382 : Ireland v New Zealand wrap

Autumn Nations Series, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 8/11/2024 Ireland vs New Zealand New Zealand’s Will Jordan celebrates scoring their first try as Josh van der Flier of Ireland looks on dejected Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ken Sutton

🏉 Decent defence

🏉 Errors & Penalties

🏉 There for the taking

🏉 No bench impact

🏉 Adapt or else


FULL TIME TAKES

John Hyland

Undercooked. A few performances to forget but they have credit in the bank. A lot of fair weather fans throwing out demands and ultimatums. This was our first loss in 19 games at the Aviva, and it was to an All Blacks team with a lot more recent game time than us.

Sean MacDonnchadha

Worrying lack of aggression first and then lack of leadership. They’ve gone on and on about unfinished business from the World Cup and getting revenge. Didn’t see that tonight.

Kevin Kelehan

The best team Ireland has ever produced were more error prone than I’ve seen them in many years. 3 more games to keep the direction of travel in the right direction

James Murphy

Our front men standing back??

Letting them bully use in lineouts and scrums,

Crowley very poor, frawley not much better

But frawley deserves start next week

Poorest Irish performance in a long time

Brian Corr

Too many errors and then too many players losing it or dropping the heads.

Decision making was terrible and lineout was very poor.


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AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES WRAP

WEEK 1

IRELAND 13-23 NEW ZEALAND

ENGLAND 37-42 AUSTRALIA

ITALY 18-50 ARGENTINA

FRANCE 52-12 JAPAN

WA;ES 19-24 FIJI

SCOTLAND 15-32 SOUTH AFRICA

WEEK 2

FRI NOV 15

IRELAND V ARGENTINA

SAT NOV 16

SCOTLAND V PORTUGAL

ENGLAND V SOUTH AFRICA

FRANCE V NEW ZEALAND

SUN NOV 17

ITALY V GEORGIA

WALES V AUSTRALIA


381 : Ireland v New Zealand preview

also available as a podcast


IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Iain Henderson 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Conor Murray 22. Ciaran Frawley 23. Jamie Osborne


New Zealand : 15.  Will Jordan 14.  Mark Tele’a 13.  Rieko Ioane 12.  Jordie Barrett 11.  Caleb Clarke (vc) 10.  Damian McKenzie 9.    Cortez Ratima

1.    Tamaiti Williams 2.    Asafo Aumua 3.    Tyrel Lomax 4.    Scott Barrett (c)  5.    Tupou Vaa’i 6.    Wallace Sititi 7.    Sam Cane 8.    Ardie Savea (vc) 

16.  George Bell 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 18. Pasilio Tosi 19. Patrick Tuipulotu 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Cam Roigard 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Stephen Perofeta


Autumn Nations Series 2024 Week 1

Friday, November 8, 2024

KO 8:10pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: Virgin Media 1, TNT Sports 1


Referee: Nic Berry (RA)

AR1: Karl Dickson (RFU)

AR2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

TMO: Brett Cronan (RA)

FPRO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

364 : RSAvIRE 2nd test wrap

Castle Lager Incoming Series Second Test, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban, South Africa 13/7/2024 South Africa vs Ireland Ireland’s Ciaran Frawley Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 Osbourne catches
🏉 10-point leads
🏉 Croc rolls
🏉 3 by 3
🏉 Frawley time



FULL TIME TAKES

Alastair McDermott

One of the worst performances I’ve seen from South Africa in the first half and one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Ireland in the second. officials tried to screw us again but incredible finish

‪Dickson made quite a few 50-50 calls that always seemed to go in favour of the home team. From an Irish point of view, it felt almost endless. ‬

‪But this happens in every game to every away team, so I don’t think it’s any particular conspiracy, it’s just the nature of sport!

Kevin Kelehan

Delighted Frawley got the chance to exorcise the ghost of Tottenham, ugly game but Farrell has built some team, 6 first choice players missing today, 5 of them in the back line and still got it done. Farrell is 80:20 win rate, Boks are 20:80 against the green machine in recent years!!

Sean MacDonnchadha

Very lucky I feel. Springboks only able to force penalties. We should’ve buried them in the first half with the energy, territory and possession we had. All the same, some balls from frawley

Paul Smith

Despite SA cheating and a horrendous performance by Dickinson, Ireland fully deserved the win and I’m absolutely delighted for Frawley who buried the memories of the Champions Cup last minute not once but twice with 2 superb drop goals.

