Organisation: Ulster

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

rugby

EPCR seeking new venue for Champions Cup final

This season’s Heineken Champions Cup final has been moved away from the planned host city of Marseille with the French Mediterranean port now set to stage the European showpiece at the end of 2020-21.

rugby

Leinster winger Barry Daly quits rugby to pursue Master's in US

Leinster wing Barry Daly has called time on his professional rugby career in order to pursue a Master's degree in the United States.

rugby

Connacht sign Alex Wootton from Munster on season-long loan

Wootton will be bidding to recapture the heights of his breakthrough 2017-18 season, when he was a regular starter for Munster and finished the term as top-try-scorer on nine tries.

gaa

Decision to axe Hogan Cup ‘leaves a bitter taste’ with Tralee CBS

gaa

Cork and Kerry's ladies footballers on collision course

gaa

St Brendan’s hope sense will prevail and schools final is played

Champions Cup quarter-finals set for September, organisers announce

Heineken Champions Cup organisers EPCR are reviewing the feasibility of staging its finals in Marseille in October having announced new dates for the knockout stages this morning

Thu, 25 Jun, 2020

Munster fans have to wait for first sight of star duo Snyman and De Allende

Supporters eager for a glimpse of World Cup winners RG Snyman and Damian de Allende in Munster training gear will have to be patient a little longer.

Tue, 23 Jun, 2020

PRO14 plan to finish season over four weekends

Rankings for European qualification next season have already been decided.

Thu, 18 Jun, 2020

IRFU expect some coronavirus cases once provinces return to training

The IRFU's chief medical officer is anticipating a “small number of Covid-19 cases” among the four provincial professional squads, their coaches, and support staff as they return to training in the coming weeks.

Wed, 17 Jun, 2020

Culture That Made Me: Hector Ó Heochagáin on Dallas, Nirvana and National Geographic

Hector Ó Heochagáin recalls JR Ewing, National Geographic and his love of heavy metal.

Mon, 15 Jun, 2020

'They’re creating post-coronavirus history': Road bowling leads return of live sport in Cork

No, you were not imagining a disturbance in the Force last night. There was a competitive sports event being held, and your correspondent was in attendance.

Tue, 09 Jun, 2020

'It's not political. It's about racism. I was so angry' - Antrim ladies footballer Dahunsi calls on GAA for support

Antrim star Lara Dahunsi describes the racist abuse she has suffered playing ladies football.

Tue, 09 Jun, 2020

Leinster CEO warns full houses not likely at the RDS for some time yet

Leinster Rugby CEO Mick Dawson has warned that the province still faces a long wait before it can accommodate full houses at the RDS.

Mon, 08 Jun, 2020

Sambo' McNaughton: Team Ulster would do more harm than good for hurling

It's almost seven years to the day since Dónal Óg Cusack first floated the Team Ulster idea on The Sunday Game, claiming a combined hurling team from the north could enhance the All-Ireland championship.

Fri, 05 Jun, 2020

What the rest of the 2020 GAA season could look like

John Fogarty looks at how the rest of the GAA calendar will play out.

Fri, 05 Jun, 2020

Kieran Shannon: We know the GAA has more pressing worries, but...

As much as we’d come to associate this time of year with glorious hurling weekends magnified by the sport’s highly satisfying new format, we may have forgotten the soundtrack that usually accompanied football around now: the din of complaints and demands for a “new championship structure”.

Thu, 28 May, 2020

Leinster scrap season tickets for 2020/21 amid pandemic uncertainty

Leinster Rugby have taken the “unprecedented step” of cancelling their season ticket offering for 2020/21 as the province grapples with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing requirements which are likely to be in place for the foreseeable future.

Mon, 25 May, 2020

Roadmap out of Covid-19 lockdown signposted for Irish rugby but dark clouds remain

IRFU CEO Philip Browne yesterday signposted Irish Rugby’s roadmap out of the Covid-19 lockdown for the rest of the year but warned the governing body was spending “tomorrow’s money today” just to stay afloat.

Sat, 23 May, 2020

Campaign helps John Cooney to take setbacks in his stride

When Ireland’s Six Nations trip to Paris was called off as the Covid-19 pandemic swept across Europe, John Cooney could not help but laugh.

Fri, 22 May, 2020

John Cooney relishing Mathewson and Madigan's arrivals

Ireland scrum-half John Cooney is relishing the arrivals of new signings Alby Mathewson and Ian Madigan at Ulster and the strength they will add to the northern province’s push for silverware.

Thu, 21 May, 2020

Disillusionment with former teammates swayed Kevin Cassidy over Donegal return

Kevin Cassidy has admitted that disillusion with former colleagues who didn't back him when axed by Jim McGuinness in 2011 was part of the reason he didn't return.

Mon, 18 May, 2020

Ten football tyros who would have shone brightly this summer

Had this been any other summer, the various provincial minor football championships would be in full flow.

Mon, 18 May, 2020

Dara Ó Cinnéide: Páidí was both a man of his time - and before his time

Páidí Ó Sé would have been 65 years of age today. It’s difficult to imagine and, for those of us who still feel his presence is as real as his absence, it’s difficult to process as well.

Sat, 16 May, 2020

PRO14 contemplating 'bio-bubbles' in effort to restart rugby

Guinness PRO14 organisers are considering isolation “bio-bubbles” in an attempt to get the competition back up and running.

Wed, 13 May, 2020

Picture Perfect: ‘There was this really warm embrace which lasted about 10 to 15 seconds’

James Crombie reveals his favourite sports picture.

Mon, 11 May, 2020

Championship format doesn’t bother Donegal captain Murphy

Donegal captain Michael Murphy doesn’t care what format the All-Ireland senior football championship takes this year so long as it takes place and safely.

