Munster to revel in a real meaty encounterNow we're getting into the meat of this European CupSat Sept 27 1997 - 01:00
Pontypridd and Brive the focus of attentionThese things being relative, the players and coaches of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht have it easySat Sept 27 1997 - 01:00
Minimum changes for European tiesMunster, Ulster and Connacht keep changes to a minimum for their European home ties tomorrow against Cardiff, Swansea and Nice…Fri Sept 26 1997 - 01:00
Simon says he's back for IrelandAnother Wednesday and another productive Irish squad sessionThu Sept 25 1997 - 01:00
Munster relishing visit of CardiffFar from being devalued by the recent exodus of players across channel, Irish sides have competed pretty well in the European…Wed Sept 24 1997 - 01:00
Confident Connacht getting right mixIf it is true that Irish rugby could theoretically be one of the main beneficiaries from the advent of professionalism and the…Tue Sept 23 1997 - 01:00
Leinster form dips severelyTo say that this Leinster defeat sticks in the craw would be an understatementMon Sept 22 1997 - 01:00
Leinster set to win againPraiseworthy though the performance against Toulouse was, and brilliant though the victory against Leicester was, that opening…Sat Sept 20 1997 - 01:00
Self-discipline is the order of day for LeinsterFiguratively, the Heineken Cup is getting a little hot under the collar, and, literally, at any rate, nowhere will it be warmer…Sat Sept 20 1997 - 01:00
Munster look to KeaneMark McDermott and Shane Leahy return to the Munster starting line-up for tomorrow's Heineken Cup Pool D tie against Bourgoin…Fri Sept 19 1997 - 01:00
Leinster stick with winning blendPresumably the Leinster management could pick their team from opposite sides of the street nowadaysWed Sept 17 1997 - 01:00
Staples ponders clouded futureJim Staples, last season's Irish captain, will almost certainly miss the first of the national squad's weekly Wednesday training…Tue Sept 16 1997 - 01:00
Professionalism begins to yield rewardsFor much of the 90s, and before, the advent of professionalism sparked enough gnashing of teeth for a dentists' conventionTue Sept 16 1997 - 01:00
Four added to squadBrian Ashton has added four players to the contracted national squad of 35 for the first of the weekly training sessions near…Mon Sept 15 1997 - 01:00
Munster authors off their own misfortuneWhile the scoreline never lies, it sometimes has a funny way of not telling the truth eitherMon Sept 15 1997 - 01:00
Fired-up Leinster need to get breaksNext up Leicester then, whose team of internationals and Lions take on Leinster this eveningFri Sept 12 1997 - 01:00
Leinster face starry LeicesterLeicester include 10 internationals from five countries in their line-up for tomorrow evening's European Cup tie with Leinster…Thu Sept 11 1997 - 01:00
Elwood the maestro in Connacht's finest hourGrown men who had seen a few good days but mostly bad ones were moved to tears of joy, as Connacht delivered the biggest competitive…Wed Sept 10 1997 - 01:00
No return for positive playIrish Rugby, and Ulster in particular, wanted something more tangible than another encouraging Heineken Cup display but despite…Tue Sept 09 1997 - 01:00
Irish patients show signs of recoveryForget all this gloom and doom then, let's have some bloom and boom? In what may well have been a revealing barometer of the …Tue Sept 09 1997 - 01:00
Preview - Connacht V Northampton, Sportsground, 3.0Connacht today square up to Ian McGeechan's Northampton and their pride of Lions encouraged by and mindful of their meeting with…Tue Sept 09 1997 - 01:00
Regrets for improved LeinsterTo lose to Toulouse is no crime, and Leinster could justifiably take heart from a predictably much improved performance at Donnybrook…Mon Sept 08 1997 - 01:00
Quinlan's efforts are rewardedMan of the moment Alan Quinlan, along with Reggie Corrigan and Brian Cusack are the latest additions to the Irish squad for tomorrow…Sat Sept 06 1997 - 01:00
Cissies of the world uniteLike the released convict on parole, rugby behaved itself with model deportment last weekendSat Sept 06 1997 - 01:00
Players sign contractsThe Irish international contracts for the coming season were signed in Dublin yesterdayFri Sept 05 1997 - 01:00
Deylaud is fit to take on LeinsterAs expected, the mercurial former French out-half Christophe Deylaud has been declared fit to play his first game of the season…Fri Sept 05 1997 - 01:00
Munster drop Foley and WallaceA barometer of Munster's worsening form in five games this season is the decision by the selectors to reshuffle their side radically…Thu Sept 04 1997 - 01:00
Leinster aim for invigorating ambienceFor all the doom and gloom encircling Irish rugby in advance of the Heineken European Cup, there is a discernible buzz of anticipation…Wed Sept 03 1997 - 01:00
Bad play, bad refs, and bad businessGoodbye to all that then, or should that be good riddance? By any criteria, the 1997 Interprovincial Championship must go down…Tue Sept 02 1997 - 01:00
Many European Cup matches are postponedMany of this Saturday's opening round matches in the European Cup have been postponed until Sunday as a mark of respect to Diana…Tue Sept 02 1997 - 01:00
Game escapes early from limited Munster teamTwenty seconds into this Ravenhill interprovincial Stuart Laing set Ulster on their way with a drop goalMon Sept 01 1997 - 01:00
Now or never for interprovincial protagonistsWelcome to the last chance saloonSat Aug 30 1997 - 01:00
Leinster V ConnachtLeinster will be without international full-back Ciaran Clarke, because he "did not pass a late fitness test" on his troublesome…Sat Aug 30 1997 - 01:00
Ulster V MunsterDesperate though Ulster's plight is, at least their position is fairly clear-cutSat Aug 30 1997 - 01:00
Gatland stands by his menConnacht, not surprisingly, have announced an unchanged side for their Interprovincial Championship meeting with Leinster at …Wed Aug 27 1997 - 01:00
IRFU cancel squad sessionsThe first three proposed training sessions for the Irish international squad, due to start tomorrow, have been cancelled.Tue Aug 26 1997 - 01:00
Munster prevail in barren struggleIf this is supposedly the creme de la creme of Irish representative rugby - the showpiece match-up of the Guinness Interprovincial…Mon Aug 25 1997 - 01:00
Pivotal match of the seriesIt is the most momentous clash of the Guinness Interprovincial Championship thus far - these things being relative of courseSat Aug 23 1997 - 01:00
Roche gets early Bath debutBrian Roche, the one-time Sunday's Well left-winger, will make a surprise English League Premiership debut for last season's …Fri Aug 22 1997 - 01:00
In a league of its ownIt is almost encouraging to note that daft seasonal structures are not confined to IrelandThu Aug 21 1997 - 01:00
Referees join Leinster squad in exercise of continuityIn the continuing effort to improve communication on and off the pitch between referees, players and coaches - while also endeavouring…Wed Aug 20 1997 - 01:00
Referees hold the key to open gameRunning Rugby, played at pace, with a reduction in set-pieces and a correlating increase in rucks and mauls, lots and lots of…Tue Aug 19 1997 - 01:00
Leinster flatter only to deceiveSo much sun, so much expectation, and so much disappointmentMon Aug 18 1997 - 01:00
