Wallace's midfield role the eye-catcherBOTH DECLAN Kidney and Marc Lievrement took steps back in time yesterday in rekindling partnerships that helped deliver under…Wed Feb 04 2009 - 00:00
Here's hoping for an Ireland ready to have a goON RUGBY: ARE WE kidding ourselves about Ireland and the recent generation of players? Viewed dispassionately, Ireland’s results…Tue Feb 03 2009 - 00:00
O'Sullivan contacted over USA positionRUGBY NEWS ROUND-UP: USA RUGBY has officially contacted the agent of former Ireland coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, with a view to …Tue Feb 03 2009 - 00:00
Reddan loses out as squad trimmedIN PRUNING Ireland’s Six Nations squad from a weighty 39 to 27, Declan Kidney and co have deferred most of the tighter decisions…Sat Jan 31 2009 - 00:00
Feel-good factor should benefit the Irish campPERHAPS WE have become a little greedy and by rights Irish rugby should once again be mightily grateful, because the feel-good…Tue Jan 27 2009 - 00:00
O'Driscoll's captaincy credentials still strongRUGBY NEWS: THE IDENTITY of the Irish captain for the forthcoming RBS Six Nations Championship, as well as the Heineken Cup …Tue Jan 27 2009 - 00:00
Anxious Leinster scramble throughLeinster 12 Edinburgh 3: LEINSTER KEPT their nerve sufficiently and, with grim determination, dominated for large tracts to …Mon Jan 26 2009 - 00:00
First quarter will be an indicator of Leinster's match-day formLeinster v Edinburgh: MAKE OR break, do or die, etc, etcSat Jan 24 2009 - 00:00
Tough decisions are left for another daySIX NATIONS NEWS ROUND-UP THE HARD decisions, indeed the vast majority of the decisions, await for another dayThu Jan 22 2009 - 00:00
Final pool matches will still have customary buzzAS THE dreary fare of Twickenham’s star-studded cast underlined, even the Heineken Cup is not immune from the immutable laws …Tue Jan 20 2009 - 00:00
Bonus may yet make all the differenceHEINEKEN CUP Wasps 19 Leinster 12 Attendance 33,282 A DVD of this desultory, disjointed affair should be despatched forthwith…Mon Jan 19 2009 - 00:00
Leinster face an anxious conclusionFOR MUNSTER, a relatively clean bill of health and clear idea of what they have to do; but for Leinster a cloudy week of medical…Mon Jan 19 2009 - 00:00
Cheika pleased with his men in physical testWHATEVER ABOUT the quality of the performance, Leinster’s grit, guts and honesty of effort couldn’t be doubtedMon Jan 19 2009 - 00:00
Leinster may be found out in moment of truthHEINEKEN CUP: WASPS v LEINSTER: A MOMENT of truth then, for the boys in blueSat Jan 17 2009 - 00:00
Trust Munster to make the right callsRUBGY HEINKEN WORLD CUP: Pool One: Munster v Sale Sharks EDGE-OF-THE-SEAT time once moreFri Jan 16 2009 - 00:00
Cheika may opt to spring Nacewa from benchEVER SINCE the announcement of Isa Nacewa’s arrival, the talk amongst Leinster supporters has been what would constitute Michael…Wed Jan 14 2009 - 00:00
Scrum increasingly cause for Leinster concernAFTER-MATCH REACTION: AN INCREASINGLY significant concern for Leinster is the wellbeing of their frontrow and their scrumMon Jan 12 2009 - 00:00
Getting out while the going was okay - aged 27AN OUTSTANDING former Ireland under-19s and under-21 scrumhalf, Brian O'Riordan played professionally for four years with Leinster…Wed Dec 17 2008 - 00:00
Houdini alive and kicking in MunsterEUROPEAN CUP POOL ONE MUNSTER V CLERMONT: Munster 23 Clermont 13 EVEN BY their standards of defeat-defying acts of escapology…Mon Dec 15 2008 - 00:00
Munster ride in to save the dayDEAD BUT never buried, impossible is nothing indeedMon Dec 15 2008 - 00:00
O'Driscoll struggling to be fit to face CastresRUGBY NEWS: AS HAS been their lot lately, the exact composition of an ever-changing Leinster backline is liable to remain the…Tue Dec 09 2008 - 00:00
Cheika won't take Castres for grantedRUGBY NEWS: BEWARE OF French sides seemingly set on rolling over and having their bellies tickledWed Dec 03 2008 - 00:00
Gatland unfazed as Wales draw short strawTHE GROUP of Death, the Pool of Sharks; call it what you will, but as Irish eyes scanned across the four pools they could probably…Tue Dec 02 2008 - 00:00
