A Devastating Shake-Up: Ireland VS England

Reporter: Damien Burke

Copyright: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

On the 9^th of March, fresh off their back-to-back victories, Ireland faced England in Twickenham stadium. What many expected to be a routine win rapidly turned to shock and crushing disappointment at the blow of the final whistle. 

The game started off and Ireland piled on the pressure in the early moments and had already gotten a penalty and Crowley converted it in the third minute, but England responded even better when Lowe miss hit a kick and Lawrence went on to score a try a minute later to put them up by 2, luckily for Ireland the conversion was missed to keep it at two points down. After 16 minutes England won and scored a penalty with Ford slotting it home nicely. Ireland got three penalties of their own to make it 12-8 in favor of Ireland at half time.  

Initially, all signs pointed to a strong Irish side. Andy Farrell only made one change to the lineup that beat Wales in the previous round, with Hugo Keenen recovering from his injury to come back in at full back instead of Frawley. On the contrary, England manager Stephen William Borthwick made six changes to the lineup that had lost to Scotland in the previous round. It was clear that England were coming in fighting.

By the second half, Ireland had piled the pressure on and been rewarded after 3 minutes with a well worked try finished off by James Lowe. Crowley couldn’t score this time, so it remained at 17-8 after 43 minutes. England responded well with a second try for them scored by Furbank after another well worked move and brought it back 13-17. With Peter O’Mahoney getting yellow-carded England took full advantage of it and got their third try with Earl getting over the try line on the 60^th minute mark.

Marcus Smith smoothly converted the conversion to leave it at 20-17 going into the final few minutes. But Ireland came back, and James Lowe got his second try to put Ireland up by 2 with 8 minutes to go. Crowley missed another shot to leave a shaky scoreline for the last few seconds. Then, shock and disbelief. England vaulted into high-gear, and with an advantage Marcus Smith got a drop kick to win the game for England with just seconds to go.

Overall, a disappointing result and performance from Ireland with Defense Coach saying it was a “poor display”. Ireland’s Grand Slam dreams may have been crushed, but you still can take nothing away from the England outing with a much-improved performance for their third-win of the ongoing clash.

Six Nations: Italy VS Scotland

Reporter: Jan Palacz

Italy has beaten Scotland in a thriller match that put the Azzuri in the history books with their first six nations beating Scotland for the first time in 9 years.  

The son of Australian great Michael Lynagh who was born in Italy, with his try and a complementary one from Ignacio Brex the managed to come back from a 22-16 score at half time, the Italian side has been greatly improved since put under the guidance of Gonzala Quesada.

Scotland were the better team in the opening half scoring tries through props Zander Fagerson and Pierre Schoeman and winger Kyle Stern also adding to the score line. With the score adding up to 22-10, just after half time Italy kick over two penalties to put it to 22-16. In quick succesion after those penalties, Louis Lynagh gets on the end a beautiful grubber kick from Paolo Garbisi to score in the corner to put the match to just one point in it, due to a conversion being missed.  

All to the Italians delight Stephen Varney puts the Italians ahead for the second time in the game with a beautiful dummy on the five meter line to slip between two Scottish forwards. Scotland try to Salvage the game in the 78^th minute but it just wasnt enough to rattle The Azzuri with the match ending 31-29 with an outburst of emotions with a full home stadium (A first this season), in their first home win since 2013.  

On the contrary Scotland have a big task next week to try to beat Ireland and make them lose the title. Come back next Wednesday for more news and that highly-anticipated clash of titans. 

Leinster Senior Cup: Gonzaga College –34 vs Belvedere College –33

Reporter: Jan Palacz

Aidan O’Flanagan and Daragh O’Dwyer were heroes at Energia Park when Gonzaga College snatched victory right from Belvedere’s doorstep in injury time in an energetic Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter final. 

