A “freaky” training ground incident is what caused Chris Farrell to be ruled out of today’s Heineken Champions Cup clash between Munster and Ospreys at Thomond Park.  Munster secured a bonus-point 33-6 victory to sign off their European campaign on a high but they did so without the services of Farrell who was withdrawn from the starting XV before kick-off. …

Munster 33 Ospreys 6 Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park.  It was supposed to be a day of miracles but for Munster, their exit from this season’s Heineken Champions Cup was already confirmed before the players went to bed on Saturday night thanks to the failure of Lyon and Sale in claiming wins in their respective ties yesterday. So for …

Saracens look set to accept another 35 points deduction from Premiership Rugby which will ultimately consign them to relegation to the Championship according to a report on Friday. Rob Kitson, writing in The Guardian, reports that Saracens are failing to comply with the salary cap this season despite the club’s best efforts to offload a number of players over the …

Connacht have named their team this weekend’s clash against Montpellier in the Heineken Champions Cup (Sunday KO 3.15 pm).  Connacht’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages were dashed last weekend when they fell to a defeat at home to Toulouse but they are determined to finish their European campaign on a high and this is reflected by the strong team …

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has named his team to take on Benetton in the final pool round of the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday (KO 1 pm).  The eastern province travel to Italy to take on Benetton and they have been boosted by the return of James Ryan who has been missing in recent weeks due to a calf …

Brought to you by Energia, proud sponsors of Leinster Rugby. A passion for sport runs deep in the family, Grace Miller tells Pundit Arena. There’s Grace’s older sister, Alison. The Ireland legend, who won 47 caps for her country and was part of some of the greatest days in Irish women’s rugby, announced her retirement last year after 10 years …

Ireland women’s head coach Adam Griggs has named a squad of 26 for a training camp in Cardiff this weekend which includes an uncapped match against Wales as his side ramp up their preparations for the beginning of the Six Nations in two weeks’ time.  Speaking of his selection, Ireland Women’s coach, Griggs said: “We have had two quality camps …

New captain, new head coach, new assistant coaches, five uncapped players and four ‘development players’ – there’s a sense of turning the page as Ireland head into the 2020 Six Nations.  Andy Farrell named his first Six Nations squad on Wednesday and the new head coach is starting off his tenure in his typical no-nonsense approach by excluding some big …

Energia, proud sponsors of Irish Rugby, have launched a new annual rugby festival which will take place at Energia Park in Donnybrook, Dublin on the June Bank Holiday weekend.  The inaugural Energia 7’s festival of rugby will include men’s and women’s 7’s rugby tournaments and a mixed social tag rugby competition. The rugby festival will be a fun weekend packed …

New Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has announced his squad for the upcoming 2020 Six Nations. Farrell has named a 35-man squad which includes five uncapped players; Billy Burns, Tom O’Toole, Max Deegan, Caelan Doris and Ronan Kelleher. With Rory Best retiring at the end of the World Cup, one of the big decisions that Farrell had to make was who would be …

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has named a 38-man squad ahead of the 2020 Six Nations.  This will be Pivac’s first Six Nations in charge after taking over from Warren Gatland after the culmination of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. In total, there are five uncapped players in the squad with Louis Rees-Zammit included. The Gloucester winger has …

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has named a 38-man squad ahead of the 2020 Six Nations.  There are six uncapped players in the squad which include Glasgow Warriors trio Tom Gordon (back-row), Kyle Steyn (wing/centre) and Ratu Tagive (wing). They are joined by Edinburgh back-row pair Luke Crosbie and Nick Haining, with Gloucester’s former Scotland U20 lock, Alex Craig, completing …

Kick It Out have released a statement addressing the latest alleged discriminatory abuse targeted at Republic of Ireland international and Stoke City’s James McClean.  McClean has been the subject of chants from the stands in matches away to Huddersfield and Barnsley this season. The FA have charged Barnsley with a breach of FA Rule E20 while the latest example of …

Referee Alan Coyne was escorted from the field of play in the immediate aftermath of Dublin’s shock loss to Longford in the O’Byrne Cup at the weekend.  Dessie Farrell, on his debut game in charge of Dublin since taking over from Jim Gavin, saw his side fall to 1-13 to 3-6 defeat in the semi-final as Longford will now meet …

Clermont Auvergne 29 – 13 Ulster  A powerful second-half performance from Clermont Auvergne saw the French side secure the win over Ulster in the top of the table Pool 3 clash. Ulster got off to a great start and showed their running intent from the off. A Stuart McCloskey linebreak and offload to Jacob Stockdale saw Ulster go deep into …

Conor McGregor has explained why he is fighting Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at 170 lbs ahead of their welterweight bout at UFC 246 in Las Vegas next weekend.  McGregor’s last bouts in the UFC, against Khabib Nurmagomedov and Eddie Alvarez have been at lightweight (155 lbs). The last time he fought at welterweight (170 lbs) was in his back-to-back clashes with …

Republic of Ireland U21 boss Stephen Kenny has hit out at the latest allocation of government funding to the FAI.  On Friday, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport announced the first set of allocations under the new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). A range of projects throughout the country across different sports were allocated money with rugby and …

RTÉ have announced their live TV fixtures for the upcoming Allianz League.  TG4 have already confirmed that they will be showing 30 games from this years Allianz Leagues across both hurling and football. RTÉ will be showing live games on Saturday and their first match will be a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final as Dublin take on Kerry at …