Updated Six Nations Championship Odds Piece: Gambling.com – March 11 2025

Posted on March 12, 2025 by admin

Six Nations Betting: France Now Red Hot Favourites To Secure Title

By Daire Walsh

Following another weekend of explosive action in the tournament, betting sites for rugby union have significantly re-examined who they believe to be the favourites to win this year’s Six Nations Championship.

Coming into round four as the only side who were still capable of claiming a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2025, Ireland were full of spirit for the visit of France to the Aviva Stadium.

Earlier victories against England, Scotland and Wales had helped them to get their hands on a Triple Crown for the third time in four seasons, and the Green Army were also very much in the reckoning for a clean sweep of championship honours.

France Pull Off Massive Win Over Ireland

It was looking good for Ireland when a converted Dan Sheehan try edged them into a 13-8 lead in the early stages of the second half, but even though France lost their talisman Antoine Dupont to injury before the interval, they proceeded to run riot with 34 unanswered points.

24 of this tally was accumulated in the space of just 12 minutes, meaning that late scores from Cian Healy and Jack Conan only served as mere consolations in the end for Ireland – who fell to a 42-27 loss.

At Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh later in the same day, Wales finished the contest with their own haul of 21 points.

Yet this wasn’t enough to earn them a first win in this tournament since March 2023 as a brace of tries from both Blair Kinghorn and Will Jordan proved pivotal in earning their opponents Scotland a 35-29 triumph.

At Twickenham Stadium in London on Sunday, Italy caused England a number of headaches in attack before eventually being overpowered by Steve Borthwick’s side.

An Ollie Sleightholme double was surrounded by tries for five different players to leave the English with 23 points to spare (47-24) over the Azzurri.

All of the above means that, moving into the Championship’s final round this weekend, France are currently leading the way with 16 points.

Having recovered from an opening round defeat to Ireland with three straight wins, England are now just a single point behind Les Bleus on 15.

Remarkably, Ireland have now dropped to third place on 14 points, one position and three points better off than Celtic rivals Scotland.

Towards the foot of the table, Italy are one point ahead of Wales in fifth – albeit both teams’ title ambitions evaporated quite some time ago.

France The New Favourites For Six Nations Glory

Before last weekend’s fare, France were second favourites to win the current edition of the Six Nations with the odds available on Fabien Galthie’s charges being somewhere in the region of 7/4.

Following their devastating performance in Dublin on Saturday, this has now completely changed.

At the time of writing, the French have been installed as virtually unbackable favourites for Six Nations glory at 1/12.

Considering all they need to do is beat Scotland in Stade de France this Saturday night to earn their first Championship crown since 2022 – a bonus point isn’t a necessity for Les Bleus – it is easy to see why betting apps are now so convinced that France have what it takes to climb the podium once again.

England Keep Themselves In The Mix

However, they will still need to get the job done on the field of play, particularly as a couple of other teams are hoping to put as much pressure on the French as possible.

Although their style of play has come under intense scrutiny for quite some time, England did overcome France in the second round of the tournament and have kept their hopes of bridging a five-year gap to their last Six Nations success alive heading into the final round.

Ahead of their early Saturday evening trip to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for a showdown with Wales, the odds on England usurping France to the Championship are rated somewhere between 7/1 and 10/1 by most bookmakers.

Yet Ladbrokes are offering 6/1 on Borthwick securing his first Six Nations as England head coach and you can be sure his troops will fight tooth and nail for every point in Saturday’s game.

A Third Successive Championship Now Looks Less Likely For Ireland

At odds of 4/6, Ireland were very much the front runners to win a third consecutive Six Nations title this time last week.

Their 15-point defeat to France has come as a massive set-back, however, and the defending champions are now just third favourites for the Championship – stretching out as far as 25/1 with some rugby betting sites.

Some bookmakers have them at the shorter odds of 16/1, but due to their failure to gain a bonus point against France (and to allow England to come away with a losing bonus from their meeting in the Aviva at the beginning on February), Simon Easterby’s outfit might be forced to settle for third spot in the final standings.

Even if they did manage to claim a bonus point win against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday, it would pretty much be in vain if France had a victory of any description over Scotland.

The confidence of the Irish players will have been dented in the wake of the French game and while a Championship crown might be out of reach at this stage, it will be interesting to see what the response is from the Caelan Doris-led Irish in the Italian capital.

Scotland Technically Still In Contention, But Are Rank Outsiders

Because there are only five points separating them from table-toppers France, there is still an outside chance that Scotland could win the Six Nations Championship for the first time – they previously won the final edition of the Five Nations in 1999.

Yet this would require them to earn a bonus point victory of more than 53 points against France, as well as restricting Les Bleus to less than four tries, while also getting favours from Wales and Italy in their games on Saturday.

This all seems unlikely and this is reflected in the fact that odds of 375/1 on a Six Nations triumph are one of the more favourable options on Scotland within the betting world.