Gonzaga made the dream start as fly half O’Dwyer pounced down a clearance from his opposing number Hugh Fitzgerald with a quick try that he also converted but blows were quickly struck back from Belvedere No.8 Harry Goslin with another Converted try. 

There proved to be very little in between the teams as with 8 minutes left in the opening sequence the score was level at 12-12. However, Belvedere lost their winger to the sin bin right before half time following Gonzaga taking advantage of the loss with a try from Gonzaga Hooker Luke Mcloughlin in the 39^th minute (with a heroic effort to knock the conversion over). An O’Dwyer penalty kick then put the South Dubliners in front by 10 at the start of the second period even though belvo struck back with a try from their loosehead prob Eoin Mcdermott with a conversion knocked over by Andre Ryan. In the third quarter of the half McLoughlin’s second score of the half kept Gonzaga very much in charge of the game.  

This Belvo side has already come back from losses in this Senior Cup, so they were ready to pounce back with McCanns clinical finishes in both the 64^th and 66^th minutes. Yet Gonzaga weren’t going to bring an end to their story that quickly as that which showed with the impressive duo of O’Flanagan and O’Dwyer to ultimately lock in Gonzagas place in the penultimate round to finish the game 34-33 with Gonzaga progressing to the semifinal of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup. 

Champions of Leinster: Banagher College Prevails

Reporters: Darragh Staunton, Jan Palacz and John Gohery

Banagher College travelled to Rosenallis to face Heywood in an action-packed Leinster B Hurling Final. Conditions were tough with an extraordinarily strong wind going down the pitch which Banagher played right into for the first half. As well as the wind, the pitch was very wet and soggy.  It was a rough battle from the very start.

The Banagher college team lined out as follows: Eanna Mulhare (St Rynagh’s); Eric Rigney (St Rynagh’s), Ruairi Kelly (Lusmagh), Daire Daly (St Rynagh’s); Lee Hogan (Lorrha), Mark Kilkenny (Kiltormer), Robert Duffy (Lorrha); Luke Bowe (Lusmagh), Paul Cannon (St Rynagh’s); Harry Grant (St Rynagh’s), Ricky Fitzsimons (Birr), Niall Flannery (St Rynagh’s); Shane Rigney (St Rynagh’s), Aaron Molloy (St Rynagh’s), Darragh Scully (St Rynagh’s). 

Banagher College had a slow start at first, as Heywood went 2 points up from the first few minutes of the game. Aaron Molloy opened the scoring for Banagher with two quick points. As the game went on it was tit for tat until Heywood managed to snatch the first goal of the match in the 25^th minute of the game. They quickly followed with the second goal in the 26^th minute, giving them a 3 point lead. At half time, the scores stood at Heywood 2-08 to 0-10 Banagher. The Banagher side was full of anxiety and a hope that could not be extinguished.

This hope manifested at start of the second half, as Shane Rigney earned Banagher a beautiful point from the 65 followed by three more unanswered points from Banagher. In the 21^st minute roars erupted as Aaron Molloy got Banagher’s first goal of the game. As Darragh Scully’s shot was blocked, Aaron had come in and pulled on the rebound. Heywood replied swiftly with a goal just a few moments after. Heywood had a chance to win the game with a free at the 45 as there free taker was pretty consistent. It was Banagher thought that was the match. It was nearly all over.

All until a Banagher free hit the right side of the post going wide. At full time the score stood 1-19 to Banagher, 3-13 to Heywood. The two teams were heading into tense extra time.  

Shane Rigney opened up the scoring for Banagher in the 1^st minute of extra time. In the 5^th minute Heywood would get their first red card of the game. At the end of the half the score was 2-23 to Banagher, 3-15 to Heywood Banagher with a five point lead. Niall Flannery wasted no time scoring for Banagher  just seconds into the second half of extra time. Followed by Darragh Scully. Heywood would then go on to get their second red card of the game as the atmosphere continued to erupt. Banagher took control of the game of the game tipping over points.

