Tag: #Rugby2025
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O’Brien shines brightest as dull Ireland stumble to win
IRELAND… 41 JAPAN… 10 It might be something to do with the lunchtime kick off. Because it certainly tends to be the case in souccer that, the lunchtime kick off in the Premier League tends to have faded from memory by the time Match Of The Day comes on a Saturday night. I’m not sure…
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Whatever you’re having yourself
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS…29 AUSTRALIA…26 We’ve all seen television adverts over the years which stay in the consciousness long after it has outrun its commercial relevance. For me, the Bord Na Mona ad in which John Sheehan’s Marino Waltz featured will forever top any such list. But there are plenty of others. Like the Budweiser…
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The West’s Awake but there’s strife in the deep south
“When all beside a vigil keep, the west’s asleep, the west’s asleep/but hark me boys, like thunder spake, the west’s awake, the west’s awake”. It’s not all that long ago the the brain-less trust were advocating the abolishment of of Connacht altogether. As a rugby team, not literally. With the idea being that players deemed…
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Looking for problems where there are none
IRELAND… 32 SCOTLAND… 18 It’s probably the case with all team sports that all teams have two or three perspective candidates for each spot on the team. In Ireland’s case, that has absolutely been the reality for as long as I can recall at fly half. From Tony Ward to Ollie Campbell, to Ralph Keyes,…
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Calculated gamble or demonstration of riches?
I made my confirmation in April 1994. On the same night, Dermot Morgan was finishing a run of shows at the Olympia Theatre. The old VHS tape thereof remains one of the best pieces of comedy the senses here have ever encountered. There are so many comedic gems therein it’s hard to nail down a…
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Few surprises as the Easterby era kicks off
Well, it doesn’t actually kick off for a couple of weeks yet, but you get my drift. Simon Easterby has officially taken charge of the Irish men’s senior team with Andy Farrell having jumped ship – temporarily at least – to scout for talent for the British And Irish Lions team he will take on…