John Willie Conroy

Osborne was unbelievable fair play to Andy Farrell for blooding. Questions need to be asked regarding Frawly not being picked at 10 at Leinster he’s a quality ball player and is head and shoulders above the Byrne brothers.

Brian Corr

So happy, what Irish team in the past could lose their starting scrum half, starting fullback, starting hooker and go to the world champions and get a result. 8 years since they’ve lost in Durban.

Delighted for Frawley to get the chance to make such a huge impact with two fantastic drop goals.

It’s said that tries win matches and that was the difference today

Hope the lads have a great celebration


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363 : #RSAvIRE 2nd test preview

also available as a podcast

Our guest : TOM COLEMAN


IRELAND : 15 J Osborne 14 C Nash 13 G Ringrose 12 R Henshaw 11 J Lowe 10 J Crowley 9 C Murray

1 A Porter 2 R Kelleher 3 T Furlong 4 J McCarthy 5 J Ryan

6 T Beirne 7 J vd Flier 8 C Doris (c)

16 R Herring 17 C Healy 18 F Bealham 19 R Baird 20 P O’Mahony 21 C Blade 22 C Frawley 23 S McCloskey


SOUTH AFRICA : 15 W le Roux 14 C Kolbe 13 J Kriel 12 D de Allende 11 K-L Arendse 10 H Pollard 9 F de Klerk

1 O Nche 2 B Mbonambi 3 F Malherbe 4 E Etzebeth 5 F Mostert 6 S Kolisi (c) 7 P-S du Toit 8 Kwagga Smith

16 M Marx 17 G Steenekamp 18 V Koch 19 S Moerat 20 RG Snyman 21 M van Staden 22 G Williams 23 S Feinberg-Mngomezulu


Castle Lager Incoming Series Second Test

Saturday, July 13, 2024

KO 4pm (Irish time) Kings Park Stadium

Live on: Sky Sports Main Event, Action


Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Luke Pearce (RFU)

Assistant Referee 2: Craig Evans (WRU)

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

362 : RSAvIRE 1st test wrap

Castle Lager Incoming Series First Test, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa 6/7/2024 South Africa vs Ireland Ireland’s Jamie Osborne Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 Shaky start

🏉 Punishing mistakes

🏉 TMO issues

🏉 Bomb squad

🏉 Frantic finish



FULL TIME TAKES

Brian Patrick Donnelly

They got the rub of the green, big time, but we probably didn’t do enough.

Reasonably confident we can win 2nd if “end of season-itis” doesn’t kick in.

Gav Heg

If it was reversed, we won and the ref treated SA like he did us, rassie would release a two hour analysis slating him. The officiating simply wasn’t good enough at this level. like how can they review and disallow Lowes try but not notice the neck roll on Kelleher? Penalties were given for far less in NZ v Eng. And how was Casey stretchered off without any review from Pearse? Nonsensical and inconsistent

Greg Kelly

Is the call by the TMO to disallow Lowes try wrong in law? No…

Is the game in an absolute state if this is where it is going? Absolutely!

You can be guaranteed that in the lead up to all the tries today there were infringements but the TMO didn’t come back to those?

Even after the turnover Lowe beats 3 defenders to score so the manner of the turnover is not the material issue. It’s a great individual try called back for a debatable TMO intervention. Furthermore once the TMO comes in to disallow the try he must commit 100% to catching EVERY breakdown infringement from there. What if he let’s one go and 3 phases later there’s a kickable penalty awarded to the offending team? Does he call the referee back?

PSDT is off his feet in the field of play when he holds up Doris’ grounding attempt. By the letter of the law it’s an illegal intervention. It happens in all games and is never penalised but if we are going into the detail we did for the Lowe try then it’s another incidence of a player off feet affecting the play and consistency demands it’s flagged by the TMO.

If this is where we’re going it’s going to be a sh1t show.

Kevin Kelehan

Half back pairing was not disrupted, got reasonable parity at the breakdown. Unlucky with a few ref decisions that were 50:50 calls, particular Kelliher being driven back. Lots of industry and effort but also lots of shooting themselves in the foot. The series remains alive at only 7 points down, that is very encouraging, dust themselves down and be more clinical next week.

