Traditional musicPrior to the World Cup, Scotland's players were asked to choose a piece of music they would like played at Murrayfield if they…Mon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
USA fail to learn from past mistakesThe USA absorbed some of the lessons from their defeat by Ireland but not enough to beat Romania in a keenly contested contest…Mon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Fantasy flutterHis nationality is unknown, but for one Ladbrokes punter the ultimate fantasy accumulator is just one result awayMon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Irish lament disappointing performanceQuantifying the extent of failure is a subjective matterMon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Kick up the rearUruguayan captain Diego Ormachea, at 40 the oldest man competing in the World Cup, has to pay for the privilege of representing…Mon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Strong, sensitive typesWhat's in a name? If you're a member of the Australian squad, quite a lot and you wouldn't want to be sensitiveMon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Virtual realityThe Australians have come up with a novel idea to combat the loneliness of the long-distance rugby playerMon Oct 11 1999 - 01:00
Mini final for the minnowsToday's clash at Lansdowne Road constitutes a mini World Cup final for the USA and RomaniaSat Oct 09 1999 - 01:00
Clohessy likely to playIreland yesterday completed their preparations in Cork for their clash with Australia on Sunday with some line-out work on Inchydoney…Fri Oct 08 1999 - 01:00
Wallabies name strongest sideAustralia has laid down a marker for Sunday's World Cup clash with Ireland at Lansdowne Road by selecting their strongest possible…Thu Oct 07 1999 - 01:00
Noriega's Cup over before it beginsPatricio `Pato' Noriega's World Cup is over before he had the opportunity to lace a boot in angerWed Oct 06 1999 - 01:00
Macqueen is well satisfiedRod Macqueen's assessment of Ireland's victory over the USA at Lansdowne Road contained the soft focus one would expect from …Tue Oct 05 1999 - 01:00
Springbok blitz sinks ScotlandScotland the brave, or the foolhardy? For 60 minutes of yesterday's gripping and hugely entertaining encounter at Murrayfield…Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Artistic merit: Tonga war danceSo what's it like to stand there as the New Zealanders/Fijians/Tongans/Western Samoans perform their pre-match war dance/aerobic…Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Off the beaten trackScotland's left wing Kenny Logan (left) doesn't pussyfoot around when it comes to venting his feelingsMon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Mallett seeks improvementSouth African coach Nick Mallett's candour in assessing his team's performance in victory against Scotland at Murrayfield will…Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Rugby speak"Our World Cup was the Uruguayan match. The games against Scotland and South Africa will be difficult..Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
ClockwatchPre-match: Were Catatonia and Shirley Bassey out of lip sync with the music at the opening ceremony?Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Gatland happy with Irish winFor Ireland coach Warren Gatland it was all about numbersMon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Aussies to have all guns blazingAustralia's innate professionalism demanded that they select a full strength Test team for tomorrow's opening World Cup clash…Sat Oct 02 1999 - 01:00
RTE best for Irish viewersIndependent Television's (ITV) claim that they will show every game live in the forthcoming Rugby World Cup was something of …Wed Sept 29 1999 - 01:00
One world, one way of interpreting the rulesThe single most contentious issue in the build-up to the World Cup is the manner in which the matches will be refereedWed Sept 29 1999 - 01:00
Eales makes his returnAustralia have named a full strength Test line-up for Sunday's opening World Cup match against Romania in Belfast, making only…Wed Sept 29 1999 - 01:00
Australia good valueThe bookmakers are willing to tantalise those punters prepared to invest in the fourth Rugby World CupWed Sept 29 1999 - 01:00