Until the worst possible thing happened, Shane Rigney Banagher’s captain, got a very soft red card as did a Heywood player. Banagher still held out to get the win. The match ended Heywood 4-15 to 2-27 to Banagher with Banagher to go to the All Ireland Semi-Final.   It was an unforgettable day for the Senior team and a hard-fought victory.

Sports Recap: Arsenal VS Liverpool

Reporter: Evan Connolly

Mikel Arteta and his formidable Arsenal squad walked away with a massive win against Liverpool last night, in what was an action-packed game that our lads dominated the entirety of. This has put us in prime position to challenge for the title after beating the league leaders and bringing us within 2 points of the top spot. A win that we all needed and were hoping to see. 

Arsenal started the game on fire, looking confident and eager to go, pressing hard and fast and were looking in control from the whistle, linking up well and creating chances early and it did not take long for Arsenal to break through the Liverpool defence and get in front. Martin Odegaard made a lovely through ball onto the run of Havertz, Havertz took a shot from just outside the box that was saved by Allisson but only knocked out into the feet of Saka who made no mistake but to bury the ball into the back on the Liverpool net and put Arsenal up 1-0 after just 13 minutes. The stadium was absolutely electric, and Arsenal wanted to keep it like that.

Arsenal played a great first half, only to unluckily concede an own goal just before the break. But it was not the end – Arsenal came out and started the second half off strong. Arsenal had been well-aware this was going to be a hard team against a Liverpool side, a team that has been on fire and sitting comfortably at the top of the league. But Arsenal prevailed in the end.

It was a great game with two great sides, let’s just hope Arsenal can keep it going.

Ireland Triumphs In Six Nations Return

Reporter: Damien Burke

Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho/Shutterstock

The opener of the 2024 six nations campaign kicked off in Marseille on Friday the second of February. The game had lots of interest even before the teams were announced as many saw it as the biggest six nations game between the two heavyweights of the competition and whoever won could go and win the Grand slam. 

Andy Farrell named a strong yet young team to play France with first starts for Joe McCarthy, Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash. Many people were speculating into how Jack Crowley would perform as the successor for the great Johnny Sexton. His start made him only the sixth fly-half to start the six nations opener for Ireland this century. Another notable inclusion was the new Irish captain Peter O’Mahoney starting in the 6.

Fabien Galthié named a powerful team for France, but the most notable absence was Antoinne Dupont who is missing the Six Nations to play for Frances’s Sevens’ team for their Rugby Seven series. Without their star player, many wondered how good really is a Dupont-less France. 

The match kicked off at 8 o clock and even in the early stages, spectators knew it was to be a fiery encounter between the world number two and four. It only took seven minutes for Jack Crowley to settle his nerves, converting a penalty to open the scoring. Just less than two minutes in, France’s Paul Willemse got yellow carded for a high tackle with it still being checked by TMO to see if they should upgrade the decision.

With France still down to 14 men Ireland finally broke through the France line to score the first try of the game from the scrumhalf Gibson-Park. The difference was brought to 10 after Crowley calmly slotted over the conversion. With France back to 15 Thomas Ramos scored their first points of the game with penalty after 26 minutes to cut the score to only one score to level it. Ireland only 3 minutes later restored their two-score lead with another try from Tadgh Beirne and conversion from Crowley.

There was added drama when the TMO called the referee to view a potential red card offense with another high tackle from Willemse again, the referee gave his second yellow card to Willemse to send him off and leave France with 14 men for the rest of the game. With just ten seconds remaining France finally broke through the Ireland’s stalwart defence to score their first try of the game by Damian Penaud, with Thomas Ramos converting his conversion. The second half began as the first half ended with more domination from Ireland in Marseille with Irelands debutant Calvin Nash scoring a try in the 45^th minute and Jack Crowley adding another 2 points with a very good conversion from the corner. In the 52^nd minute France scored their second and final try of the match with Paul Gabrillagues just about getting the ball over the line. TMO got involved in the situation and Ireland captain Peter O’Mahoney getting yellow carded for the breakdown of the scrum before the try was scored.

