Ireland will definitely make changes to their team for the visit of France. Three games into the 2019 Guinness Six Nations and Ireland are still in the title hunt. That may come as no surprise to many but given the fact that they were soundly beaten, without even a losing bonus point, against England in […]

7 years ago

There is a zip gone in the pass and teams have cottoned on to it. Conor Murray really had us spoiled for a while there. The Munster scrum-half handled himself well in his breakthrough season in Test rugby, 2011/12, and came of age on the summer tour to New Zealand. He never looked back. The […]

7 years ago

ITALY 16-26 IRELAND A grim performance but Ireland get all five points and go third in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations table. Ireland came back from an awful first half and from 16-12 behind to secure a bonus point win in Rome. Ireland hit the front after nine minutes when Chris Farrell went to within […]

7 years ago

Former England stars Jeremy Guscott and Martin Johnson were far from happy at how Eddie Jones’ side ceded control. 10-3 up at half-time and looking well set to push on, England rested on their one-score lead and paid for it. Wales countered England’s kicking game well and matched the visitors with physicality and drive on […]

7 years ago

WALES 21-13 ENGLAND Absolutely magnificent from Tom Curry, but not enough. Less carries, more tackles, fewer possession and playing most of the opening 40 minutes in their own half. And yet England went into the break leading 10-3. It looked as though England would remain on course for the Grand Slam, but Dan Biggar sprung […]

7 years ago

The big man arrives after a rehab session and helps us to move some chairs and tables for his interview. We are a week out from Christmas and Chris Farrell is nearing a comeback for Munster. He is eyeing the Connacht game in early January as the visit of Leinster to Thomond Park is looking […]

7 years ago

“It’s not f***ing happening, mate.” In between the First and Second Tests of the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, in 2017, Warren Gatland’s side took on the Hurricanes in Wellington. Kristian Dacey, Cory Hill, Tomas Francis, Gareth Davies Allan Dell and Finn Russell all joined George Kruis and Leigh Halfpenny on the […]

7 years ago

It definitely played on his mind. Rory Grugan was an honest and forthright guest on the latest episode of The GAA Hour and he is just as excited about the potential of the current Armagh side as many GAA fans out there. Still, Grugan knows question marks exist, big and bold, about a side that have […]

7 years ago

Should be a cracking fight, but making it for a belt is crazy. On Tuesday of this week, we reported that UFC 236 was slowly kicking into gear. There is still no venue confirmed for the pay-per-view but New York and Abu Dhabi were, reportedly, both in the mix. Then, on Tuesday evening, word came […]

7 years ago

“Can I say this story?!” Back in September, two months after turning 28, and after 59 Test caps, Joe Marler announced his retirement from international rugby. Marler, who helped England to Guinness Six Nations titles in 2016 and 2017, had toured with his country to South Africa and had played superbly in the Third Test […]

7 years ago

“The scooters. I can picture you on a scooter, Donncha O’Callaghan wrapped around you like Roman Holiday.” Andrew Trimble and Donncha O’Callaghan often dreaded heading into team meetings if Ireland had been beaten on the previous weekend. “Declan Kidney was the coach,” Trimble recalled, “and myself and Donncha had this thing where if we got […]

7 years ago

Make no bones about it, Ireland need to win and win handsomely in Rome to stay in the Guinness Six Nations title hunt. By the time Sunday rolls around, Ireland will be well away of how the table looks after Scotland face France and England travel to Cardiff to take on Wales. Whoever emerges as […]

7 years ago

34 men named but that will be paired down to 23 for the weekend trip to Rome. Let’s start with the bad news – Will Addison, Garry Ringrose and Rhys Ruddock will not be involved against Italy. Now, for the good stuff… Chris Farrell has been reviewed by the Ireland medical team and was fit to […]

7 years ago

Just under eight weeks to go and UFC 236 has no confirmed venue, main event or fights. For a pay-per-view event due to take place on April 13, under two months away, UFC 236 is looking sparse. UFC 235 is in Las Vegas on March 2 and will be headlined by Jon Jones defending his […]

7 years ago

The Spaniard was often marginalised by Jose Mourinho but he is right down Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s street. Ander Herrera was one of Manchester United’s better players in the disappointing Champions League defeat to PSG. He has been one of their better players since Solskjaer arrived as caretaker and, in truth, one of their better players […]

7 years ago

Four players that were involved in the Friday win over Southern Kings are heading up to Ireland camp. Munster were fortunate to get Chris Farrell, John Ryan and Niall Scannell released back to them, last week, for Guinness PRO14 action. Farrell “tweaked” his knee and was called ashore midway through the first half but he […]

