The soaring leap for the cross-field kick was good, but Keith Earls did so, so much more in the closing stages. In our post-match analysis of Ireland’s remarkable 41-phase surge to victory, in Paris, Earls gets a shout-out. Of course he does, he made that amazing jump and aerial claim above Virimi Vakatawa then stepped around […]

8 years ago

What a real, terrible shame. Josh van der Flier had already battled back from one injury to do well for Leinster, then Ireland, this season. Now his season is over. It did not look good for the 24-year-old in Paris, on Saturday, as he badly twisted his knee in contact. Following Ireland’s 15-13 win over […]

8 years ago

With advance apologies to Rhys Patchell… The first weekend of the Six Nations championship is in the books and spirits are high in Ireland, England and Wales. The French could not snap their winless streak, Italy were decent enough for 55 minutes [again] and Scottish fans must be down in the dumps. The Welsh were […]

8 years ago

“It happened in slow motion.” Conor Murray was not the only person feeling that way as Johnny Sexton connected with the ball, deep into injury time, at Stade de France. The Ireland outhalf called the play and followed through with a sublime, gutsy strike that broke French hearts. There have been many versions of that […]

8 years ago

Eight wins on the spin for Ireland but they’ll need to string together a few more if they are to take this Six Nations championship home. Ireland got their campaign off to a winning start, in Paris, but it was one hellaciously close call. Johnny Sexton dropped into the pocket on 82:33 and, seven second […]

8 years ago

At 77:28, Ireland began. 13-12 behind but with one last throw of the dice, Ireland set off from their 22-metre line. 5 minutes and 20 seconds later and they had won the match. Johnny Sexton was wheeling away towards his own tryline and watching his own drop goal replay on the big screen. He had […]

8 years ago

‘RYAN EN BON SOLDAT’. ‘Ryan, the good soldier’ read the L’Equipe headline as they ran over the Irish players and their contributions to a tense Six Nations encounter in Paris. The leading French sports outlet ran a comprehensive, seven-page special on France versus Ireland in their Sunday edition. The paper ran with a front page […]

8 years ago

Man-bun still intact, Teddy Thomas was in his post-match suit and ready for interviews. The French journalists had not spotted their try-scorer yet and, after Conor Murray departed, we were finished with the Irish player rotation. I approached him with recorder in hand… “Anglais?” Thomas looked up and waggled his right hand, as if to […]

8 years ago

Conor Murray has seen some gems from Johnny Sexton over the years but this may have topped the lot. In the midst of a jammed, ravenous Stade de France ‘La Marseillaise’ was ringing out. 80, 81, 82 minutes. Phase, phase, phase, phase, phase. Ireland were making two metres then being driven back one, only to […]

8 years ago

Ireland will probably freshen up their starting XV with a few changes but one change looks set to be enforced. Josh van der Flier limped out of his country’s 15-13 nail-biter against France, after twisting his knee, and he is likely to miss next Saturday’s visit of Italy to Dublin. Following Ireland’s victory, Joe Schmidt […]

8 years ago

The boss man has seen many things in this crazy game but how about an 82nd minute drop goal from 46 metres out to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat in Paris?! Schmidt’s relationship with Johnny Sexton goes back eight years now. Leinster and Ireland – their fates are intertwined. From the Heineken Cup […]

8 years ago

The Ireland captain has finally spoken out. Less than an hour after Ireland defeated France in Paris, Rory Best finally addressed the matter of his appearance at the court trial, in Belfast, of Ulster teammates Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding. There had been quite a stir, midweek, after Best, Iain Henderson and Craig Gilroy attended […]

8 years ago

Mother of all that is holy, what a finish. Johnny Sexton was down on one leg for phases 33 to 36 of Ireland’s final drive. By phase 37 he was back up and directing traffic. On phase 40, he dropped back. Phase 41 was it and Sexton backed himself. 46 metres out from the French […]

8 years ago

FRANCE 12-15 IRELAND Holy shiiiiiiitttttttttttt!! Ireland looked dead, buried and forgotten until Johnny Sexton nailed a 47-metre drop goal in the 82nd minute after 41 phases of insane play. It was all about penalties in the first half and most of them were going Ireland’s way. Rob Kearney and Cian Healy got into dangerous positions […]

8 years ago

The team bus can often be an early proving ground for new players. One mistake, though, and there may be strife ahead. Keeping a squad of 40+ senior players content is far from easy and squeezing them all onto the one bus is just as tough. Picking the right seat can be another mine-field, especially […]

