Author: isport

Deans backing Ireland to win Rugby World Cup

Ahead of the Rugby Union World Cup, ex-Australia coach Robbie Deans has said that Ireland can win the tournament, and that the team is ideally placed to take home the coveted trophy right now.

“Ireland are absolutely one of the sides in contention for the World Cup,” Deans said.

“This is going to be a great World Cup. There’s more uncertainty in terms of the ultimate winner than there’s ever been. And there are more sides capable of getting onto the podium than ever before, and that’s great for the game.

“Joe Schmidt has started really well at Test level,” he continued, speaking about the New Zealander.

“Ireland are very well-placed I think right now; the timing of this World Cup is good for them. They’ve got a good nucleus of experience, and they’ve shown there’s no one in the world they can’t beat, and that includes the All Blacks.

O’Brien returns from injury

Sean O’Brien, the Ireland Rugby Team flanker has claimed that he is much ahead of schedule as he targets a swift return from injury.

The Irish international dislocated a shoulder in the last game of 2013 playing against Ulster and was ruled out for the remainder of the season, meaning he had to miss the team’s Six Nations Championship triumph recently.
And although the prognosis on the shoulder remains the same, the player is back in light training much ahead of the expected schedule.

Speaking to a radio channel, O’Brien stated that he is back way before schedule and he is looking forward to starting his pre-season training regimen in a couple of weeks’ time. He mentioned that this training regimen will be tough work spread over six to eight weeks but he also claimed that he is looking forward to it.

The Ireland Rugby Team player stated that he is looking forward to getting stuck in and hopes to hit the ground running by the time the new season kicks off.

Ireland Defeat Wales

The rugby team representing Wales at the Six Nations got extremely humiliated when it was defeated by Ireland’s rugby team. Wales was outgunned, outthought and outmuscled in ways unimaginable and the performance of the team was highly disappointing. If Ireland had shown more ambition and flair then Wales would have lost the match even more terribly.

Ireland’s performance was as impressive as its performance had been in the year 2006 when it had defeated Wales at the Six Nations Championship. By defeating Wales this year, Ireland has shattered the team’s dream of winning three consecutive Six Nation Championship titles.

Warren Gatland said that this has been the worst performance of Wales ever since he has become the coach of the team. The team members have to improve themselves and certain changes have to be brought about so that the performance of Wales can be enhanced, added Gatland.

Ireland rugby team

One of the most awaited events of this year in the rugby world is the Limerick Gathering Festival, where many yesteryear Ireland Rugby team players and International Rugby players have committed their presence. This event is due to take place in Limerick during the month of October.

One may expect to see the likes of the former Ireland Rugby team players like Keith Wood, Shane Byrne, Peter Clohessey, Trevor Brennan, David Wallace, women’s six national grand slam winning international Joy Neville, the first man ever to receive the Heineken Cup, Emile Ntamack and England’s start player Jason Leonard.

London Irish boss believes Homer will get England chance

Brian Smith, the Director of Rugby of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the London Irish believes that the club’s young starlet Tom Homer will be given his chance with the England national team.

The 23 year old full back for The Exiles has long been seen by many as a future England star, especially after his back to back record breaking feats in the junior World Cup.

However, a niggling injury of the knee prevented him from building on an extremely impressive 2011-12 campaign for The Exiles when he was voted as the club’s Player of the Season and was also awarded the Aviva Premiership Golden Boot. And Homer did mention that he wasn’t expecting to be named in the squad that head coach Stuart Lancaster named last week that will go on tour of South America during the summer.

Harlequins FC to sign Jones from The Saints

Reigning champions of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union trophy Harlequins FC have confirmed that a deal has been signed between the club and fellow Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Northampton Saints for the signing of Phil Doran Jones, who will move to the London club at the end of the season.

The club has also confirmed that the prop has already agreed a two year deal with the club and will put pen to paper on the new deal when the seasons ends.

The 27 year old had long been linked with a move away from Franklin’s Gardens and a move to either one of the London Wasps or The Quins had been rumored. But the forwards coach of The Jimmies Dorian West recently made the announcement via a slip that the champions have a deal in place to take the player to the club and following that Harlequins FC have also announced that they will indeed sign the player.

Ireland Six Nations build-up

Following a poor last year in terms of results for Ireland, there will be huge pressure on coach Declan Kidney to manage his talented team to a successful Six Nations position, with his contract expiring shortly.

While France look particularly strong, England and Wales have both shown inconsistency, and the general consensus is that this competition will be one of the more open showpieces of recent years. For the players themselves, there will be the added interest in trying to book themselves a seat on the plane to Australia this summer with the Lions; Warren Gatland has already indicated that his final squad will mainly be reflected from the players’ Six Nations performances.

Ireland will be without Paul O’Connell, for so long been synonymous with the Irish team, for the entire Six Nations. Other costly absences are that of Stephen Ferris and Tommy Bowe, who scored a very respectable 5 tries in last year’s competition.

Ireland’s Bowe to Undergo Knee Surgery

Reports have it that the winger of the Ireland rugby team (better known as Ulster), the 28-year-old Tommy Bowe will have to undergo a knee surgery at the end of the week. He had his knee busted on Saturday evening when his team was playing against the Northampton Saints and it had been 77 minutes after the match took off.

He was quickly taken away from the field fearing his injury was too serious to be treated with a cramp-relieving spray. And it actually turned out to be the truth. From the team’s reports, it was confirmed that he had “sustained significant lateral ligament damage to his right knee”.

Now due to his absence, the team is under quite a lot of pressure before the Six Nations fight. It is not possible for the Ireland rugby team to set the stipulated date when he will make it back because it all depends on the recovering capacity of the individuals and the doctor’s advice.

Leicester Tigers will Fight Back, says Allen

The management and the players of the record Aviva Premiership champions Leicester Tigers are all united and on the same wavelength as they try to overcome the shock of their 22-9 at the hands of the Premiership champions Harlequins FC last weekend. This is the view that has been shared by The Tigers centre Anthony Allen, who admitted that although the whole team was in shock, they know what they need to know to get back to winning ways when they face the Exeter Chiefs next weekend.

The Tigers lost their first match at home at Welford Road when the champions thrashed them last Sunday in almost 12 months to cement their place at the top of the table whereas the defeat saw The Tigers slide down the table to fourth. These were the two sides that had met in the final of the Premiership playoffs just a few months back and with very little personnel changes taking place, it was expected that the match would be a very even one, like the final.