Tag Archives: IRFU

Iain Henderson has admitted he’s not ready to take on the role of Ireland captain.  The Ulster lock took over the role as captain of his provincial side in the wake of Rory Best’s retirement at the end of last season. Best also relinquished his Ireland captaincy with his successor unknown, as of yet. While Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony and …

Ireland have been handed a tough draw in this year’s U20 World Championships in Italy. Noel McNamara’s side have been drawn in Pool A alongside defending champion France, Argentina and last year’s World Rugby U20 Trophy winners Japan. Pool B sees Australia and New Zealand go head-to-head with Wales and Georgia making up the other two teams. England and South …

The first wave of government funding under the new Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) was announced today with Connacht Rugby and Leinster Rugby set to receive €10m for stadium redevelopments.  In total, 25 different projects are to receive funding of various amounts with the total expenditure amounting to €77.4m. While the project funding has been announced, all grants are …

Rory Best has spoken of his frustration at how comments he made in the media about Joe Schmidt have been negatively portrayed.  After blazing a trail through the competition in 2018, Ireland stagnated in 2019 with their poor form culminating in a dismal showing at the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Following that and his subsequent retirement from Irish rugby, …

The IRFU have ruled out any prospect of them acquiring the FAI’s share in the Aviva Stadium. The football association are going through a financial crisis, with liabilities totalling €62m, and have had a request for a bailout of €18m rejected by the government on Wednesday. The FAI also have a debt of €29m on the Aviva Stadium and there …

Conor O’Shea has backed Mike Catt to have an immediate impact in Ireland’s new-look management side under Andy Farrell.  The former England international spent the last three years working alongside O’Shea with the Italian national team. Both recently stepped away from their respective roles with Catt set to link up with former colleague Andy Farrell ahead of the 2020 Six …

Noel McNamara has confirmed that he will remain in his role as head coach of the Ireland U20s. McNamara guided the side to a Grand Slam title earlier this year in impressive fashion. The young Irish outfit went on to finish eighth at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina, however, the side was decimated by injuries throughout. It was …

Ireland international scrum-half Kieran Marmion has signed a new contract extension with Connacht.  Marmion’s future has been the subject of heavy speculation with reigning English and European champions Saracens reported to be interested in bringing the 27-year-old to Allianz Park. However, Connacht Rugby have now confirmed that Marmion will stay at the Sportsground after signing a three-year contract extension. Commenting …

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 …

Despite yesterday’s bonus-point win over Russia, question marks still hang over Ireland’s form heading into their final Pool A game with Samoa. Joe Schmidt’s side were expected to bounce back in style following a shock defeat to Japan last weekend. However, a much-changed Irish outfit laboured to a 35-0 win over the Russian Bears. Rory Best was one of the …

Johnny Sexton will captain Ireland for the first time on Thursday when they face Russia in the third pool game of their Rugby World Cup campaign. The Leinster out-half has been joint vice-captain alongside Peter O’Mahony for some time now and has previously taken over the duties during games when Rory Best was replaced. However, Thursday’s game marks the first …

Shortly before Ireland’s opening World Cup win on Sunday, Jerry Flannery proclaimed that the nation has never been better prepared to perform at a World Cup. Having taken on all comers and won at some point over the last two years it’s fair to say this is the best Irish side to ever compete in rugby’s showpiece event. Despite the …

Chris Farrell has leapt to the defence of Ireland’s project players in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Jean Kleyn made headlines around the world when he was selected for Joe Schmidt’s 31-man squad in place of long-serving lock Devin Toner. Kleyn became eligible to represent Ireland just two days before making his debut against Italy in …

Rory Best started in 2005 coming on as a sub against New Zealand to take up his position in the scrum alongside his brother, Simon. While it’s not over just quite yet the end is most definitely approaching for the Ulster man who made his final appearance at the Aviva Stadium in Ireland’s 19-10 win over Wales this afternoon. The …

Ireland will go top of the World Rugby rankings if they defeat Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. As it turns out both Ireland and Warren Gatland’s Welsh side are capable of leap-frogging New Zealand into first place as we countdown towards the Rugby World Cup in Japan. The All Blacks currently sit atop the rankings having regained it …

Joe Schmidt has responded to Agustin Pichot after the World Rugby Vice-Chairman expressed his disappointment at Devin Toner’s exclusion from Ireland’s World Cup squad. The Leinster lock was the shock exclusion from Schmidt’s squad announcement yesterday after it was confirmed that South African born Munster second-row Jean Kleyn had been selected in his stead. Kleyn only qualified for Irish selection …

It’s an interesting time for women’s rugby in Ireland.  Saturday saw another milestone reached with the first double-header taking place at Energia Park where Leinster’s opening pre-season friendly of the summer acted as the curtain-raiser for Leinster’s women who opened their interprovincial series with a 34-6 victory over Connacht. This was the first round of the women’s interprovincial championship which …

With the Rugby World Cup in Japan looming, Ireland captain Rory Best has addressed what went wrong in the 2019 Six Nations Championships.  Joe Schmidt’s side came into the game as raging hot favourites having beaten all before them in 2018. Ireland followed up their Grand Slam victory with a first series win in Australia since 1979 before going on …