I thought this shit died out with the celtic tiger?
5 years of persistence have paid off 
Seemingly more evidence that these guys were doing their jobs than you have insinuating they weren’t.
You’re not really answering the question asked there by I’ll take that as a yes.
Doesnt mention exclusivity or how this will affect RTE, BBC Wales, Scotland, Ulster etc.
RaboDirect Pro12 games to be shown on Sky Sports from 2014
Sky Sports will show even more live European club rugby union, thanks to a new four year deal to screen the RaboDirect PRO12, beginning in the 2014/15 season.
For the first time Sky Sports will show 30 live matches, plus the semi-finals and final from the tournament, strengthening its unrivalled rights portfolio across six channels.
The RaboDirect PRO12 features the top teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy, including Europe’s current number one ranked side Leinster, defending champions Ospreys and current leaders Ulster.
Sky Sports viewers will be able to enjoy weekly coverage on TV, PC and on the move via mobile and tablet devices.
Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: "We know European rugby is hugely popular with our viewers and this deal provides for even more fantastic action. From next year, the RaboDirect PRO12 will complement our Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cup coverage and provide viewers with an unrivalled diet of rugby union.
“Sky Sports remains the home of televised rugby union, offering an unprecedented schedule from the international, European and domestic game. Our coverage is innovative and our expert analysis respected. This agreement is even more good news for rugby fans with Sky Sports.”
John Feehan, Chief Executive of RaboDirect PRO12, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sky Sports to the RaboDirect PRO12 family. Our competition is growing from strength to strength and we feel this partnership with Sky Sports will allow us to extend the reach of the RaboDirect PRO12 in the UK and Ireland.”
Latest
This announcement follows a series of major rugby rights deals for Sky Sports, including the exclusive live rights to The British & Irish Lions tour 2013, four-year deals to show Ireland, France and Italy Autumn Internationals from 2014 and a long term European rugby deal with the ERC.
The RaboDirect PRO12 complements the existing schedule of live European rugby union on Sky Sports featuring the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup, plus the domestic offering with the RFU Championship and LV=Cup. Added to that is a strong portfolio of international rugby with the British & Irish Lions tour 2013, QBE Internationals, England women’s matches, IRB Sevens World Series, Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship.
Sky Sports viewers can continue to follow the matches whether at home or on the move with Sky Go, available on a range of mobile devices.
The Sky Sports rugby union team includes some of the biggest names in the sport with over 550 caps between them. Expert analysis comes from Will Greenwood, Dewi Morris, Paul Wallace, Ieuan Evans, Scott Quinnell, Sean Fitzpatrick, Michael Lynagh and Scott Hastings. Coverage throughout the season is presented by Alex Payne and James Gemmell, with commentary from Stuart Barnes, Miles Harrison, Mark Robson and Johnnie Hammond.
There is also a comprehensive range of support programming, which includes the Rugby Club, plus the latest rugby union news and results available every day on skysports.com and Sky Sports News HD.
I heard some mention that they’ll still be shown on RTE/TG4 etc. Good news for rugby fans anyway with more access to seeing games live and more money going to the game.
Have Sky lost English club rugby entirely to BT?
I think so Sid.
4 years ago (yesterday), this article appeared in the Irish Times ahead of the Munster v Leinster Heineken Cup semi-final. The Irish Times asked a supporter from both sides to write a piece – this is how the Munster supporter chose to write his ………
[FONT=Tahoma]‘Even staunch Blues now fear a hiding’ - IrishTimes[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma]
Saturday, May 2, 2009
IN THE RED CORNER: Three years ago Munster fan NIALL KIELY found it hard to be humble when faced with Leinster’s delusions of adequacy. Today, he says it is impossible to be humble and much easier to be patronising.
DREADFUL CANARDS and shameful slights are doing the rounds of Munster textland this weekend. Sly, sleekit, faux-innocent questions. This column agonised through a dark night of the soul before it became obvious that in our Information Age, it would be venal to break an SMS joke-chain. Thus:
Question one: What do you call a Leinster supporter in Europe after May 2nd?
