Richie Towell made his first start of the season at the weekend and helped his side to a 1-0 win. Towell played 83 minutes for Rotherham United in their Championship win over Derby County and was involved in one of the game’s big flashpoints. Derby’s Tom Lawrence was shown a straight red card for hacking […]

8 years ago

He likes it, tell him more. There is a growing school of thought in rugby that too many red cards are being flashed. A red card used to be a rarity – only shown in the most extreme circumstances. That included massive dust-ups, boxing matches and cynical, dangerous tackles. In an effort to make the […]

8 years ago

Well said by the Ireland international. James McClean looked as if he was itching to get a pair of football boots on and kick a ball about the Brandywell pitch. The Derry native is out injured at present so was back from Stoke City duties to do some punditry work for eir Sport during their […]

8 years ago

Incredible stuff

8 years ago

Rugby is back and lads are getting busted up. Simon Zebo has had the pleasure of sharing the pitch with Jamie Roberts (Lions, 2013) and Teddy Iribaren (Racing, 2018). Both men were in the wars this weekend. Roberts scored an early try in Bath’s 37-32 win over Harlequins. He also got a ripper of a black eye: […]

8 years ago

Two huge rickets in seven months. The day after Ireland won the Six Nations Grand Slam, Sports Minister Shane Ross TD met the returning heroes outside The Shelbourne Hotel. Once inside, he grabbed Rob Kearney and Johnny Sexton for a picture and tweeted: ‘Congratulations and welcome home this evening to superstars Johnny Sexton and Dave Kearney’ […]

8 years ago

There must be something in the air this weekend. Friday night saw players from Stewartstown and Strabane wade into each other during a Tyrone senior football championship encounter that saw four men (two from each side) sent off. On Saturday, in Derry, fans were forced to endure similar, grim scenes. Eoghan Rua (Coleraine) took on […]

8 years ago

The joy on the flanker’s face after he scored was so heartening to see. It has been a long, tough road back but Josh van der Flier got his reward. Bernard Brogan almost enjoyed it as much as the Leinster star. Back in February, van der Flier and Brogan suffered devastating cruciate ligament injuries on […]

8 years ago

GGG was not having it. Gennady Golovkin suffered his first ever loss, in Las Vegas, when he was edged out on points by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. The Mexican shaded Golovkin on two of the three judges’ scorecards to claim the world middleweight title and, we all know it, set up a trilogy fight. Golovkin had […]

8 years ago

This was a nasty-looking K.O, and we’re sure it didn’t feel too good for the Cork native either. Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan was hoping to tee himself up for a title shot against the winner of Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. Instead, he was brutally sparked out by former IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux in the […]

8 years ago

As All Blacks winning streaks go, this was a paltry one. New Zealand usually go on winning runs into high double figures. On Saturday evening in Wellington, their latest streak was halted at 11 by a Springboks side that had only 25% possession and 21% territory. Rassie Erasmus led the Springboks to a summer series […]

8 years ago

The Munster captain appreciated his efforts, but was keeping his head here. The return to fitness of South African signings Chris Cloete and Jaco Taute have massively strengthened Munster’s options. To see both men featuring early in the 2018/19 season and Peter O’Mahony immediately hitting his stride are real bonuses for Johann van Graan and […]

8 years ago

52 minutes of finely honed forward play from the Munster lock. Tadhg Beirne made an impact off the bench for Munster last weekend but the result in Glasgow was chastening. On Friday, in Cork, the province took out their frustrations on a weakened Ospreys side and were 42-6 up after 47 minutes. As Joey Carbery popped […]

8 years ago

“Arra, it should be fine all together. No bother with that… again.” Gary and Paul O’Donovan are world champions after blitzing the field at the world championship final. The brothers from Skibbereen defeated the Italians and Belgians to the gold medal, with three other leading rowing nations trailing in their wake. The O’Donovans romped home […]

8 years ago

Hard to keep these two lads quiet, or the Basquels for that matter. The Dublin senior football club championship has welcomed back a host of inter-county stars. Bernard Brogan was back in a Plunketts GAA jersey on Friday and both he and his brother, Alan, were in the thick of it. St. Oliver Plunketts eliminated Ballyboden […]

8 years ago

Five red cards. Two black cards. One penalty. All sorts of hell breaking loose. On the latest episode of The GAA Hour, Colm Parkinson and Conor Heneghan (JOE) spoke about Donegal club football and three serious, unsavoury incidents in the space of a week. One of the incidents had involved two teams climbing into each other […]

8 years ago

Not so much free-flowing football in the capital city on Friday evening. On Sunday last, there was a horrified reaction to Slaughtneil’s Derry Senior Football Championship win over rivals Magherafelt. Slaughtneil won out 0-10 to 0-5 but the scoreline was not what so offended GAA fans. Instead, it was footage and reaction from the game. […]

