Columns - Irish Examiner

Donal Lenihan

Twitter threatens sanctity of the dressing room

AS ALL the teams in this year’s Six Nations prepare to negotiate the home straight, my over-riding feeling is that it has been a very strange tournament for Ireland.

Wed, 02 Mar, 2011

Why the Scots are the most frustrating foes

NOT one of the four half backs that started for Ireland or Scotland last time out in the Six Nations feature tomorrow at Murrayfield — with only Tomás O’Leary excluded on the grounds of injury.

Sat, 26 Feb, 2011

Why phase two has six appeal

FOR all the management teams, the Six Nations has now become a three-phase operation, with the key objective to be still in contention for honours when the final round of games are staged.

Wed, 23 Feb, 2011

Irish concerns, real and imagined

IT’S the same every year. We loseto France and immediately the reaction seems to be — “and they are not even a great French team”.

Wed, 16 Feb, 2011

Hand fearsome France the initiative and they’ll bury us

1. The Tactical Battle

Sat, 12 Feb, 2011

Azzurri shouldn’t stretch Irish

The Tactics

Sat, 05 Feb, 2011

Italian job can give us the perfect launch pad

IF variety really is the spice of life then the Six Nations, coming as it does so quickly after the thrills and spills of the Heineken Cup, is set to warm the hearts of all rugby enthusiasts over the course of the next seven weeks.

Wed, 02 Feb, 2011

Red Dragon now a green-eyed monster

JUST imagine for a moment that you are a Welsh rugby fanatic.

Wed, 26 Jan, 2011

Players must be protected from themselves

IT WAS always going to be very difficult this year to follow the highs of 2009 and the accompanying silverware that found an Irish home, including a Six Nations Grand Slam, a Heineken Cup for Leinster and a Magners League for Munster.

Wed, 29 Dec, 2010

Adventures in French Auvergne

DESPITE an horrendous eight-hour delay in Clermont Airport last Sunday night, arriving in Dublin at 5am, I am looking forward to next weekend already.

Wed, 15 Dec, 2010