Question two: Felipe Contepomi said what to the garda who caught him speeding?
Question three: What do General Pinochet and Leinster have in common? (Answers at the end.)
Seriously, though. Now that we’ve finalised the Larne- Stranraer bookings, I suppose the Croke Park business must be got through somehow. It might even prove a semi-decent warm-up for Edinburgh, though the suspicion lingers that a team with more need in the gut than Leinster might lay down a stiffer test.
Why has the gap widened to the extent that even staunch Blues are sweating bricks, and (the honest ones) now fear a hiding?
Liverpool would be pleased if their Boot Room succession- model of old was still delivering Munster-smooth continuity. In Leinster, Michael “Butch” Cheika and his Sundance farceur, David Knox, strutted into town and inherited a pretty decent, albeit soft-centred squad. What’s been developed in the years since?
Frankly, not much. Importing instant-fix, High Veldt muscle isn’t going to provide either a medium or long-term solution – given a pack that still doesn’t get the difference between “want” and “need” to win – and gives not even immediate succour when any bought-in, beef-to-the-heel Boer heifer has Achilles’ hooves.
The organisation? It gave us the farce of Felipe Contepomi’s cocked-up original registration. It managed to let slip easily the best outhalf package it ever had: neat, unshowy David Holwell, who looked the playmaker most likely to let slip the hounds of O’Driscoll and D’Arcy. Even the daft loss of press officer Pat Geraghty has been Munster’s considerable gain. And as for Isa Nacewa: Lord, have mercy.
Last month’s ticketing debacle? Leinster rushed into sales, made a mess of that, as well as the aftermath of the Ticketmaster fiasco. Some genius then tried to strong-arm the province’s clubs with dire threat of consequence should Reds appear in “Blue” seating: ye gods. And the clubs were short-changed and left angry over their miserly allocations.
The Leinster playing style? To the external tracker, there’s evident spoor of internal dissonance. Is the “Real Leinster” the team which wiped Wasps off the RDS pitch, or the side which limped through the later ERC pool games – or is it the limp lot who went down tamely, home and away, to Munster in the Magners?
How can dependable, all-weather gameplans evolve with a unbiddable head-banger at outhalf; a superannuated Aussie crabbing inconsequentially at scrumhalf and a backrow lacking either a linking rover (sin of omission: Keith Gleeson was deaf to all pay or persuasion to give it a Johnny Logan?) or a lethal lumberjack (one of commission: non-selection of Seán O’Brien).
And contrast the disaffection among Leinster clubs with Munster Rugby. Munster Rugby has the goodwill of its provincial clubs. Not just the top-table Shannons, Garryowens, Cork Cons – it’s just as much the nascent likes of Cashel, the Castleislands and Carrick-on- Suirs. Most people I know in Leinster junior rugby are Munster supporters by inclination: they relate to a genuine entity that well represents them abroad. Chapters of Reds in Connacht, Ulster and across the diaspora have viscerally connected to a noble concept: a group of sportsmen has truly earned the troth of its motley; and a roiling terrace knows its faith is acknowledged in kind.
Reggie Corrigan had a weekend slap at “Lunsters” – Jonathan-come-latelies turned Redcoats. Some may of course be prawn-sandwich opportunists, but the vast majority I reckon became disenchanted over bitter years on the concrete steps of Donnybrook by the fundamentally uncaring “performance” of so-called professionals who simply couldn’t be arsed.
Appreciation of Munster’s simple virtues is now widespread. The text questions above came from Llanelli stalwarts. They know their rugby, their captain for years has been the revered Simon Easterby – who in his prime would have dovetailed seamlessly with most Munster backrows – and they are envious but admiring aficionados of the Munster project. The Scarlets even “get” Leinster: they’ve got their local ladyboys, the Neath-Swansea Ospreys. As my Llanelli friend Dewi might put it: “Niall bach, our Ashtrays are just like your Leinster – all fur coat and no knickers.”