Posted in International Rugby | Comments Off on Updated Six Nations Championship Odds Piece: Gambling.com – March 11 2025

Post-Match Reaction: SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division – Frank Kelleher – The Evening Echo – March 11 2025

Posted on March 12, 2025 by admin

City boss sees signs of encouragement in loss to Peamount United

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Daire Walsh

Despite being disappointed at coming away empty handed from the contest, Cork City manager Frank Kelleher believes there were a number of encouraging signs from his team’s opening day defeat to Peamount United in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division last Saturday.

Courtesy of early goals from Ellen Dolan and Rebecca Watkins, Peamount secured a 2-0 victory against the Leesiders at Greenogue Park.

Yet following a difficult start to the action, City gradually grew into the game and created a number of scoring opportunities.

However, former City goalkeeper Amanda Budden was in fine form for the hosts and the visitors ultimately couldn’t force their way back into contention.

The Cork native’s point blank save from Ciara McNamara just past the half-hour mark was particularly eye-catching, but even though a goal eluded them on the day, Kelleher was able to glean a number of positives from their trip to Newcastle.

“If I’m very honest, disappointed. I think after 15 minutes we settled into the game, we restricted them to a few chances. I thought we matched them in every department, except for Amanda Budden.

“She’s a top keeper and she made three absolutely brilliant saves. If you get back in 2-1, it’s a different game,” Kelleher remarked after Saturday’s game.

“That’s our mentality this year, to fight to the bitter end. That’s what we did. I think the girls gave absolutely everything and it’s first game of the season.

“It’s a long season ahead, but what I saw today, I’m hugely encouraged with because there’s definitely spirit.

“There’s definitely hard work and there is definitely intensity in this group. I think that’s the important thing for me going forward with this team.”

Saturday’s game was a significant one for Kelleher as it was the first competitive outing of his second stint in charge of the Cork City women’s team.

During his original spell at the helm – 2015 to 2018 – he guided the club to an historic triumph in the 2017 Women’s FAI Cup final.

Although the playing personnel has changed significantly in the intervening years, Ciara McNamara and Christina Dring remain in the City set-up after featuring against DLR Waves in that showpiece decider.

There are others who have broken through in more recent times to become established starters in this Cork side and Kelleher hailed one such player after she reached a major milestone last Saturday.

“Ciara McNamara has over 200 appearances with this club, Christina Dring has over 100 appearances.

“Eva Mangan made her 100th appearance today with us. We congratulate her. She’s a top quality footballer.

“She’s in the Irish senior set-up, so she’s a very important player for us,” Kelleher added.

Posted in League Of Ireland, Women's Soccer | Comments Off on Post-Match Reaction: SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division – Frank Kelleher – The Evening Echo – March 11 2025

Women’s Premier Division: Peamount United V Cork City – The Evening Echo – March 10 2025

Posted on March 10, 2025 by admin

Early goals count against Cork City in Peamount clash

Disappointment for Frank Kelleher’s side in the league opener

DAIRE WALSH

Peamount 2 Cork City 0

Early goals from Ellen Dolan and Rebecca Watkins made all the difference at Greenogue Park on Saturday evening as Cork City kick-started their SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division campaign for 2025 with a two-goal defeat to Peamount United.

City had found themselves under pressure from the very early moments of this contest and the deadlock was ultimately broken by their Dublin counterparts on the stroke of 10 minutes. After Jess Fitzgerald had enticingly delivered a corner from the right wing into the opposition box, Dolan was on hand to expertly side-foot beyond the reach of City netminder Una Doyle.

Peamount’s tails were now up as a result of this well-crafted opener and the hosts doubled their lead just four minutes later when a Watkins shot at a right-hand angle squeezed through the fingertips of Doyle onto its way into the back of the net.

Now back under the management of Frank Kelleher, City were already left with a mountain to climb in this game. Yet the visitors persevered with their challenge and Dring was unfortunate to see her goal-bound header off a Cork corner being cleared off the line by Peamount defender Mary Phillips.

Ex-City netminder Amanda Budden was between the sticks for the home team and she produced a superb point-blank stop from her former team-mate Ciara McNamara just past the half-hour mark.

The fact that they were creating these opportunities would have offered plenty of encouragement to Kelleher and his coaching staff, but City ultimately still trailed 2-0 at the interval.

While Doyle did save a close-range shot from Peamount substitute Antea Guvo five minutes into the second half, City continued to hold their own in the general run of play. The introduction of Aoibhin Donnelly and Cathranne Fitzgerald added fresh impetus to their game, while Eva Mangan (on her 100th appearance for City) was also exerting a strong influence around the middle third.

Another clearance off the line kept Peamount’s two-goal cushion intact moving into the final quarter before Donnelly also lashed over from long-range. Donnelly subsequently fired marginally off-target from a late effort on the right-hand side, but Cork native Budden was determined to keep a clean sheet against her old club.

Although Cork fell to an opening day defeat in the end, there were enough positives over the course of the whole game to suggest that they can get something out of their first home league encounter of the season against Sligo Rovers next weekend.