7 years ago

The Ulster scrumhalf will be itching for this one. 8, 3, 16, 60, 4 and 4. Those are the stretches on the field John Cooney has had to work with since he made his Ireland debut against Japan in June 2017. Cooney has been in excellent form for Connacht and Ulster over the past three […]

7 years ago

To the rescue. Dan Carter must have thought his time at the elite level of rugby was at an end. Sure, he won the Top League with Kobe Steelers and was voted M.V.P but club rugby in Japan does not have that same cut, thrust and premier class as, say, the Champions Cup. Carter is […]

7 years ago

This is not what Ireland need at all, and Henderson will be gutted if he misses out. The weekend’s Guinness PRO14 action saw several Ireland internationals released back to their provinces to get some game-time. All four provinces won their matches and all are in playoff places heading into the final few months of the […]

7 years ago

GAA fans were treated to some pulsating action on a fair windy day of Sigerson and Trench Cup action down in Mallow. The gusting winds down in Cork, on Saturday, had a huge bearing on events as a number of university sides went at it. St Mary’s of Belfast went into the half-time break 0-7 […]

7 years ago

‘Given the lax rules FIFA have in place and the ambiguity surrounding them there will be ways and means to get the best players playing for the world’s richest nations.’ On Wednesday, Declan Rice announced his decision to represent England in future internationals, should he be fortunate enough to win a call-up. The news came […]

7 years ago

The former Mayo star has been rinsed for his observation on the Gaoth Dobhair lads. Back in December, early December, Colm Parkinson reached out to a couple of the Gaoth Dobhair lads, Odhran Mac Niallais and captian Niall Friel, after they became Ulster champions. The two men spoke to Parkinson on The GAA Hour from the back […]

7 years ago

“For years, people grew up probably wanting to play for Cardiff, Swansea or in Bristol, but now they can be proud to want to play for this club.” Class words, well spoken from Newport County striker Padraig Amond. The Carlow native, and former Shamrock Rovers player, scored in the fifth consecutive round as his club […]

7 years ago

Time to accelerate the talks. Just over six minutes of normal time to go and Tony Kelly gets free down the left-hand side. He lines up a shot and, sure, the angle is tight but this is Tony Kelly we are talking about. He backs himself, and with reason too. His shot looks to have […]

7 years ago

“Bang.” Not a word many Manchester United fans would associate with Alexis Sanchez and his time at Old Trafford. The Chilean got off to a tepid start on his United debut, 13 months ago, against Yeovil Town in the FA Cup. On Tuesday, on the loftier Champions League stage, he put in a similarly off-key […]

7 years ago

If ever a player did not deserve to be on the end of a 4-1 defeat, it was the Irish forward. The remarkable FA Cup journey of Newport County came to an end, but they gave Manchester City a right rattle. Padraig Amond scored a goal that briefly gave his side hope before the Premier […]

7 years ago

We can’t imagine Joe Schmidt going for this, but Luke Fitzgerald was asked for his Ireland team to face Italy. The Ireland squad will reassemble at Carton House on Sunday evening before another week of hard work culminates in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Joe Schmidt’s men – the reigning champions – are already six points behind table-toppers […]

7 years ago

Anything to be said for capping this young lad against Gibraltar next month?! Declan Rice has made his decision and he will hope to be included in the next squad England boss Gareth Southgate names. The 20-year-old West Ham star will forever have three caps for the Republic of Ireland. However, after requesting to be […]

7 years ago

Great insight here. Snazzy dressing room, for the home side. That Connacht dressing room is a major step up from ‘The West’s Awake’ documentary around six years’ back. A few weeks ago, TG4 were given kudos for putting a microphone onto the lapel of Munster assistant coach Jerry Flannery as he ran through some pre-match […]

7 years ago

St Mary’s returned to haunt UCD again. This time last week, Con O’Callaghan was finding the net for Dublin against Kerry… Goal for the Dubs! It's the perfect response from Con O'Callaghan who weaves his magic in front of the travelling support. Watch it live right now on @RTE2 with full highlights on Allianz League […]

7 years ago

The best side-step in the GAA? In the past five months, Tony Brosnan has gone from a talented young player that may have feared his inter-county chances were slipping by to one of the hottest forwards in Ireland. The Dr. Crokes forward came to prominence back in September when he replaced Kerry legend Colm Cooper […]

7 years ago

“The problem with the French is… “ France copped an unmerciful hiding from England in round two of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations. Having contrived to lose their championship opener against Wales, having been 16 ahead at half-time, Les Bleus were then hammered 44-8 by England at Twickenham. While many fans were aghast at the […]

7 years ago

Tough introduction from the lads. James Haskell can still recall his first training session with Saracens star Maro Itoje. The versatile forward, who looks set to miss the rest of the Guinness Six Nations with a knee injury, was long identified as a player that would do well at Test level. He led England U20s […]

