The poacher has become the poachee. New Zealand are often branded as exploitative thieves when it comes to rugby, ravaging the islands of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga for their best players to buttress their own playing pool. Samoa took on the All Blacks in Apia yesterday morning and their starting team made for interesting reading. While […]

11 years ago

What they need and what they’ll get

11 years ago

Ready for an early kick off

11 years ago

We don’t know what to make of this clip. On the one hand, while Brazil’s Hulk is extremely limited and one-footed, we LOVE seeing him blast the ball with the sort of power that is designated 99 in Fifa. On the other hand, this is definitely staged. Although, this probably could actually happen, right? Reports […]

11 years ago

This is what four straight Allstars gets you. Paul Flynn has often been referred to as Dublin’s most important player since they made the All-Ireland breakthrough back in 2011 and now he has finally been featured in an ad that is equal to that title. AIB did something similar with James O’Donoghue a few weeks back, and […]

11 years ago

Finally, some good news. When former All Black Jerry Collins and his partner, Alana Madill, were killed in a car crash a few weeks ago, thoughts turned to their two-month-old daughter, Ayla, who was in a coma. Thankfully, reports from Eurosport say the family have announced an improvement in her condition. “She emerged from her […]

11 years ago

Conor means business

11 years ago

Well, that was close. We are so used to Katie Taylor annihilating every single opponent that it is a massive shock to see anyone even take a round off her. Her last defeat was back in 2011 but today’s European Games semi-final against Azerbaijan’s Yana Alekseevna almost ended in the same manner, however, Taylor fought a sublime final […]

11 years ago

Is everyone ready for Katie Taylor to guarantee herself at least a silver medal at the inaugural European Games? Azerbaijan’s Yana Alekseevna stands in her way and although you always need to be a wary of a hometown decision in amateur boxing, Taylor should have enough to advance. You can watch Taylor’s fight right here from […]

11 years ago

Hard, but probably fair

11 years ago

Farewell, Paulinho. It is a testament to how badly Spurs wasted the £80 million they received for Gareth Bale that you can make a strong argument for which signing was the most underwhelming. Roberto Soldado not only scored infrequently, but made a regular habit of botching even the simplest of chances. Spectacular rabona aside, Erik […]

11 years ago

Have your say below…

11 years ago

A bullish prediction. Liverpool signed Brazilian playmaker Roberto Firmino yesterday and their supporters are already excited at the prospect of him working in creative tandem with his countryman, Philippe Coutinho. Well one Brazilian trickster thinks the duo will be exceptional at Anfield next season. Ronaldinho never played in the Premier League, but he is still […]

11 years ago

This is what a gentleman’s agreement looks like. With Sweden and Portugal’s Euro U21 championship group game reaching its conclusion, the game was locked at 1-1. With Italy beating England 3-1, the two sides knew that a draw would see them both progress to the semi-finals. The managers and players of both teams have obviously […]

11 years ago

Thank you, Doctor. Everyone put their social media medical degrees to use yesterday diagnosing Jose Aldo after the Brazilian allegedly suffered a fractured rib. Turns out, it was just very, very badly bruised and the UFC 189 main event will go ahead after all. Conor McGregor gave a second opinion on the injury though, and it […]

11 years ago

‘Over zealous hotel staff’. Why didn’t Lance Armstrong ever think of that? Perhaps it would have played better than his constant aggressive denials. Last week, it emerged that British Olympic hero Mo Farah missed two drugs tests in the build-up to the 2012 games in London and he gave a pretty feeble excuse. All you […]

11 years ago

You definitely have to file this act under unsportsmanlike. Hell, even the creators of American Pie stayed away from this sort of behaviour. Chile beat Uruguay 1-0 in the Copa America quarter-final last night, and one of the game’s turning points was the sending off of Edinson Cavani after an hour. Cavani was shown a […]

