Twenty-year-old Connacht academy prop Billy Bohan will travel with the Ireland squad for their pre-Six Nations training camp in the Algarve this week in place of the injured Jack Boyle, whose withdrawal has added to something of a crisis at loosehead for head coach Andy Farrell. As was expected after his removal on a mobile … Read more
Connacht 23 Leinster 34 Leinster form a huddle in front of the Clan Stand at Connacht’s Dexcom Stadium. Photo: Brendan Moran / Sportsfile The queue for the Clan Stand forms long before the gates are due to open, two hours prior to kick-off. The man standing proudly at the front declares: “This is like Christmas … Read more
URC: Connacht 23 Leinster 34 Not quite the cherry on top. Connacht gave it the big fight on their big night in front of a record 12,481 to mark the opening of their impressive new Clan Stand, but Leinster remained cool in the Galway furnace to ensure the old order remained intact. The thunderous occasion … Read more
The things that kills you is the hope. But poor errors and attitude cripple too. This has been a grinding, one- foot-in-front-of-the-other, week. Tough to move on from the exit from the Champions Cup, but all the more brutal given the circumstances. I’ve my hand up here too. After the Leinster game, I got the … Read more
Cian Prendergast gets it now. By his own admission, he didn’t always. But now in his sixth season after joining the Connacht academy in 2020 and approaching his 96th cap for the province and in his second season as captain, he’s long since realised that representing Connacht and the west of Ireland is unique. There … Read more
Leinster have decided against moving their Champions Cup Round of 16 tie to Croke Park and will host Edinburgh on Easter Sunday, April 5th, at 5.30pm at the Aviva Stadium. Connacht will kick off the Challenge Cup Round of 16 against the star-studded Sharks at the Dexcom Stadium on Friday, April 3rd at 8pm. In … Read more
Connacht star Mack Hansen being transported off the pitch after aggravating his foot injury against the Bulls in October – a setback which flared up playing for Ireland a month later and has now ruled him out for the entire season. Photo: Sportsfile Ireland and Connacht star Mack Hansen is set to miss the remainder … Read more
Tom Farrell of Munster is shown a yellow card by referee Matthew Carley during the Investec Champions Cup defeat to Castres Olympique at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile Irish rugby has a job on its hands to mend fences with referees from England. Last Saturday was the latest chapter in the ongoing … Read more
After losing three successive Champions Cup finals and then last season’s semi-final, among the many laments about Leinster coming up just short again was the theory they hadn’t been sufficiently tested along the way. Well, that certainly can’t be a complaint this season. In securing a top-two seeding for the last three seasons, Leinster fairly … Read more
Any disappointment Leinster might feel at finishing the pool stages as third seeds, failing to earn a top-two draw for the fourth season in a row, has been offset by them ending up in the opposite half of the draw to reigning champions Bordeaux Bègles and six-time winners Toulouse. As the only Irish side still … Read more