Ireland ‘A’ head coach Mike Prendergast has named a 29-player squad for next Sunday’s clash against England ‘A’ at Ashton Gate (kick-off 1pm). Leinster’s Max Deegan will captain the team as one of six players – alongside forwards Fineen Wycherley, Oli Jager, Tom O’Toole and backs Harry Byrne and Shane Daly – who have been … Read more
Despite up to 10 players in the current Irish squad being aged in their 30s, age profile is no great concern for head of athletic performance, Aled Walters. Walters, who joined the Irish set-up last August, came from from England Rugby where he had been their head of strength & conditioning since 2023. Prior to … Read more
England winger Cadan Murley has detailed what makes Ireland so difficult to play against having found himself under relentless pressure in their recent Six Nations meeting. Murley scored a try and set up another in England’s 27-22 defeat in Dublin but was targeted in the back-field with a number of kicks in behind. The 25-year-old … Read more
Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt has called up outhalves Jarrod Evans and Gareth Anscombe and centre Max Llewellyn ahead of the home Six Nations clash with Ireland in Cardiff on February 22nd. Former coach Warren Gatland, who left his position by mutual consent on Tuesday after a 14th successive loss in a row to … Read more
While Irish rugby basked in the glow of an unexpectedly comfortable victory over England, Simon Easterby offered a brief glance behind the curtain. “There were some good examples of set-piece plays, two, three phases which worked really well and when the game broke up a little bit, we had guys who were obviously able to … Read more
Perhaps no Irish player went into this Six Nations more grateful for an opportunity to right wrongs than Finlay Bealham. When Tadhg Furlong suffered an unfortunate recurrence of his calf problems in the pre-tournament camp in Portugal, it afforded Bealham a chance to banish personal demons lingering from Ireland’s November outing against Australia. Some uncharacteristic … Read more
Although there was the usual mayhem in his fixture, especially in a disconcerting first half of repeated head-knocks and four HIAs, ultimately Ireland emerged from Sunday’s 32-18 Six Nations win in Murrayfield seemingly unscathed, as well as on top of the table. What’s more, Joe McCarthy will be back in the mix and could feature … Read more
It was won at a canter. If Willie Mullins saddled a favourite that won without having to raise a ferocious gallop down the home straight, he’d be mightily pleased. And so should Ireland be. They won very easily, the final scoreline of 32-18 was actually misleading. The new goalline drop out law continues to annoy. … Read more
The BBC didn’t say, instead they asked on their website what everyone else thought. But in the question was the answer. “What do Irish think of latest Scotland collapse?” it said. Matt Gault, their chief sportswriter, also answered the question in a later piece and set Ireland off on a course to win the competition … Read more
Fans are arriving for the game… Ireland supporter Ava Reid and Scotland supporter Honor Fraser ahead of the game. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Ireland supporters Grace Hennessy and Steve Hennessy from Limerick ahead of the game. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Here’s the view from Scotland about today’s game. Tom English from the BBC writes for the Irish … Read more