11 years ago

Robert Huth has to be the funniest German person in history, right? The former Stoke City, and now Leicester City, defender has always shown a cheeky personality on social media, challenging the stereotype that German people are all humourless robots whose laughter muscles have atrophied afters years of disuse. Yesterday, it was announced that Huth […]

11 years ago

Finally, we will find out how Jimmy won all those matches. Sports books serve three main purposes: To entertain us. To give us a behind the scenes insight into top level sport. To give us an easy present to buy on Christmas Eve for any sports fan. We are only halfway through 2015, but the announcement […]

11 years ago

Conor McGregor’s megafight might be in jeopardy, but we knew Katie Taylor would cheer us up today. The Bray boxer eased past Swede Ida Lundblad this morning in the European Games lightweight quarter-finals to guarantee herself at least a bronze medal. Of course, we know that Taylor is never content with anything less than a gold so […]

11 years ago

Seems a little far-fetched

11 years ago

The Boks just added more bosh. There probably isn’t a more powerful team heading into this autumn’s World Cup – New Zealand included – and South Africa just added even more horsepower to their attack with the news that 2007 World Cup-winning centre Jaque Fourie is coming out of international retirement. Fourie has been playing […]

11 years ago

Getting Biarritz and Bayonne together ultimately proved tougher than brokering a truce between the Lannisters and what’s left of the Starks. The two French clubs have battled in the basque region for about a century but next season they will both be languishing in the Pro D2 after Bayonne’s relegation on the final day of the Top […]

11 years ago

So this is what the biggest hit of the last 100 years looks like and no surprise, it happened in New Zealand. More specifically, it happened in the Otago region, where the Higlanders used to play at a stadium nicknamed the ‘House of Pain’. Zingari-Richmond wing Enoke Naivalulevu was running down the wing in a […]

11 years ago

This would be tough for Arsene Wenger to take. Arsenal have been pursuing Porto striker Jackson Martinez for the last few weeks and it looked like they were the favourties to sign the striker, who has scored 92 goals across the last three seasons in Portugal. But the Gunners have apparently come up short. The […]

11 years ago

Nothing changes for Conor McGregor. He can’t control whether featherweight champion Jose Aldo has a fractured rib or not, so he is back in training to prepare for a July 11th fight no matter who it is against. McGregor tweeted this picture out earlier and didn’t indicate whether or not the Brazilian has definitely been […]

11 years ago

Dana says relax. After reports emerged last night that McGregor v Aldo might be postponed after the Brazilian picked up an injury in training, UFC fans were naturally devastated. But imagine if you had actually booked flights and accommodation to Vegas and had dropped a few months wages on the trip? Well… There hasn’t been […]

11 years ago

It is a beautiful morning if you are a Liverpool fan. Despite competition from the the two Manchester heavyweights, Brendan Rodgers was able to secure the signing of Brazilian international Roberto Firmino from Hoffenheim. Firmino can operate as both a deep-lying central midfielder and an advanced playmaker with an eye for goal – he has […]

11 years ago

Well, this is embarrassing. Southpaw is a soon-to-be-released sports movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a boxer who returns to the ring in order to regain custody of his daughter after his wife is shot and killed (dramatic!). Gyllenhaal has gotten himself into ridiculous shape for the film and many people are already comparing it to Robert De […]

11 years ago

Is there a double standard in Clare? Earlier in the year, a lot was made of Nicky O’Connell and Davy O’Halloran’s treatment by Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald after they went on an unauthorised night out, with various reports saying the duo were humiliated at training as punishment. Both men initially left the panel, but while […]

11 years ago

Is pissing in the shower equally as reprehensible an act as stepping into the washing area of a football dressing room without flip-flops? It is according to Blyth Spartans, anyway. The club, who play in the seventh tier of English football, sent a copy of their fines list to BBC journalist Dan Walker and it makes […]