8 years ago

‘CAN WE BELIEVE IN THE MIRACLE?’ The French media are not used to Ireland being favourites on a rugby visit to Paris but that is the current lie of the land. Le Parisien have run with that tremulous headline [above] and fear Joe Schmidt’s side could do some serious damage to Les Bleus. Two of the […]

8 years ago

The hits, they keep coming. It’s a given now, in world rugby, that Tadhg Furlong is up there with the very best of tight-head props. The 25-year-old is less than three years into his Test career but he quickly claimed the No.3 jersey for Ireland and did not look back. In his country’s Six Nations […]

8 years ago

FRANCE 34-24 IRELAND What looked, for the longest time, to be a French rout turned into one hell of a game in Bordeaux. Noel McNamara’s side trailed 22-3 at half-time, with France’s No.10 Romain Ntamack crossing for two electric tries, but they staged a rousing fight-back after the break. Ireland captain Tommy O’Brien was the […]

8 years ago

Remarkable attitude and commitment. The last time we spoke with Garry Ringrose, he was recovering from a shoulder injury, targeting a comeback within the next month and consoling himself with plotting a day of watching Champions Cup rugby. A little under four months later and he’s right back there. Ringrose returned for Leinster and was […]

8 years ago

The locals are concerned, and with good reason. Ireland face off against France in Paris on Saturday evening and there is an odd mood in the city of lights. Having been at Carton House, on Thursday, for Ireland’s team announcement and media rotations, I arrived in Paris on SportsJOE duty this afternoon. The dispatches from […]

8 years ago

Stander is going to be a marked man, but he revels in these situations. Last week, as Ireland trained in Spain, we noted how CJ Stander’s Six Nations workload was set to massively increase. Josh van der Flier, selected by Joe Schmidt to face France, was our call to step into the openside breach after […]

8 years ago

For anyone wondering, Andrew Conway is not involved for Ireland this weekend as he has an inflamed knee. That fact was almost missed in the ‘live’ section of this afternoon’s press conference, at Carton House, but Joe Schmidt shed some light with his final answer. Schmidt had just named an extremely good starting XV that […]

8 years ago

A few big calls in his Ireland squad but Joe Schmidt is confident these men can get the job done. Ireland will bring a squad to France, for the Six Nations opener, that are vastly more experienced that their hosts. While Les Bleus head coach Jacques Brunel has named a relatively green starting team, in […]

8 years ago

These are the 23 men Joe Schmidt will task with getting Ireland off to a winning start in Paris. The Ireland head coach has, as predicted, handed Six Nations debuts to Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale and James Ryan. Schmidt named his match-day squad at Carton House, this afternoon, and Josh van der Flier was included […]

8 years ago

Win this game and the championship will hopefully open up for us. On Thursday afternoon, Joe Schmidt will name his Ireland team to face France in their Six Nations opener. Many of the main players pick themselves, with Rory Best to captain a team containing the experienced likes of CJ Stander, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, […]

8 years ago

The great un-utterable has been uttered. Ireland are heading into the Six Nations in top form, seeking their eighth consecutive win and as second favourites to claim their third championship in five years. Eddie Jones has been doing his best to talk England down and do the opposite with Scotland and Ireland. We are well […]

8 years ago

Both men are on the wrong side of 30 but have had decent seasons so far. Keith Earls and Rob Kearney are getting used to time spent on the sidelines in between playing bursts. As time and toil has worn on their bodies, both men have been struck down by injuries and have seen themselves […]

8 years ago

What a final day this would be… Will Greenwood is a big fan of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland and he believes they have what it takes to break England’s dominant hold on the Six Nations championship. Eddie Jones’ men have won the 2016 and 2017 titles and are favourites to make it three-in-a-row, despite injuries to […]

8 years ago

Joe Schmidt will have settled on his team to play France after Tuesday’s training session at Carton House. The matchday 23 will not be announced until Thursday afternoon, however. Ireland were put through their paces at their Maynooth headquarters, on Tuesday, as Schmidt finalised his team and plans for this weekend’s Six Nations opener against […]

8 years ago

“Keep your eye out for one guy, he is a lad from Raheny, Brian Howard.” When Diarmuid Connolly said the words, on The Hill 16 Army podcast, the name ‘Brian Howard’ hit the mainstream. The Dublin forward has been training with Howard for about a year now and has likened the Raheny clubman to Con O’Callaghan, the […]

8 years ago

All about the parish, people and the province. The Champions Cup has been kind to the English club sides in the past few seasons but 2017/18 has been the exception. France have four representatives in the quarter finals, Wales have one [Scarlets] and Leinster and Munster are flying the Irish flag. Saracens are the only […]

