'I think what killed us really was our set-piece'BIARRITZ v MUNSTER REACTION: IN ALL the post-match analysis the words “dominate” and “set-pieces” echoed mantra-like around …Mon May 03 2010 - 01:00
Berne to start at outhalf as Sexton loses fitness battleH EINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINAL: JONATHAN SEXTON has definitely been ruled out of tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final in Toulouse due…Fri Apr 30 2010 - 01:00
Munster and Leinster get awkward Sunday evening gamesMAGNERS LEAGUE: LEINSTER AND Munster will both be obliged to play their concluding games in the Magners League on Sunday week…Thu Apr 29 2010 - 01:00
Toulon wheel out the big gunsJONNY WILKINSON, Pierre Mignoni, Johann van Niekerk, Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Sonny Bill Williams, Tana Umaga and the rest…Wed Apr 28 2010 - 01:00
Forecast cool but Leinster to feel heatRUGBY: THE FORECAST is for a drop in temperature from the mid-20s to the high teens, with a better than 50-50 chance of rain…Wed Apr 28 2010 - 01:00
Odds have receded on a Munster doubleON RUGBY: TWO WEEKS ago we referred to the French phase “ courir apres deux lièvres” and the events of the past fortnight have…Tue Apr 27 2010 - 01:00
Biarritz left fretting over Harinordoquy's fitnessHEINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINAL: ALREADY CONSIGNED to being without their influential French centre Damien Traille for next Sunday’s…Tue Apr 27 2010 - 01:00
O'Connell in race to be fit for Biarritz clashTONY McGAHAN has again conceded that Paul O’Connell is in “a race against the clock” to lead Munster in their Heineken Cup semi…Mon Apr 26 2010 - 01:00
Ulster to find the going toughMAGNERS LEAGUE Edinburgh v Ulster: EVER SINCE they won the league four seasons ago, when winning seven and drawing one of their…Sat Apr 24 2010 - 01:00
Munster send out their big artilleryRUGBY Munster v Ospreys: THE STANDOUT match of the Magners League penultimate round is this meeting of third v second, which…Sat Apr 24 2010 - 01:00
Depleted Connacht may struggleMAGNERS LEAGUE Llanelli v Connacht: PLAYING THREE games in a week at the end of the season would be a tough ask for most squads…Sat Apr 24 2010 - 01:00
Leinster hope to wrap things up out westMAGNERS LEAGUE NEWS ROUND-UP: AS FEARED in the west, but hoped for up north, Leinster have decided to face into two games just…Tue Apr 20 2010 - 01:00
Young Munster are not found wantingRUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE: OBLIGED TO dig deep into their A team and academy, and their reserves of famed togetherness, Munster were…Mon Apr 19 2010 - 01:00
Connacht deflated as they let golden opportunity slipCONNACHT’S team and crowd alike were left deflated by a feeling that they’d let slip a gilt-edged opportunity to beat an injury…Mon Apr 19 2010 - 01:00
Ospreys have just one thing on their mindsRugby Magners League - Leinster v Ospreys: CONTINUING THEIR end-of-season “tour” of northern Spain, Belfast and Dublin, the …Fri Apr 16 2010 - 01:00
Seapoint on verge of joining senior ranks for first timeAIB LEAGUE QUALIFYING ROUND ROBIN: SEAPOINT STAND on the verge of attaining senior status in Division Three of the AIB League…Wed Apr 14 2010 - 01:00
Munster duo undergo scansDOUG HOWLETT (hamstring) and Ian Dowling (knee) both underwent scans yesterday to determine the full extent of injuries they …Tue Apr 13 2010 - 01:00
Coughlan finally an overnight successON HIS full European debut last Saturday, James Coughlan was the baby of the pack, though given he’s 29, these things are relative…Tue Apr 13 2010 - 01:00
Sexton in race to be fit to face ToulouseRUGBY : MICHAEL CHEIKA yesterday confirmed the odds are slightly against Jonathan Sexton recovering from an operation on the…Tue Apr 13 2010 - 01:00
Leinster face trip to ToulouseALL ROADS lead to the south of France and Spain’s neighbouring Basque country en route to the Parisian denouementMon Apr 12 2010 - 01:00
O'Gara sparks positive responseHEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINAL/Munster 33 Northampton 19: MUNSTER MAY have been without their Roy Keane Factor, captain Paul O’Connell…Mon Apr 12 2010 - 01:00
Munster warriors need to fight fire with fireMunster v Northampton: A SQUEAKY bum weekend continues this evening with another potentially epic Munster-Anglo affair in the…Sat Apr 10 2010 - 01:00
Croke Park option for Magners League finalRUGBY: IN THE event of a Leinster-Munster final to the Magners League, or indeed the two provinces meeting at the semi-final…Thu Apr 08 2010 - 01:00