Thomas Ramos continued his consistent kicking converting the conversion to make it a 17-24 in favour of Ireland. A few minutes later Dan Sheahan broke free from a maul and scored the 6^th try of the match to also give Ireland the bonus point. Jack Crowley got his 4^th conversion of the night to give Ireland a 14-point advantage with 17 minutes to go. Ireland capped off their impressive display with a fifth and final try in the 77^th minute when Irelands maul got through Frances defence and Ronan Kelleher grounded the ball to leave travelling Irish supporters going home a happy crowd. 

The final score finished 38-17 making it Irelands greatest ever result in France. Joe McCarthy was named man of the match and really showed how Irelands youth are coming through well and making a nice future team before the 2027 World Cup. This stellar win means if Ireland can win the Grand Slam, they could become the first team in Six Nations illustrious history to win back-to-back grand slams.  

Only time will tell how their story unfolds.

Banagher Prevail in Leinster Campaign

Reporter: Darragh Staunton & John Gohery

Banagher College 4-20 – 0-12 Ard Scoil Ris. 

Banagher took to Raharney on a cold frosty Monday morning to take on Ardscoil Ris in the Leinster B Hurling quarter final. Banagher eased to victory in the end showing plenty of tremendous skill and work rate throughout the game. Ardscoil Ris will be extremely disappointed with the amount of wides that they struck but this was mainly due to the pressure applied by the Banagher backs.  

The game started with a remarkably high tempo from the Dublin team, scoring 3 points without reply before Shane Rigney settled Banagher into the game slotting a long range free. Seconds later Shane Rigney ran straight through the middle of Arscoil Ris’s defense and forced an excellent save from the Dublin keeper. Banagher went 4 points without a reply and took control of the game helped by scores from Darragh Scully, Niall Flannery and Ricky Fitzsimons. Aaron Molloy fired a goal in the 20^th minute to give us a 5-point lead. The scores stayed flying over for the Banagher team and they were up by 7-points at half time. 

After half time they stayed on pace. Ricky Fitzsimons added to his tally with the opening two scores of his half. Aaron Molloy got his second goal of the game followed quickly by points from Darragh Scully and Shane Rigney. The backs stayed strong throughout the second half with only 3 points from play in the second half. Lee Hogan and Mark Kilkenny swept up a lot of ball in the half back line. Goals followed from Shane Rigney, and a one-handed effort rattled the back of the net from Darragh Scully. Liam Donoghue Scored the last point of the game to wrap up an easy win. 

Team: 1. Eanna Mulhare 2. Eric Rigney 3. Ruairi Kelly 4. Daire Daly  5. Rob Duffy 6. Mark Kilkenny 7. Lee Hogan 8. Luke Bowe (0-1) 9. Paul Cannon 10. Harry Grant 11. Aaron Molloy (2-1)12. Niall Flannery (0-1)13. Shane Rigney (1-8) 14. Ricky Fitzsimons (0-5) 15. Darragh Scully (1-3) Subs: Liam Donoghue (0-1) 

Man of the match: There was many contenders for man of the match. Ricky Fitzsimons and Aaron Molloy both contributes to the huge scoring while Lee Hogan and Mark also have a shout in the half back line, but our man of the match goes to … Shane Rigney. It was always going to be Shane scoring a tremendous (1-8) 

What’s next: Banagher College will play Birr Community School in the Leinster Semi Final this Saturday. 

Marching On: Offaly Combined Schools

Reporter: Darragh Staunton

Offaly combined Schools 2-14 – St. Peter’s College 0-10 

Offaly schools are marching on in the Leinster A Senior hurling championship, when they eased to a win against St. Peter’s College Wexford. The match was played in Wexford territory in icy-cold conditions on Monday morning. Offaly saw the game out by 10 points after having a comfortable 3-point advantage against the wind at half time. 