Sean MacDonnchadha

Have to look inward and be honest. Otherwise we’re only fooling ourselves again. Lineout and scrum came back to bite us after being highlighted as potential weaknesses. Backline stuttering for most of the game and no real director at 9/10. Felt like we were having to react to everything instead of dictating play. Dorris and Bundee tireless efforts. Ryan and Baird impacted well off the bench – only ones who did really. Needing Porter and Furlong to do a full 80 if possible is a massive system failure. Boks can’t wait to unleash their bench, if we’re honest we fear what will happen when we do.

Cuan Mulligan

In the first half, Kolisi was tackled, in the breakdown the ball is coming back to us and he sweeps the ball back with his hand.. not hard to see yet no tmo call. It felt like they were going out of their way to not give us a call


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361 : #RSAvIRE 1st test preview

also available as a podcast

Our guest : TOM COLEMAN


IRELAND : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Calvin Nash 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Craig Casey

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Peter O’Mahony (C) 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. James Ryan 20. Ryan Baird 21. Conor Murray 22. Ciaran Frawley 23. Garry Ringrose 


SOUTH AFRICA : 15 W le Roux 14 C Kolbe 13 J Kriel 12 D de Allende 11 K-L Arendse

10 H Pollard 9 F de Klerk 1 O Nche 2 B Mbonambi 3 F Malherbe

4 E Etzebeth 5 F Mostert 6 S Kolisi (c) 7 P-S du Toit 8 Kwagga Smith

16 M Marx 17 G Steenekamp 18 V Koch 19 S Moerat

20 RG Snyman 21 M van Staden 22 G Williams 23 S Feinberg-Mngomezulu


Castle Lager Incoming Series First Test

Saturday, July 6, 2024

KO 4pm (Irish time) Loftus Versfeld

Live on: Sky Sports Main Event, Action


329 : Ireland v Scotland wrap

2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 5, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 16/3/2024 Ireland vs Scotland Ireland celebrate winning the 2024 Guinness Six Nations ChampionshipMandatory Credit ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

🏉 Late late change

🏉 Defences on top

🏉 Tentative lead

🏉 Tackle count showing

🏉 Champions


TOM COLEMAN & RICH MIFSUD


FULL TIME TAKES

Jamie Bermingham

Well we got the win and that’s great, but it’s back to the drawing board not just for SA but for next year as well.  Delighted with the win though 😂

Kevin Kelehan

Won the game and the championship, was happy to see Ireland come through yesterday with Keenan and Ringrose off the pitch from the start against a Scotland side a lot stronger out wide than in tight. What England has exposed is Ireland need a second row size 6 to compliment Van Der Fliers speed, Ireland are only pressured by teams with a weight advantage 4-8. Fix that weight deficit whilst retaining poachers like Doris and Van Der Flier and Ireland will reach the next level.

Craig Boyd

Job done, our expectations have all changed so today was a bit of an anticlimax. All the same what a great team they are.

John O Halloran

Great to get the wins and the championship but big tests and rejigging needed.

England and Scotland were well up to that Irish attack.

The Scottish 6 was excellent.

Alastair McDermott

I was hoping to see Andy Farrell bringing his kids out on the pitch to celebrate


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SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 5

WALES 21-24 ITALY

IRELAND 17-13 SCOTLAND

FRANCE 33-31 ENGLAND



UNDER 20s

ROUND 5

IRELAND 36-0 SCOTLAND

WALES 27-15 ITALY

FRANCE 31-45 ENGLAND




328 : Ireland v Scotland preview



IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Calvin Nash 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Peter O’Mahony (c) 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Ryan Baird 20. Jack Conan 21. Conor Murray 22. Harry Byrne 23. Garry Ringrose


SCOTLAND : 15. Blair Kinghorn 14. Kyle Steyn 13. Huw Jones 12. Stafford McDowall 11. Duhan van der Merwe 10. Finn Russell (cc) 9. Ben White

1. Pierre Schoeman 2. George Turner 3. Zander Fagerson 4. Grant Gilchrist 5. Scott Cummings 6. Andy Christie 7. Rory Darge (cc) 8. Jack Dempsey

