Irish blood, Australian heart – Owen Finegan looks back fondly on beating Lions and facing Ireland in front of family
The son of Irish parents, Finegan is the only member of his family who was born in Australia. As a powerful back-row, he won a World Cup with Australia in 1999 and beat the Lions in 2001, before spending a season at Leinster under Michael Cheika in 2006/7.
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Irish Independent
28 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Archie Ryan excited to make Grand Tour debut at Vuelta a Espana: ‘There are going to be loads of opportunities'
Irish riders Eddie Dunbar and Archie Ryan will be on the start line for the Vuelta a Espana when it starts this Saturday in Piedmont, Italy. Ryan, the 23-year-old from Wicklow, will be racing in his first Grand Tour after being selected by his team, EF Education-EasyPost, on a young squad that lacks an obvious leader after the withdrawal of Richard Carapaz due to illness. With 11 summit finishes across the 21 stages, the mountainous Spanish Grand Tour should suit the young Irish rider who goes into the race on the back of a solid week at the Vuelta a Burgos earlier this month and having finished second overall at the Tour of Austria in July. 'I'm super, super excited,' said Ryan. 'I think it is going to be a great three weeks. I haven't done a Grand Tour before, so I'm excited for the experience. We've got a super young squad. It'll be pretty exciting and hopefully Poppy Chaves [Esteban Chaves] can guide us through it nicely. 'I want to try and get in the break in some of the harder stages and fight for a stage win or two. That's the goal. There are going to be loads of opportunities. 'That is why I'm just really excited to go there. It is the grand tour that has the stages that suit me the best.' Ryan is one of four EF debutants alongside Markel Beloki, Lukas Nerurkar, and Jardi van der Lee while Esteban Chaves, James Shaw, Madis Mihkels and Sean Quinn have also been selected Dunbar will return to the Vuelta with happy memories after winning two stages of last year's race and forms part of a three-pronged leadership for Jayco-Alula alongside Ben O'Connor and Chris Harper. The Wicklow-born Danish rider Chris Juul Jensen is also on the eight-rider team. The confirmation of Dunbar's selection comes a day after it was announced he will leave the Australian team at the end of the season and move to Swiss team Q36.5 Pro Cycling. The 28-year-old Corkman warmed up for the Vuelta by racing in the Arctic Race of Norway last week after he was forced to withdraw from his first Tour de France on stage 8 following a crash. The race features 3,151km of racing across four countries, with 53,914m of elevation gain.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Galway teenager John Shortt storms into world final
Ireland's John Shortt has stormed into the 100m backstroke final at the World Aquatics Junior Championships in Otopenia, Romania. The 18-year-old, Ireland's only representative at the championships, set a new Irish junior record in qualifying. Shortt, the 2025 European junior champion in the event, is now the second fastest Irishman ever over the distance after a swim of 53.80 in Tuesday's semi-final. Only Shane Ryan's 2019 Irish record of 53.73 is faster. The Galway native cruised through the heats in 54.39 in fourth overall. Tuesday's first semi-final saw Shortt, and American Gavin Keogh (53.52) take the top two spots for Wednesday's final, the second semi-final won by neutral athlete Georgii Iokevlev in 53.90. "I am very very happy with that swim, a PB which is nice," said Shortt. "You know since trials (in April) I haven't been 53 in that event, so to be 53.8 there I'm absolutely delighted with that. It's going to be a really really close final tomorrow, three of us going 53's and the Aussie going 54.0. It's going to be a very very packed final (on Wednesday), but I've just got to keep doing my own thing and I'll be ok. "I was very surprised as well with that swim, because coming off the back of (the world senior championships) it's been - to be completely honest - a very lonely ten days in between. So just want to give massive credit to (my coach) John Szaranek for keeping me going these past ten days or so because it's just been the two of us really. It's been great and I've loved it and I really want to end the season on a big high." The final will take place at 4:02pm on Wednesday.
The Journal
an hour ago
- The Journal
FAI Cup holders Drogheda set for quarter-final clash with Shamrock Rovers
THE DRAW FOR the men's FAI Cup quarter-finals and women's FAI Cup semi-finals took place in Abbotstown this afternoon. Kerry FC will host Sligo Rovers in the Munster side's first ever appearance in the quarter-finals, while 2024 cup winners Drogheda United were drawn against Shamrock Rovers. Confirmed ✅ Four huge ties ahead 😍 — FAIreland (@FAIreland) August 19, 2025 Finn Harps will face Cork City, and St Patrick's Athletic will welcome Galway United to Inchicore. Advertisement The games will be played on the week ending 14 September, with fixture details to be confirmed. Two ties will be selected for broadcast on RTÉ 2 with the other two live on LOITV. In the women's semi-finals, Shamrock Rovers will play Athlone Town while Bohemians will be at home against Treaty United. Both semi-finals, also scheduled for the week ending 14 September, will be broadcast live on TG4. FAI Cup quarter-finals: Kerry FC v Sligo Rovers Drogheda United v Shamrock Rovers Finn Harps v Cork City St Patrick's Athletic v Galway United Women's FAI Cup Semi-Finals: Shamrock Rovers v Athlone Town Bohemians v Treaty United Written by Ciarán Kennedy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here .
