RTÉ Rugby podcast: Leinster's siege mentality and inside the Irish RWC camp
Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Johne Murphy as we preview Leinster's BKT United Rugby Championship final against the Bulls on Saturday.
We also react to Finlay Bealham's call-up to the Lions squad, as well as the Irish squad named for the summer Tests in Georgia and Portugal.
Later (55:20), Neil speaks to Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon, and back row Brittany Hogan, to find out how things are going in the early stages of Ireland's Rugby World Cup training camp.
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Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Real story behind URC final attendance figures at Croke Park will surprise you
There are a variety of people who claim to have coined the phrase 'What if they gave a war and nobody came' and, indeed Pat Boone of Ain't That a Shame fame, had an absolutely awful single of the same it's the URC who are laughing all the to the bank and predicting a 42,000-plus attendance at Croke Park for a match without 'away' fans and for which the tickets only went on sale last a minor victory for that idea that 'destination' finals are not good for sport, that is picking a city at the start of season and which was used by the URC advantage is the event is on sale for eight months, the disadvantage is you could pick a northern hemisphere venue and get two South African teams and league's current MO is to allow the side with the highest league position once the finalists are known - and they were not known until last Saturday. Leinster had nominated Croke Park at the beginning of the season as the RDS is being rebuilt and, at the time, the FAI had reserved this weekend at The estimates that the URC Grand final would attract as little as 12,000 were a long way wide of the mark and as evidence that the lower bowl was not enough to cater for the demand emerged on Wednesday, a section of the Upper Cusack was URC did not have a Grand Final between 2004 and 2009. The next phase, merit-based finals from 2010-14, saw just one passing 20,000, namely Munster vs Leinster in 2011 at Thomond 2015-19 destination finals, at a time when there were no South African club involved in the league, got past 40,000 on three ocassions on the back of getting it 'right'. The Aviva hosted Munster vs Scarlets (47,556) in 2017 and Leinster vs Scarlets (46,092) in 2018 before Glasgow hosted Glasgow vs Leinster (47,128) in 2020 and 2021 finals were played behind closed doors because of Covid restrictions while, more recently, there was 31,000 in Cape Town for all the all-South African Stormers vs Bulls, a record 53,244 in Cape Town for the All-South African Bulls vs Stormers, and 50,388 in Pretoria for Bulls vs average URC attendance is 12,000, while their average for the season which included an 80,000 Munster Croke Park sell-out and the Champions Cup games, is 32, disappointing semi-final attendance of 15,762 was taken in the light of Ireland playing a soccer match against Senegal the previous Thursday and attracting 32,478. The URC, who are only expecting a small number of UK-based Bulls fans and very few foreign-based neutrals, are privately delighted to be pushing 43, lessons are being learned and there is an announcement in the offing that the gap between the semi-finals and the final will be stretched to two week to allow fans more time to plan trips. It's not too late to go to today's match either and tickets are as cheap as €20 for Hill 16.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Netherlands hit Ireland for six in FIH Pro League
Netherlands 6-2 Ireland The Netherlands proved why they are Olympic champions and World No 1 as they inflicted a second FIH Pro League defeat on Ireland in Amstelveen in as many days. A brace from Lisnagarvey's Ben Nelson gave Ireland a major positive to take forward into their remaining FIH Pro League games, however, after Wednesday's 2-0 loss. Three saves from Luke Roleston had helped to keep the score level at the end of the first quarter and both sides had had a penalty corner before Netherlands scored through the third, Jip Janssen drag-flicking past Roleston to break the deadlock. Terrence Pieters eventually got the Netherlands' second just before half-time. A ball across the circle popped up off an Irish stick, giving Pieters the opportunity to volley into the net. The Dutch started the second half quickly, with a penalty corner in the first minute providing them an early chance. The resulting effort was deflected into the body of Lee Cole, and the Netherlands were awarded a penalty stroke, albeit a controversial one, which Jip Janssen snuck past Roleston for the Netherlands' third. Ireland remained steadfast in their efforts, but a speculative call went the way of the home side again for a corner, which Pepijn van der Heijden flicked low into the net to add a fourth. The visitors ended the third quarter positively, mounting a series of attacks, the last of which saw brothers Ben and Matthew Nelson connect well down the right flank to make their way into the circle, but selflessness from Ben as he tried to find the final pass rather than taking on the shot at goal gave the Dutch the chance to clear. Ireland made an ideal start to the final quarter, Sean Murray making a great tackle in the middle of the park and finding Ben Nelson free in the circle to fire into the net and grab Ireland's first. But the Dutch responded, restoring their four-goal lead from open play through Joep Troost. Despite the game looking out of sight, there were still plenty of positive moments in the closing stages from Ireland. An audacious lob from Ali Empey looked destined for the net but hit the side netting instead, followed by a good interchange from Ben Pasley and Adam McAllister forcing the Dutch into more defensive duties. Ben Nelson grabbed his second goal of the game sneaking the ball over Visser following a good crash ball, rewarding Ireland for their continued positive play. But the Dutch scored the final goal of the game right on the final whistle. Speaking after the game Ben Nelson said: "Playing against the top teams in the world, the Olympic Champions; it's always going to be a difficult game in their own backyard. "It's our first two matches in a block of eight, I think we need to just keep pushing on from now, take the positives from this game, see the areas we need to work on, and then push on to the next six matches." Ireland Men's Head Coach Mark Tumilty added: "It's hard to be positive after a 6-2 defeat, but we didn't deserve to lose by that margin. We created better opportunities in the first half and yet found ourselves 2-0 down at half-time." Discussing some of the umpiring decisions, Tumilty said: "I thought we should have been awarded a stroke in the first half but ended up losing our video referral. The stroke they were awarded should not have been, Luke Roleston was behind Lee Cole on the goal line. I thought those decisions were shocking. I expect decisions to be correct." Tumilty's side will travel to Antwerp next where they will begin their final stage of the FIH Pro League with an encounter with Belgium on Saturday at 2.30pm Irish time.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Rhasidat Adeleke finishes fourth as she gears up for World Championships
Rhasidat Adeleke finished in fourth place in Oslo, clocking a time of 50.42 seconds, as she begins to gear up for September's World Championships. Adeleke (22) was part of a blistering race as United States athlete Isabella Whittaker clocked an impressive 49.58 as she edged out hometown favourite Henriette Jager (49.62) in a pulsating race. Amber Anning, the recent world indoor champion was in third while Dutch rival Lieke Klaver (50.64) finished just behind the Irish athlete. Adeleke will return to action on Sunday in Stockholm as she continues her preparations for the World Championships in Singapore in September. Mark English was also in action on Thursday as he finished seventh in his 800m race with a time of 1:44.33 as Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the race in a time of 1:42.78.
