“I’ve thrown myself under the bus, here!” It was Gallagher Premiership launch day, down at Twickenham Stadium, on Thursday morning and Stuart Hogg was in flying form, even if Henry Slade had given us a few pre-loaded questions. The Scotland and Lions fullback underwent some knee surgery, earlier this summer, and has trimmed down from […]

3 years ago

“You sometimes get these days, when a goalkeeper is on form and nothing is getting past him.” Jordan Pickford made eight big saves – including two worldies to deny Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah – as Everton drew 0-0 with Liverpool at Goodison Park. The Toffees had a couple of decent efforts on goal, and […]

3 years ago

It was hard to tell whether he was more impressed with Celtic or their ball boys. Scottish Premiership champions Celtic handed out an almighty thumping to rivals Rangers, at Parkhead, and Ally McCoist could only sit back and admire the display of the winning side. The Rangers legend was on commentary duty for BT Sport […]

3 years ago

It took 113 years of the competition until the first such occurrence. We have a tricky football quiz for you, today, that may test you to your limits. We want you to give us the names of all SIX players that have been sent off in an FA Cup Final, and we are giving you […]

3 years ago

Looks so much worse in slow motion. It has been another week of lurching between crisis and comebacks for the All Blacks, and all that passionately follow rugby in New Zealand. Joe Schmidt is already making his mark, though. Ian Foster’s side have won three matches and lost four – two against Ireland, once to […]

3 years ago

NEW ZEALAND 53-3 ARGENTINA Win, lose or draw, Dane Coles will get in your face and tell you what for. Pablo Matera is cut from the same cloth. The All Blacks put together their best display of a tumultuous 2022, in Hamilton today, to put up a half century of points and avenge last weekend’s […]

3 years ago

“It might not look fantastic, but it feels great.” It is Friday afternoon at Athy RFC and Will Connors comes our way for a short interview after a Leinster training session at the Kildare club. The Kildare native has been signing autographs and posing for pictures for a good 15 minutes, after Leinster’s training session […]

3 years ago

“Were any trees harmed during the incident?” The headline in Sydney Morning Herald reads Springbok apologises for high school urination, and they have the player, fair dinkum, bang to rights. South Africa are over in Australia for The Rugby Championship and licking their wounds after losing to the Wallabies in Adelaide, last weekend. Jacques Nienaber’s side […]

3 years ago

Imagine a world-class player taking issue with duds, frauds, hangers-on at a club he cares deeply about. Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United, in 2009, with the club having won three league titles in a row, a European Cup the season beforehand and fresh of losing out to Barcelona when they defended that trophy in that […]

3 years ago

Horrendous update on the Barcelona and Gabon striker. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suffered a broken jaw during the violent robbery on his home, earlier this week. The Castelldefels house of the former Arsenal forward was broken into in the early hours of Monday morning. Armed robbers were reported to have broken in, around 1am, threatened him and his […]

3 years ago

Get one more player in the door and maybe, just maybe, this could make all the difference… The Premier League transfer deadline is fast approaching and clubs are flat-out trying to get those final deals over the line. Forget about the energy crisis and massive inflation (if you can!), this has been a summer of […]

3 years ago

This one was mooted as far back as The Open, which the Aussie won at St Andrew’s. Cameron Smith, the world number two, has been confirmed as the biggest capture of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour. The Australian, who beat Cam Young and Rory McIlroy to The Open Championship, this summer leads a list of […]

3 years ago

“I would like to place on record my gratitude to Scott… “ At least Scott Parker got some thanks for guiding Bournemouth back to the Premier League, in the same statement that let the world knew he was getting sacked after four games. After failing to fire with Jason Tindall, who replaced Eddie Howe, then […]

3 years ago

“It’s been amazing to see the faces of these kids over the past couple of days.” Leinster Rugby took the unusual approach, this season, of only going for one pre-season game and using some of their time to head on a whistle-stop tour around the province’s 12 counties. Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster split their […]

3 years ago

“You’re asking for trouble.” The arrival of Wayne Rooney to DC United has not been able to arrest the slide of a club that has the club bottom of the Major League Soccer standings. Even a superb Ravel Morrison goal could not help them in their latest outing. The Washington side have the lowest points […]

3 years ago

“I have a whopping one week off coming up and then I go to Europe for three out of four weeks.” With his latest PGA Tour Championship in the bag, Rory McIlroy has a week off with his family before heading to Europe to take part in the DP World Tour end-of-season run-in. Once again, […]

3 years ago

“In all honesty, golf has been the escape for me over the last few weeks.” Rory McIlroy has been doing all he can, when he is not out hunting trophies, trying to stave off the LIV Golf threat and save the PGA Tour. That he had enough, this year, to win three tournaments, including the […]