8 years ago

“Let’s be honest, Kerry are in transition.” Kerry have one of those good problems, at present, and one that would be the envy of just about every other county in the land. Eamon Fitzmaurice and his team were looking good in last year’s All-Ireland football championship until, to the surprise of many, Mayo found another […]

8 years ago

We’ve all heard this one before. Most GAA clubs, and county teams, will have a decent player that impresses most in attendance but who always draws the same comment: “He’s good, but you should’ve seen the brother.” For as long as we have held the game close there has always been the urban myth of […]

8 years ago

The man gets through buckets upon buckets of work, in attack and defence. Wrapping up the latest episode of The Hard Yards, there were still some men eager to talk rugby. Sitting around the table were myself, Andy McGeady, the show’s host, and former Ireland internationals Tomás O’Leary and Mike McCarthy. With the Six Nations around […]

8 years ago

Both UFC champions will also coach fighters in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. UFC president Dana White and scores of MMA fans look to have got their wish – Stipe Miocic is set to fight Daniel Cormier this summer, at UFC 226, with the news expected to be confirmed by the promotion in […]

8 years ago

He’s back and he’s bearded. It has taken five months but Michael Carrick finally made his first competitive appearance of the season for Manchester United. The 36-year-old revealed earlier this season that the club’s doctors had detected heart issues that had prevented him from making an earlier than hoped return to action. This will be […]

8 years ago

His time is now. Eamon Fitzmaurice is not hanging around here. Kerry begin their Allianz Football League campaign, on Sunday, in Fitzgerald Stadium and there are some fresh faces included in the starting team. The headline news is our headline news – Minor sensation David Clifford is named in the full forward line. The Fossa […]

8 years ago

Lovely to see. Manchester United were in town – Yeovil Town, to be precise – on Friday night for their 4th round FA Cup tie. The League Two side welcomed United to Huish Park and they had the old ground looking well for the occasion. 😍 #bbcfacup pic.twitter.com/GoD8CIsgz3 — Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January […]

8 years ago

Emphatically said, and about bloody time. We have been guilty, here, of doing something that irks Tomás O’Leary. Following a big game, we often go back over the match statistics and use the raw numbers to rave about, or critique, a player or team. A player had 20+ carries and 15+ tackles so he is […]

8 years ago

It started off with a retired rugby star doing his old club a favour and trying to shed a few pounds in the process. It ended up with him playing in a county final. Tomás O’Leary is finding some interesting ways to keep busy after hanging up his rugby boots. The former Munster and Ireland […]

8 years ago

Two men that have worn the green jersey with pride and, between them, played for three provinces and in three countries. Tomás O’Leary and Mike McCarthy joined us in studio for the latest episode of The Hard Yards rugby podcast and looked ahead to the 2018 Six Nations championship. The former Ireland internationals also looked back […]

8 years ago

Jordi Murphy has done it before and he will, no doubt, do it again. The big question is – will Joe Schmidt back Murphy to do it in Paris, Dublin and London? Following the 2017 Guinness Series, in November, we wrote about how Sean O’Brien was essential to Ireland’s hopes of winning the Six Nations. […]

8 years ago

What a bloody weekend this will be! The EPCR has, this afternoon, confirmed the dates, times, venues and TV stations for all of their Champions and Challenge Cup games. Three Irish provinces are all in action on the Easter weekend, with Connacht kicking off the fun with a home tie against Gloucester [Champions Cup]. That […]

8 years ago

When you look back, we’ve had some fairly cracking players over the past few decades. Ireland’s ‘Senior International Player of the Year’ has been in place since 1989 – in between our first appearances at major tournaments [Euro ’88 and Italia ’90]. Over the past 27 years, the award has been shared by 21 players. There […]

8 years ago

Who are ’13 guys injured’ that Ireland have to do without? Joe Schmidt was not having it at the Six Nations’ official launch, in London. Schmidt could just about live with Eddie Jones declaring Ireland as “favourites” to win the upcoming championship, but he had a ready reply to those that told him England and […]

8 years ago

We could yet be see Tadhg Beirne training with Ireland, during the Six Nations, but the Scarlets lock may have to wait for his Test debut. At today’s Six Nations launch, Joe Schmidt will have known the questions on Beirne would have been coming he was prepped for them. Simon Zebo queries too. Zebo, Schmidt […]

8 years ago

Neither has played in the Six Nations before

8 years ago

Great news

8 years ago

2018 is looking up already

8 years ago

Won the ball. Made a statement.

8 years ago