16. Ewan Ashman 17. Rory Sutherland 18. Elliot Millar-Mills 19. Sam Skinner 20. Matt Fagerson 21. George Horne 22. Cameron Redpath 23. Kyle Rowe


Guinness Six Nations 2024 Round 5

Saturday, March 16, 2024

KO 4:45pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: Virgin Media One


Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)

AR1: Karl Dickson (Eng)

AR2: Christophe Ridley (Eng)

TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)

327 : England v Ireland wrap

2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 4, Twickenham, London, England 9/3/2024England vs Ireland Irelands James Lowe scores a try Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Andrew Fosker

🏉 Straight on back foot

🏉 Somehow ahead

🏉 The Earl Of Twickenham

🏉 Last gasp

🏉 Title still on


PÁDRAIG KELLY

FULL TIME TAKES

David Monahan

England had their best game in about 3 years and only beat us by a point. Lads gave everything and just a bit off and that’s what happens. Suppose there is a reason we’ve not seen back to back grand slams in 30 years

Ciara Lennon

Big wake up call for Ireland. England came to play and played the better rugby on the day. They never let Ireland settle. Too many handling errors from Ireland. Too many penalties conceded. I love Peter O Mahony but 2nd yellow card for a captain in one tournament is just not good enough. He needs to get a better example. Should Murray have kicked it away with 90seconds on the clock? Probably not but at thr end of the day, Ireland were just out played

Craig Boyd

In simple terms England should have been out of sight, Ireland in no way deserved the win. That being said they got themselves in a position were they should have won but can’t help but thinking when Murray kicked the ball away with 90 seconds to go that he offered England the perfect opportunity for them to win the game. Did he not trust his forwards to see out 90 seconds?

Jamie Bermingham

So much arrogance from the media in the build up and then after both tries we didn’t put any pressure on them. England came to play rugby and got the win simple as

Big Joe Shep

• England were exceptional today and outplayed us in everything.

• It was a poor day at the office and it happens but as a collective, we didn’t turn up I’m afraid

• An aging Murray with a wasted box-kick in the last embers of the game was woeful buddy!!! Give the ball to your opponents who have dominated the entire game, require only a Pen is NOT what this Ireland team does. I’m afraid he’s way way out of kilter with THIS Ireland team and it ultimately cost us!! 🤷‍♂️😥🏉

• All that said, we lost by 1 Pt and that shows how good we are….. We go again next week and put Scotland to the sword!!!

James Griffin

Far too much talk about how much Ireland would win by during the lead up. And blaming Murray is just provincial shite. He didn’t give away penalties, drop passes, or miss tackles. A little bit of honesty wouldn’t go astray. Wake up call, big time!

Gavin Hegarty

So disappointing. Mainly because it wasn’t how we should play. First four minutes were great but then we dropped off and honestly if England were better they would have put us away. You’d think Murray with his ‘experience’ would know how to close out a game. His box kicking is infuriating yet he still does it to no benefit.

Better team won, we just didn’t show.

Kevin Kelehan

England could have been out of sight after 20 mins, Ireland had the game won around 78 minute but lost it, se la vie. Arsen Wenger spoke of great teams playing badly but winning, thats where Ireland need to get

Colin McConaghie

If people properly analysed the Welsh game this performance was coming. We created very little against a very limited Welsh team and our back line looked one paced and lacking creativity. The Bundee bash it up played straight into Englands hands. It showed on the two occasions we actually passed wide we scored.

Penalty count far too high and poor kicking from Lowe and then Murray gifted easy possession to run back at us and score.

We are still a very good team and will likely win the Championship but the over hype has been embarrassing and we are still far too over reliant on our “first choice” players.


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SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 4

ITALY 31-29 SCOTLAND

ENGLAND 23-22 IRELAND

WALES 24-45 FRANCE



ROUND 5

SAT MAR 16

WALES V ITALY

IRELAND V SCOTLAND

FRANCE V ENGLAND


UNDER 20s

ROUND 4

ITALY 47-14 SCOTLAND

ENGLAND 32-32 IRELAND

WALES 12-45 FRANCE



ROUND 5

FRI MAR 15

IRELAND V SCOTLAND

WALES V ITALY

FRANCE V ENGLAND