Fri, 08 May, 2020

Munster GAA chief warns insurance could delay return to action

Munster chairman Liam Lenihan has raised concerns about insurance covering players returning to action.

Wed, 06 May, 2020

Donal Lenihan: Why the future looks bright for Munster in 2021

In normal circumstances we would be reviewing the Champions Cup semi-finals this Wednesday but with the quarter-finals postponed a few weeks ago, Leinster and Ulster are still scratching their heads as to whether their fixtures against Saracens and Toulouse will ever take place.

Wed, 06 May, 2020

Ulster Bank swings into first quarter loss on back of €32m loan charge

Ulster Bank has reported a €25m operating loss for the first quarter of the year due to the costs of preparing itself for a potential increase in losses on bad loans arising from the economic downturn prompted by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Fri, 01 May, 2020

French Top 14 season to be abandoned

The decision casts further doubt on the European rugby season.

Thu, 30 Apr, 2020

Niall Woods: Enforced shutdown the perfect opportunity to prepare for life after rugby

The former Ireland international wing ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to advising his clients, who include Garry Ringrose, Jordi Murphy (his first client) and Andrew Conway.

Wed, 29 Apr, 2020

Organisers committed to completing Champions Cup despite French ban

Heineken Champions Cup organisers have insisted they remain committed to completing this season’s European knockout competitions, despite the decision by the French Government to ban all sporting events until September.

Tue, 28 Apr, 2020

Former Munster lock Hayes and Cairns named AIL top try-scorers

Cork Constitution second-row Brian Hayes and Ballynahinch winger Aaron Cairns will share the honour of top try-scorer in the 2019/20 Energia All-Ireland League.

Mon, 27 Apr, 2020

Break from action 'invaluable' for new Munster coaches — Murphy

Ireland’s lockdown could provide an upside for Munster’s new coaching team as the province prepares to return to action later this year.

Wed, 22 Apr, 2020

Ulster Rugby furlough players and staff

Ulster Rugby chief executive Jonny Petrie has insisted that putting all players and coaching staff on furlough during the Covid-19 public health crisis is essential to protecting the business.

Wed, 22 Apr, 2020

Cullen: It’s important we are open-minded to the best solution

The paralysing uncertainty as to just when sport can emerge again from house arrest has brought all sorts of strange ideas into play. So it is that a scenario previously unthinkable, anathema even, is now being viewed as the best of a very bad lot.

Tue, 21 Apr, 2020

Tiernan McCann: Social media criticism ‘not easy’

Tyrone defender Tiernan McCann has admitted that coming under a social media spotlight is “not easy” and has appealed to online critics to be “very careful of what they say” about players. McCann was retrospectively banned for two games last summer following an incident against Donegal .

Mon, 20 Apr, 2020

Congress decision gives GAA flexibility to react to Covid-19

The GAA will be quicker to react to the latest social distancing restrictions as a result of yesterday’s Special Congress decision to hand over temporary powers to their management committee.

Fri, 17 Apr, 2020

Ladies football campaigns set to be delayed

The Munster and Ulster ladies football championships will not be run off across May and June, as scheduled, while it is becoming increasingly likely the new All-Ireland ladies football championship structure will be shelved until 2021.

Fri, 17 Apr, 2020

‘I think it was a moment of realisation for a lot of us that we were a really good team’

I t was a season that saw Munster ranked 66-1 Heineken Cup outsiders and treated with such disdain by Saracens that John Kelly remembers his team running out at Vicarage Road to the theme tune of American 60s ghoulish sitcom ‘The Munsters’.

Wed, 15 Apr, 2020

Dan Leavy enters final straight in marathon rehab programme

Rugby's return, like so much else, remains up in the air but Dan Leavy will be fit and ready to play his part for club and country when it does.

Tue, 14 Apr, 2020

Sunday's TV Highlights: Wolf Hall, Stephen Hawking and a classic Munster final all feature

Wolf Hall, a Stephen Hawking biopic and a classic Munster final between Cork and Waterford all feature among today's best.

Sun, 12 Apr, 2020

Bernard Laporte steps in to fill void left by sport

Timing was everything for Bernard Laporte on Monday when he began ruffling the feathers of European rugby administrators

Tue, 07 Apr, 2020

Stunning shocks, desperate rearguards and crushing victories: Ranking the best of the provinces’ European quarter-finals

This was supposed to be the day Leinster and Saracens met in the last eight of the Champions Cup.

Sat, 04 Apr, 2020

Ian Keatley happy to kick on in Italy

Ian Keatley was grateful to have escaped the cruel grip that Covid-19 has placed on his adopted hometown in northern Italy but the former Munster fly-half will not hesitate to return to Treviso and help rebuild the local economy when it is safe to do so.

Fri, 03 Apr, 2020

€500,000 boost for club rugby after season cancellation

The Irish Rugby Football Union is to make €500,000 available to its clubs in light of the Covid-19 crisis, the governing body announced on Tuesday evening.

Tue, 24 Mar, 2020

John Fogarty: How a knockout GAA summer might look

As Sunday draws nearer, the GAA continue to keep their powder dry about extending the suspension of all Gaelic Games activity.

Tue, 24 Mar, 2020

Rugby players in Ireland agree to pay deferral deal

The cost of cancellations and postponements in the Irish rugby calendar due to the coronavirus outbreak will now hit the pockets of those involved in the professional game

Fri, 20 Mar, 2020

PRO14 chiefs defend decision to suspend season

Guinness PRO14 chiefs last night decided to suspend the 2019-20 season indefinitely, with the cross-border league going as far as to cancel its grand final, which had been set to take place in Cardiff on June 20.

Fri, 20 Mar, 2020

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