Youāre joking, rightā¦
I assume he is, but be careful what you say to the puke these daysā¦
Maze (or as its locally known, the Sands Siro) isnt going ahead
Scotland recruit two new coaches
Graham Steadman says he is excited about his new role
Scotland coach Frank Hadden has added two new faces to his coaching staff.
Former All Blacks captain Mike Brewer, 43, joins as national forwards coach, while Graham Steadman, 46, has been appointed defence coach.
āIām delighted with the quality of the additional staff we have appointed,ā said Hadden. āTo secure the services of the ex-All Black captain is a boost.ā
The new coaches will be in place for Scotlandās Autumn Tests against New Zealand and South Africa in November.
Brewer, who has recently been forwards coach with Leinster, said he was relishing the prospect of working with Hadden and the national side.
āScotland have a young team, with a great work ethic and players who are very keen to learn,ā he said.
āI think they have the potential to develop into a really good international side in the next three to four years.ā
Steadman, who will also undertake defence coaching with the Edinburgh pro-team, said: "Iāve been an admirer of Scotland and the work that Alan Tait has undertaken in the last few seasons.
āI look forward to being part of Frankās coaching team and to getting the players trust and buy-in to the defensive systems Iāll look to put in place. The experience Iāve gleaned from involvement in both union and league will hold me in good stead.ā
Scotland face New Zealand at Murrayfield on 8 November and then entertain South Africa a week later.
niall o donovan was in the running for the forwards job at one stageā¦hard to see where he will get a job in the near futureā¦
[quote=āThe Pukeā]from rte.ie
The Irish Rugby Football Union has formally applied to host either Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019.
The International Rugby Board, owner of Rugby World Cup, has confirmed that nine other Unions have formally expressed an intention to host either Rugby World Cup 2015 or 2019.
All IRB Member Unions were invited to express an interest in hosting Rugby World Cup 2015 and/or the 2019 tournament. Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales have formally confirmed their interest in hosting Rugby World Cup 2015, while Australia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Wales submitted an expression of interest in tendering for the 2019 tournament.
IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: 'This is tremendous news for Rugby World Cup. The fact that 10 Member Unions have signalled their intention to tender for the 2015 and 2019 tournaments reflects the growing global prestige of the Rugby World Cup.
'Five of the six IRB regions are represented, with Italy, Jamaica and Russia signalling an interest to tender for a Rugby World Cup for the first time. Such a response highlights the growing development and popularity of Rugby across the world.
āThe IRB Council will announce the RWC 2015 and 2019 Host Unions in July 2009, six years prior to the first tournament and 10 years prior to the 2019 event. This timetable reflects the scale and nature of the preparatory work in delivering this world class tournament,ā added Lapasset.
The 10 Unions now have until May 8, 2009 to submit their detailed Tender responses to RWCL. The responses will then be reviewed by RWCL before the Tender Unions will be invited to make a presentation to the IRB Council in May 2009.
The Host Unions for Rugby World Cup 2015 and Rugby World Cup 2019 will be selected at a special meeting of the IRB Council on July 28, 2009.[/quote]
If Japan and Italy donāt get those tournaments it will be a joke. Both have plenty of stadia (unlike Ireland) and both are huge potential growth areas for the game. I think thereās probably enough pressure on the IRB now to force their hand though and the developing nations should finally get a look-in.
From sky sports.com
Ulster have confirmed that Springboks prop BJ Botha has agreed a three-year deal after passing a medical.
The deal had been agreed in principle back in July but had been delayed until Botha arrived in Ireland to undergo the medical tests.
The World Cup-winning forward completed the formalities on Tuesday and will now take his place in Matt Williamsā squad alongside fellow new faces Timoci Nagusa, Robbie Diack, Clint Schifcofske, Ed OāDonoghue and Rob Dewey.
Experience
And Botha, who has signed from the Sharks, is relishing the challenge of playing in Europe.
āI feel that the move to Ulster will be a great opportunity for both me and my family,ā said Botha.
"Iām really looking forward to playing in Europe. The move is a great opportunity to see Ireland and the United Kingdom.
"But I want to experience the famous Northern Ireland culture first hand and Iām sure weāll end up venturing across to mainland Europe for holidays which we are all excited about.
"Meeting new people and seeing new places is always exciting and I canāt wait to join the rest of the squad and get stuck into some serious training for the new season.
"However, the person Iām most excited about meeting is my new son who is due in November. My wife and myself are very excited about the impending new addition to our family
he will be an excellent signing for themā¦and hopefully pass on his expertise to the young propās above thereā¦
If it means less games for J Fitz it cant be a bad thing, never liked that fucker.
fitzpatrick always struck me as a sly bollocksā¦typical unionist sureā¦
Saw some link somewhere today about Sonny Bill Williams going to jail but story was blocked on me. Anyone know what the scal is?
