EOGHAN MASTERSON’S RECOLLECTION of the moment immediately after suffering a severe and rare knee injury that threatened to end his career tells us much of what we need to know about the man. The Connacht back row was playing in a Pro12 clash against Zebre in February of last year and had scrambled back to…

Newport Gwent Dragons 22Leinster 54 LEINSTER’S CROP OF hot prospects tore the Newport Gwent Dragons apart to show Joe Schmidt the future is bright for Irish rugby. Jack Conan and Joey Carbery will have no doubt caught the eye of the Ireland head coach as they enjoyed a pair of stunning performances in this bonus-point 54-22…

SCOTLAND INTERNATIONAL BACK row Josh Strauss has signed a three-year contract with Sale Sharks. The South Africa native has played an important part in the rise of Gregor Townsend’s Glasgow Warriors since he arrived in Scotland in 2012. The 30-year-old has played 104 times for Warriors, but in the official statement released by Sharks this…

JOE SCHMIDT HAS many skills as a rugby coach, but he’s happy to admit that firing up his players is not a key part of his repertoire. Of course, there are many ways to motivate rugby players, but the Ireland head coach certainly doesn’t go in for screaming and shouting in the build-up to games….

AND SO IT begins; verbal and psychological warfare for the next five days. We don’t expect anything else from Eddie Jones, the England head coach, particularly in this week of all weeks as his team chase a world record 19th win and a Grand Slam in Dublin. Speaking at England’s base in Pennyhill Park, Bagshot,…

WHILE HE WAS busy winning Heineken Cups with Munster and a Grand Slam with Ireland, Denis Leamy never really considered a future in coaching. He knew farming would play a big role post-professional rugby, but Leamy justifiably felt that he had a fair few years before he would need to start seriously considering life after…

MUNSTER COACH RASSIE Erasmus is hopeful that new signing Jean Deysel will be available to debut against Toulouse in the Champions Cup next weekend and he has predicted the ex-Springbok will make a big impact. Rassie with CEO Garret Fitzgerald. Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO Season-ending injuries to Dave Foley and Jean Kleyn forced Munster into the…

NEW ZEALAND REMAINS ‘fully committed’ to hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup next year after news of the 2021 postponement. World Rugby announced yesterday that a recommendation to delay the event, originally scheduled for 18 September — 16 October would be ratified next week by tournament organisers and the governing body’s executive committee. Ireland had yet…

Night two of the Superstar Shake-up on Smackdown did 2,219,000 viewers on Tuesday, up slightly by 20,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show was #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #9 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) click here for the 2019 Wrestling…