CHRIS ASHTON HAS vowed to regain his place in the Saracens team and the England squad after being banned for 13 weeks for biting Northampton Saints prop Alex Waller. Ashton received the suspension following a lengthy hearing last Tuesday as he was found guilty on one of two counts of biting during Sarries’ 27-12 Premiership…
Click:how to figure out your life path number UNREPENTANT WALLABIES STAR Israel Folau stood by his controversial anti-gay comments Sunday and said he was content to walk away from rugby with his faith in God taking priority. The deeply religious 30-year-old caused a storm last week after posting on Instagram that “Hell awaits” homosexuals and…
DAVID STRETTLE, WHO will bid to help Saracens beat Leinster in next month’s Heineken Champions Cup final, has announced his decision to retire from professional rugby at the end of the season. The 35-year-old played 74 minutes of Saracens’ semi-final victory over Munster in Coventry last Saturday after replacing the injured Sean Maitland and will…
Ulster 21 Connacht 13 Murray Kinsella reports from Kingspan Stadium THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be all about Rory Best saying goodbye but Marcell Coetzee stole the show with a man-of-the-match performance as Ulster secured their first Guinness Pro14 semi-final since 2016. Dan McFarland’s side will travel to Glasgow in two weekends’ time, a daunting task…
Murray Kinsella reports from St James’ Park WITH THE CLOCK having ticked into the red and Leinster recovering possession as they held a 10-3 lead, the expectation was that they would kick the ball into touch and take their seven-point advantage into the break. But Leo Cullen’s side backed themselves to find another score in…
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Dave Rennie to put his stamp all over Glasgow Warriors. For a time last season they looked comfortably the best side in the Pro14, marching out in front of Conference A while stylishly powering past opponents on their way to 10 straight league wins. While Europe was not quite as…
IRELAND HEAD COACH Noel McNamara has told his players that they’ll encounter a stubborn and physical opponent when they resume their World Rugby U20 Championship campaign against Australia on Saturday. Having captured a Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year, McNamara’s side continued their winning form yesterday by recording an impressive victory over England in…
THE BLOCKBUSTING RIEKO Ioane made his first outing of the year for the All Blacks last weekend but things didn’t go quite according to plan for the superstar against the Springboks. The 22-year-old will understandably take time to find his best form at Test level again, and he is deservedly favourite to be the top…
MUNSTER AND THE newly-promoted Premiership club London Irish will meet in a pre-season friendly in Cork on Friday 13 September (kick-off 19.30). The match will see Grand Slam and Heineken Cup-winning coach Declan Kidney returning to his home town for the second straight season after the southern province’s 32-28 win last August. The Exiles and…
‘KONNICHIWA’, GREG FEEK says as he sits down at the top table of Carton House’s grand Drawing Room. The World Cup may be six weeks away, but as Ireland return to their Maynooth base, you get the sense that the serious business begins here. After weeks on the road in Galway, Limerick and, more recently,…