Heaven knows how history might have judged Johann van Graan’s near five-year stint as Munster head coach had it not been for Leinster’s harvesting of trophies. Munster’s winning ratio has dropped since he moved to Bath, whom he has taken from the bottom to the top of the Premiership. But whereas Jack Crowley’s late drop … Read more
Tadhg Beirne’s work ethic, specifically off the ball, is the personification of honesty and graft. Photo: Matt Impey/Sportsfile You could forgive Tadhg Beirne for invoking the old nursery rhyme about the little girl who had a little curl in his post-match analysis on Saturday. “When we’re good, we’re very good. The problem is when we’re … Read more
Report from Gerry Thornley … The pandemic and some of the French and English power brokers have seemingly been intent on diminishing what was once a great tournament, but despite off-field coups, unfulfilled promises and bemusing formats the Champions Cup’s capacity for generating deliciously mouth-watering scripts remains undimmed. So it is that Ronan O’Gara will … Read more
At half-time it’s a low-scoring affair in England as Sale Sharks lead Toulon 7-0. They will be looking to get a bonus point to keep their hopes alive in the Champions Cup. The permutations for Leinster from the final game between Toulon and Sale Sharks which is 0-0 at the moment. If Toulon win with … Read more
Leinster and Munster both secured hard-fought victories last week to put their fate in their own hands, while Connacht ran out comfortable winners in the Challenge Cup. Cormac Izuchukwu notched a hat-trick as Ulster ran rampant in the second-half of their final Champions Cup pool game against the Exeter Chiefs on Friday, running in five … Read more
Although it hasn’t yet been officially confirmed, it is understood that Leinster have lined up GAA HQ for their knockout clash on the first weekend in April, as the Aviva Stadium is unavailable. Leinster sold out Croke Park for last season’s Champions Cup semi-final win over Northampton, which is understood to have generated approximately €1.7m. … Read more
Initially he had reservations about jumping aboard the Sam Prendergast hype train, but even Ronan O’Gara has evidently been converted. The former Munster and Ireland outhalf is even more convinced after witnessing first hand how the 21-year-old Leinster man calmly negotiated the Stade Deflandre cauldron in Leinster’s 16-14 win over La Rochelle on Sunday. Prendergast’s … Read more
The stakes grow higher virtually by the week from here on. Next Saturday fortnight Ireland will begin their quest to become the first side to win three outright Six Nations titles in succession when hosting England. Bringing that more sharply into focus, Simon Easterby will announce Ireland’s Six Nations squad on Wednesday afternoon. There was … Read more
Leinster have now beaten La Rochelle on three consecutive occasions. Is this a sign they have turned the corner against bigger French sides, or was it a smash-and-grab with worrying implications for the future? Gordon D’Arcy believes the bigger picture thinking should be placed to one side for now and that Leinster should be pleased … Read more
The complete player, he barely put a foot wrong the whole game and looked far more comfortable at full-back than on his last outing. 8 14 – Jimmy O’Brien Unlucky to give up a penalty early in the second half, didn’t get his hands on the ball as often as he’d like and defended well. … Read more