Ireland international Iain Henderson. Source: Inpho/Billy Stickland ULSTER HAVE BEEN boosted by the return of Iain Henderson and Will Addison for tomorrow’s Heineken European Champions Cup away game against Scarlets (7.45pm, live on BT Sport). The pair haven’t featured for the province since Ireland’s November Tests but are named in the side along with international…
EXETER CHIEFS ENDED Saracens’ 22-match unbeaten run win a 31-13 bonus-point victory to replace the champions at the top of the Premiership and Leicester Tigers halted their eight-match losing streak. Sarries had not been beaten since Leinster dumped them out of last season’s Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage in April, but they finally came…
WHAT WAS YOUR most memorable Irish sporting moment from the past year? In one annual survey, Johnny Sexton’s winning drop goal in the Six Nations clash against France in February has come out on top. Johnny Sexton kicks the winning drop goal in Paris. Source: James Crombie/INPHO The score received 31% of the vote in…
KYLE MCCALL WILL seek the advice of a surgeon this week as he faces another extended period on the sidelines after sustaining a ‘significant’ hamstring injury against Leinster last weekend. The Ulster prop, only just back from a three-month lay-off, suffered the injury during the second half of the northern province’s heavy Pro14 defeat at…
TEDDY THOMAS CAME off injured for Racing 92 in their Top 14 win over Toulon just days ahead of France’s Six Nations squad being announced and his side’s crucial Champions Cup trip to face Ulster next weekend. Wing Thomas had been out for five weeks due to a thigh injury suffered during the November internationals. He…
JAMES LOWE BOUNCED into the press room after training on a wet, dirty day at the RDS. ‘Phew! Some craic out there,” he says with a fresh dry t-shirt that is at odds with the freezing air within the old walls. He’s so close to his first competitive rugby of 2019 he can taste it. The…
JOE SCHMIDT’S IRELAND will jet out to Portugal for a pre-Six Nations training camp, after the success of last year’s venture to Spain. 2018 was the first time Schmidt had opted to bring his squad abroad in the build-up to the Six Nations and, though Ireland were unfortunately met with some rain, the trip proved…
MUNSTER RETURNED TO the top of Conference A of the Guinness PRO14 with an 8-7 victory over the Dragons at a rain-lashed Rodney Parade. Johan van Graan’s side have been on a fine run of form since their defeat to Ulster before Christmas, but they were given a real scare in Newport as they won…
NO MATTER HIS surroundings, or the Ulster logo emblazoned on his new regalia, Jonny Petrie ends his first media briefing with a reminder that he remains “a proud Scotsman” who will be cheering for the home team this weekend. It’s a jaunty, jovial finish to what has been an intriguing 40 minutes sitting down with…
ROB KEARNEY IS among the most popular men in Ireland’s squad this morning and it’s not just because his backfield cover is strong. The experienced fullback gifted a set of wireless headphones to all of his team-mates yesterday evening and it’s fair to say his efforts went down well in Carton House. It remains to…