8 years ago

Heavens above, the Munster captain hasn’t missed a step. Peter O’Mahony entered the 2018/19 fray by helping his Munster side take Ospreys to the cleaners at Musgrave Park. The flanker was one of six Ireland internationals drafted into the starting XV after last weekend’s dispiriting loss to Glasgow Warriors. Head coach Johann van Graan demanded […]

8 years ago

This bodes so, so well. Joey Carbery was playing in the city of Munster legend Ronan O’Gara but he took it all in his stride. The Munster outhalf was making his first start for the province and must have been thankful that Ospreys left several of their Welsh stars at home. Allen Clarke’s men gave […]

8 years ago

No pressure, lad! Joey Carbery made his first start for Munster after his summer move from Leinster as Allen Clarke brought his Ospreys side to Musgrave Park. Of all the places to run out for Munster in that famous red No.10 jersey, Carbery picked one hell of a city. Munster legend Ronan O’Gara wore that […]

8 years ago

Tyrone’s Michael McKernan had a fine year, but this is as close to a two-horse race that you can get. Back in 2017, Brian Howard was tipped for great deeds by none other than Diarmuid Connolly. Around the same time, the entire county of Kerry pushed their chips in behind David Clifford. 18 going on 19, […]

8 years ago

George North, Alun Wyn Jones, Scott Williams, Dan Lydiate, Rob McCusker, Justin Tipuric. Six top talents. None of them playing against Munster this weekend. Welcome to a new era of the Guinness PRO14 but don’t lose hope just yet. Munster have named a matchday squad with 11 Ireland internationals for the visit of Ospreys to […]

8 years ago

That’s more like it. With just over four weeks to go to UFC 229, we were beginning wonder if we would be left with glitzy promos and replays of the bus being attacked at the Barclays Center. Dana White has some good news, however. On October 6, Conor McGregor will be seeking to regain the […]

8 years ago

“To get the opportunity to soldier with and against some of the greatest players of all time is something I will always treasure.” Kieran Donaghy is now a former inter-county player and Kerry must go on without a true talisman. ‘Star’ called time on his Kerry career but will seek to play on with Austin […]

8 years ago

Joey Carbery is going to be selfish for the next 15 months, and so be it. Carbery was asked to make one of the toughest calls of his career during a season that may never be replicated, in terms of success, and chose to leave it all behind. At the turn of 2018, we spoke […]

8 years ago

“Sometimes I think the game has changed.” Martin O’Neill may have finally twigged it as he faced the press in Wroclaw, Poland on Monday afternoon. Stung by 5-1 and 4-1 thumpings in their last two competitive games, Ireland’s manager has also been fire-fighting after a training ground spat between Roy Keane, his assistant, and players […]

8 years ago

This time last year, David Clifford was still basking in Minor championship glory with his Kerry teammates. The immediate concern for many Kerry fans, almost as soon as that Minor All-Ireland had been bagged, was that Clifford would be tempted to head Down Under for a stint of Aussie Rules. Not long after that, the Fossa […]

8 years ago

‘Next few weeks’. Leinster’s injury list is not as bad as Munster’s but they could have done without the addition of Jack McGrath and Tom Daly. McGrath is out for the rest of the month after injuring his knee in training and delaying what was originally planned to be a comeback this weekend. The loose-head […]

8 years ago

“These boys are speed machines… You have to try and stop them.” Gaelic football may often look as if it has evolved into a ball-hogging, 45-jamming stasis but a few counties are asking some special talents to be game-breakers, and we are in a better place for it. This year’s championship will not be remembered […]

8 years ago

A supporting character in the Joey Carbery to Ulster/Munster saga, it must have felt strange to share a table with him and Joe Schmidt near the end of last season. Byrne started 19 of his 26 appearances for Leinster in their double-winning season (Johnny Sexton started 11) and was constantly preferred over Carbery by Leo […]

8 years ago

The French centre completely lost the plot. Mathieu Bastareaud is in danger of missing France’s November internationals and a significant chunk of Toulon’s season after a mindless assault on Castres’ Christophe Samson, on Sunday. The veteran back had a complete meltdown, 68 minutes into the Top 14 game, when he took exception to being obstructed […]

8 years ago

The incident clearly left the Spanish defender shook as well. Just as Luke Shaw was looking to be the top-class left back that Manchester United thought they had signed from Southampton, he picked up a bad head blow and was stretchered from the Wembley pitch. Shaw’s decent start to the season with United carried on […]

8 years ago

If this is where football is headed, most folks will tell you that you can keep it. “This is not Gaelic,” shouted one fan. “Play football!” another bellowed. Football in Ulster often gets a bad rap for being ultra conservative but Slaughtneil’s win over Magherafelt in the Derry championship met a few of the unfortunate […]

