Sunshine boys sent packing in rainLansdowne made hay while the sun shone, but when the heavens opened and Moher Road turned to water, the Buccaneers plundered …Mon Apr 19 1999 - 01:00
Buccaneers not settling for a drawIt's been a long time coming - five weeks since the last full round of AIB League action - but after the recent famine comes …Wed Apr 14 1999 - 01:00
AIL format cast in stoneContrary to rumours sweeping the domestic club game, IRFU sources have confirmed that the two-up, two-down promotion/ relegation…Tue Apr 13 1999 - 01:00
A feast of tries from the fringeWith a view to having a few Australian visas stamped, a softish Italian A side were made to order for Irish fringe contenders…Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:00
Best game plan is to stick to the basicsIt was possibly stretching things a bit for the Irish coach to term a defeat by the Scots as a disasterSat Apr 10 1999 - 01:00
Revised Ireland A favouredSuch has been the experimental approach of the Irish management to their second string that coach Mike Ruddock has been left …Fri Apr 9 1999 - 01:00
Deal puts fizz into IRFU AcademyWhere once it operated on a loaves-and-fishes basis at the time of its inception in 1992, the IRFU Academy yesterday came under…Fri Apr 9 1999 - 01:00
Henderson ready to fireThe room is the usual player's mess. Used training gear strewn around the floor, the TV half-on in the backgroundThu Apr 8 1999 - 01:00
Club and country need healthy Elwood returnNo-one will have a heavier load this weekend than Eric Elwood, who plays for Ireland against Italy on Saturday before returning…Wed Apr 7 1999 - 01:00
Spreading the IRFU net far and wideYou get the feeling that at least some of the natives are growing restlessTue Apr 6 1999 - 01:00
Concern over O'CuinneagainSod's Law decreed that following David Humphreys's injury-enforced exclusion from the Italian game, the main injury doubt resulting…Mon Apr 5 1999 - 01:00
Gatland promotes entire benchWhen the Irish management do make changes, it is presented in such a way that there really isn't anything radical about it all…Fri Apr 2 1999 - 01:00
Common sense prevails at lastThe dust having settled on the Murrayfield disaster, the post-mortems having been conducted, it's probably as well that the Irish…Tue Mar 30 1999 - 01:00
Injured Miller out for 10 weeksEric Miller's short-term and longer-term prospects became clearer over the weekend, albeit with mixed resultsTue Mar 30 1999 - 01:00
There's still everything to play forTruly, Saturday's result at Thomond Park will have sent reverberations through much of the first divisionMon Mar 29 1999 - 01:00
Misfiring Shannon living on the edgeAlthough there are only two rescheduled matches down for consideration today in the first division of the AIB All-Ireland League…Sat Mar 27 1999 - 00:00
Situation is serious but not hopelessWith Ireland's campaign officially over, England must beat Wales by seven points or more, or the Scots beat a declining French…Tue Mar 23 1999 - 00:00
Italian job now must-win fixtureAs the Irish party made the retreat from the now ritualistic biannual stuffing in Edinburgh, you got the impression that the …Mon Mar 22 1999 - 00:00
A nation deflated once againEvery second year Ireland travel in optimism and every second year they return deflated and hungoverMon Mar 22 1999 - 00:00
Ireland's gazelle leaps into the spotlightThere weren't many crumbs of comfort but amid the slim pickings Dion O'Cuinneagain's performance was a minor feastMon Mar 22 1999 - 00:00
Referee puts crowd through brief purgatoryMere words cannot convey how truly awful this was.Sat Mar 20 1999 - 00:00
Ireland have a target to meetOn the surface, this could almost be interpreted yet again as a minor end-of-season Celtic squabble while the Championship decider…Sat Mar 20 1999 - 00:00
Players feel weight of Gatland's expectationWhatever about Ireland expecting at Murrayfield tomorrow, Warren Gatland clearly doesFri Mar 19 1999 - 00:00
Blackrock prove their pedigreeSome things are pretty much cast in stone on St Patrick's Day and one of them is that Blackrock are crowned Leinster Schools' …Thu Mar 18 1999 - 00:00
Miller gets the callGiven a choice between an elastoplast or radical surgery, the Irish management, as ever, have opted for the former in picking…Wed Mar 17 1999 - 00:00
Another day in the sun awaits BlackrockThe Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final assumes its customary place in the St Patrick's Day pecking order at Lansdowne Road this…Wed Mar 17 1999 - 00:00
Miller can speed up decision makingIn what has already become time-honoured practice, the Irish think tank will convene this evening to pick the starting XV and…Tue Mar 16 1999 - 00:00
Hickie added to A squadDennis Hickie has been added to the replacements' bench on the Irish A squad for their concluding championship fixture against…Tue Mar 16 1999 - 00:00
Woods, Tierney out of A squadAlthough all bar two of the 23-man Irish squad were in action over the weekend, it appears that a relatively clean bill of health…Mon Mar 15 1999 - 00:00
It's still all to play for in most open campaignIN TIMES past, the prospect of the penultimate full round of matches in the All-Ireland League wouldn't have had rugby followers…Sat Mar 13 1999 - 00:00
Roscrea come back from 12 point deficitAfter digging something of a hole for themselves, Roscrea clawed their way back from a 12-0 deficit in yesterday's Leinster Schools…Tue Mar 9 1999 - 00:00
Much to learn from visit of EnglandWhen some of the Australians came up for air after their famous 1991 World Cup quarterfinal win over Ireland at the cauldron …Tue Mar 9 1999 - 00:00
Ireland just not good enoughOh well, now we know. England re-affirmed that they are a very good side, and in the process put their hosts in their placeMon Mar 8 1999 - 00:00
Thoughts turn to MurrayfieldWhether or not Murrayfield beckoned as Ireland's shot at the Triple Crown, it was always considered within the Irish camp as …Mon Mar 8 1999 - 00:00
Blackrock made to earn their date with destinyLeinster's finest rugby nursery, Blackrock College, yesterday produced their first Senior Schools' Cup finalists since the exceptional…Mon Mar 8 1999 - 00:00
Ireland A just denied share of honoursFor much of the first half it threatened to be another one of those harrowing A nightsSat Mar 6 1999 - 00:00
Patience may be Ireland's greatest virtueNo disrespect to the 1993 and '94 vintage - in fact it made their wins all the more commendable - but if Ireland repeat the trick…Sat Mar 6 1999 - 00:00
Not cocky, just confidentIreland may not beat England tomorrow, but they know they've every right to be on the same pitch, will last every minute and …Fri Mar 5 1999 - 00:00
Costello - faster, higher, strongerAsk Victor Costello how being an Irish Olympian and an Irish rugby player compare and he says: "They don't compareThu Mar 4 1999 - 00:00
Bell out of Ireland teamJonathan Bell was yesterday withdrawn from the Ireland team to play England after failing a fitness test on a thigh injury sustained…Thu Mar 4 1999 - 00:00