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone to 2019, when they finished mid-table in Division […]

6 years ago

“Monday is my easy day. I only have to run for six or seven miles that day” They never said it would be easy, this athletics craic. The loneliness of the long distance runner is a phrase as old as time and its relevance will last forever more. Athletics, running in particular, is one of […]

6 years ago

Growing up, Ciara Mageean’s dreams were of All-Stars, All-Ireland medals and lining out in Croke Park. She could run all day. Knew that from an early age but back then there was always a ball involved. Camogie legends were the ones she looked up to. Her aunt Edel Mason and Leitrim’s Maureen McAleenan were the […]

6 years ago

David Clifford. Different Class. Only a team with David Clifford in it could be losing by seven points after 15 minutes, yet still feel that game was there for the taking. East Kerry were always in with a shout. Kerins O’Rahilly’s began like men on a mission in Tralee last Saturday night in this Round […]

6 years ago

Don’t say you weren’t warned. For the last few days, the mutterings have been getting louder and louder. Forecasters shared their worries, meteorologists made a few predictions and the whether people brought the message home. From Japan, you could feel the sense of alarm. These games are in bother, they ensured us. But many weren’t […]

6 years ago

Rianna Jarrett: a Wexford girl made in Wexford. From when she was a youngster playing with North End United and then with Curracloe, Rianna Jarrett always had it. Mapped for stardom from her early years, Wexford Youths was the natural progression. The biggest club in Wexford were first in and Jarrett jumped at the chance. In […]

6 years ago

Ireland 3-2 Ukraine Denise O’Sullivan screams for the ball. She roars at her Ireland teammates to push forward. ‘Our ball’ she shouts just to keep the lines woman on her toes. The Cork woman who has found a home in Australia, is right at home here in Tallaght Stadium for the Irish womens’ crucial Euro […]

6 years ago

An exhibition from the magician. With five minutes to go in Sunday’s Limerick senior hurling final, Na Piarsaigh were breathing down Patrickswell’s necks. The city men hadn’t led in the game but with the clock ticking towards sixty, they were on the charge. Peter Casey was cutting loose. Ronan Lynch was gaining a foothold. It […]

6 years ago

The clubs of Carlow stand together. Rivals inside the four white lines. Outside, the mutual respect is clear. For the hurlers of Ballinakill, this last week has been a galling one. The previous Sunday was meant to be a day in their lives. A first senior hurling semi-final in a number of years, the whole […]

6 years ago

Wait in the wings and your chance will come. Ross King has been 12 months waiting. But his moment arrived on Sunday. We all know what happened in last year’s Laois SHC final between Rathdowney/Errill and Camross. A disgraceful belt, and the fall-out that followed had Ross King contemplating whether he’d ever line out for […]

6 years ago

There’s something about Ciara Mageean. So honest in her interviews, so genuine in her actions. The girl from Portaferry went up against the best in the world in the World 1500 metre final at the World Championships in Doha and she finished a creditable 10th place. A highly creditable 10th place. This, as we found […]

6 years ago

Erin’s Own, Castlecomer were written off by no-one bar the bookies coming into Saturday’s Kilkenny SHC quarter final against Dicksboro. 3/1 on a dreary day in Nowlan Park. The north Kilkenny men were always worth a nibble. Having ran Ballyhale closer than close last year, the pedigree is clear. The ‘Comer lads mean even stricter […]

6 years ago

A livewire. A lynch pin. A finisher. The best thing about Aaron Connolly’s full Premier League debut was that he got better as the game went on. The youngest Irish goalscorer in the Premier League since Michael Obafemi. Before that, it was Damien Duff. The future is bright. Mick McCarthy needs to get the finger […]

6 years ago

Get the slippers on and the remote in hand. Stick the feet up and soak it all in. The weather is wet, the couch is calling. It’s a sports filled Saturday and club GAA is centre stage. Everything is in order. Things are as they should be. Ploughing a lone furrow for years through consecutive […]

6 years ago