One feels sorry for Leinster diehards – almost – and those three-quarter thoroughbreds. Just a couple of Magners from that sleek slew of gilded genius, lads? As Felipe might say: Jesús,
María y José!
But it’s really, genuinely not just about results. We’ve been to Lille and back, suffered the Backhand. Folks, it’s this simple: we Reds love the magnificent gestalt that is our Munster, we care deeply for these people who have leavened our quotidians with joy and brio and serious fun, we have endless time for our players who viscerally reciprocate our ardour.
Soon after seven o’clock this evening, the ultimate Red shout of the evening will succumb to susurrus, and in that fine sibilance will resonate our most recent epiphany. Bless these men.
And the answers: 1 A tourist; 2 At this stage, I’ll do anything for points; 3 Both gather people in stadiums and torture them.
Niall Kiely is a former Irish Times journalist and contributes to RTÉ’s What it Says in the Paper [/FONT]
[quote=“tallback, post: 767789, member: 1158”]4 years ago (yesterday), this article appeared in the Irish Times ahead of the Munster v Leinster Heineken Cup semi-final. The Irish Times asked a supporter from both sides to write a piece – this is how the Munster supporter chose to write his ………
[FONT=Tahoma]‘Even staunch Blues now fear a hiding’ - IrishTimes[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Saturday, May 2, 2009[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]IN THE RED CORNER: Three years ago Munster fan NIALL KIELY found it hard to be humble when faced with Leinster’s delusions of adequacy. Today, he says it is impossible to be humble and much easier to be patronising.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]DREADFUL CANARDS and shameful slights are doing the rounds of Munster textland this weekend. Sly, sleekit, faux-innocent questions. This column agonised through a dark night of the soul before it became obvious that in our Information Age, it would be venal to break an SMS joke-chain. Thus:[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Question one: What do you call a Leinster supporter in Europe after May 2nd?[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Question two: Felipe Contepomi said what to the garda who caught him speeding?[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Question three: What do General Pinochet and Leinster have in common? (Answers at the end.) [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Seriously, though. Now that we’ve finalised the Larne- Stranraer bookings, I suppose the Croke Park business must be got through somehow. It might even prove a semi-decent warm-up for Edinburgh, though the suspicion lingers that a team with more need in the gut than Leinster might lay down a stiffer test.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Why has the gap widened to the extent that even staunch Blues are sweating bricks, and (the honest ones) now fear a hiding?[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Liverpool would be pleased if their Boot Room succession- model of old was still delivering Munster-smooth continuity. In Leinster, Michael “Butch” Cheika and his Sundance farceur, David Knox, strutted into town and inherited a pretty decent, albeit soft-centred squad. What’s been developed in the years since?[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Frankly, not much. Importing instant-fix, High Veldt muscle isn’t going to provide either a medium or long-term solution – given a pack that still doesn’t get the difference between “want” and “need” to win – and gives not even immediate succour when any bought-in, beef-to-the-heel Boer heifer has Achilles’ hooves.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]The organisation? It gave us the farce of Felipe Contepomi’s cocked-up original registration. It managed to let slip easily the best outhalf package it ever had: neat, unshowy David Holwell, who looked the playmaker most likely to let slip the hounds of O’Driscoll and D’Arcy. Even the daft loss of press officer Pat Geraghty has been Munster’s considerable gain. And as for Isa Nacewa: Lord, have mercy.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Last month’s ticketing debacle? Leinster rushed into sales, made a mess of that, as well as the aftermath of the Ticketmaster fiasco. Some genius then tried to strong-arm the province’s clubs with dire threat of consequence should Reds appear in “Blue” seating: ye gods. And the clubs were short-changed and left angry over their miserly allocations.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]The Leinster playing style? To the external tracker, there’s evident spoor of internal dissonance. Is the “Real Leinster” the team which wiped Wasps off the RDS pitch, or the side which limped through the later ERC pool games – or is it the limp lot who went down tamely, home and away, to Munster in the Magners?