PEAMOUNT UNITED: Amanda Budden; Lauryn O’Callaghan, Mary Phillips, Abby Tuthill (Neala Byrne 92), Chloe Moloney; Ciara Maher (Sorcha Melia half-time), Jess Fitzgerald; Rebecca Watkins (Ruby Gallagher 77), Sadhbh Doyle (Antea Guvo half-time), Freya Healy; Ellen Dolan.

CORK CITY: Una Doyle; Ciara Fitzpatrick, Ciara McNamara, Niamh Cotter, Heidi Mackin; Fiana Bradley (Ellie O’Brien 67), Heidi O’Sullivan (Aoibhin Donnelly 60), Kiera Sena, Shaunagh McCarthy; Eva Mangan, Christina Dring (Cathranne Fitzgerald 60).

Referee: Claire Purcell (Waterford).

Posted in League Of Ireland, Women's Soccer | Comments Off on Women’s Premier Division: Peamount United V Cork City – The Evening Echo – March 10 2025

The Big Interview: Lauren McGregor (Waterford/Dungarvan) – Media West Ireland – March 8 2025

Posted on March 10, 2025 by admin

Waterford’s Lauren McGregor is hopeful the team can push on in 2025

‘We took our chances on Sunday and hopefully we can just keep going on from there now’

Daire Walsh

Following a run of games that saw them coming close to claiming the scalps of some of the top teams in the land, things really came together for Lauren McGregor and the Waterford footballers last weekend.

After recording an opening round victory over a newly-promoted Kildare in Division 1 of this year’s Lidl National Football League, the Deise fell to a three-point defeat at the hands of reigning TG4 All-Ireland senior football champions Kerry in Carriganore on February 3rd.

Six days later in Pairc Tailteann, Navan, the Munster outfit finished a single point adrift (2-11 to 1-13) of Meath – back-to-back winners of the Brendan Martin Cup in 2021 and 2022.

While a draw with Dublin – who secured the All-Ireland senior championship as recently as 2023 – at Parnell Park on February 23rd put them on four points from as many games, the Deise were nevertheless seeking a return to winning ways when they faced Tyrone in Aghyaran last weekend.

This is something the visitors managed with considerable aplomb as an outstanding 3-2 haul from McGregor propelled them towards a 6-15 to 0-6 triumph.

“We definitely did believe that performance was there for us and it was just waiting to come. We were slow to start against Meath and they were on top of us at half-time. We just had to claw it back, but we didn’t get enough in the end,” McGregor said.

“The same against Dublin. We went ahead, but we just couldn’t finish out the game. There was definitely more in us. We haven’t really been getting goals the last few games. We took our chances on Sunday and hopefully we can just keep going on from there now.”

Having played their opening five games of the year in the space of just six weeks, Waterford will have an extended break before facing Armagh on home soil a fortnight from now (March 22nd).

The defending NFL Division 1 champions, Armagh are flying high at the moment with five successive wins leaving them requiring just a single point from the final two rounds to book another top-tier final spot.

Meanwhile, last Sunday’s win over Tyrone leaves Waterford in fourth place in the table – four points clear of the relegation zone and five points adrift of the top-two.

Considering a number of their squad are set to be in college action over the next week or so, McGregor (who has represented both University of Limerick and University of Galway in the O’Connor Cup) feels the Deise County will benefit from having a longer lead-in to the Armagh game.

“It will do us the world of good, especially to get ready for the game against Armagh. They look brilliant at the moment. They’re very good, so it will be a good challenge for us now after the Tyrone game. We’re looking forward to playing them.

“We’ll train through it [the break]. We’ll get a weekend off this weekend and just give girls a bit of a break from travelling as well, but we’ll be back then the Tuesday night.

“Everyone together and obviously then next weekend the girls are playing with the college. We’ll be missing a good few of them for the weekend, but there will be plenty of us there to keep something going over that weekend.”

Now one of the more experienced players in the set-up, McGregor first joined the Waterford panel while still a teenager in 2014.

Although she featured in the early stages of their 2015 inter-county season, the Dungarvan attacker had left the panel by the time Waterford claimed the TG4 All-Ireland intermediate football championship title in late September of that year.

Yet she subsequently returned to play a part in Waterford’s Lidl National Football League Division 3 success in 2016 and was also a member of the squad that triumphed in Division 2 of the NFL three years later.

In addition to retaining their top-tier league status since gaining promotion for the 2020 season, the Deise have also remained in the All-Ireland senior championship in the decade that has followed that intermediate triumph.

“I was up in the stand watching the 2015 intermediate final. It was brilliant. I played up until my Leaving Cert that year and I actually just dropped off around the Leaving Cert, because I found it too much. It was brilliant for them to get up to senior that year then and we’ve been going strong ever since.

“I know we’ve been relegation [play-offs] a couple of times, but we do think we can actually get further now. Last year we were in a quarter-final. We had a lot of girls injured and Kellyann [Hogan] went to America for the summer, but we’ve a lot of girls back now this year, which is brilliant as well.”

After not playing inter-county football in the previous two seasons, McGregor returned to the Waterford panel in 2022 and has established herself as a key figure in the side ever since.

