‘Being labelled as captain is not enough, I’ll be judged on how I perform’
RHYS RUDDOCK FINDS himself in something of a peculiar position as he prepares to lead Ireland out at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon. While he has captained both Ireland and Leinster before, Ruddock has again been handed the responsibility by Joe Schmidt for the first World Cup warm-up against Italy, yet he is not assured…
Byrne starts at 10 as Schmidt recalls Ireland’s big guns for England
JOE SCHMIDT HAS handed Ross Byrne his first Test start at out-half in the Ireland team to face England in a World Cup warm-up clash at Twickenham on Saturday [KO 3pm, Sky Sports Action]. The 24-year-old Leinster man has won just two caps before now but gets a prime opportunity to impress ahead of the…
Kayla Braxton Rages Against Racism on Twitter
NXT ring announcer Kayla Braxton has had just about enough of racist comments made against her. Braxton, who has discussed recently finding out about her ethnic heritage havinggrew up in foster care, posted to Twitter addressing the fact that she’s been “personally attacked” over her ethnicity after she learned she was half black. The comments,…
Sexton fit for Montpellier but Sean Cronin facing a spell on the sidelines
JOHNNY SEXTON CAME through his return to competitive rugby unscathed and is fit and available for Leinster’s crunch Champions Cup clash with Montpellier on Friday night. Sexton trained in UCD this afternoon. Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO The out-half played 55 minutes of the province’s 10-try trouncing of Zebre over the weekend and reported no issues when…
‘We know we’re close’: McCloskey vows to improve Ulster fortunes with a little extra focus
CENTRE STUART McCLOSKEY says that Ulster don’t need to regroup, they simply must to get back on the same page again after a run of poor results. The Ulstermen have lost three of their last four with just four wins from their last 11 matches. Their away form is of particular concern given they’ve won…
Leinster’s Hayden Triggs handed 3-week ban after incident involving Nic White
LEINSTER WILL BE without Hayden Triggs for the next three weeks after the second row was found guilty of making contact with the eye area of Montpellier scrum-half Nic White. Triggs will miss Friday’s Champions Cup clash with Castres as well as Guinness Pro12 fixtures against Treviso and Edinburgh after an independent Disciplinary Hearing decided…