Tag Archives: leinster rugby

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. …

James Lowe has endeared himself to not only Leinster people but Irish rugby fans since defecting to Dublin from New Zealand. The Leinster winger has become a fan favourite thanks to his all-action and unpredictable style of play. In many respects, it’s a case of opposites attract. Leinster’s structured regime under Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster has proven to be …

“This time around is a lot different and (I’m) now really coming into my own performance-wise.”  This time four years ago Jack Conan received his first cap for Ireland as he looked to make a late surge into Joe Schmidt’s final 31-man squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. That cap came in a warm-up game against Scotland at the …

Leinster will hand out a number of debuts for their opening preseason game of the summer against Coventry on Saturday which could include Roman Salanoa, a former high school American football player from Hawaii Salanoa plays at AIL level with Old Belvedere and he represented Leinster ‘A’ in the inaugural Cara Cup competition in Boston earlier this year. He has …

History will be made this weekend when Leinster Rugby host a double-header at Energia Park.  Saturday’s action will consist of the senior men’s team opening their preseason campaign with the visit of Coventry which will act as the curtain-raiser to the main event – Leinster Women taking on Connacht in the opening match of the extended interprovincial series. Women’s rugby …

Dan Leavy still has a long road ahead of him in his recovery from a horrific knee injury he suffered last season.  The Leinster and Ireland star has been out of action since April when he damaged his ACL and MCL in Leinster’s win over Ulster in the quarter-final of the Champions Cup at the Aviva Stadium. Leavy was introduced …

Leinster have confirmed that James Lowe underwent a shoulder reconstruction at the end of the 2018/19 season.  Lowe, who made 17 appearances for the eastern province in all competitions last season, had surgery soon after he featured in the Guinness PRO14 final victory over the Glasgow Warriors at the end of May. The club have confirmed that the 27-year-old is …

This time four years ago, Cian Healy probably wouldn’t have envisaged that he would be on the cusp of playing in his third World Cup as Ireland’s first-choice loosehead prop.  In the summer of 2015, Healy underwent surgery on his neck and nerve damage left him without the use of his right hand. The paperwork confirming his retirement was all …

The fixtures for the 2019/20 Guinness PRO14 season have been released by tournament officials this afternoon.  Due to the 2019 Rugby World Cup which takes place in Japan, the season will begin later than usual with the opening round taking place on the weekend of 27-28th September. Ahead of the new campaign, there has been some shake-up to the conferences …

Leinster have confirmed their latest batch of recruits who will join the Academy for the 2019/20 season.  The eastern province are taking in five new players, all of them with Ireland U20 experience. The list of Year One players includes Tom Clarkson (DUFC), Charlie Ryan (UCD), Brian Deeny (Clontarf), Martin Moloney (Old Belvedere) and Liam Turner (DUFC). Ryan captained the …

Leinster and Ireland international Devin Toner doesn’t believe that the eastern province needs to review its culture in the wake of two controversial incidents which occurred in the aftermath of their Guinness PRO14 title win.  This week, IRFU sanctioned Sean O’Brien for his behaviour in a Dublin pub on the weekend of their title win. While on the same weekend, …

Ireland U20s head coach Noel McNamara has been named as Leinster’s new Academy manager according to Des Berry, writing in the Irish Independent.  McNamara has spent the last two years in charge of the U20 national side where he guided Ireland to a Grand Slam earlier this year and then to the World Championships in Argentina which culminated in an …

The IRFU have sanctioned Sean O’Brien due to an “incident of inappropriate behaviour” following Leinster’s PRO14 title win against the Glasgow Warriors.  The Irish Independent reports that O’Brien urinated on a member of the public in a pub in Dublin the day after Leinster clinched the title at Celtic Park. “The IRFU have investigated an incident of inappropriate behaviour by a …

If Adam Byrne didn’t have bad luck, he would have no luck at all. In November 2017, the 25-year-old Kildare native made his international debut when he started against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium. “I’ll never forget my Test debut,” Byrne told Pundit Arena. “It’s something very special to me. The whole week, the whole series was an incredible learning …

The draw for the 2019/2020 pool stages of the Heineken Champions Cup took place on Wednesday as clubs from across Europe learned their fate as to who stands between them and the knockout stages of the competition.  It’s a special year for the Irish teams as it’s the first time that all four provinces have qualified for Europe’s premier club …

The draw for the 2019/2020 edition of the Heineken Champions Cup was made on Wednesday afternoon in Lausanne, Switzerland.  All four of the Irish provinces are competing in next season’s edition of the Champions Cup and today they learned who stands between them and European glory. Here we discuss some of the biggest talking points from Wednesday’s draw. Pool Of …

The PRO14 has confirmed the makeup of the two conferences for the next two seasons.  The current format of the PRO14 has been in place for two seasons with the same teams competing in the same conferences in the last two campaigns. However, officials have now confirmed that there will some shakeup ahead of the 2019/20 campaign with six teams …

Two alleged incidents are being investigated by the IRFU and Leinster in the aftermath of the eastern province’s Guinness PRO14 title win according to Brendan Fanning of the Sunday Independent.  The first incident surrounds the hospitalisation of an Academy player after he was allegedly knocked unconscious by a punch from a former player who is no longer employed by the …