Offaly’s first goal came from a run and a handpass by James Liffey in the 28th minute, with center-forward Cathal Robinson finding the net with a clever overhead flick from the edge of a crowded square. Most of Offaly’s points came from frees from Liam O Riordan which is to be expected in the mid-January conditions. Banagher’s Darragh Scully got 2 points of his own and Shane Rigney and Ruairi Kelly both started on the team. Eoin O’Bailey scored Offaly’s second goal of the match assisted again by James Liffey. 

The team lined out as follows; 

Offaly Schools: Liam Hoare (Carrig and Riverstown, 0-2 frees); Caelum Larkin (Carrig and Riverstown), Ruairí Kelly (Lusmagh), Conor Taylor (Clara); Conor Grennan (Belmont), Marc Ryan (Coolderry), Ajay Cleary (Coolderry); Niall Furlong (Tullamore), Cillian Bourke (Tullamore); Shane Rigney (St. Rynagh’s), Cathal Robinson (Kinnitty, 1-1), Liam O’Riordan (Ballyskenagh/Killavilla, 0-7, 6 frees); Darragh Scully (St. Rynagh’s, 0-2), Eoin Bailey-O’Brien (Shinrone, 1-1), James Liffey (Shinrone, 0-1).   

What’s Next? 

Offaly advance to the Leinster semi-final and will be looking to repeat the success of last year’s team. 

A Tale of Two Captains: World Cup Wrap-Up

Reporter: Sean Lyons

No one has ever won four Men’s Rugby World Cup titles. And, even on a soggy Parisian evening, this really did have the feel of a truly momentous occasion. South Africa have successfully defended their crown.

What an epic, seesawing contest it was. It will be remembered as a tale of two captains. When Siya Kolisi, South Africa’s first black rugby captain, hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup aloft in Japan four years ago it was one of the sport’s most memorable images and now, for every Springbok supporter, there is a glorious sense of deja vu. For his All-Black counterpart, Sam Cane, in contrast, it turned out to be the darkest of nights. 

The Springboks, with Handré Pollard kicking superbly and the all-action Pieter-Steph du Toit reproducing the form that made him world player of the year in 2019. In the event, it was South African single-mindedness that once again proved decisive. Incredibly they won all three of their knockout games by a single point, making light of all manners of adversity. 

As I said in my last report, my prediction for this exciting final was almost bang-on. New Zealand controlled the game, until South Africa started bringing in their subs. South Africa did not dominate as much as I thought, but the subs was definitely a turning point in the match.

It Wasn’t To Be: Rugby World Cup Recap

Reporter: Sean Lyons

It is once again time to look back at the Rugby World Cup, where there was heartbreak for Ireland and France who both thought that this year might finally be their time. Regardless of the outcome, the Ireland VS New Zealand battle that we witnessed last Saturday was thrilling from start to finish, and Ireland have undoubtedly went out on a high.

This was a World Cup to remember where we had many shocks through out the whole tournament with the likes of Fiji making it out of their group instead of Australia who had a shock exit. Teams that impressed me in particular were Uruguay and Portugal who recorded their first ever RWC win and Uruguay played well in their games against France and Italy.

Onto the semi finals from last week, where we had a very tight encounter between South Africa and England. South Africa came out the victors, but by a very tight margin. In the other semi final, it was more of a one-sided affair, with a successful New Zealand win of 44-6 against Argentina.

As a result, the world watches as South Africa and New Zealand now head into Saturday’s showpiece occasion in Saint-Denis as the leading teams in the world. The final of Rugby World Cup 2023 promises to be a seismic encounter on so many levels.

My personal prediction for the final is going to have be South Africa. I think the subs their going to bring is going to change the whole match. I expect New Zealand are going to control the game, until South Africa start bringing in their subs. After this, I predict South Africa will dominate the scrum and end up winning the game.