Direct route is best option for IrelandAmid all the lopsided contests in the World Cup's first weekend, it's worth noting that there have been few real slaughtersTue Oct 05 1999 - 01:00
Ring-rusty Wallabies do enoughLike pretty much all the other heavy hitters, the Wallabies were somewhat ring-rusty after a month's enforced lay-off for their…Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Irish support touches WoodAustralia completed the first round of World Cup games in fitting style for a weekend largely made notable for its surfeit of…Mon Oct 04 1999 - 01:00
Welsh opening off keyNice stadium, when it's finished. Nice opening ceremony, too. Shame about the matchSat Oct 02 1999 - 01:00
Ireland to dig in early and win wellIreland seek to boldly go where no Irish squad has gone before (beyond the quarter-finals) in this World Cup and the trek starts…Sat Oct 02 1999 - 01:00
Good start likely for Henry's heroesShirley bassey has cleared her throat, as have Catatonia, and the Prince of Wales is on hand to officially begin the ceremonies…Fri Oct 01 1999 - 01:00
US field strongest available teamUS coach Jack Clark has opted to field his best available line-up for tomorrow evening's Pool E game against Ireland at Lansdowne…Fri Oct 01 1999 - 01:00
No surprises as Ireland name an unchanged sideAs Irish team selections go, yesterday's announcement of the side to begin the World Cup against the USA this Saturday wasn't…Thu Sept 30 1999 - 01:00
The game the USA don't play for moneyThe Ryder Cup showed us the Americans at their best and their worstTue Sept 28 1999 - 01:00
Irish shed pounds in Cup pursuitThat this is the fittest and best prepared Irish squad for a World Cup is beyond disputeTue Sept 28 1999 - 01:00
Injury forces Scally to retireCiaran Scally, the 21-year-old Irish international scrum-half, has been forced to retire from the gameThu Sept 23 1999 - 01:00
Ireland enigma remains frustratingWhile Ireland were making hard work of beating Ulster in heavy weather during the weekend, England were running up 90-odd against…Tue Sept 21 1999 - 01:00
Ireland labour for desired resultIt wasn't a vintage Irish performance by any meansMon Sept 20 1999 - 01:00
Ireland achieve primary objectiveIreland achieved the primary requirement of beating Ulster yesterday by 25-16 at a sodden Queen's University, Belfast, in their…Mon Sept 20 1999 - 01:00
Ireland in desperate need of a good winBOTH FOR themselves and for the public, Ireland need to put last week's embarrassing loss against Munster behind them by playing…Sat Sept 18 1999 - 01:00
Ireland pull out the stops for Ulster gameAfter the Musgrave mauling, no messing this timeThu Sept 16 1999 - 01:00
RTE extends coverage of provincial matchesRTE will show live coverage of at least six matches involving Irish provinces in the group stages of this season's European Cup…Wed Sept 15 1999 - 01:00
Moore leads againShane Moore, who captained Ireland when they won the under-19 World Cup in France last year, will lead Leinster in their opening…Wed Sept 15 1999 - 01:00
So much to do, so few resourcesPerhaps Baldrick came up to the Irish management one day last week and said: "I have a plan, m'ludsTue Sept 14 1999 - 01:00
Munster spoil Irish showAs embarrassments go, it wasn't quite on the scale of Ireland's first-choice 1991 World Cup squad going down to GloucesterSat Sept 11 1999 - 01:00
Plenty at stake for Irish squad in tough friendlyOn the face of it, tonight's Munster v Ireland XV World Cup warm-up game at Musgrave Park (6Fri Sept 10 1999 - 01:00
Defensive Irish clean up their actAway from the madding crowds, the Irish World Cup preparations continue apaceWed Sept 08 1999 - 01:00
Wyllie to continue Clontarf's Kiwi linkIn a significant coup, clearly arising out of Argentina's recent stay in Dublin, Clontarf yesterday confirmed that Alex "Grizz…Tue Sept 07 1999 - 01:00