Across 33 appearances (31 of them as a starter) in the Lidl NFL and the TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship in the past three years, she has amassed an outstanding tally of 21 goals and 53 points.

While living permanently in Limerick and being on a placement with college were contributing factors to her dropping off the panel in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, McGregor admits her appetite for playing inter-county football wasn’t particularly strong during this period.

However, she eventually returned to the fold and having a regular spot in the Waterford starting line-up has helped to grow her game and become one of the more prolific scorers in the side.

“I suppose I wasn’t really enjoying it at the time either when it was coming into Covid, so I didn’t mind taking the year or two off,” McGregor added.

“When I was younger coming on in the league, it’s kind of hard to make an impact when you’re only coming on for a few minutes at the end of games. At the end of the day if you’re scoring [you’ll stay in the team], but it’s about the girls all around you as well. It’s to help the team out, but it is great to be able to get on the end of them.”

Posted in Ladies GAA | Comments Off on The Big Interview: Lauren McGregor (Waterford/Dungarvan) – Media West Ireland – March 8 2025

U20 Six Nations Championship: Ireland V France – The Irish Times – March 8 2025

Posted on March 7, 2025 by admin

Three yellow cards do little to halt France against Ireland U20s

Visitors take 22-12 victory at Musgrave Park

Daire Walsh

Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland 12 France 22

There was disappointment for the Ireland Under-20s at Virgin Media Park in Cork as they fell to a 10-point defeat against France in the fourth round of the Under-20 Six Nations.

Thanks in no small part to clinical finishes in either half from Lyam Akrab, France emerged from the Leeside venue with a bonus point triumph. Having previously established an unbeaten run of 15 games across the three previous editions of the tournament, Ireland have now suffered three losses from four games in their 2025 campaign.

Owing to the concession of three penalties inside the opening eight minutes, Ireland found themselves under intense pressure from the early stages. The persistence of Les Bleus looked set to pay off when Tom Leveque gathered a cross field kick on the right-flank, but superb defensive work by outhalf Tom Wood forced the Bayonne winger into dropping the ball just as he appeared destined to dot down.

Despite failing to finish off this particular move, the visitors continued to attack in waves and finally opened the scoring in the 15th minute. Fresh from registering the quickest try in Top 14 history against Perpignan last weekend, Bordeaux Begles fullback Jon Echegaray rounded off an outstanding team move with a finish to the left of the posts.

While the resulting conversion from Luka Keletaona drifted past the target, France were in for a second try just shy of the first-quarter mark – Echegaray breaking powerfully into the Irish 22 before passing out wide for Leveque to sprint over in the right-corner.

Echegaray was proving to be the standout performer of the opening period and he subsequently released Noa Traversier for a seemingly routine run over the line on 28 minutes. Yet a premature celebration from the flanker opened the door for Will Wootton to produce a try-saving tackle and Ireland received a much-needed boost when Traversier was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Wood moments later.

Remarkably, France would finish the half with just 12 players after Bartholome Sanson and Echegaray both joined Traversier in the sin bin. The temporary dismissal of Echegaray also delivered a penalty try for Ireland, but an earlier five-pointer from French hooker Akrab meant Neil Doak’s men still trailed 15-7 at the interval.

The cards left the hosts with a major numerical advantage on the resumption, albeit France had welcomed Traversier and Sanson back into the fray by the seventh minute of the second half. The half-time scoreline remained intact by the time the visitors were eventually restored to their full compliment, and Cédric Laborde’s charges almost immediately wrapped up a bonus point when Akrab applied the finishing touches to another lineout maul in the 52nd minute.

In contrast, Ireland largely struggled to create sustained attacking momentum during the opening hour, but coinciding with the introduction of a plethora of replacements they started to gain more of a stranglehold towards the French posts inside the final-quarter.

Hooker Henry Walker was one of the replacements and was perilously close to touching down at the back of a lineout maul on 66 minutes.

While France stood firm during that attacking spell, Ireland finally took their reward when Leinster winger Ciaran Mangan completed an extended move with a stoppage-time try.

SCORING SEQUENCE – 15 mins: Echegaray try 0-5; 18: Leveque try 0-10; 33: Akrab try 0-15; 40: penalty try 7-15 Half-time 7-15; 52: Akrab try, Keletaona con 7-22; 81: Mangan try 12-22.

IRELAND: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareen, E Smyth, C Mangan; T Wood, W Wooton; B Bohan, M Yarr, A Mullan; M Ronan, B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power, E McCarthy (capt).

Replacements: H Walker for Yarr, T McAllister for Mullan (both 51); D Walsh for Power, C Kennelly for Ronan (both 57); P Moore for Bohan, C Logan for Wootton (both 62); S Wisniewski for Wood (67); C Fahy for Smyth (69).

FRANCE: J Echegaray; T Leveque, S Daunivucu, F Brau Boirie, N Donguy; L Keletaona, B Tilloles; J Christophe, L Akrab, M Megherbi; B Sanson, C Mezou (capt); A Deliance, N Traversier, B Britz.

