The IRISH RUGBY thread

[AZOffaly]

Anyone thinking of heading to the Limerick World Club Rugby 7s in August. Looks like it should be good craic, I've the Saturday booked. What superhero to dress up as now is the question. The brother and 2 cousins are heading as well. The big tournament is in Twickenham the next week, and a lot of the teams in Limerick are heading there, so it should be a good warm up for them..

the 12 teams are
Daveta Rugby - Fiji
Saracens - England
Stade Francais - France
Munster - Ireland
New South Wales Waratahs - Australia
Auckland Rugby - New Zealand
Blue Bulls - South Africa
Western Province - South Africa
Moscow (?) - Russia
Vancouver - Canada
New York - USA
San Francisco Golden Gate - USA.

[oakleaflad]

Ferris retires
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/27681350

[AZOffaly]

Yep. Sad for Ferris.

See Brian O'Driscoll has signed up as a host on the Off the Ball show on Newstalk. Huge scoop for them..

[gerrykeegan]

He said he was going to work on his radio voice as he already had the face for it. 

[Geoff Tipps]

Yep. Sad for Ferris.

See Brian O'Driscoll has signed up as a host on the Off the Ball show on Newstalk. Huge scoop for them..

More of a coup than a scoop 

[rodney trotter]

Sean O Brien playing some Junior B last night http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=217581

[AZOffaly]

Yep. Sad for Ferris.

See Brian O'Driscoll has signed up as a host on the Off the Ball show on Newstalk. Huge scoop for them..

More of a coup than a scoop 

True

[orangeman]

Ferris retires
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/27681350

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/provincial/2014/0603/621380-ferris-i-may-never-run-again-due-to-injury/

Strong lad - sad to hear at 28 but the ankle must be in bits.

Look at him lifting Will Genia up like the proverbial rag doll who is no lightweight.

[Syferus]

Ferris retires
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/27681350

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/provincial/2014/0603/621380-ferris-i-may-never-run-again-due-to-injury/

Strong lad - sad to hear at 28 but the ankle must be in bits.

Look at him lifting Will Genia up like the proverbial rag doll who is no lightweight.

Sad to see Ferris having to retire. I always thought he was world class when healthy. If he had the chance to play consistently and grow as a player he could have been the best at his position right now.

[trileacman]

South African-esque in his physicality and sheer build. A hugely influential player on his day which was why Ulster were so keen to turn him out for big games.

All the same the "It 100 per cent does impact on my everyday life. I can't walk up steps without having to walk on my toes. I've got no dorsiflexion in my ankle. On the other one I've got minus two, maybe 20 centimetres. It's had a massive effect on my everyday life. I'll probably never run again." quote sends shivers up my spine. I mean some GAA player whine about what we ask of them and sometimes I think they give awful commitment but sacrificing such a huge part of your health must surely be an awful, awful blow. It's just hard to comprehend.

We need an honest discussion on whether this game is going in the right direction when it comes to player's health, sure we're bigger, richer than ever but are we truly better?

[Walter Cronc]

South African-esque in his physicality and sheer build. A hugely influential player on his day which was why Ulster were so keen to turn him out for big games.

All the same the "It 100 per cent does impact on my everyday life. I can’t walk up steps without having to walk on my toes. I’ve got no dorsiflexion in my ankle. On the other one I’ve got minus two, maybe 20 centimetres. It’s had a massive effect on my everyday life. I’ll probably never run again." quote sends shivers up my spine. I mean some GAA player whine about what we ask of them and sometimes I think they give awful commitment but sacrificing such a huge part of your health must surely be an awful, awful blow. It's just hard to comprehend.

We need an honest discussion on whether this game is going in the right direction when it comes to player's health, sure we're bigger, richer than ever but are we truly better?

Good topic to discuss trileacman but I think in the case of an ankle injury it can be attributed as much to bad luck as anything. For all we know he had a weak ankle to begin with.

I think the issue of concussion is certainly more worrying. Luke Marshall is an example of this and you'd worry about the lad down the line if it continues.

This is an excellent article on Shontayne Hape's battle with concussion.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11264856

[Mikhailov]

South African-esque in his physicality and sheer build. A hugely influential player on his day which was why Ulster were so keen to turn him out for big games.

All the same the "It 100 per cent does impact on my everyday life. I can't walk up steps without having to walk on my toes. I've got no dorsiflexion in my ankle. On the other one I've got minus two, maybe 20 centimetres. It's had a massive effect on my everyday life. I'll probably never run again." quote sends shivers up my spine. I mean some GAA player whine about what we ask of them and sometimes I think they give awful commitment but sacrificing such a huge part of your health must surely be an awful, awful blow. It's just hard to comprehend.

We need an honest discussion on whether this game is going in the right direction when it comes to player's health, sure we're bigger, richer than ever but are we truly better?

Good topic to discuss trileacman but I think in the case of an ankle injury it can be attributed as much to bad luck as anything. For all we know he had a weak ankle to begin with.

I think the issue of concussion is certainly more worrying. Luke Marshall is an example of this and you'd worry about the lad down the line if it continues.

This is an excellent article on Shontayne Hape's battle with concussion.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11264856

Very serious issue - concussion.

I read that Kieran Read, the NZ number 8 and current WRB player of the year is out of the England game due to concerns about his concussion. Supposedly had rested for a few months after a few bouts of it, then plays for his club the Crusaders in the Super 15 last Saturday and then wakes up on Monday morning in a bad way and immediately is pulled from this weeks game. I know these boys take seriously big hits but this needs to be controlled more. I read the Shontayne Hape article and it scares the sh*t of you if you ever felt that a GAA club would do that with your brother, son or daughter. He claims that several players purposely failed pre season mental tests to insure that when they were tested after a concussion hit the result would show little or no difference to their early season test result !!

Some of the hits in the Super 15 on Sky every weekend are frightening - they play at a faster and harder pace down there especially in SA - those guys are massive and can move into the bargain....

[Crete Boom]

 The U20's bet Wales with a bonus point win this morning in the Junior World Cup. If they get a bonus point win over Fiji in their last game they will finish at least second in the group on 11 points and will qualify for the semi finals for the first time since the U19 and U21 grades were merged together at U20 level. If Wales beat France we will go through as group winners.

Just to put it in perspective the baby Blacks will not make the semi finals this year after losing to South Africa this morning if we finish on 11 points!!

[Hoof Hearted]

Ireland: Felix Jones (Munster); Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Darren Cave (Ulster), Luke Marshall (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster); Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92), Conor Murray (Munster); Jack McGrath (Leinster), Rory Best (Ulster), Mike Ross (Leinster); Iain Henderson (Ulster), Paul O'Connell (Munster) cpt; Robbie Diack (Ulster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Jordi Murphy (Leinster)

Replacements: Damien Varley (Munster), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), Rodney Ah You (Connacht), Devin Toner (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), Ian Madigan (Leinster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster)

tonights team

that's some name - Rodney Ah You

[seafoid]

Allblacks beat england with a last minute try just like they beat ireland. They are the new Meath.