On a night when a lot went wrong, there were some positives. Not too many, mind. Gavin Coombes may have to spin his wheels for the next two weeks, until he gets another crack at the Maori All Blacks, but he proved, in Hamilton, that he is Test ready. The Munster No.8 did not have […]

4 years ago

MUNSTER 34-18 STORMERS Munster rode one hell of a storm from their South African visitors, but they answered back with one of their own. Johann van Graan’s side were caught on the hop by a fired-up, accurate Stormers side in the first half, at Thomond Park. They trailed 15-0 and were left indebted to a […]

4 years ago

“Is that a fact? He’s playing, is he?” With Connacht head coach Andy Friend laying his selection cards on the table, on Tuesday, and announcing his intentions to play a fresh XV against Munster, Conor Fitzgerald sets to get another start against his native province. JJ Hanrahan was delighted to hear of the impending reunion. […]

6 years ago

7:04. Seven minutes, four seconds. The clock, on the scoreboard, stood still as both RG Snyman and Dave Kilcoyne received treatment on the Aviva Stadium pitch. Both men had waited months upon months for rugby to return and had lasted less than 10 minutes into their first game back. Neither man was able to play […]

6 years ago

More visceral details have emerged of Munster’s infamous pre-season Royal Rumble of 2010/11. On his recent appearance on the UK’s House of Rugby show, former Munster and Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery told Alex Payne about a Royal Rumble-style competition that was held as part of the team’s pre-season week in Portugal. Flannery and Barry Murphy, […]

7 years ago

Munster head coach Johann van Graan was not looking best pleased after his side’s 36-22 win over Gloucester in the Champions Cup. The South African was not too pleased with his side’s concession of 16 penalties and a couple of consolation tries but one suspects a string of bad injuries to key players had darkened […]

8 years ago