Replacements: EJ Jabea Njocke for Megherbi, J Nguimbous for Britz (both 52 mins); S Tolofua for Sanson (57); S Daroque for Tilloles, J Cotarmanac’h for Keletaona (both 60); JY Liufau for Christophe (65); Q Algay for Akrab (66); O Cowie for Donguy (71).

Yellow card: Traversier (31 mins), Sanson (37), Echegaray (38).

Referee: G Colby (South Africa).

Posted in International Rugby, U20 Six Nations Rugby | Comments Off on U20 Six Nations Championship: Ireland V France – The Irish Times – March 8 2025

U20 Six Nations Championship: Ireland V France – The Irish Examiner – March 8 2025

Posted on March 7, 2025 by admin

Ireland fall to 10-point defeat as France prove too strong

Ireland have now suffered three losses from four games played in the 2025 Championship.
DAIRE WALSH

U20 Six Nations: Ireland 12 France 22

There was disappointment for the Ireland U20s at Virgin Media Park in Cork last night as they fell to a 10-point defeat against France in the fourth round of this year’s U20 Six Nations Championship.

Thanks in no small part to clinical finishes in either half from Lyam Akrab, France emerged from the Leeside venue with a bonus point triumph to their name. Having previously established an unbeaten run of 15 games across the three previous editions of this tournament, Ireland have now suffered three losses from four games played in the 2025 Championship.

Ireland found themselves under intense pressure from the very early stages on home turf and the persistence of Les Bleus looked set to pay off when Tom Leveque gathered a crossfield kick on the right-flank. However, superb defensive work by fly-half Tom Wood (the son of Ireland, Munster and Lions legend Keith Wood) forced the Bayonne winger into dropping the ball just as he appeared destined to dot down.

Yet the visitors continued to attack in waves and they finally opened the scoring in the 15th minute as Bordeaux Bègles full-back Jon Echegaray – fresh from registering the quickest try in Top 14 history against Perpignan last weekend – rounded off an outstanding team move by grounding to the left of the posts.

While the resulting bonus kick from Luka Keletaona drifted past the target, France were in for a second try when Echegaray passed out wide for Leveque to sprint over just shy of the first-quarter mark.

Echegaray was proving to be the standout performer of the opening period and he subsequently released Noa Traversier for a seemingly routine run over the line on 28 minutes. Yet a premature celebration from the flanker opened the door for Will Wootton to produce a try-saving challenge and Ireland received a much-needed boost when Traversier was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle on Wood moments later.

Remarkably, France would finish the half with just 12 players after Bartholome Sanson and Echegaray both joined Traversier in the sin-bin. The temporary dismissal of Echegaray also delivered a penalty try for Ireland, but an earlier five-pointer from French hooker Akrab meant Neil Doak’s men still trailed 15-7 at the interval.

This left the hosts with a major numerical advantage on the resumption, albeit France had welcomed Traversier and Sanson back into the fray by the seventh minute of the second half. The half-time scoreline remained intact by the time the visiting team were eventually restored to their full compliment and Cédric Laborde’s charges almost immediately wrapped up a bonus point when Akrab applied the finishing touches to another line-out maul in the 52nd minute.

Ireland had largely struggled to create sustained attacking momentum during the opening hour of this fixture, before – coinciding with the introduction of a plethora of replacements – they ultimately started to gain more of a stranglehold towards the French posts inside the final-quarter. Hooker Henry Walker was one of those reserves to be given a chance to impress and he was perilously close to touching down at the back of a line-out maul on 66 minutes.

While France stood firm during this attacking spell, Ireland finally added to that earlier penalty try when Leinster winger Ciaran Mangan completed an extended move with a stoppage-time try to raise cheer from the Irish supporters.

Scorers for Ireland: Tries: Penalty Try, C Mangan

Scorers for France: Tries: L Akrab 2, J Echegaray, T Leveque Cons: L Keletaona

IRELAND: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareem, E Smyth (C Fahy 69), C Mangan; T Wood (S Wisniewski 67), W Wootton (C Logan 62); B Bohan (P Moore 62), M Yarr (H Walker 51), A Mullan (T McAllister 51); M Ronan (C Kennelly 57), B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power (D Walsh 57), E McCarthy.

FRANCE: J Echegaray; T Leveque, S Daunivucu, F Brau-Boirie, N Donguy (O Cowie 71); L Keletaona (J Cotarmanac’h 60), B Tilloles (S Daroque 60); S Jean-Christophe (J-Y Liufau 65), L Akrab (Q Algay 66), M Megherbi (E-J Jabea Njocke 52); B Sanson (S Tolofua 57), C Mezou; A Deliance, N Traversier, B Britz (J Nguimbous 52).

Referee: G Colby (South Africa).