Our funny old game continues to surpriseIt's a funny old game, as Ulster's season thus far underlinesTue Sept 07 1999 - 01:00
Munster break Belfast hoodoo with quality winThe Game may not have quite lived up to expectations, but this was still a quality encounter between Ireland's finestMon Sept 06 1999 - 01:00
Lynagh, Hamilton roll back the yearsGuinness officially launched their first-ever global sports sponsorship yesterday and given the event in question - the 1999 …Sat Sept 04 1999 - 01:00
O'Driscoll leaves it lateTo describe this as a laboured Leinster win would be akin to saying Brian O'Driscoll is a little talentedSat Sept 04 1999 - 01:00
Clash of the heavyweights likely to sway Ulster's wayEuropean champions against Irish champions - Ireland doesn't stage games like this every other weekSat Sept 04 1999 - 01:00
Basement battle a must-winIt hasn't taken long for the demarcation lines to be drawn in this season's Guinness InteprovincialsFri Sept 03 1999 - 01:00
IRFU cloud Celtic visionIRFU sources last night played down reports emanating from Wales that negotiations to revive a Celtic league involving Irish …Fri Sept 03 1999 - 01:00
Race for Cup glory more even than ever"HMM, very interesting," as the helmeted German used to say on Rowan and Martin's laugh-in, before adding to the rider "but stupid…Tue Aug 31 1999 - 01:00
Gatland's men show potentialIreland being Ireland, they couldn't make it easy for us. Oh not, not themMon Aug 30 1999 - 01:00
No surprises in predictable 30A few quibbles with the timing, unexpectedly brought forward to Saturday evening, maybe even a few quibbles about some of the…Mon Aug 30 1999 - 01:00
O'Kelly omitted from Test XVThe Irish team to play Argentina on Saturday looks suspiciously like a first-choice XV, but then again it's not quite full-strength…Thu Aug 26 1999 - 01:00
Irish wary of under-rating ArgentiniansAlthough this Saturday's Test against Argentina provides Ireland with their one meaningful World Cup warm-up against outside …Wed Aug 25 1999 - 01:00
Leinster get badly mauled by PumasIt was to have provided a platform for some of Ireland's World Cup wannabees and to rejuvenate Leinster's seasonWed Aug 25 1999 - 01:00
Onus on Leinster to start winningLeinster may have missed out on the touring Irish bandwagon which is doing the rounds of the other provinces at the moment, but…Tue Aug 24 1999 - 01:00
Kiernan an Irish hero once againMany people, some of them French, still labour under the illusion that Aime Jacquet guided France to success in last year's football…Tue Aug 24 1999 - 01:00
Ring-rusty Irish made to dig deep for victoryWarren Gatland was entitled to look relievedMon Aug 23 1999 - 01:00
Ireland hopefuls come one step closerRarely will the score be so immaterial this season, but rarely will some of the sub-plots count for so muchSat Aug 21 1999 - 01:00
Irish eyes firmly on their Cup rivalsAside from events at the Sportsground, the Irish management will have an eye and a spy on other more salubrious environs as the…Sat Aug 21 1999 - 01:00
Horgan still in the runningShane Horgan, of late considered a non-runner for the Irish World Cup squad, suddenly re-entered the fray yesterday when the …Fri Aug 20 1999 - 01:00
Gatland keeps the Irish door openIn shuffling the deck for Ireland's first warm-up match of the season, against Connacht in Galway this Saturday, the Irish management…Thu Aug 19 1999 - 01:00
Wing injuries force changesThe Irish team to play Connacht on Saturday in their first World Cup warm-up match will be announced today and while Conor McGuinness…Wed Aug 18 1999 - 01:00
Costello fails to make first cutVictor Costello and Ciaran Scally were the two biggest losers when Ireland's 34man preliminary World Cup squad was announced …Tue Aug 17 1999 - 01:00
Interpros show little has changedTime was when the last of the summer honeymooners might still be given special dispensation around now and most players would…Tue Aug 17 1999 - 01:00