3 years ago

“Would you believe it?” Separated by six strokes before they teed off, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler had varying rounds at the Tour Championship, and it made for a captivating finale to the PGA Tour season. Rory McIlroy produced a final round masterclass in clutch striking and big shots under pressure to claim his third […]

3 years ago

“He just winds people up… he winds me up.” Moments after he set up Harry Kane for the game-clinching goal, Richarlison decided to rub it in at the City Ground. The Brazilian came on as a second half substitute as Tottenham beat Nottingham Forest to continue their promising start to the season. Harry Kane scored […]

3 years ago

“Nice chat, dad!” It has been 17 years since Roy Keane left Manchester United, and Alex Ferguson, but not all the old bridges have been mended. The former Ireland captain is a hugely popular figure at Old Trafford and his recent punditry outing for Sky Sports saw United players past and present making a beeline […]

3 years ago

It has been seven years since an ‘Emerging Ireland’ XV took to the field. Andy Farrell was one of the driving forces behind the five-game tour to New Zealand, this summer. Buoyed by the success of that tour, he is set to revive Emerging Ireland. Ireland ‘A’ or their Wolfhounds version have not played in […]

3 years ago

“Manchester United!” The Springbok fans must have known the Australian players were coming through the airport, as they had a warm welcome lined up for Nic White. There was a moment of controversy in Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash between South Africa and Australia, at the Adelaide Oval. Just before half-time, Boks scrumhalf Faf de Klerk […]

3 years ago

The lucky ducks. Free pints on a sunny Saturday, with some college football going on to keep you extra entertained – those were the days, my friend. Issues with WiFi and card readers at the Aviva Stadium, this evening, have led to stadium officials giving out free pints to American Football fans. Fans that headed […]

3 years ago

‘How is this a foul?!’ Manchester City fell 2-0 behind against Crystal Palace, this afternoon, but a Bernardo Silva strike and a hat-trick from Erling Haaland wrapped up a 4-2 comeback victory. City went top of the table, ahead of Arsenal’s late kick-off against Fulham, courtesy of the win, but they had two big refereeing […]

3 years ago

“The more I think about it, the more difficult it becomes to understand.” Jurgen Klopp paid tribute to murdered nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel before his side’s latest league outing, and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson did likewise after their emphatic victory. Pratt-Korbel was killed by a masked attacker on Monday, in Liverpool. The nine-year-old caught a stray […]

3 years ago

“How on earth did Manchester United not score?!” Gavin Bazunu and two of his Southampton teammates inspired a standing ovation from the home crowd after an incredible, frantic spell of defending and shot-stopping against Manchester United. In all their years in the Premier League, Southampton had conceded more goals (98) to United than from any […]

3 years ago

SOUTHAMPTON 0-1 MAN UNITED It was far from pretty and much less intense than Monday night’s win over Liverpool, but United got the job done. There are a few stand-outs in our Man United ratings. Manchester United recorded ended a seven-game losing slide, away from home in the league, as they produced a dogged performance […]

3 years ago

NEW ZEALAND 18-25 ARGENTINA For only the second time in 34 games against New Zealand, Argentina have recorded a Test win. Michael Cheika has Los Pumas top of The Rugby Championship standings after a sensational win in Christchurch. The All Blacks led their visitors at half-time after tries from Caleb Clarke and hooker Samison Taukei’aho, […]

3 years ago

AUSTRALIA 25-17 SOUTH AFRICA Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White was in the line of fire after getting a waft from Faf de Klerk and going down like a sack of spuds off a creaky top shelf. After starting off their Rugby Championship campaign with a 26-10 win over New Zealand, South Africa have now lost twice […]

3 years ago

The Munster man fired up his teammates, but a staunch Springbok defence still won the day. Conor Murray was awarded the greatest honour of his rugby career, to date, then had to bide his time after Covid issues affected the British & Irish Lions. The Munster and Ireland scrumhalf had gone from trying on the […]

3 years ago

“Every rugby player, whenever you’d ask them, they have all wondered what it would be like to pad up.” Tommy Bowe is 38 years old now, and four years out of professional rugby, but a part of him was still convinced he could show these college football coaches a turn or two. The former Ulster, […]

3 years ago

The man has a way of delivering killer lines with aplomb. Gary Neville and Roy Keane always bounced off each other well, even if the Cork native does his best to take cuts off his old teammate as often as he can. The pair played 10 seasons together for Manchester United and were reunited as […]

3 years ago

Starting to bed in. Christian Eriksen may have proved to Erik ten Hag he was not the stop-gap No.6 midfielder he was looking for, but he showed he can still mix it with the top sides. It has been a topsy-turvy start to life at Old Trafford for the Dane. Against Brighton, he was deployed […]