Posted in International Rugby, U20 Six Nations Rugby | Comments Off on U20 Six Nations Championship: Ireland V France – The Irish Examiner – March 8 2025

Ireland U20s Build-Up To Six Nations Championship: Billy Bohan – The Kildare Nationalist (Online) – March 7 2025

Posted on March 7, 2025 by admin

Bohan looking to make the most of U20 experience

Results have been hard to come by for Ireland in the U20 Six Nations but Billy Bohan is enjoying the experience

DAIRE WALSH

While it has been a difficult campaign for the side thus far, Kildare native Billy Bohan had been making the very most of Ireland’s journey through the 2025 edition of the U20 Six Nations Championship.

When he was named amongst the replacements for an opening round encounter with defending champions England at Virgin Media Park in Cork on January 30, Bohan was hopeful of seeing some game time off the bench. However, an injury to loosehead prop Alex Usanov – who was also part of the Ireland U20s squad in 2024 – saw him entering the fray with just 14 minutes gone on the clock.

Neil Doak’s hosts lost this encounter on a score of 19-3, but Bohan did enough to earn a starting berth in the number one jersey for a second round clash against Scotland in Edinburgh. After featuring for 67 minutes in that encounter, he also played for close to an hour in a 20-12 reversal at the hands of Wales at Rodney Parade in Newport a fortnight ago.

The continued absence of Usanov means Bohan will start his third consecutive Six Nations game for the Ireland U20s when France pays a visit to Cork this evening.

“That was a bit of a shock, coming on that early against England. It’s obviously a great opportunity for me now, getting all these minutes. Which I wouldn’t have gotten if Alex was still here. It’s a good opportunity, but obviously it’s tough for Alex that he’s not here anymore. He’s a great lad and he’s great for the team,” Bohan remarked earlier this week.

Having seemingly gotten their campaign back on track against Scotland, Bohan and his international colleagues will have been frustrated to come up short in their third round trip to Wales on February 21. Yet this evening’s game presents them with an ideal opportunity to showcase their true worth and Bohan believes a recent open training session with the Ireland senior team at the Aviva Stadium served as ideal preparation for the challenge of the French.

“Obviously against Wales we seemed to do all the hard work and then when it came down to it, we just couldn’t score. We’ve been working hard in training on execution, it’s one of the big things. We had a good session with the seniors last week. We learned a lot from that and we’re just trying to execute when we get into the ‘22’. That’s the big thing, I’d say.

“The open session in the Aviva, there was quite a big crowd there and I went up to Cian Healy after asking him about scrums. You don’t get that information anywhere else. He’s world class, so it’s a great help for us.”

Like a lot of players within this Ireland U20s set-up, Bohan’s rugby journey began as a minis rugby player – in his case at the Rosetown-based Newbridge RFC. He continued to line out in their underage ranks for a number of years, before finding himself in the Leinster schools system as a student of Newbridge College.

“I would have started minis [with Newbridge RFC], all the way up until U13s, when I joined up with Newbridge College. I played in Newbridge College then. We won the Junior Cup in TY. Then three years at Senior Cup. Great experience there, great memories made in Newbridge.”

Although Newbridge and their opponents Blackrock College had shared the previous season’s title – due to their proposed showpiece meeting being cancelled in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic – this was the school’s first standalone victory in the competition since 1950.

Joining him on this team was Sallins’ Ciaran Mangan, who is also a part of the Ireland U20s squad this year. The younger brother of Leinster forward Diarmuid – a two-time Grand Slam winner at this age grade – Mangan has played every minute of the Six Nations to date and is set to make his fourth start against France later today.

“It’s great. We’ve been playing together since first year. It’s great that me and him have come this far together,” Bohan said of Mangan.

Whereas Mangan is aiming to take the cue from his elder sibling, Bohan has looked towards another Newbridge College alum for inspiration.

After featuring extensively for the south Kildare school, Cian Prendergast went on to win a Triple Crown with the Ireland U20s in 2020. A few months later, the Suncroft man elected to join the Connacht Academy when a similar opportunity wasn’t presenting itself in Leinster.

This has proven to be a wise decision by Prendergast as he has gone on to accumulate 81 senior appearances for the westerners and has served as their club captain since the beginning of the current season.

Eager to step into a professional environment upon completing his secondary school days at Newbridge last summer, Bohan took up an offer to become a Year One Academy player at Connacht – along with current Ireland U20s skipper Eanna McCarthy.

“For him [Prendergast], he didn’t get picked for Leinster Academy, so he took his chance out in Connacht. It has worked out really well for him. I kind of followed that route. I think this is a good pathway to get into the senior squad, so that is why I thought I’d chance my arm there,” Bohan added.

Posted in International Rugby, U20 Six Nations Rugby | Comments Off on Ireland U20s Build-Up To Six Nations Championship: Billy Bohan – The Kildare Nationalist (Online) – March 7 2025

Ireland U20s Build-Up To France Home In Six Nations Championship: Tom Wood – The Irish Examiner – March 7 2025

Posted on March 7, 2025 by admin

Keith Wood lets son Tom experience rugby first hand but give ‘bits of advice’ along the way

Given his father Keith was a stalwart for Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions during his own playing career, there will be considerable interest in how Wood performs in Cork this evening.
DAIRE WALSH

After missing out on their previous appearance at the ground, Ireland U20s fly-half Tom Wood is excited by the prospect of lining out against France at Virgin Media Park in Cork this evening.

