The IRFU may have left it a little later than normal this season, but the announcement of four contract extensions for senior Irish players, Connacht’s Bundee Aki and the Leinster trio of Dan Sheehan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Josh van der Flier further nails down one of the planning pieces for Irish coach Andy Farrell. All … Read more
Ciarán Kennedy Reports from Twickenham STUART McCLOSKEY, FOR so long the man who couldn’t force his way into Test contention, is now Ireland’s Mr Reliable. It’s tough to single out individual performances after such a complete team effort by Ireland in Twickenham yesterday, but once again, the Ulster centre stood out with a series of … Read more
It has ceased to even be the elephant in the room. There’s no hiding from it any more. The scrum has become an Achilles heel in Irish rugby, and it’s not just the international team, it is the provinces as well. It is as if everywhere you look an Irish scrum is going backwards, or … Read more
Nigel Owens says that Dan Sheehan was correctly penalised for attempting to dive over Italy’s defence during the Six Nations clash at the Aviva Stadium. The Ireland hooker got away with the action during the 2025 British and Irish Lions Test against Australia but conceded a penalty during the round two fixture last weekend. From … Read more
“Seventy to 80 per cent of households in Wales watch when we play in the Six Nations,” Sam Warburton told Gabby Logan before Sunday’s game got under way in Cardiff. By the 15th minute, by which point France had scored their third try, you had to conclude that the 20 to 30 per cent might … Read more
The Champions and Challenge Cups were shoehorned back into the rugby calendar after a 10-week hiatus following the conclusion of the pool stages in January, a window of a fortnight to race through the first two knockout rounds that unearthed a jarring inconsistency in the attitude of some of the participants. From an Irish perspective, … Read more
Two Irish players feature in Six Nations team of the tournament · The 42 … Source link
Italy 17 Ireland 22 Two and a half minutes from time, James Lowe came in off his wing and Manuel Zuliani offloaded one-handed to the talented 23-year-old Italian replacement Leonardo Marin. A star of the future was set to become one of the present with his first touch when he raced up the touchline and … Read more
Following an enthralling round of the 2025 Six Nations, Wallabies great David Campese selects his Team of the Week. My overriding thoughts on the fixtures in this round was the sheer contrast of shades of Test rugby that we saw. The hwyl of Wales in their performance against Ireland needs to be applauded, whilst the … Read more
Statistics, the last refuge of the scoundrel. And I’d know. One that caught the eye was that Ireland had just 47% possession in their first two games – the second lowest after Italy (44%) – but they have enjoyed more territory (56%) than any other side and made more entries into the opposition 22 (22) … Read more