Gribben hoping to retain statusPaddy Gribben, Ireland's Walker Cup hero, is loathe to take a decision that will change his life irrevocablyTue Sept 28 1999 - 01:00
US hottest of hot favouritesThose who wish to test their golfing expertise in a tangible way can nip down to the bookmakers to take their chances on predicting…Wed Sept 22 1999 - 01:00
Lawrenson king of the one-linerSend in the clowns. That was the message from television executives with the terrestrial channels this weekMon Sept 20 1999 - 01:00
Carter passes the first testThe rolling hills of Glasson Golf and Country Club provided an idyllic setting for The Irish Times/Mitsubishi Motors Ladies Masters…Tue Sept 14 1999 - 01:00
Bell out with injuryJonathan Bell is out of the Ireland XV which faces Munster at Musgrave Park tomorrow with a knee injuryThu Sept 09 1999 - 01:00
Thomas to referee Irish gameWales's Clayton Thomas will referee Ireland's pivotal World Cup Pool clash with Australia at Lansdowne Road on October 10thWed Sept 08 1999 - 01:00
London Irish lift offAer Lingus have confirmed a £1 million sponsorship deal over two years with London Irish RFC, a financial package which offers…Fri Sept 03 1999 - 01:00
Heroes keep feet on ground despite quality performanceOn a night when superlatives seemed appropriate, it was the players who maintained a firm footing in relation to what constituted…Thu Sept 02 1999 - 01:00
Connacht have point to proveThe blight of injury and illness which dogged Connacht in their opening two Interprovincials is no longer prevalent as coach …Thu Sept 02 1999 - 01:00
Captain Hickie ruled outLeinster are fortified by the return of their international players who missed the province's emphatic defeat by Argentina for…Wed Sept 01 1999 - 01:00
Noted scrummager earns his rewardThe pedigree suggested a fast track to success but for Angus McKeen the ultimate recognition, a place in the senior national …Mon Aug 30 1999 - 01:00
Irish focus on scrumThe Ireland team enjoyed the first of two closed sessions this week at Greystones RFC yesterday in preparation for tomorrow's…Fri Aug 27 1999 - 01:00
Lame ending for tired IrishIreland's free fall culminated in a resounding thud on Saturday, the team finally languishing in eighth and last place in the…Mon Aug 02 1999 - 01:00
Simple head count for finaleNot so much a matter of selection but a simple head count to choose the Ireland team for today's final match in the Sanzar Under…Sat Jul 31 1999 - 01:00
Dejected Irish need to lift againDejected, tired, and bruised physically and mentally, the Ireland squad yesterday struggled to come to terms with defeat and …Thu Jul 29 1999 - 01:00
Litany of errors costs IrelandAnother crushing disappointment, another failure for which Ireland need look no further than their own performanceWed Jul 28 1999 - 01:00
New half-back pairing as Ireland ring the changes for Welsh clashThe Ireland team shows five changes from that which lost 22-6 to New Zealand for today's clash with Wales (7.30 p.mTue Jul 27 1999 - 01:00
Irish out to finish in stylePride and professionalism demand that the Ireland squad complete the final week of the SANZAR Invitational Under-21 championship…Mon Jul 26 1999 - 01:00
A harsh lesson in taking chancesNew Zealand provided a harsh and devastatingly disappointing lesson in the art of taking scoring opportunities in wiping out …Sat Jul 24 1999 - 01:00
Do or die time for hungry IrishOld Belvedere's Andrew Dunne and Dungannon flanker Andrew Hughes are the two new caps in Ireland's team to face New Zealand at…Fri Jul 23 1999 - 01:00
Irish set for men in blackTired and bruised, the Ireland under-21 squad was afforded 24 hours' leave of absence from all things rugby yesterdayThu Jul 22 1999 - 01:00
Irish giants plan to get physicalThe bitter disappointment of defeat was not allowed to linger as the Ireland squad was whisked away for a bruising training session…Tue Jul 20 1999 - 01:00
Casey likely to be fit to playThe Irish management is hopeful Robert Casey will be available for tomorrow's second pool match against ArgentinaMon Jul 19 1999 - 01:00
Ragged Ireland hand it to FranceIreland's failure was abject, a litany of schoolboy errors, breaches of discipline at crucial times and rank bad playMon Jul 19 1999 - 01:00
