Provinces to issue over 100 contractsIreland will have a pool of well over 100 professional players next season after the IRFU yesterday finally pledged its commitment…Sat Feb 28 1998 - 00:00
London Irish shaken but stirred"This is a potentially big club, but one in seemingly permanent disarray and disunity," went one of the descriptions of Manchester…Sat Feb 21 1998 - 00:00
`This one's for Willie'In spite, rather than because, of the events of the last few days, London Irish recorded only their second league win of the …Sat Feb 21 1998 - 00:00
McMahon provides the spark that ignites late Shannon winThey cut it fine enough, don't they always, but Shannon got there againMon Feb 16 1998 - 00:00
Garryowen look to key players to test ShannonAiling if not quite crippled, Irish rugby can discard its metaphorical crutches this weekend with recuperative visits to more…Sat Feb 14 1998 - 00:00
Return to league action is welcome distractionRoll on the AIB All-Ireland LeagueWed Feb 11 1998 - 00:00
Changes should be kept to minimumSometimes the sporting line between inglorious failure and glorious success is ridiculously fineTue Feb 10 1998 - 00:00
Where do we go from here?After what must have been a restless night's sleep, during which no amount of the black stuff would have softened the postmatch…Mon Feb 09 1998 - 00:00
Irish caught in vicious circleIt wouldn't be half so bad if Scotland had truly won this gameMon Feb 09 1998 - 00:00
The one that got awayAfter A calamitous start, the Irish A team endured one of the most frustrating 80 minutes imaginable at a sodden Donnybrook yesterday…Sat Feb 07 1998 - 00:00
English try to lure MurphyIn what could be a decidedly embarrassing turn of events for the IRFU, the one-time Naas player Geordan Murphy is being encouraged…Sat Feb 07 1998 - 00:00
Ashton accentuates the positiveThe Irish squad completed their preparations and began the countdown to tomorrow's opening Five Nations tie against Scotland …Fri Feb 06 1998 - 00:00
Balanced back row will shore up defenceA no news day is a good day for in the Irish campThu Feb 05 1998 - 00:00
McIvor called up as replacementGarryowen scrum-half Stephen McIvor has been named on the replacements' bench for Ireland's Five Nations opener against Scotland…Tue Feb 03 1998 - 00:00
Powerful Newbridge serve noticeAs anticipated, Newbridge College yesterday gave note that this year the Kildare school mean businessTue Feb 03 1998 - 00:00
Plus ca change upholds traditionHas the Five Nations lost a little of its lustre? Can it really be endangered by the possibility of an Anglo-French breakaway…Tue Feb 03 1998 - 00:00
Late try proves Shannon are still the bestThey have something that's intangible, indefinable and indescribable which, on days like this, makes them indestructibleMon Feb 02 1998 - 00:00
Hogan out of Scottish matchNiall Hogan, selected as Ireland's replacement scrum-half for next Saturday's Five Nations' opener against Scotland at Lansdowne…Mon Feb 02 1998 - 00:00
No white smoke but the Whites give game awayWhite smoke didn't exactly billow from the Irish squad session at the ALSAA complex in Dublin yesterday, but halfway through …Thu Jan 29 1998 - 00:00
Shannon wait on key figuresInjuries TO key figures Anthony Foley and Eddie Halvey are causing serious concern within the Shannon camp in advance of this…Wed Jan 28 1998 - 00:00
Irish team will be named tomorrowThe Ireland team to open the Five Nations Championship against Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week will be announced …Wed Jan 28 1998 - 00:00
Chapman rejects Ireland's advancesOf some mild embarrassment to the Irish management, Dominic Chapman, the 21-year-old Richmond flyer who has recently caught the…Tue Jan 27 1998 - 00:00
Galwegians' big guns rise to the occasionThere was always a whiff of cordite in the air but the great Connacht shoot-out never really caught fireMon Jan 26 1998 - 00:00
Galwegians and Buccaneers the match of the dayHallelujah. Praise be the Lord, or the AIB League, or whoeverSat Jan 24 1998 - 00:00
Corkery and Galwey get the callShannon folk have been smoldering with discontent all season and, while welcoming the belated inclusion of Mick Galwey in the…Fri Jan 23 1998 - 00:00
Another spanner in the worksWhat to do about Irish rugby? The debate intensifies and yet it's hard to find two people in complete agreement about the solution…Tue Jan 13 1998 - 00:00
Winning habit sees Shannon throughSometimes, you look at Shannon and you wonderMon Jan 12 1998 - 00:00
Difficult task for injury-hit Cork sideTime was when a meeting between Cork Constitution and Shannon was as heavyweight a contest as the AIB League was capable of throwing…Sat Jan 10 1998 - 00:00
English warned about going down isolationist routeThe inevitable collision between the English club money men and the European unions - or the nouveau riche and the aristocracy…Fri Jan 09 1998 - 00:00
Corkery fails to make squadA 31-man Irish squad has been picked ostensibly for next Wednesday's planned session at the ALSAA complex at Dublin airport, …Fri Jan 09 1998 - 00:00
Lansdowne appoint Cosgrave as coachLansdowne have appointed Michael Cosgrave, one-time Wanderers centre and Warren Gatland's assistant at Connacht, as their new…Wed Jan 07 1998 - 00:00
Henderson doubtfulRob Henderson is already looking like a doubtful starter for Ireland's opening Five Nations Championship game against Scotland…Tue Jan 06 1998 - 00:00
Ballymena trample over soft TerenureTerenure couldn't buy a kick, could hardly win a line-out, and were trampled on in the scrums by a Ballymena side whose ball …Mon Jan 05 1998 - 00:00
Weather casts a shadow over listFiguratively and literally, a cloud hangs over the resumption of the AIB All-Ireland league this weekendSat Jan 03 1998 - 00:00
No respite for London IrishWhile the domestic Irish game continues its Christmas hibernation, there is no such respite for London IrishTue Dec 30 1997 - 00:00
Three wise men must settle on a teamYou probably didn't have to be a soothsayer to see that the Bologna trip was a disaster waiting to happenTue Dec 23 1997 - 00:00
Cold comfort for WhelanIn an inevitable, if ironic, postscript to the much-troubled fixture between Italy and Ireland in Bologna, the Irish captain, …Mon Dec 22 1997 - 00:00
Italian job ill-conceived, ill-performedAnother Italian job, another 37 points conceded and so Ireland stands still? In truth this was worlds apart from the similarly…Mon Dec 22 1997 - 00:00
Display as vital to Irish as resultOf all the places in all the world, this developing Irish team has had to come to Bologna, in the heart of Emilia Romagna, to…Sat Dec 20 1997 - 00:00
