Caelan Doris looks forward to Six Nations improvement – The Irish Times

The pictures of the captains and coaches posing in front of the Colosseum look iconic and surreal at the same time, as if generated by AI – gladiators readying themselves for the fight and all that. Yet the wonder is that it took the organisers until this year to hold its launch of the world’s … Read more

Who’s hot and who’s not: Damian Penaud stars in Champions Cup finale : Planet Rugby

It’s time for our Monday wrap of who has their name in lights and who is making the headlines for all the wrong reasons after the weekend. THEY’RE ON FIRE! Investec Champions Cup pool toppers: A massive congratulations to Bordeaux-Begles, Leinster, Northampton Saints and Toulon who topped their respective pools after four rounds of action. … Read more

Natural squad regeneration on show in Simon Easterby’s Six Nations selection – The Irish Times

Once more unto the breach, and in the first Six Nations campaign without Andy Farrell there was even less cause for ripping things up and starting again. A strong core of the 36-man squad announced by Simon Easterby for Ireland’s attempt at a historic three titles in succession have been an integral part of the … Read more

Sheehan and Lowe return for Six Nations as Stockdale misses out – The Irish Times

Here is the squad! IRELAND’S SIX NATIONS SQUAD * denotes uncapped player Forwards (21): Ryan Baird (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Boyle (Leinster)*, Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster, capt), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Rob Herring (Ulster), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Gus … Read more

Simon Easterby to name Six Nations team with key players likely to return – The Irish Times

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Ireland’s Six Nations squad announcement, where Simon Easterby will announce his first squad as interim boss for the annual tournament. Ireland’s campaign begins on February 1st when England visit the Aviva. We will keep you up to date with all the news ahead of the tournament, the squad … Read more

Key Ireland players returning from injury at the right time ahead of Six Nations squad announcement – The Irish Times

American basketball icon Michael Jordan’s observation that “talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships” explains why the majority of coaches irrespective of sport, are hard-wired to place great store in the tried and trusted when it comes to picking teams and squads. There aren’t many coaches who are willing to double down on … Read more

Ireland’s historic Six Nations title bid bolstered by return of key players – The Irish Times

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 win in La Rochelle

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

Ireland v England Six Nations tickets selling for up to €2,480 on resale websites – The Irish Times

Tickets for Ireland’s forthcoming Guinness Six Nations home games against England and France are being resold on websites for vastly inflated prices. One website is selling more than 600 tickets for prices ranging from €700 for seats in the upper tiers to €2,481 each for lower tier seats. These tickets also range in batches from … Read more