History as big a worry as Ulster for Bradley's menMAGNERS LEAGUE: IT'S DOUBTFUL whether the burden of history will weigh more heavily on a team going into a Magners League fixture…Fri Nov 28 2008 - 00:00
Victory over Argentina lifts a dark shadowThe pressure to perform and beat Argentina was intense anyway regardless of what Ronan O'Gara said in private or publicTue Nov 25 2008 - 00:00
'We need to play as a team' - O'GaraTHREE CHANGES in personnel to the starting line-up, including a surprise if welcome recall for Geordan Murphy, appear to have…Fri Nov 21 2008 - 00:00
Valiant Munster come so close to repeating magic of 1978THIRTY YEARS on, it was almost as if nothing had changedWed Nov 19 2008 - 00:00
Pumas will be welcome return to a normal realmON RUGBY: It's still hard to fathom how the All Blacks bossed the collisions set against the evens of last June in Wellington…Tue Nov 18 2008 - 00:00
Gaffney happy to relive Thomond experienceTHOUGH IRELAND'S world ranking has slipped to eighth, and Canada are 15th, that gap scarcely reflects the gulf in class for tomorrow…Fri Nov 07 2008 - 00:00
Kidney's team has some tough calls to makeManagement spoiled for choice as a new dawn looms and Ireland look to secure a place in the top eight in the world rankingsTue Nov 04 2008 - 00:00
Clontarf roll up sleeves and go topALL-IRELAND LEAGUE ROUND-UP: WHETHER IT'S a coincidence or not, the IRFU's decision to revamp next year's AIB All-Ireland League…Mon Oct 27 2008 - 00:00
O'Driscoll's injury not too seriousRUGBY NEWS ROUND-UP: BRIAN O'DRISCOLL should be fit for Ireland's forthcoming autumnal internationals against Canada, New Zealand…Tue Oct 21 2008 - 01:00
Munster and Leinster making us a little giddyIt's early days, but Europe has taken note of the big two provinces' fine form in the Heineken Cup - and it's great to see Brian…Tue Oct 21 2008 - 01:00
Munster reshuffle in Tipoki's absenceSale v Munster: THERE'S SCARCELY room to breathe in a competitive Heineken Cup pool and the results of the first week have contrived…Sat Oct 18 2008 - 01:00
Exiles have too much power for ConnachtConnacht 10 London Irish 27: A MISERABLY wet night in the West wasn't the only thing to put something of a damp squib on Connacht…Sat Oct 18 2008 - 01:00
Exiles come home in scary formConnacht v London Irish : IT'S A measure of the task facing Connacht in their eye-catching fixture at home to London Irish this…Fri Oct 17 2008 - 01:00
O'Driscoll still wants to lead IrelandINTERVIEW WITH BRIAN O'DRISCOLL : IN ABOUT a week's time one of the early-season talking points may well be resolvedTue Oct 14 2008 - 01:00
'It was just about keeping our nerve'THE ALMOST haunting echoes of Murrayfield don't lend themselves to excessive celebrations, and having exorcised many of their…Mon Oct 13 2008 - 01:00
Visitors arrive gift-wrapped for championsMunster v Montauban: MUNSTER MAY have been taken away from their traditional Saturday evening slot but, at face value, that …Fri Oct 10 2008 - 01:00
Vintage draughts from the Cup that cheersHEINEKEN EUROPEAN CUP: The greatest club competition in the always offers something new, but certain elements are as perennial…Fri Oct 10 2008 - 01:00
Much soul searching in the Leinster camp after defeatsHEINEKEN CUP EDINBURGH v LEINSTER: TO THE outside at least, Leinster are presenting a united and relatively calm front after…Wed Oct 08 2008 - 01:00
IRFU should see strong Connacht as a positiveON RUGBY: The Westerners' gutsy and skilful win over Leinster doesn't dispel fears of a two-tier provincial set-up, but it's…Tue Oct 07 2008 - 01:00
Connacht can change only so muchConnacht v Leinster: TIME WAS, back in the 90s, when the Sportsground was Leinster's bogey venueSat Oct 04 2008 - 01:00
Munster aside, weekend hardly cheers KidneyON RUGBY: THE GREAT thing about being beaten by Munster - if there is even one scintilla of hope for Leinster to cling to in…Tue Sept 30 2008 - 01:00
Leinster include heavy hittersMAGNERS LEAGUE LEINSTER'S HEAVY hitting new captures, CJ van der Linde and Rocky Elsom, are in line to make debuts for the province…Wed Sept 24 2008 - 01:00
High-profile rivalry benefits national sideON RUGBY: Leinster versus Munster, there probably won't be a better all-Irish match this season, writes Gerry ThornleyTue Sept 23 2008 - 01:00