7 years ago

The gauntlet was thrown down. Joe Schmidt is getting rightly lauded for his influential role in Ireland becoming Grand Slam champions for only the third time in their history. The New Zealand native has worked his magic with Clermont Auvergne, Leinster and Ireland but he was crafting a decent coaching career back home before Vern […]

7 years ago

Of all the players to go after, perhaps targeting the Ulster winger was not the wisest. The scary thing about Jacob Stockdale is that he can still get better. He still has areas he can improve in and tighten up. The Ulster winger has now scored 13 tries in 16 Test appearances and must be […]

7 years ago

The Munster captain collided with the Scottish fullback moments before that crucial Conor Murray try. Greig Laidlaw and Gregor Townsend, Scotland’s captain and head coach, gave credit to Ireland for their grinding victory in Edinburgh but they left the ground with a few sore points festering. The Scots felt referee Romain Poite had not given […]

7 years ago

“And now here is a man with a children’s keyboard to entertain you.” David O’Doherty was a very special, and extremely entertaining, guest on Baz & Andrew’s House of Rugby this week and he proved his rugby talents are not confined solely to his 1991 Leinster Junior Cup win for St Michael’s. The comedian joined Barry Murphy […]

7 years ago

A mix of familiar faces and lads deserving of a shot. Conor Murray returned to action for Munster in late November and looked as if he had not missed a beat. He was giving a stern test in the away Champions Cup with Castres and then, for the first time in a long while, looked […]

7 years ago

“What’s the story here with this young fella?” Jordan Larmour has been tearing it up as a professional rugby player for the past 15 months, but many of the current Ireland squad had his card marked as a special talent a little over a year before that. The 21-year-old’s second hat-trick against Italy, on Saturday, […]

7 years ago

“It’s a maul!” They may have torn lumps out of each other on the rugby pitch but the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand saw James Haskell and Peter O’Mahony bond. The Munster and Ireland flanker was in the same squad as Haskell for that drawn Test Series against the All Blacks, […]

7 years ago

“I’d just love to see him getting a go.” Rob Kearney must have been one of the most content Irish players in Edinburgh after his winning return to the Irish team. 88 metres gained off 13 carries with three clean breaks and five defenders beaten. He almost put Chris Farrell away for a try but most […]

7 years ago

Ireland could be emerging from the fog. Joe Schmidt’s men got back on the winning track by outdoing the Scots at Murrayfield, on Saturday. A 22-13 victory keeps Wales and England within reach and was achieved with a number of frontliners missing or, in the case of Johnny Sexton, helped from the field. An Ireland […]

7 years ago

“I was thinking ‘Jesus, this fella is 18, are you joking me?’” Peter O’Mahony was always going to make it for Munster and Ireland. It was what the rugby-mad Cork Con player had his sights set on from an early age. Anthony Foley was his idol growing up but Con had lots of local legends […]

7 years ago

Two of the players named started the match on the replacements bench. It is not often that Joe Schmidt, his coaching staff and his players get outfoxed but it does happen. Argentina boss Daniel Hourcade did it at the Millennium Stadium in 2015 and Warren Gatland repeated that dose at the same venue in the […]

7 years ago

Not sure how much of Saturday evening’s game they were watching… The opening round of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations is in the record books and Scotland lead the way. Ireland, the 2018 Grand Slam champions, lie fifth after losing their opener to England. Wales and the Scots also won, over the weekend, so it […]

7 years ago

Joe Schmidt has got so many big calls right in his five and a half years as Ireland head coach that he has plenty of credit in the bank. Such was the case, on Thursday last, when he named Robbie Henshaw at fullback despite the Athlone native being short of game-time and not having started […]

7 years ago

Keith Earls may yet be able to play through the pain barrier but there are genuine concerns over two Irish forwards. All of a sudden, Ireland have gone from heavily stacked second- and back-row units to looking to a man who was not in the original squad and a another that has played only 70 […]

7 years ago

No issue with the rating, which was fair, but the 17-word summary belittles a quality Irish player. Keith Earls came in for some rough treatment from England forwards Tom Curry and Maro Itoje, on Saturday, and took some damage. The Munster winger sustained a hip-pointer injury during Itoje’s ill-timed dint and although he tried to […]

7 years ago

‘Dressing Room 4’ was packed with English players and media, as well as a healthy dollop of Irish and international press. As the away side, England came in for the post-match press conference first. Eddie Jones was more circumspect than his usual self. He still made a couple of wry remarks but the Aussie was […]

7 years ago

So much for Ireland’s hopes of overtaking the All Blacks. Going into the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, Ireland were seeking to be the first country since France, over 20 years ago, to record back-to-back Grand Slams. It would be far from easy but doing it would also put them in line to overtake New Zealand […]

7 years ago