Month: November 2022

THE SIX NATIONS is the best attended sporting event in the world according to a new report commissioned by Uefa. The report from European football’s governing body found that an average of 72,000 people attended Six Nations matches in 2015 — a competition won by Ireland –compared to 68,400 in the NFL that year and…

UNFORTUNATELY FOR ULSTER flanker Sean Reidy during this week’s media briefing, he has to repeat one word that has consistently eluded Ulster’s grasp this season. “Clinical.” It’s something Ulster have not been for the past few weeks. At home to Connacht they were turned over on several occasions in key areas. Away to Leinster they…

Updated 8.47pm IN MY FIRST column, I wrote about the pressure we feel from external forces, outlining three techniques to manage and harness this felt pressure. In this piece, we look at the kind of pressure that is self created – internally produced psychological pressure – and the related chemical processes that can produce negative side effects. Here,…

IT’S EASY TO forget how far Rory O’Loughlin has come in a relatively short period of time. In a season of breakthroughs and outstanding performances at Leinster, his rise has been the story of the year. As O’Loughlin presents himself for media duty at the province’s UCD headquarters, he does so in a hoody with…

Conor Murray tackled by Josh Strauss last weekend. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO CONOR MURRAY HAS turned the heat ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations opener against Scotland by claiming that Glasgow Warriors deliberately targeted him last weekend. And the Irish scrum-half said he is lucky not to have suffered a serious injury after, he says, Glasgow targeted…

CONNACHT CAPTAIN JOHN Muldoon says he is ‘honoured’ to sign on for a 15th year with the province and that his experience will be crucial at the Sportsground next year after Pat Lam’s departure. Yesterday Connacht announced that Muldoon had signed a new one-year contract extension at the Sportsground, but he says Lam’s decision to…