In addition to finding himself outside of the match day 23 when Ireland kick-started their U20 Six Nations Championship campaign with a 19-3 defeat at the hands of title holders England on January 30, Wood also watched on from the sidelines when Ireland secured a bonus point triumph over Scotland in the second round of the tournament.

However, the Garryowen club man finally made his debut at this grade as a final-quarter replacement in a defeat to Wales at Rodney Parade a fortnight ago and he has now earned a starting berth on the Leeside tonight.

“I wasn’t involved in the first game in Cork. I know the lads, they can’t wait to get back to Cork and be in front of the home fans. Hopefully it will be the boost that we need to get over the line,” Wood remarked in a video call to the Irish media on Wednesday.

“The crowd in Cork, it’s always a good one. It’s always exciting to play in front of them. I’m buzzing for it. It’s a big thing for me and I just can’t wait for it.”

Given his father Keith was a stalwart for Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions during his own playing career, there will be considerable interest in how Wood performs in Cork this evening.

He isn’t the only member of his family that is currently lining out in the oval ball game as his older brother Gordon is currently part of the Munster Academy. Additionally, both Tom and Gordon have played alongside another of their siblings (Alex) with Garryowen in the All-Ireland League this season.

There is plenty the Wood brothers could learn from their father as they look to navigate their way through the sport, but Tom acknowledged the former Ireland skipper largely leaves them to their own devices.

“He lets us do our thing. Lets us experience first-hand and then after the fact, he’ll give us those pointers. He’ll give us that advice, which is really helpful. He kind of lets us do our own thing beforehand. Gives us a few bits of advice, but nothing major really.”

When you consider he is also eligible for the Ireland U20s in 2026, Wood has reason to feel happy with his current rate of progress. He has already sampled life in the Munster environment through his involvement in the underage provincial system and he is hopeful of joining his brother Gordon within the Academy set-up at some point in the near future.

“Hoping to get it this year and join him. It would be really cool. We’ve been in that environment over the summer for the last few summers. It’s a really cool set-up. Once you get it then you’re kind of used to it and you can mould into it. You can fit in fairly easily,” Wood added.

Posted in International Rugby, U20 Six Nations Rugby | Comments Off on Ireland U20s Build-Up To France Home In Six Nations Championship: Tom Wood – The Irish Examiner – March 7 2025

U20 Six Nations Championship Preview: Ireland V France – The Irish Times – March 7 2025

Posted on March 6, 2025 by admin

Ireland under-20 eye rebound win over France in Six Nations Championship

Home side hoping for return to winning ways after disappointing result on last day out against Wales

Daire Walsh

Ireland U20s v France U20s

Following a disappointing result on the last day out against Wales, Ireland is seeking a return to winning ways against France in the fourth round of the under-20 Six Nations Championship at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Friday evening (kick-off 8pm).

After responding to an opening day reversal to defending champions England at the Leeside venue with a 33-15 bonus point triumph away to Scotland, Ireland subsequently fell to a 20-12 reversal at the hands of the Welsh in Newport.

This leaves them fourth in the standings in advance of their meeting with the French – who are three points adrift of pacesetters England in second spot. While he has seen signs of encouragement thus far in the tournament, Ireland head coach Neil Doak said his side will need to push for an 80-minute performance on home soil.

“That’s the biggest challenge. When you’re working with a young group of players, you know that you’re going to get a little bit of inconsistency. They don’t have the experience and the exposure to fall back on. Some of them are straight out of school and playing in top schools. Sometimes it can be quite easy,” Doak explained.

“When you get into [an] international, it’s a different kettle of fish. There’s bigger guys against you and quicker guys. You actually have to use your intelligence, use the strategies that we’ve been working on.

“It’s key that we work our socks off for 80 minutes this week. We’ve had the most entries in the 22 throughout the tournament but, unfortunately, we haven’t picked up the points through various reasons.”

In the wake of their disappointing eight-point loss to Wales, Doak has opted to make five changes to his starting line-up for what will be Ireland’s final home game of the campaign. Among those to come into the side is Munster and Garryowen outhalf Tom Wood – son of legendary former Ireland international Keith Wood.

After making his international debut at this age grade as a replacement in the Welsh game, Doak believes Wood has earned the right to start alongside scrumhalf Will Wootton.

“I was fortunate enough to work with Tom in the last year with Irish under-18s. I’ve a pretty decent understanding of what his game is about. He’s settling well into the squad and settled into training. I think he’s looking forward to getting his teeth into Friday night’s game,” Doak added.

Ireland: D Green; C Molony, G O’Leary Kareem, E Smyth, C Mangan; T Wood, W Wootton; B Bohan, M Yarr, A Mullan; M Ronan, B Corrigan; M Foy, B Power, E McCarthy. Replacements: H Walker, P Moore, T McAllister, C Kennelly, D Walsh, C Logan, S Wisniewski, C Fahy.

