Tag Archives: ireland rugby

Just like the 2015 exit at the hands of Argentina, the latest in Ireland’s long run of Rugby World Cup quarter-final failures will leave a sour taste in the mouth for some time.  After they promised so much in 2018, Ireland became a shadow of that side in 2019 which ultimately culminated in a 46-14 thrashing by New Zealand in …

Steve Hansen spoke incredibly well in the aftermath of New Zealand’s thumping 46-14 win over Ireland at the Tokyo Stadium. Ireland’s World Cup ended once again at the quarter-final stage and it was also the last time that Rory Best and head coach Joe Schmidt will be involved in the Irish set-up. Best will now retire from professional rugby while …

New Zealand 46 – 14 Ireland Ireland are out of the 2019 Rugby World Cup after being completely out-classed by a rampant New Zealand side. In every facet of the game, Ireland were second best and they could do very little as the All Blacks ran in seven tries. Here are our player ratings on a devastating day for Irish …

Ireland and the All Blacks have named their respective teams for Saturday’s mouth-watering quarter-final in Tokyo.  Ireland’s team is as expected. Ireland make three changes from the starting XV which beat Samoa last Saturday. Peter O’Mahony returns in place of Tadhg Beirne, Garry Ringrose comes in for the suspended Bundee Aki but plays at 13 as Robbie Henshaw moves to …

Ireland received a huge blow to their World Cup hopes with the news that Bundee Aki has been banned for three weeks and as a result, will miss the remainder of the tournament.  Aki received a straight red card for his high tackle on Ulupano Seuteni on Saturday and the independent Judicial Committee upheld referee Nic Berry’s on-field decision. The …

The IRFU have hit back at claims by Sunday Times columnist Stephen Jones that Ireland and New Zealand were “vehemently opposed” to the possibility that the Pool A clash between Scotland and Japan could be rearranged.  Prior to the confirmation that today’s game would go ahead as scheduled, Scotland have been putting pressure on World Rugby to rearrange the game …

Joe Schmidt sympathised with Bundee Aki as the Ireland centre faces the prospect of his World Cup being over because of the red card he picked up in Ireland’s 47-5 win over Samoa.  Ireland’s seven-try performance saw them clinch a quarter-final spot against either New Zealand or South Africa but Aki faces a nervous wait to see if he will …

Ireland 47 Samoa 5 Despite being reduced to 14 men for the majority of the game, Ireland produced an excellent performance to secure a spot in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup thanks to a bonus-point 47-5 victory over Samoa. Ireland were completely dominant throughout and even though they were reduced to 14 men midway through the first half …

Ireland are down to 14 men in their final Pool A clash with Samoa after Bundee Aki was red-carded for a high hit on Ulupano Seuteni.  Robbie Henshaw threw an inaccurate pass which went to ground and as Seuteni collected the bouncing ball, Aki made a tackle attempt but his shoulder made direct contact with Seuteni’s head.   Referee Nic …

When Dave Kearney lined out on the left wing for Ireland’s opening Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Italy at the Aviva Stadium in August, it marked the closing of a disappointing and frustrating chapter in his career.  That was Kearney’s 18th cap for Ireland, his first appearance in green since a November 2017 win over Fiji 21 months earlier. …

This World Cup has been plagued with the issue of no arm tackles, high tackles, HIAs and referees getting dogs with abuse by people saying that they’re not consistent. I’ve been struggling to try to work out why there seems to be so many problems and after much deliberation, I’d like to offer the following points for people to consider. …

Forwards coach Simon Easterby is hoping to see a different animal when Ireland take to the field in their final Pool A clash with Samoa in Fukuoka on Saturday. Despite a very strong performance in their opening win over Scotland in Yokohama, Ireland have produced stuttering displays which resulted in a loss to Japan and an unconvincing bonus-point win over …

There are just two matches remaining in Pool A of the 2019 Rugby World Cup with Ireland, Scotland and Japan all still within a shout of qualifying for the knockout stages.  Japan’s bonus-point victory over Samoa on Saturday has seen them go on top of Pool A with 14 points after three games played. Ireland are on 11 points with …

While Ireland’s World Cup campaign hasn’t gone the way many expected, it’s important to savour the unique experience that many of these players, as well as their families, are experiencing for the first time.  Opportunities like these don’t come along too often and Chris Farrell knows that. Having admitted that he found it difficult acclimatising to Japan on tour two …

There can be no disputing that the pressure is mounting on this Ireland squad ahead of their final Pool A game with Samoa next weekend. Ireland’s all-conquering 2018 followed by a topsy turvy 2019 ensured that pressure was on Joe Schmidt’s side before the World Cup had even begun. Jacob Stockdale burst onto the scene during Ireland’s most successful ever …

Back on track with a victory, but it was again unconvincing at times for this Ireland side, writes Darren Cave. The scoreline tells one story, but the manner of the victory tells another. Ireland’s subdued performance in the 35-0 victory over Russia was far from the backlash we would have hoped for following the disappointing defeat to Japan. We may …

Ireland face a nervy wait on the fitness of Jordi Murphy and Joey Carbery as the duo are set to learn the extent of their injuries by undergoing scans today.  Murphy, who only arrived in Japan at the beginning of the week due to Jack Conan’s withdrawal from the squad due to injury, was put straight into the action against …

In the wake of an uninspiring performance against Russia as Ireland claimed a 35-0 bonus-point win, Simon Zebo has revealed his frustrations with Ireland’s conservative attacking approach and also offered an insight into how head coach Joe Schmidt deals with players in the wake of a disappointing performance or loss.  Zebo, who was speaking as a Paddy Power Rugby Ambassador, …