11 years ago

Will Fiji have the best backline in the tournament at this autumn’s World Cup? That might be a bit of a stretch but if you look through their World Cup training squad, you’ll begin to notice that they have some sensational attackers that seem to dominate club rugby on a regular basis. This is the […]

11 years ago

It was time for Bacary Sagna to make a change. After an underwhelming first season with Manchester City, the French defender has made a massive lifestyle change in order to regain the form that saw the club sign him from Arsenal in the first place. The change doesn’t have anything to do with on-pitch matters […]

11 years ago

Have we forgiven Tana Umaga yet? It is almost 10 years since the Lions Tour to New Zealand and when captain Brian O’Driscoll had his tour ended in the opening seconds of the first test against the All Blacks. No action was taken at the time, which is still mind blowing, because New Zealand captain […]

11 years ago

What’s in a number, anyway?

11 years ago

C’mon, let’s quickly run down to our nearest golf course and start dispensing unsolicited advice with the hope that we discover the next Rory McIlroy and get included in his entourage. Golf attracts some of the most lucrative sponsors around and the prize money reflects that – Jordan Spieth was awarded a check for just […]

11 years ago

This would be some comeback. Oscar De La Hoya hasn’t fought since taking a beating from Manny Pacquiao in December of 2008 but amazingly, he has told ESPN that he would consider coming out of retirement to fight Floyd Mayweather in a rematch of their 2007 bout. De La Hoya only lost to Mayweather by a split […]

11 years ago

Gone too soon

11 years ago

It probably came from a place of love. Rapper P Diddy’s son Justin plays college football for the prestigious university, UCLA, in Los Angeles and Diddy is obviously very proud of his son. Apparently, he took in a gym session at their training ground yesterday, but didn’t take too kindly to the S & C […]

11 years ago

Will he stay or go?

11 years ago

Jack O’Connor is getting a new job. He is already one of the most successful inter-county managers ever, winning three All-Ireland titles with his native Kerry across two spells in charge. After stepping away from the role as senior boss in 2012, O’Connor subsequently managed the Kerry minors and guided them to their first All-Ireland […]

11 years ago

It’s a good day for James McClean. It was unlikely that the Derry man was going to remain with Wigan after the Latics were relegated to League One, but it was important for Irish football that the winger move to the top flight rather than remain in the Championship. West Brom boss Tony Pulis obviously […]

11 years ago

Strong words. After Roscommon easily dispatched London in the first round of the Connacht championship a few weeks ago, their former goalkeeper, Shane Curran, made some controversial comments about the Exiles place in the championship, saying it was hard to see the value in their participation. After London were eliminated from the championship entirely after […]

11 years ago

We weren’t expecting this. David Strettle was in electric form for Saracens towards the end of their Aviva Championship-winning campaign, even helping set up a try in the final against Bath with a lovely piece of skill. Strettle was then announced as Clermont’s replacement for Fijian behemoth Napolioni Nalaga, while also being selected in Stuart […]

11 years ago

Maybe Tiger should try this?

11 years ago

People talk a lot about football philosophies. Giovanni Trapattoni was very conservative, Pep Guardiola favours a high-tempo game based on possession and almost every manager now is asked what his football philosophy is. Championship side Brentford have taken that one step further by hiring Danish coach Flemming Pedersen as their new head of ‘Football Philosophy […]

11 years ago

Ouch.

11 years ago

This caused some controversy. The Brumbies hammered the Stormers 39-19 in the Super Rugby quarter-final on Saturday and although coach Stephen Larkham will be delighted to advance to the final four, the red card shown to rampaging wing Henry Speight will annoy him. With the Australian side leading by 15 points in the closing stages, […]

11 years ago

A sports version of Entourage? We can get on board with that. Over the last number of years, few actors have been as consistently entertaining as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. From starring in action movies to just tweeting out photos of his ridiculous cheat meals, the former WWE star has developed a huge and passionate […]

11 years ago

It’s do or die for Cork and Wexford.

11 years ago