Ireland’s win over England at Landsdowne Road yesterday has moved them about France in the official IRB World Rankings. Ireland are now the top ranked Northern Hemisphere team.
Wins over France and Wales could see Ireland move above South Africa in the rankings.
No one expected England to lie down when they came to Landsdowne Road. A tough, physical game was expected and that’s exactly what happened. Ireland started well but a poor defence allowed Martin Corry to go over for the first try of the game, but Ireland didn’t lie down, they were soon back in the game due to the boot of Ronan O’Gara.
Gordon D’Arcy has been left out of the Irish side to face England on Sunday following the news that he has been unable to shake the hamstring injury he picked up in the opening match of the tournament against Italy.
Following a meeting on Monday the countries involved in the Celtic League, Ireland, Scotland and Wales have announced that the competition’s future is confirmed until at least 2008. The next three season’s will see the League continue but as many had expected the Celtic Cup will be dropped.
Munster have today confirmed that Munster and Irish International Denis Leamy will be out of action for 3 weeks due to the hamstring injury he picked up last Sunday against Glasgow in the Celtic League.
Things are looking quite good for Ireland on the injury front ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations clash with England. With Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy said to have responded well to their treatment in Poland and with Johnny O’Connor’s injury not as bad as previously thought it looks like Ireland could have a full compliment […]
A long, late Percy Montgomery penalty ended a terrible day for the Dragons with a victory over Ulster. Having heard earlier in the day that coach Chris Anderson would be shown the door at the end of the season, the home side trailed 11-10 on 75 minutes but Ulster’s Roger Best held onto the ball in a tackle to give Montgomery his winning penalty shot from 47m.
Llanelli’s charge up the Celtic League table continued when they beat Connacht in Athlone last night. Connacht have been slipping down the table recently and a poor first half performance last night ensured that they dropped more points again. The only upsides for Connacht were that Ulster lost also and the losing bonus point they picked up means that they stay ahead of Ulster by two points.
Ulster have signed Wellington Hurricanes scrum-half Isaac Boss under a two year deal. Boss, who qualifies for Ireland via his grandparents - who come from Armagh - spent four seasons with New Zealand Super 12 side Waikato Chiefs before switching to the Hurricanes this season.
The ERC have confirmed as expected that Munster’s Heineken Cup Quarter final will take place in San Sebastian, Spain on April 3rd.