Tag Archives: italy rugby

After a down week, the 2020 Guinness Six Nations returns this weekend with England v Ireland at Twickenham the highlight of the action.  Ireland head to London knowing that a win will secure a Triple Crown, which would be their first since 2018 and their sixth in the Six Nations era (since 2000). A win would also likely set up …

The 2020 Six Nations enters the second round as Ireland take on Wales in Dublin, Scotland host England at Murrayfield while on Sunday, France welcome Italy to Paris.  Ireland, Wales and France will be looking to continue their good starts to the championship by recording successive victories while Italy, Scotland and England will be keen to get a win under …

France have made one change to the side that defeated England in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations [Kick-off 3pm].  Fabien Galthié’s side welcome Italy to Paris with Racing 92 centre Virimi Vakatawa missing out after picking up a tricep injury in last week’s win at the Stade de France. In his place is 20-year-old Montpellier centre Arthur …

After the opening weekend of Six Nations action, the second round of ‘rugby’s greatest tournament’ is almost upon us. Ireland, Wales and France head into this weekend looking to secure a second successive win to enhance their title credentials. Meanwhile, Italy, England and Scotland are already under pressure after suffering opening-round losses. France’s win over England has blown the tournament …

The 2020 Guinness Six Nations championship is almost upon us.  The Spring festival of rugby will take place over six weeks and the action gets underway this weekend. Ireland will be looking to get the Andy Farrell era off to the best possible start over a Finn Russell absent Scotland side. It looks set to be a very interesting championship …

Ireland 29 Italy 10  Sean McMahon reporting from the Aviva Stadium  You would have to feel for the marketing team in the IRFU for trying to sell this game to the masses. Not only is it difficult to capture the imagination when it comes to a warm-up game against a team Ireland beat on an annual basis but there must …

All going according to plan, Jean Kleyn will make his Ireland debut on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.  The 25-year-old South African has completed his three-year residency period which sees him qualify to play for Ireland just in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He’s been named to start on Saturday which could also see an international debut for …

Ireland have announced their team for their opening Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Italy on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium (KO 2 pm).  As expected, the team is a blend of youth and experience as those who are selected will be desperate to make an impression in order to be selected for the final 31-man squad that travels to …

After what felt like a painfully long summer, Ireland will finally be back on the rugby pitch this weekend as they host Italy at the Aviva Stadium in their first warm-up game ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.  This will be the first of four warm-up games as Ireland will also take on England (August 24) and Wales (August …

The Cheetahs have confirmed this afternoon that Franco Smith will take over as head coach of Italy after the 2019 World Cup.  Smith is currently the head coach of the Cheetahs and the club confirmed today that the 46-year-old will take up his new position on 1st January 2020. Smith will continue his current role throughout the upcoming Currie Cup …

Conor O’Shea’s future as the Italian head coach has been thrown into jeopardy following reports that the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) made an approach to Franco Smith, head coach of the Toyota Cheetahs. O’Shea’s current contract is set to run until the end of next year’s Six Nations campaign, however, the Guinness PRO 14 outfit confirmed via Twitter that Smith …

French rugby publication Midi Olympique has published its team of the 2019 Six Nations championship and it includes two Irish players despite Ireland suffering a disappointing campaign which has called into question their World Cup credentials later this year.  Across the 15 fixtures, there have been many standout performances and it’s always a challenge to produce a team such as …

The nominees for the official Six Nations Player Of The Championship have been announced and unsurprisingly, the list is dominated by Wales.  A total of six players have been nominated and these were selected by the media. The ultimate winner will be decided by an online vote which you can take part in here. Voting closes at 12 noon on …

The 2019 Six Nations Championship culminated in a special weekend or ‘Super Saturday’, as it was dubbed, which saw Wales clinch their first Grand Slam since 2012.  Scotland’s stunning second-half comeback will live long in the memory and Italy blew a big opportunity to get their first win over France since they last managed that feat in 2013. With everything …

To follow up our earlier piece which looked at the top individual performances from the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, here we take a look which teams produced the best stats in wide-variety of categories throughout the championship.  Points Scored  England – 184 Wales – 114 Scotland – 105 Ireland – 101 France – 93 Italy – 79 Tries Scored  England – …

The Six Nations is over for another year which saw Wales emerge with a first Grand Slam since 2012 and a first championship title since 2013.  Warren Gatland’s final Six Nations match in charge of Wales will live long in the memory as they produced an emotional and dominant performance which Ireland had no answer for. For Ireland, the post-mortem …

The Six Nations is over for another year and 2019 will be remembered for Wales securing their first Grand Slam since 2012 and their first championship title since 2013.  Warren Gatland’s side produced a suffocating performance in Cardiff which Ireland had no answer for as they eased to a 25-7 victory over Joe Schmidt’s side. That win sees Wales up …

Italy 14 – 25 France  Italy’s wait for a first Six Nations win since 2015 goes on as they couldn’t show the composure required to come out on top against an unstructured France side in Rome. Italy dominated the match for long periods but they spurned numerous try-scoring opportunities. They will look back at this 80-minute performance with a lot …