France

The Irish coaching staff will most likely give Rhys Ruddock his first ever Six Nations start against France on Sunday, or switch Tadhg Beirne to the b(...)

The French government’s instruction for rugby clubs to cancel cross border competition “in the short term” makes the postponement of the 2021 Six Nati(...)

I have to start where I finished off last week – dangerous play. The weekend saw examples of players hitting into opponents’ heads and necks with shou(...)

Ireland more or less finish the year where they started, or where it might realistically be felt they should finish it. Third in the Six Nations and t(...)

At face value the organisers appear to have the final playoff weekend to the Autumn Nations Cup that they would have craved, or the final anyway. Exce(...)

Lineout and maul Once an almost guaranteed source of possession and launch plays, and even – if not directly – of tries, Ireland’s lineout and catch(...)

The scale of the task facing Ireland in an empty Stade de France next Saturday night was laid bare by France’s friendly win over Wales on Saturday nig(...)

The IRFU annual report for the 2019-20 season lays bare the financial effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the game here in confirming that the Union(...)

Although Nphet’s latest recommendation has cast a cloud over Ireland’s re-arranged 2020 Guinness Six Nations games at home to Italy and away to France(...)

Such is the desperate need to restore Test rugby before the end of the year within Ireland and elsewhere that hosting the cancelled July tours in the (...)