22-game format puts Irish offThe IRFU yesterday informed their Welsh and Scottish counterparts that they had rejected the proposed Celtic League, essentially…Tue Mar 14 2000 - 00:00
McWeeney saves the dayIn their desperation St Mary's made desperately heavy weather of it, before getting there in the end when John McWeeney completed…Mon Mar 13 2000 - 00:00
More of Ballymena's home voodooAbout this time last year Ballymena's rot had set in and the rumour mill was rife that Andre Bester's, shall we say, quirky coaching…Mon Mar 13 2000 - 00:00
Clohessy free to face BallymenaThe scrap for those coveted play-off places in the AIB League hots up by the week, and regardless of the quality, the quantity…Sat Mar 11 2000 - 00:00
Clongowes taken to the wireFears of a lop-sided semi-final between two schools of starkly contrasting traditions in the Leinster Senior Cup appeared to …Tue Mar 07 2000 - 00:00
Magne citing a blow for FranceThe French coach Bernard Laporte is bracing himself for the prospect of losing his brilliant flanker Olivier Magne for the remaining…Tue Mar 07 2000 - 00:00
Home is where the heart is for IrishYou'd wonder how fickle it all is really and how much of it is based purely on resultsTue Mar 07 2000 - 00:00
Superior Irish go the distance as Italians cave inAs a slightly stunned crowd could only stand and applaud an Irish team heading for the dressing-room with an unprecedented 33…Mon Mar 06 2000 - 00:00
Ireland now set free to enjoy ParisFree at last. Amid all the emotions which the Irish squad and management would have felt in the aftermath of shredding and then…Mon Mar 06 2000 - 00:00
Four-try burst ends mediocrityIt wasn't without its longeurs, and at times it was like watching paint dry, but after the injury-time victories over England…Sat Mar 04 2000 - 00:00
Ireland set for secondsTwo Irish supporters this week discussed their plans for today, one asking the other if he was going to the matchSat Mar 04 2000 - 00:00
O'Gara fends off Humphreys challengeSeldom is the day when an Irish team remains unchanged for two games running, but, in the hope that it will prove equally inspired…Thu Mar 02 2000 - 00:00
Heading into Saturday's rugby game against the ItaliansOnce more with feeling thenThu Mar 02 2000 - 00:00
Leinster's future begins to look more promisingAt times during a troubled first half to their season Leinster's future on and off the pitch was shrouded in some doubtWed Mar 01 2000 - 00:00
Bevan set for final whistleHe has been there, bought the Tshirt and done it all, having numbered the 1991 World Cup final among his record haul of Tests…Wed Mar 01 2000 - 00:00
More bad luck for TierneyHaving held down the scrumhalf slot for eight successive internationals, from last summer's first Test in Brisbane to the Twickenham…Wed Mar 01 2000 - 00:00
Maggs and Davidson ruled outKevin Maggs and Jeremy Davidson were yesterday ruled out of contention for this Saturday's Six Nations encounter against Italy…Tue Feb 29 2000 - 00:00
Italians unlikely to be a pushoverLurching, as ever, from one extreme to the next, from the depths of Twickenham to the highs of last Saturday week, suddenly Irish…Tue Feb 29 2000 - 00:00
Pope rues home mistakesCoaches come and go, some of the playing personnel changes, but the script follows such a dog-eared course that ultimately most…Mon Feb 28 2000 - 00:00
Champions in desperate need of winMore a sprint than a marathon, it must be unnerving for the dozen teams concerned that the AIB League first division will technically…Sat Feb 26 2000 - 00:00
Same formatAlthough the organisers of the European Cup have decided to retain this season's format of 24 teams for next season's Heineken…Sat Feb 26 2000 - 00:00
Dempsey out but ready for Italian gameGirvan Dempsey will miss Terenure's AIB League First Division game at home to Dungannon on Saturday but his damaged nose is not…Wed Feb 23 2000 - 00:00
Well-drilled Terenure win rewardTerenure College were never allowed to cut loose by a game Castleknock and while the final score-line flattered them a little…Wed Feb 23 2000 - 00:00