[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]How can dependable, all-weather gameplans evolve with a unbiddable head-banger at outhalf; a superannuated Aussie crabbing inconsequentially at scrumhalf and a backrow lacking either a linking rover (sin of omission: Keith Gleeson was deaf to all pay or persuasion to give it a Johnny Logan?) or a lethal lumberjack (one of commission: non-selection of Seán O’Brien).[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]And contrast the disaffection among Leinster clubs with Munster Rugby. Munster Rugby has the goodwill of its provincial clubs. Not just the top-table Shannons, Garryowens, Cork Cons – it’s just as much the nascent likes of Cashel, the Castleislands and Carrick-on- Suirs. Most people I know in Leinster junior rugby are Munster supporters by inclination: they relate to a genuine entity that well represents them abroad. Chapters of Reds in Connacht, Ulster and across the diaspora have viscerally connected to a noble concept: a group of sportsmen has truly earned the troth of its motley; and a roiling terrace knows its faith is acknowledged in kind.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Reggie Corrigan had a weekend slap at “Lunsters” – Jonathan-come-latelies turned Redcoats. Some may of course be prawn-sandwich opportunists, but the vast majority I reckon became disenchanted over bitter years on the concrete steps of Donnybrook by the fundamentally uncaring “performance” of so-called professionals who simply couldn’t be arsed.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Appreciation of Munster’s simple virtues is now widespread. The text questions above came from Llanelli stalwarts. They know their rugby, their captain for years has been the revered Simon Easterby – who in his prime would have dovetailed seamlessly with most Munster backrows – and they are envious but admiring aficionados of the Munster project. The Scarlets even “get” Leinster: they’ve got their local ladyboys, the Neath-Swansea Ospreys. As my Llanelli friend Dewi might put it: “Niall bach, our Ashtrays are just like your Leinster – all fur coat and no knickers.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]One feels sorry for Leinster diehards – almost – and those three-quarter thoroughbreds. Just a couple of Magners from that sleek slew of gilded genius, lads? As Felipe might say: Jesús,[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]María y José![/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]But it’s really, genuinely not just about results. We’ve been to Lille and back, suffered the Backhand. Folks, it’s this simple: we Reds love the magnificent gestalt that is our Munster, we care deeply for these people who have leavened our quotidians with joy and brio and serious fun, we have endless time for our players who viscerally reciprocate our ardour.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Soon after seven o’clock this evening, the ultimate Red shout of the evening will succumb to susurrus, and in that fine sibilance will resonate our most recent epiphany. Bless these men.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]And the answers: 1 A tourist; 2 At this stage, I’ll do anything for points; 3 Both gather people in stadiums and torture them. [/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma]Niall Kiely is a former Irish Times journalist and contributes to RTÉ’s What it Says in the Paper [/FONT][/quote]
What an utter cunt… This is what i’m talking about, mate. Munster Rugby is a disease upon society.
What an absolute cunt.
Jonny just took a headbutt in the balls. All perfectly legal. The Ospreys guy was in the process of scoring a try, dipped his head and went right through Sexton’s nether regions.
I’m presuming his godfather will have a piece in the Indo tomorrow lauding the 300,000 fans who trekked to France last weekend?
That one handed catch of a long kick by Madigan was impressive. Probably careless but impressive all the same
Pretty sure its already been written.
Amusing telling off there from Owens when he took SOB and AWJ aside.
Is that a hat trick for Conway?
This Conway lad is very good at kicking the ball and running after it.
[quote=“myboyblue, post: 767990, member: 180”]Pretty sure its already been written.
Amusing telling off there from Owens when he took SOB and AWJ aside.[/quote]
Yes. A pity he’s going to play at a lower level next year. Looks like he has what it takes to make it at Leinster.
He left the sheepshagger for dead there anyway. Great to see more Irish talent moving around the provinces and getting exposed to top level franchise rugby. Must be encouraged and shame someone wouldn’t give Ruddock and the likes the same advice.