France: J Echegaray; T Leveque, S Daunivucu, F Brau-Boirie, N Donguy; L Keletaona, B Tilloles; S Jean-Christophe, L Akrab, M Megherbi; B Sanson, C Mezou; A Deliance, N Traversier, B Britz. Replacements: Q Algay, E-J Jabea Njocke, J-Y Liufau, J Nguimbous, S Tolofua, S Daroque, J Cotarmanac’h, Ó Cowie

Posted in International Rugby, U20 Six Nations Rugby | Comments Off on U20 Six Nations Championship Preview: Ireland V France – The Irish Times – March 7 2025

Leinster Schools Senior Cup Semi-Final: Blackrock College V Cistercian College Roscrea – The Irish Examiner – March 7 2025

Posted on March 6, 2025 by admin

Walsh and Browne braces fire Blackrock into fourth-straight Leinster Schools Cup Final

Emphatic ‘Rock seal their spot in the upcoming Tallaght showpiece against Terenure College with 21 points to spare
DAIRE WALSH, ENERGIA PARK

LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP SEMI-FINAL: Blackrock College 38 Cistercian College Roscrea 17

Blackrock College will face Terenure College in a forthcoming Leinster Schools Senior Cup final after seeing off the challenge of Cistercian College Roscrea at Energia Park yesterday afternoon.

Thanks in no small part to a brace of tries from Brian Walsh and James Browne, the 71-time champions progressed to their fourth-consecutive decider at this grade – which will be held at Tallaght Stadium on St Patrick’s Day this year due to the ongoing redevelopment of the RDS Arena.

Champions at this grade 10 years ago – thanks to a final victory over Belvedere College – Roscrea came into this contest on the back of an impressive quarter-final win against Gonzaga College. The side from the Offaly-Tipperary border initially controlled possession, only for some handling errors to prevent them from gaining sustained attacking momentum.

A knock-on from winger Aiden Vetjens also halted ‘Rock’s first meaningful entry into the opposition ‘22’, but the south Dublin powerhouses ultimately broke the deadlock on the stroke of 10 minutes when outside centre Johnny O’Sullivan crossed the whitewash at the end of a sweeping attack.

Fly-half Patrick Clancy expertly supplied the extras to this five-pointer and after No 8 Walsh was released through a gap for their second try in the 14th minute, he contributed another successful conversion to leave ‘Rock in a strong position at the Donnybrook venue.

While the concession of these scores was undoubtedly a set-back, Roscrea got themselves into contention after hooker Eoin Naughton applied the finishing touches to a line-out maul for a much-needed converted try.

Yet although superb defensive work from their opponents stopped them from claiming almost certain scores on either flank, ‘Rock crossed for a third try at the end of the opening period – Walsh doubling his personal account after breaking free from a set-piece move.

Another Clancy conversion offered Blackrock a 21-7 interval advantage, but this lead was reduced to 11 points when Jack Deegan convincingly slotted over a close-range penalty less than three minutes after the resumption.

This only provided Roscrea with a temporary respite as another patient attack inside their ‘22’ was rounded off by Browne’s diving finish in the right-corner. Despite Clancy firing off-target for the first time from the kicking tee, ‘Rock appeared to have one foot in the 17 March final.

However, Roscrea weren’t prepared to go down without a fight and after finding himself in space on the stroke of 50 minutes, Deegan burst over the Blackrock line for an outstanding individual try. The dynamic number 12 also added a conversion to cut the gap to nine points moving into the final-quarter, but after captain Sami Bishti and Browne dotted down for additional tries, ‘Rock ultimately sealed their spot in the upcoming showpiece against Terenure with 21 points to spare.

Scorers for Blackrock College: Tries: B Walsh 2, J Browne 2, J O’Sullivan, S Bishti Cons: P Clancy 4

Scorers for Cistercian College Roscrea: Tries: E Naughton, J Deegan Pens: J Deegan Cons: J Deegan 2

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: J Reddan; J Browne, J O’Sullivan, B White, A Vetjens (R Keogh 70); P Clancy (D Cadden 70), A Lindner (L Coffey 70); B Guerin (L Golden 69), H O’Neill (G Eggers 70), S Bishti (M Cullen 70); G Wall (C Power 70), A Smykovskiy; M Walsh, M O’Sullivan, B Walsh (R Savage 69).

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: S Cusack; K Dunne, R Carney, J Deegan, H Finlay (F Higgins 48); A Moloney (R O’Sullivan 54), F Carney (R Flynn 70); O Doody, E Naughton (R O’Neill 70), H Maher (W Powell 70); J Walsh (A Kinsella Garcia 70), J Finn; S Killeen (P Deegan 70), E Brophy (J Miller h-t), W Hayes.

Referee: P Haycock (LRR).

Posted in Schools Rugby | Comments Off on Leinster Schools Senior Cup Semi-Final: Blackrock College V Cistercian College Roscrea – The Irish Examiner – March 7 2025