Woodstown and Waterpark celebrate O’Donoghue’s debut “The whole place is so proud of Jack now,” Waterpark RFC Junior Drohan told fellow clubman turned rugby scribe Murray Kinsella prior to Jack O’Donoghue’s international rugby debut against Canada on Saturday last. “The whole...
Rugby
Return of the King
Return of the King
Paul O’Connell didn’t so much as come back for Munster against Connacht on Saturday night. He thundered back. He steamrolled back. He roared back, like the Lion he’ll surely be again should he maintain his fitness between now and the end of the season. Watching the spiritual leader of the men in red return to the...
Ref justice doesn’t hide shortcomings
Ref justice doesn’t hide shortcomings
That Ireland came so close to victory on Sunday last said as much for the strength of the team’s character as it did for Wales’s inability to convert territory and possession into points. By half-time, somehow, Ireland led 10-5, despite making twice as many tackles as their opponents and crossing into the Welsh 22 on...
Denis Fogarty: chomping at the Munster bit
Denis Fogarty: chomping at the Munster bit
Denis Fogarty is a professional sportsman you’d love to pull up a chair and have a cuppa (or something stronger) with. Witty, boundlessly enthusiastic and clearly a good sport, the amiable Tipperary man would be an asset to any dressing room for his good spirit alone. “It’s brilliant,” said Fogarty of the squad’s...
Take it as RED
Take it as RED
Please forgive this Gok Wan-ish kick-off, but white shorts are back in Munster Rugby vogue. Reminding us of an age when a soaked rugby jersey weighed like chainmail in the driving rain, when players trudged out the laps with illumination solely provided by a Cortina’s headlights, Munster’s white shorts have returned....
Carrick cling to promotion hopes after bonus victory
Carrick cling to promotion hopes after bonus victory
The Fat Lady’s throat may be cleared, but she ain’t singing yet! Carrick-on-Suir’s promotion hopes remain alive thanks to a 22-0 victory over Douglas at Tybroughney on Sunday last, a win which included an all-important bonus point, only their second ‘BP’ of the campaign. With two games in hand on 3B pacesetters...
Rugby’s RSC debut could lead to bigger occasions
Rugby’s RSC debut could lead to bigger occasions
Rugby makes its debut at the Regional Sports Centre this Friday night, as Munster ‘A’ seek to protect their perfect record when facing Nottingham in their third British & Irish Cup outing. The ‘A’ side, coached by former Munster skipper Anthony Foley and Ian Costello, has enjoyed a superb campaign, with five...
Focus diverts to Paris after a pig of a match
Focus diverts to Paris after a pig of a match
Love can of course occasionally numb the senses of reason, but even if you coat a pig in lipstick, it’s still a pig. Rugby may well be a game that many love, piquing 76,000 people into GAA HQ last Saturday, but last Saturday’s Six Nations opener was soaked in pig fat such was its complete and utter paucity. Rarely,...
Six points between top five as Carrick dodge Shandon bullet
Six points between top five as Carrick dodge Shandon bullet
Has there ever been a Division Three campaign like it? Just six points separate the top five clubs; indeed only eight points separate first from sixth in section B after Sunday’s round of fixtures. Waterford City, surely now dependant on other teams picking each other off if they’re to have any chance of a top two...
Carrick and City win ahead of massive league battles
Carrick and City win ahead of massive league battles
The first competitive rugby action of 2010 went ahead last weekend – in fact, only two matches in all of Munster had to be cancelled due to poor conditions. Some of the rugby was actually played in welcome sunshine with Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford City recording away victories in the Munster Junior Cup. While...
City still in hunt while Carrick falter
City still in hunt while Carrick falter
While Charleville now look firmly in the Division 3B driving seat, the battle for the second end-of-season promotion play-off spot remarkably remains a five-horse race. Waterford City, despite losing four of their eight games to date, currently sit second due in no small part to the seven bonus points they’ve won in...
Spirited Newtown succumb to Bandon’s physical power
Spirited Newtown succumb to Bandon’s physical power
Newtown 6; Bandon Grammar 23 The sunken grey cloud overhead matched the mood of the Newtown players as they trooped off their own paddock following last Wednesday’s 17-point reversal to Bandon Grammar. But there was little shame in this defeat for the hosts as a Bandon side, bolstered by a mobile pack – with an...
