Rory Keane

Clayton McMillan's injury-ravaged squad are literally limping to the end of this season. A point emphasised by last weekend's dour display in Galway.

The upswing in this team's fortunes in such a short space of time has been startling. When Bemand arrived as Ireland's new coach in 2023, he inherited a squad

Ciaran Fraw­ley’s second-half cameo was one of the few glim­mers of light on a dark day for Leo Cul­lens’ side, however.

Last week­end’s events in a heav­ing Bil­bao con­firmed one major fact: French rugby is rid­ing the crest of a wave at the moment. At all levels.

Again, the World Cup is the major acid test for this squad. We're looking at 40 years of hurt when the big one kicks off Down Under.

Before we know it, the 2027 Six Nations will be upon us and then it's full steam ahead for the big one in Australia... the World Cup and the bid to end 40 years of failure.

Leinster don’t have to look too far back for inspir­a­tion ahead of their URC title defence this even­ing. Twelve months ago, the Bulls rocked up..

There's two ways at look­ing at this 36-player Ireland squad selec­tion ahead of next month’s tour of Aus­tralia and New Zea­l­and.

'A tectonic shift in global sport is coming,' was the opening line in a visual production which dialled up the hype to 11. A big claim.

IT'S just under 16 months until the 2027 World Cup in Australia, and Ireland head coach Andy Farrell still appears to be none the wiser when it comes to the identity of his first-choice out-half.