Also read that Caucau is on his way to Leicester. The guyās 28, really time to deliver now. Unbelievable speed and talent but seems pure nuts.
i would say that there is no coaching coacauānabuca(sic)ā¦just put him on the wing and hope for the bestā¦no point telling him about defensive positions or set piecesā¦
Faaaau fauuuuu!!!
unbeleiveable player, your wrong in your post there Puke, a savage player, well able to defend, just doesnt like trainign etcā¦he takes up great positions on the pitch and will get through an amount of work if hes in the humourā¦they played leinsteer in dub a few seasons ago and he put in a classic wingers performance
was that the same night dan that he stopped chasing o driscoll when he was on a break away when he could have caught himā¦
Ya but he did this first
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2he7_lwJs4
personally not sure he gave up either, he assumed BOD wasnt going to make it to the corner and then fookin took off like a big fat hare after him, if he had gone straight for BOD ball was back inside to Horganā¦IMHO, he had no right to be anywhere near o driscoll either look where he came from
munster minus most of their elite irish boys had a good win over the usa eagles at the weekendā¦46-22 for a finish upā¦saw about 20 minutes of it on setantaā¦seemed like a good hard physical encounterā¦did anyone else hear the american commentators doing the match for setanta they were fair gasā¦more used to doing american football id sayā¦
Munster 46 USA Eagles 22 : A SECOND-STRING Munster side beat the USA Eagles to retain the Setanta Challenge Cup on Saturday afternoon in front of 8,350 fans at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
With their Ireland contingent rested and Doug Howlett not back in action until next week, only two of the Heineken Cup final team started the match. The Eagles took the lead with an early penalty from Valenese Malifa and Justin Boyd added a try on the right wing to make it 8-0 after 10 minutes.
But Munster responded with 17 points without reply. Paul Warwick landed a 16th-minute penalty and converted tries followed from Lifeimi Mafi (22nd minute) and Billy Holland six minutes later.
Louis Stanfill put the finishing touch to a breakaway try for the US and Malifa converted to make it 17-15 but Warwickās late penalty put Munster five ahead at the interval and they added tries in the third quarter from Toms OāLeary and Frankie Sheahan. US outhalf Malifa responded with a try that he converted himself for the hostsā last score before Barry Murphy added a brace of tries to complete the scoring for the visitors.
The only downside for Munster was a knee injury sustained by Mike Prendergast just before half-time. Munster coach Tony McGahan said: āTo be able to put up 46 points against the US was no easy feat.ā
Scorers: Munster - Tries : Murphy (2), Mafi, Holland, Sheahan, OāLeary. Pens : Warwick 2. Cons : Manning 3, Warwick 2. USA Eagles - Tries : Boyd, Stanfill, Malifa, 2 cons, 1 pen
MUNSTER : Denis Hurley; B Carney, K Earls, L Mafi, A Horgan; P Warwick, M Prendergast; F Pucciariello, D Fogarty, T Buckley; M OāDriscoll (capt), D Ryan; B Holland, N Ronan, J OāSullivan. Replacements : Darragh Hurley, F Sheahan, M Melbourne, T OāDonnell, T OāLeary, J Manning, R Tipoki, B Murphy, I Dowling, K Lewis.
USA Eagles ; C Wyles, J Boyd, A Tuilevuka, A Tuipolotu, T Coppedge, V Mailfa, M Petri, M Moeakiola, M Crick, B Lemay, J Van Der Giessen, L Stanfill, T Clever (capt), K Sheehan, P Quinn. Replacements : J Welch, B Barclay B Widemer, R Pretorious, R Shaw, G Golding B Scully, C Rock, H Dirksen, O Lentz, H Smith.
Tony Horgan, fucking hell. An honest pro, but at this stage, surely better out there? O Boyle at Garryowen is surely worth a look in at this stage instead of TH?
[quote=āmyboyblueā]
Tony Horgan, fucking hell. An honest pro, but at this stage, surely better out there? O Boyle at Garryowen is surely worth a look in at this stage instead of TH?[/quote]
honest as the day is longā¦couldnāt believe that he is only 31ā¦i would have thought 33/34ā¦i see jeremy manning is still knocking aroundā¦i thought he was leaving at the end of last season and going back to new zealandā¦agree mbb i have seen o boyle twice and he seems handy enough plenty big and strong for the wingā¦where did barry holland come fromā¦didnāt think he would have been close to getting a run for the province considering he wasnāt deemed good enough to be in the A panel on the few occasons i saw the Aās last yearā¦
31? Hmm, the ginger hair ages him badly. Iād heard the same about Manning, was sure he was heading off back, doubt heāll see much action anymore with Munster with Warwick playing such tasty stuff.
how did john o sullivan play? would he have been better off stayin at connacht. seems to have made no impression at munster
i am a big fan of o sullivan myselfā¦great worker and tough as teekā¦unfortunately his has been hit by a number of injuries at munsterā¦also its very hard for the likes of him and james coughlan (another lad with plenty of ability) to get a sniff at the team when everyone is fit and availableā¦he would probably been better off heading to england for a season or two and see how thinks would goā¦
Good move in my opinion. Cullen always struck me as more of a leader. Will free OāDriscoll up to focus more on his playing.
Leinster captaincy for Cullen
Tuesday, 26 August 2008 13:03
Leinster Rugby have announced the appointment of Leo Cullen as captain of the province for the coming season.
Cullen will replace Brian OāDriscoll who has decided to step down having captained Leinster for three years culminating in the Magners League title success last season.
Cullen led the province on seven occasions last year since his return from the Leicester Tigers in the summer of 2007.
The Newtownmountkennedy man has made 102 appearances in two spells for the province (17 in total as captain) between 2003 and 2008.
Having been a part of last yearās leadership team, this appointment ensures continuity and Cullen will be joined by Shane Jennings and Chris Whitaker who have been named as vice captains.