Paulie on Table Mountain, crunching tackles, blonde BOD – 19 old school Ireland South Africa pics

1. Paulie points the way to Donncha on Table Mountain in Cape Town in 2004 Source: INPHO 2. Axel puts the head down with Trevor Brennan in support in 1998 Source: INPHO 3. Rory Best is handed off by Ricky Januarie in 2006 Source: Lorraine O’Sullivan/INPHO 4. Terry Kingston visits a township in South Africa …

‘They make your breakdown very slow’: Matfield credits Ireland’s ruck work while seeking solace in history

THE PARTY LINE from a beaten up Springboks squad in Dublin was that the 29 – 15 defeat to Ireland was a wake-up call. They landed in the northern hemisphere declaring the fixture as the beginning of their journey to the 2015 World Cup. But left in the knowledge that there is still an awful …

Dream debut for Dave Foley but man of the match admits improvement is needed

WHILE DAVE FOLEY was delighted to mark his debut with a win and a man of the match performance, he acknowledges that he and his team mates will need to raise the bar considerably ahead of the visit of Australia next week. Ireland lacked cohesion and fluidity during an attritional first period but scored six tries …

RTÉ sent Tom McGuirk out to the Bush and he came back with this brilliant Ireland v Australia promo

WHO’S PUMPED FOR Ireland v Australia? Tom McGuirk is, that’s who. Source: RTÉ Sport/YouTube This is, by far, our favourite bit. Click Here: lions rugby online store Ireland v Australia: 11 battles that will be settled once and for all by sport tomorrowO’Connell: Ireland better prepared to face ‘super power’ Australia than last year

NJPW “World Tag League 2018 – Day 12” Results – December 2, 2018 – Osaka, Japan

1. World Tag League Match Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) [12] defeated Shota Umino and Ayato Yoshida [0] 2. World Tag League Match Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA/EVIL) [14] defeated Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata [2] 3. World Tag League Match Taguchi Japan (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) [12] defeated …

‘You never want to take that away from a player’ – The risk of the offload

THERE’S BEEN QUITE a bit of discussion around Simon Zebo’s offload attempt in the build-up to Nick Phipps’ try for Australia against Ireland on Saturday evening in Dublin. The Irish player in question means it’s arguably been more of a talking point than it might have been if, for example, Tommy Bowe had attempted the …

Munster may be forced into midfield switch against Lopez-led Clermont

MUNSTER’S FIRST-CHOICE XV has had a relatively settled look to it this season, but a knee injury to centre Andrew Smith could see a change in midfield for the Champions Cup clash with Clermont on Saturday. Back row Robin Copeland, who has been a replacement in both of Munster’s European ties so far this season, …

‘We don’t have an advantage at all’ – O’Shea gearing up for Aviva clash

THEY MAY HAVE beaten a good opponent in a big European clash, but Conor O’Shea is experienced enough to know that unless his Harlequins side leave Dublin with something next week, it will have all been for nothing. And he only has to look at Leinster’s reversal against Northampton last season to see how catastrophic …

Clermont scored two absolutely brilliant tries in the first half against Munster

MUNSTER STARTED OFF brilliantly to take a 6 – 0 lead over Clermont, but when you poke the bear you have to be willing to deal with the consequences. This superb individual try from Noa Nakaitaci exploited a Munster defence that had put in a commendable shift in the first half, but just was not able …

4 talking points after Leinster see off Connacht at the RDS

OUR MATCH REPORT on Leinster’s 21-11 victory at the RDS can be found here. No festive fireworks Jack Carty attempts to brush off the tackle of Jamie Heaslip. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO LEINSTER WERE BUSINESS-like in getting the four points this evening, going over for their first-half maul try in relentless fashion, allowing Jimmy Gopperth to …