Former Ireland international Shane Horgan believes Sam Prendergast needs to fix up his defensive exploits sooner rather than later if he hopes to keep his place for both Leinster and Ireland. The 22-year-old fly-half’s defensive issues were put under the spotlight in Leinster’s 37-34 defeat to Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-final, missing two … Read more
Sam Prendergast would learn a lot from Fin Smith on the Lions tour. Both may go, but divided loyalties make it a hard one to call. With every replay that looped on the big screens at Aviva Stadium, at the tail-end of a throbbing Champions Cup semi-final, referee Pierre Brousset found more time to doubt. … Read more
And then there were four. The weekend saw some amazing action with Bordeaux-Begles and Munster throwing up a thriller and Toulouse finally beating their Mayol hoodoo to scrape past a superb Toulon side. Elsewhere, Northampton Saints and Leinster put in big scoring performances on Friday and Saturday respectively, as we now have our semi-finalists. Following … Read more
Following a dominant 52-0 victory over Glasgow Warriors in the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, here are the player ratings for Leinster. 15 Hugo Keenan: Brilliant lines, superb passing and a player who ultimately showed his class in all aspects of the game. 8 14 Tommy O’Brien: Made his first … Read more
The Investec Champions Cup action returns this weekend with the last-16 games, including defending champions Toulouse’s clash against Sale Sharks on Sunday. The schedule begins with Northampton Saints v Clermont on Friday before Toulon host Saracens, Leinster face Harlequins, Castres host Benetton, La Rochelle meet Munster and Glasgow Warriors welcome Leicester Tigers to Scotstoun in … Read more
Sometimes players like to pretend they barely contemplate their direct opponent. That way they can neatly sidestep all external comparisons and inner doubts and concentrate on their own jobs. It is a team game, after all, and it never pays to waste time fretting about things over which you have limited control. Every now and … Read more
The future of Jack Crowley could well be confirmed soon after reports that the Ireland fly-half has moved a step closer to making his decision. Munster’s star playmaker has been linked with a switch to the English Premiership after Leicester Tigers offered an eye-watering sum of money for the talented playmaker. Leicester are looking for … Read more
Former Springbok flyhalf Andre Pretorius has given his thoughts on why Sam Prendergast has to be the man to lead Ireland into the future. Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley have been battling it out for the Ireland number ten shirt since the Leinster out-half made his international debut against Fiji last November. Recommended … Source … Read more
Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara were both nearing their 27th birthdays when they explored their options in France. Though they were just two years older than Jack Crowley is now, their circumstances were materially different. O’Gara and O’Driscoll were established Test players who had both played for the Lions by then. Entering the final year … Read more
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