8 years ago

CORK 0-14 KILKENNY 0-13 Mind games aplenty but Cork win the day. Cork and Kilkenny have been long-time rivals but there has been considerable heat in this one since the pre-match handshakes of 2016. Minutes before the game started Cork wing forward Hannah Looney came face-to-face with Kilkenny’s Collette Dormer during the handshakes and her forceful […]

8 years ago

The Munster head coach is normally a glass half full kind of guy. On Friday night in Glasgow, the South African was as surly and downbeat as we have seen him in his nine months in charge at Munster. It was only two games into the Guinness PRO14 season but van Graan knew the importance […]

8 years ago

The Munster men are off to a great start. Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan both scored for racing 92 as they racked up a half century of points against a hapless Agen side. Ryan and Zebo have been hard at it since early August and are well up to speed in the Top 14. Having […]

8 years ago

This is incredible stuff. Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi had to go through the wringer before his All Blacks debut. His pre-match haka was fired up, but that was only the beginning. The Chiefs scrum-half learned he would be in the squad to play Argentina in The Rugby Championship days after his grandmother passed away. Tahuriorangi was […]

8 years ago

Gareth Davies is a confident, abrasive character that puts a high stake on winning. Unfortunately, every now and then, Davies gets a little carried away. Heading into last year’s Six Nations clash against Ireland, the Scarlets and Wales No.9 declared: “We are targeting a bonus-point win this weekend against Ireland so hopefully we can score some tries […]

8 years ago

Given the fact that this arrived just after he was recalled into the game, you really have to hand it to the Leinster prop. 2017/18 was the year of the comeback from Cian Healy. The loose-head went from backing up Jack McGrath, and watching him make the British & Irish Lions squad, to wrenching back […]

8 years ago

“I am so proud of myself!” And so you should be William O’Connor. The Limerick native blitzed world number one Michael van Gerwen 6-1 during their second-round encounter at the Dutch Darts Championship. Locals in Maastricht were left stunned as the Cappamore native held his nerve spectacularly at check-out time to make short work of former […]

8 years ago

Just imagine. Just imagine the deeds this Ireland team can do with Sean O’Brien back at full ping. Imagine the havoc he could wreak. He can play across the back row and bring meaning and menace to each role. Look at the other options Ireland have available to them and imagine. He can be paired […]

8 years ago

Resounding statement of facts from the Ireland captain. 11 months ago, Ireland came to Cardiff needing to win and got a 1-0 victory. On Thursday, they came to Cardiff and could have done with a win. At 9:34pm when the final whistle sounded, they had been hockeyed 4-1 by Ryan Giggs’ rampant Welshmen. While Ireland boss […]

8 years ago

“It’s a bit strange for me.” Former Kerry captain Paul Galvin was not the only one that did a double-take at the sight of him with a full tracksuit on and with a clipboard in hand. The Kingdom legend is one of three coaches/mentors for the new season of TG4’s ‘Underdogs’ show and, as always, […]

8 years ago

The Ireland boss leaned heavily on his squad’s spate of injuries and absentees. Martin O’Neill was definitely not throwing in the towel after witnessing his Ireland side slump to an embarrassing loss in Cardiff. O’Neill and assistant coach Roy Keane cut forlorn figures on the sideline as Ryan Giggs, in his first home game as […]

8 years ago

You have to feel for the lad. Ben Davies made hay for Wales in their Nations League opener against Ireland. The left-back was up against Cyrus Christie, in Cardiff, who was playing in the unusual position of right midfield. Christie has won most of his Ireland caps at right-back but was deployed further up the […]

8 years ago

“I was joking about it and she started crying.” For those out there that dismissed the attack on a bus carrying UFC fighters and employers, ahead of April’s UFC 223, as a WWE-style stunt, Rose Namajunas is the very real example of the real life impact. Days out from the pay-per-view event at The Barclays […]

8 years ago

“He’s doing it for years and nobody seems to know what he is doing.” Stephen Cluxton played his first game for Dublin 17 years ago. Back then, kick-outs were frequently pumped long and it was up for the midfielders to scrap over. Times have changed and counties, and clubs, have whole game-plans built around winning […]

8 years ago

There is a growing trend of players’ health and fitness updates being fiercely protected. Jamie Heaslip was giving nothing away in the weeks and months before injury put paid to his professional career. What began, we were told at the Aviva Stadium, as an ankle roll became an upper hamstring injury and then, we later […]

8 years ago

If you like Wales, you’ll love these fixtures. Ireland’s 2019 rugby calendar is taking shape. The IRFU has confirmed their four warm-up games ahead of the 2019 World Cup and, oddly, there are no games scheduled for Japan. The Grand Slam champions are building nicely for a tilt at the Webb Ellis trophy and Sean […]

8 years ago

JJ Hanrahan loves making an early mark in the season. The Guinness PRO14 returned at the weekend and it was business as usual. Three of the four Irish provinces won, Leinster showed off their squad depth, Southern Kings got flaked and Treviso showed they can catch any side on their day. It was a good […]

8 years ago