Posts Tagged ‘ Cian Healy ’
One round left and relatively little change from Matt O’Connor. When your team has demolished Castres a week previous, why tinker with the formula I suppose. The other provinces aren’t quite as lucky, all three listing worrying injuries, but unfortunately only one of the three from south, north and west have any role potentially beyond this weekend in Europe. Continue reading
Well, that was interesting. Often the Leinster VS Munster October fixture is touted as the real start of the rugby season, for fans of both provinces anyway. Too often though, the game itself winds up not nearly living up to the billing. In recent years it has been all too one sided, or generally just dour. Well, five tries, four yellow cards and a fairly thrilling finish was what we were greeted with on Saturday,and in a lovely little twist we’ve probably learned less about both sides than we did from the less entertaining affairs. Continue reading
What is it with Irish teams versus the French? The English have Le Crunch, but with fixtures like Leinster VS Clermont in 2010 at the Aviva, again two years later in Bordeaux, Ulster VS Montpellier and Munster VS Perpignan this year, you’d have to say the Celtic and Gallic head to head has just created a huge buzz in recent years. Good news then that two of the three Irish provinces are of course taking on French opposition this weekend. Pure sporting nectar. Continue reading
Ah its back again. Post-Six Nations hangovers are worse when you’re successful, no doubt about that. There’s little to win in the muddling Rabo games that arise between the end of the Six Nations and the Heineken Cup resumption. But then along comes the colossus, the manly Munstermen versus the Leinster ladyboys, a fixture that defies all logic and at times elevates above European standard. Ah yes, it’s good to be back.
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Here’s a prediction for a couple of headlines that may follow Ireland’s meeting with the All Blacks tomorrow. ‘Black Magic’, ‘Men In Black 28′, ‘Every Dagg Has His Day’, ‘Black Beauty’, or maybe just maybe, ‘Black Hawk Downed’. To be honest it’s not looking good for Ireland to beat the All Blacks tomorrow afternoon.
Last week’s demoralising defeat to Australia put the chances of finally turning over a New Zealand side even further from our grasp. This All Black team is a finely tuned machine and has the art of scoring and of stopping the opposition scoring down to a fine art. If Ireland do manage the unthinkable, I will be one of the 200,000 or so that will be at the game to see it. That figure is based on the attendance that said they were in Thomond Park in 1978 to witness Munster beating the All Blacks. We Irish love to be part of history and if a story didn’t grow legs, it would remain just a tadpole in the pond, just like if everyone that said they had a relation in the GPO in 1916 was correct, they would have been falling out the windows. The actual attendance at that game in 1978 was 12,000. The tourists played eighteen games on that tour, winning seventeen, beating the national sides of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, only faltering to Munster, the only Irish side that can claim ever beating the All Blacks. Continue reading
The make-up of the squad is consistent with recent years. The sole exile included is British & Irish Lions outhalf Jonathan Sexton.
There are three uncapped players included in the squad – David Kearney, who was on the bench for Ireland back in 2012, is included alongside Jack McGrath and James Coughlan. Continue reading
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