Clermont not cheesed off yetLEINSTER V ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE: “HOW CAN you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” bemoaned the former French…Wed Apr 07 2010 - 01:00
Cheika will have a strong hand to select fromHEINEKEN CUP: BRIAN O'DRISCOLL, Shane Horgan and Kevin McLaughlin were all restored to an expanded, 24-man Leinster squad yesterday…Tue Apr 06 2010 - 01:00
Munster's need greater in Good Friday shoot-outRUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE: FOR ONCE the old cliché truly applies, namely that all roads lead to Limerick; albeit not necessarily …Fri Apr 02 2010 - 01:00
Danger rivalry will become more poisonousON RUGBY: The popularity of the Leinster v Munster fixture has led to excessive antipathy between the two sets of supporters…Tue Mar 30 2010 - 01:00
Berne to start at outhalf as Sexton loses fitness battleH EINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINAL: JONATHAN SEXTON has definitely been ruled out of tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final in Toulouse due…Wed Mar 24 2010 - 00:00
Brown fit as Scots are unchangedRUGBY/SIX NATIONS NEWS: AS WITH Declan Kidney the day before, Andy Robinson yesterday announced an unchanged side for Saturday…Thu Mar 18 2010 - 00:00
Unchanged team looking to crown season with silverwareMANY AN Irish rugby player, even legends such as Mike Gibson, Willie John McBride, Keith Wood and countless more besides, never…Wed Mar 17 2010 - 00:00
O'Brien defends controversial edictSIX NATIONS NEWS: PADDY O’BRIEN, the under-fire IRB elite referee’s manager, has defended the controversial edict regarding …Wed Mar 17 2010 - 00:00
Ireland's big guns to set up the hitTHE WEATHER is set fair, it’s a landmark day for Ireland’s greatest rugby player and the last two Grand Slam winners and bulk…Sat Mar 13 2010 - 00:00
Kearney misses out as Kidney sticks with MurphySIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: YOU WOULDN’T want to have a limp in this Ireland squadWed Mar 10 2010 - 00:00
World Cup plans can wait - this is a Test with WalesON RUGBY: IRELAND-WALES always has a certain frissonTue Mar 09 2010 - 00:00
Fizz is taken out of Good Friday matchRUGBY: WITH LITTLE or no prospect of the Magners League game between Munster and Leinster being switched from Good Friday, Limerick…Sat Mar 06 2010 - 00:00
Ireland have less possession but more guileON RUGBY: TIME WAS when we said packs win matches and backs decide by how much, but perhaps not any moreTue Mar 02 2010 - 00:00
O'Driscoll's injury concerns recedeNEWS ROUND-UP: ALL EXCEPT the Leicester-based Geordan Murphy of the Ireland team that kicked off against England on Saturday…Tue Mar 02 2010 - 00:00
Time to put a halt to the chariot's rollRUGBY/England v Ireland: EVERY MATCH in the RBS Six Nations is defining in its own way and even an England v Ireland rendezvous…Sat Feb 27 2010 - 00:00
England and Wilkinson are a class apartONE FROM THE ARCHIVES MONDAY MARCH 31st, 2003: NO ONE can say Ireland didn’t give it a go, which perhaps made it all the more…Wed Feb 24 2010 - 00:00
Nah, Kidney ain't going to drop the Bull on 99 capsJOHN HAYES will hate all the fuss that might accompany the historic landmark of becoming Ireland’s first Test centurionTue Feb 23 2010 - 00:00
Fullback and outhalf are still up for grabsSIX NATIONS: DECLAN KIDNEY tends not to make wholesale changes if he can avoid them, least of all to suggest any hints of panic…Tue Feb 23 2010 - 00:00
Plenty of twists still before the 'dream final'FRANCE AND England sit atop the Six Nations table. The natural order is being restoredTue Feb 16 2010 - 00:00
Hard, but not the end of an eraRUGBY: NO PLACE dampens the ardour of Irish rugby more than Paris, even on St Valentine’s WeekendMon Feb 15 2010 - 00:00
Ferris gets time to prove his fitnessDECLAN KIDNEY will give Stephen Ferris every chance to prove his fitness for Saturday’s crunch Six Nations showdown against France…Wed Feb 10 2010 - 00:00
France will have targeted this match from the startTHE FRENCH are rarely dull or predictable, and invariably make a fascinating case study, not least when they are next in line…Tue Feb 09 2010 - 00:00
Kidney goes with horses for coursesRugby - Ireland v Italy team news: ULTIMATELY, THE hardest decision was deferred for another day, and we’ll never know whether…Wed Feb 03 2010 - 00:00
Gower a major concern for ItalyITALIAN COACH Nick Mallett has a major concern before finalising his team tomorrow for Saturday’s Six Nations opener, with first…Wed Feb 03 2010 - 00:00
