Play was suspended in the Heineken Champions Cup clash between the Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks at Sandy Park on Sunday. With the Chiefs leading 21-10 thanks to a brace of tries from Sam Simmonds and one from his younger brother, Joe, referee Pierre Brousse suspended the match in the 63rd minute temporarily due to a biblical hail downpour. A …

EPCR, the governing body of the Champions Cup, have confirmed that they will conduct an investigation into the ugly scenes which occurred during the Pool 4 clash between Saracens and Munster at Allianz Park on Saturday.  During the second half of Saracens’ 15-6 victory over Munster, Jamie George took offence from a comment from a member of Munster’s backroom staff …

“To be honest, I never had an injury like that before so it was all new to me,” Tiernan O’Halloran tells Pundit Arena as he describes the fractured fibula and ankle ligament injury he suffered at the beginning of the season.  The Clifden native has had his fair share of injuries since he made his Connacht debut against Olympus Madrid …

Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park.  For the 25,000 who packed into Thomond Park on Saturday night hoping to see some of Munster’s new expansive style of play, their hopes were quickly dashed as monsoon conditions quickly descended on the famous Limerick venue.  Due to the deteriorating weather conditions, the second-half could only be described as a slugfest as both …

Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park.  Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall says that many of the players who were rested for Saturday night’s clash with Munster at Thomond Park will be available for the return trip at Allianz Park next weekend.  The reigning European and English champions left a number of their star players at home including Mako and …

Munster 10 Saracens 3 Sean McMahon reporting from Thomond Park. A bumper crowd at Thomond Park paid witness to a pretty scrappy display from two European heavyweights as the famous Limerick venue was subject to some monsoon conditions as Storm Atiyah made itself known. Despite this, Johann van Graan’s side got the job done by securing a win against the …

On their debut at the World Sevens Series as a full-time member on the circuit, Ireland suffered a 24-19 defeat to last year’s runners-up USA.  However, Anthony Eddy’s side can take a lot positives out of this game as they pushed a talented USA side all the way and could have come away with a win if they showed a …

Ireland’s women suffered an opening day defeat in the Dubai leg of the HSBC World Sevens Series.  Stan McDowell’s side went into Thursday’s match hoping to get off to a positive start in Pool B but they conceded a converted try at the death to hand Spain the victory after leading throughout the majority of the match. Ireland got off …

Unsurprisingly, Eamon Dunphy didn’t mince his words on his return to TV punditry as he ran the rule over Everton’s performance in which they fell to a 5-2 defeat to Merseyside rivals Liverpool at Anfield.  A brace from Divock Origi and goals from Xherdan Shaqiri, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum gave the Premier League leaders a comfortable, straight-forward victory over …

For Rory Best, Ireland’s premature exit from the 2019 Rugby World Cup was not the way he would have wanted to sign off on his decorated career.  With the rest of the squad, there is an opportunity to right some wrongs by getting back on track at provincial level in the white heat of European Cup rugby and, of course, …

“Over the next hours and days, spare a thought for the players.” These were the initial thoughts of Mike Ross in the immediate aftermath of Ireland’s 2019 Rugby World Cup exit at the hands of New Zealand. Social media on that Saturday in October and the days which followed were awash with criticism, disappointment and unfortunately, at times, abuse. Ross’ …

The fixture details for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021 have been confirmed this morning.  The tour in 2021 will involved eight games which will take place between July 8 and August 7. The Lions’ first match will be against Super Rugby side the Stormers on July 8 before taking on a South African invitational …

The dates for this season’s midseason break in the Premier League is set to be announced no later than December 20.  In June 2018, the FA approved to include a two-week break for clubs in the Premier League which follows similar hiatuses which take place in other European leagues such as the Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1. …

England head coach Eddie Jones has said that Rugby Australia were never really interested in him taking over from Michael Cheika for the previously vacant Wallabies job.  Current Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie will take over from Cheika in 2020 but Jones was one of many names thought to be under consideration for the role. However, Jones, who led …

Three members of the 2019 U20 Grand Slam winning side have been included in the Ireland Men’s Sevens Development squad for this week’s Dubai Invitational tournament.  Ireland’s men’s and women’s senior sides are already in Dubai preparing for the beginning of the HSBC World Series with action getting underway on Thursday. For the men’s side this will be the first …

Former Wales coach Mike Ruddock has been appointed by the Ospreys on a short-term basis to review the club’s rugby operation.  Although head coach Allen Clarke is still technically employed by the club, coaches Matt Sherratt and Carl Hogg were in charge of the Ospreys’ 13-18 loss to the Cheetahs at the weekend. Ruddock, who led Wales to a Grand …

Lionel Messi is the winner of the 2019 Men’s Ballon d’Or.  Messi was announced as the winner for the sixth time at an awards ceremony in Paris tonight as last year’s winner Luca Modric handed over the trophy to the Barcelona man. Lionel Messi from @FCBarcelona is the 2019 Ballon d'Or winner! THAT'S HIS SIXTH ONE! #ballondor pic.twitter.com/dLndTZNeeW — #BallondOr …

Munster have announced that they will increase the capacity of Thomond Park for Saturday’s mouth-watering clash with Saracens (KO 5.30pm).  The southern province, due to high demand, will install pitchside seating at the northern and southern ends of the ground which will bring capacity up to 26,267 from 25,600. Munster are currently tied at the top of Pool 4 with …