Armstrong lands late penalty as Kilkenny provide upsetIf there has been a better day in Kilkenny College's fledgling rugby story nobody at Donnybrook yesterday could recall itTue Feb 22 2000 - 00:00
Let's give credit where credit is dueAs the players assembled in the home dressing-room over an hour before kick-off, Peter Stringer stood up from his seat, looked…Tue Feb 22 2000 - 00:00
Ireland win big by upping the paceAnd with one bound, Ireland were free. Just like thatMon Feb 21 2000 - 00:00
Gatland's gamble pays off as new deck comes up trumpsNormally the Irish management drift surreptitiously and without warning into the car park tent that is used for post-match press…Mon Feb 21 2000 - 00:00
New boys tackle the old bogeyOnce more with hope, eh? Irish supporters have little else tangible to cling to after the last few days out for the boys in green…Sat Feb 19 2000 - 00:00
Kidney's charges pull it out of fireThe victory was no less nail-biting for the good-sized Donnybrook crowd than the one in Northampton a fortnight ago, although…Sat Feb 19 2000 - 00:00
Horgan cleared for senior debutTeam manager Donal Lenihan confirmed last night that despite reports of an alleged off-the-pitch incident involving the 22-year…Fri Feb 18 2000 - 00:00
A bizarre week but all too believableA bizarre week, perhaps even unprecedented, if maybe not quite grotesque and certainly not unbelievableTue Feb 15 2000 - 00:00
Maggs out and Bishop is doubtfulThe Irish management have an injury crisis in the wing positions after Kevin Maggs was ruled out of consideration for Ireland…Tue Feb 15 2000 - 00:00
Keane has the final word with late kickIf ever a game was going to go down to the wire this was it. For the eighth year running there was only a score in itMon Feb 14 2000 - 00:00
Mullins' Munster magic makes all the differenceThe bulk of 29 players played well in awful conditions but one guy was on a different stratosphereMon Feb 14 2000 - 00:00
Irish squad unscathedMuch to Donal Lenihan's relief, as he waited anxiously at the team's base in the Glenview Hotel, Wicklow last night, the 25-man…Mon Feb 14 2000 - 00:00
Lenihan enters Lions' denDonal Lenihan's first task as the next manager of the British and Irish Lions will be to recommend a coach as successor to Ian…Sat Feb 12 2000 - 00:00
UCD out to settle old scoresSometimes you'd wonder about the AIB League's advance planningSat Feb 12 2000 - 00:00
Rugby player apologises for head-butting criticIrish rugby reserve hooker Frank Sheahan has been fined £2,500, severely reprimanded and warned about future conduct by the Irish…Fri Feb 11 2000 - 00:00
Lenihan favourite to be next Lions managerDonal Lenihan has emerged as favourite to become the next British and Irish Lions manager for the tour of Australia in 2001Fri Feb 11 2000 - 00:00
Selectors wield predictable axeThe Irish management have predictably wielded the selectorial axe in response to last Saturday's 50-18 defeat by England in Twickenham…Fri Feb 11 2000 - 00:00
Lavery guarded on Gatland positionIRFU president Billy Lavery yesterday refused to look beyond Saturday week's visit of Scotland to Lansdowne Road when asked about…Tue Feb 08 2000 - 00:00
Maybe we haven't got the playersBefore the championship started the odds were against Warren Gatland lasting as Irish coach beyond the end of his contractTue Feb 08 2000 - 00:00
Ireland suffer from class divideIt says much about Saturday's latest England-Ireland mismatch that at 38-18 and with 73 minutes gone, the Irish at Twickenham…Mon Feb 07 2000 - 00:00
Ireland dig deep into their reserves for unlikely victoryIrish wins on English soil are becoming a bit like Dublin busesSat Feb 05 2000 - 00:00
Police call time on the craicMuch more of this and the army of Irish supporters who descend on London for the biennial fixture will decrease to a trickleFri Feb 04 2000 - 00:00
Phoney calm before the stormDiplomacy continued to rule yesterday in the run-up to tomorrow's England-Ireland skirmish in TwickenhamFri Feb 04 2000 - 00:00
