Racing 92 have sent a heartwarming message to Munster Rugby on the anniversary of the tragic passing of Anthony ‘Axel’ Foley.  The Shannon, Munster and Ireland legend sadly passed away on the morning of Munster’s Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 this day two years ago and his loss and absence will always be felt by those who are close …

Kerry’s Darran O’Sullivan has announced his retirement from inter-county football today.  The four-time All Ireland winner, who was also an All Star in 2011, captained Kerry to the 2009 title even though he was battling injuries throughout that season. Donnchadh Walsh, Kieran Donaghy and Anthony Maher have all announced their departures in recent weeks and O’Sullivan (32) becomes the latest player …

Munster were dealt a blow immediately before kick-off on Saturday in their Heineken Champions Cup opener against the Exeter Chiefs when Keith Earls pulled his hamstring in the warm-up and was replaced by Darren Sweetnam.  For Mike Haley, who started that game at fullback, he would have already been focusing on the difficulty that lied ahead, mostly, how he would …

Ronnie O’Sullivan has launched an attack on the venue for the English Open, labelling it a “hellhole” that smells of urine. O’Sullivan accused event organiser World Snooker of cutting corners because the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley, which is staging this week’s tournament, is well below the required standard. The five-time world champion beat Kurt Maflin 4-1 in his opening English …

Mike Haley is enjoying life at Munster and since his move from Sale Sharks during the summer, the Irish-qualified fullback has amassed a total of 320 minutes for the southern province this season.  He has already made the starting fullback spot his own at the southern province – the only fixtures he has missed were due to a hamstring injury. …

There were plenty of sore bodies around the High-Performance Centre in UL this morning as Munster get ready to prepare for the visit of Gloucester to Thomond Park on Saturday at 1 pm.  Munster put in their most physical performance of the season to earn a hard-fought draw against the Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park but unfortunately for Johann van Graan …

At halftime in Scotstoun, Saracens lead the Glasgow Warriors 3-13 in Pool 3 of the Heineken Champions Cup.  Michael Rhode’s first-half try and eight points from the boot of Owen Farrell has proved the difference so far. The Glasgow Warriors thought they got a crucial try on the stroke of halftime when a ball stolen at the ruck was sent wide …

At Kingsholm, Gloucester and Castres are battling it out in Pool 2 of the Heineken Champions Cup.  With nothing separating Munster and Exeter in yesterday’s arm-wrestle at Sandy Park, there is a huge opportunity for one of these sides to take an early advantage after round one. Gloucester will be hoping to win this game considering they face a tough …

Quade Cooper’s current journey with Brisbane City has come to an end as his side fell to a 13-10 defeat to the Canberra Vikings.  The result means that the Canberra Vikings face a trip to Fiji to take on Drua in the semi-final of the competition. It was a mixed bag for Cooper who scored one of his side’s tries from a …

Martin O’Neill has named his starting XI for the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League clash with Denmark at the Aviva Stadium tonight.  Despite reports to the contrary, O’Neill has named Matt Doherty to start in tonight’s lineup which will be a huge boost to Irish supporters. Here is the starting XI. BREAKING: Matt Doherty makes his first start for Ireland …

Exeter Chiefs 10 Munster 10 It’s full-time at Sandy Park and Munster have come away from the south coast of England with two precious points in the bag after an absolute dogfight. Despite what the low scoreline may suggest, this was an as engrossing encounter as you will likely see this season as two of the competition’s behemoths went toe …

At half-time in Sandy Park, the Exeter Chiefs lead Munster 10-3.  It’s been an absolute arm-wrestle on the south coast as the strong wind has led to both teams playing the entirety of the game in the tight exchanges. Gareth Steenson got the Chiefs off the mark before Munster responded through a penalty in front of the posts through Joey …

Bath have lost their opening match of the Champions Cup as they fell to a 22-20 defeat to Toulouse at the Rec.  Unfortunately for Bath, it could have been so much different but for Freddie Burns. The 28-year-old look to have scored the game-winning try when he broke through the Toulouse rearguard. He slowed down, blew a kiss and as …

Modern professional rugby has evolved so much in recent times that players continuously need to add strings to their bow in order to remain competitive and to succeed. Tadhg Furlong epitomises this perfectly, as he has a wide array of skills which transcends what you would expect from a tighthead prop.  Gone are the days that the sole role of …

It’s 16 tries in 18 games for James Lowe and it’s safe to say he is flourishing in the Leinster Rugby environment.  The Nelson native hasn’t even been in Ireland a full year due to his Mitre10 Cup commitments last season but he is already a favourite among the Leinster faithful evidenced by the loud chanting of ‘J-Lowe, J-Lowe, J-Lowe’ …

Sean McMahon reports from the RDS A record defeat for Wasps in Europe is going to make it a difficult task for Dai Young to take any positives out of such a thrashing.  Wasps, for all their battling and admirable defence in the opening 40 minutes, shipped six second half tries as they couldn’t hold out the Leinster juggernaut for …

Leinster 52 Wasps 3  Sean McMahon reports from the RDS Storm Callum may have failed to deliver the damage across the country which many feared it would and after 39 minutes of tonight’s Heineken Champions Cup opener at the RDS, the sold-out crowd were wondering why there was an absence of a different kind of damage, in this case, the …

With some excellent rugby on display last weekend for the opening round of Division 1A and 1B of the AIL, we get set to go again with no shortage of intriguing matchups including a Limerick derby between old foes Shannon and Young Munster at Thomond Park on Friday night.  Below you will find previews for each match taking place in …