3 years ago

Somewhere in the world, on Monday night, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could have been forgiven for muttering, ‘I told you so’. The Norwegian had Cristiano Ronaldo foisted on him, at Manchester United, last summer and was expected to make it work. Solskjaer wanted to build his United attack around Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood, […]

3 years ago

“It was not animated!” Jurgen Klopp was in understandably spiky form after his team went three Premier League games without a win, losing to their fierce rivals at Old Trafford. Bruno Fernandes was back to his best in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool, and he certainly wound up Liverpool in the process. The United […]

3 years ago

Made captain after Harry Maguire was dropped, the Portuguese was a real nuisance. Bruno Fernandes was given the Manchester United armband for the visit of Liverpool to Old Trafford. He led his team superbly. Fernandes was part of a United midfield trio with Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay that helped the club surge into a […]

3 years ago

The Dutchman made the comment at 10:14pm. Any younger Liverpool or Manchester United supporters that were up late, watching the Premier League action at Old Trafford may have caught a stray F-bomb from Erik ten Hag. The new United boss oversaw his side’s first league victory of the season, after taking the fight to Liverpool. […]

3 years ago

The veteran midfielder had a point. James Milner had a stand-up row with Liverpool teammate Virgil Van Dijk after his side went behind to an early Manchester United goal. United, after losing their opening two games of the Premier League season, were the sharper of the sides at Old Trafford, and deservedly took the lead […]

3 years ago

The length of his term is a real show of faith from the county board. Kevin McStay is the new manager of the Mayo senior footballers, and his backroom team will soon be confirmed. The Ballina native, who played eight years with Mayo in the 1980s, and won an All Star in the process, has […]

3 years ago

He simply had to bring it up. Even with Jurgen Klopp towering above him, Roy Keane was on his Old Trafford turf and made the bold call to remind the Liverpool boss about some recent history between them. Klopp was out speaking with the Monday Night Football crew, ahead of Liverpool’s league clash with Manchester […]

3 years ago

Bombshells in the United starting line-up. With both Manchester United and Liverpool chasing their first Premier League wins of the season, Erik ten Hag and Jurgen Klopp have made some big calls with their respective starting XIs. The stand-out United news is ten Hag benching Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Cristiano Ronaldo: 📋 Erik's named […]

3 years ago

“He didn’t get the plaudits of others.” Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher mentioned the likes of Michael Owen, Thierry Henry, Marc Overmars and Michael Essien in their Premier League Q&A. Many football fans were tuning into the first Monday Night Football of the season to see how Liverpool fared after an opening day draw or […]

3 years ago

“Wonderful to see such sportsmanship between these two athletes.” “My time will come,” Ciara Mageean confidently declared, not long after her fantastic second place finish in the European Championships. The Portaferry native shot out as the pace-setter in the Women’s 1500-metre final, in Munich, and had enough left in the tank to push Olympic silver […]

3 years ago

The striker received a straight red card. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he was not happy with how Darwin Nunez reacted to a run-of-the-mill clash with Joachim Andersen that led to him getting sent off. Nunez received a straight red card after sticking his head on the Crystal Palace, right in from of referee Paul […]

3 years ago

What was the lad even thinking? Ahead of Liverpool’s first home tie of the Premier League season, Jurgen Klopp was in spiky form when asked about Darwin Nunez. The Reds boss was asked by Sky’s Geoff Shreeves for his reasoning in giving the Uruguayan his first start at Anfield. Klopp immediately fired back: “I’m really […]

3 years ago

Only two players emerge with any real credit. On the subject of Man United transfers, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher sat down together and resoundingly agreed it had been a collective catastrophe. Since Alex Ferguson stood down as manager of Manchester United, after helping the side to their 20th league title, in 2013, the club […]

3 years ago

“I’m convinced this can’t work.” Jamie Carragher has named two Manchester United players that Erik ten Hag, he believes, has already discovered he cannot trust. He is far from convinced abour Lisandro Martinez, either. The former Liverpool defender was analysing United’s woeful start to the Premier League season, and focused on some tactical and individual […]

3 years ago

“I said, ‘What are you doing? What are you f***ing doing?!’” Andy Townsend thought he had seen it all in football, especially during his Italia 90 and USA 94 experiences with Ireland, but nothing could prepare him for living with Paul Gascoigne in the late 1990s. The former Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder moved to […]

3 years ago

“When I played my first Champions League final I was just a boy.” Four years after he finished up with Calgary Foothills FC, in Canada, Owen Hargreaves started alongside Stefan Effenburg in centre midfield for Bayern Munich, in the 2001 Champions League final. Having just turned 20, earlier that year, Hargreaves lined out at the […]

3 years ago

Many will claim the Aussie was penalised because he may soon be off to LIV Golf. Heading into his final round of the FedEx Championship, Open champion Cameron Smith was two strokes off the lead and within touching distance of two big accolades. The Australian, who powered past Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland to win […]

3 years ago