Caelan Doris to miss up to six months after shoulder surgery
Leinster and Ireland captain Caelan Doris is to miss up to six months of action following surgery on his shoulder.
Leinster Rugby issued an injury bulletin on Monday afternoon, confirming that the Mayo man will be absent for between four and six months after last Friday's procedure.
The number eight was among the favourites to captain the British and Irish Lions on their Tour of Australia but he was omitted from the squad announced by Andy Farrell last week due to the injury picked up in defeat to Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-finals.
In addition to the major disappointment of missing what would have been the first Lions tour of his career, Doris is now a doubt for his country's autumn internationals.
Ireland, who take on Georgia and Portugal in July, face New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November before hosting Japan, Australia and South Africa in Dublin on the following three weekends.
Head coach Leo Cullen had better news on James Ryan ahead of this Saturday's dead rubber fixture against Glasgow Warriors in Aviva Stadium.
The second row came through last weekend's facile win over Zebre with no issues after his return from injury.
James Culhane will be further assessed this week for an arm injury before a final decision will be made.
There were no new updates on Jordan Larmour, Will Connors and Brian Deeny.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Galway's Cathal Mannion only too aware of Kilkenny's extra-time threat
The last thing Cathal Mannion needs any reminding about is what happened the last time Galway played Kilkenny in a Leinster hurling final. Which is perfectly understandable, because if Galway are to win this Sunday, then Mannion knows it won't be over even as the fat lady is clearing her throat. Conceding an injury-time goal, with no hope of recovery, can happen to any team. Not just against Kilkenny. And while Mannion wasn't directly involved in that unforgettably chaotic endgame in Croke Park two years ago, his older brother Pádraic was. Here's the scene again. Five minutes of injury time are almost up, the clock on 75:05. Galway are two points up, and jaded players from both teams are scrambling for the last grip on possession, where the Hogan Stand meets the Canal End. Clear the sliotar, anywhere at all, and it's Galway's Leinster title. READ MORE When it eventually pops out in front of Pádraic, now without his hurl, he simply boots it away, assuming that will be enough – just not realising Kilkenny's Cillian Buckley is waiting for one last pounce. A quick shimmy and then his deftly aimed shot rocks the Galway net, Mannion a split second too late in his despairing dive to stop it. It happens. Kilkenny, remember, were treated to the same fate in the Leinster semi-final in 2004, when Wexford's Michael Jacob hit them with a last-minute goal, ending their championship interest in the process. 'It was a difficult day, disappointing obviously, the way we lost it,' says Cathal, without putting any blame whatsoever on Pádraic. 'You can say the goal at the end [lost it], but how many things were thrown at him [Pádraic]? [ Galway's Pádraic Mannion not beating himself up over his part in Kilkenny's late winner Opens in new window ] 'Anyone that knows Kilkenny knows it'll go to 73, 74 minutes, and there'll be no difference this Sunday. If we want to win on Sunday, you have to perform to your best. We moved on from the game fairly quickly. It's two years ago, it's a different team, different players to a certain extent.' Indeed, while Pádraic is now a pillar in the Galway full-back line, Cathal is playing a different role among the forwards, including as chief free-taker. He's Galway's top scorer in this Leinster campaign, hitting 2-43 (28 from frees) in their five games to date. Galway's Cathal Mannion celebrates after scoring a goal against Offaly at O'Connor Park in Tullamore on April 26th. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho 'Whatever you're asked to do, you'll do it,' Mannion says, admitting the conversation with Galway manager Micheál Donoghue about taking over the frees was short and sweet. 'They just said, 'Will you take them?' and I said, 'I would.' I started to practice them a lot and just started putting more time into them. 'Even for my club [Ahascragh-Fohenagh] I didn't take too many frees, an odd time here and there, sometimes. Frees are obviously important and, particularly as the season goes on, you need to be scoring the frees.' A secondary school teacher in his home parish, Mannion (30) is two years younger than Pádraic, and credits his return to more consistent form this season to a clear run from injury, especially a nagging problem with his Achilles tendon. 'My Achilles was at me for three years, probably. Then, as a result, I was pulling hamstrings and so on. You couldn't get a run, and you'd feel you're coming back, and then get another setback and whatever. 'Obviously, as a player, it's hugely frustrating when you can't get a run, so I had probably two years there of just on and off injuries. I got a bit of procedure done in the winter, and it's definitely helped, cleared it up.' Another thing Mannion doesn't need reminding about is Galway's recent Leinster record against Kilkenny. In their opening round-robin game back in April, Galway lost by 12 points and haven't beaten the Cats in Leinster since their round-robin game in 2022 – losing the final to the same side a few weeks later. [ Joe Canning: Galway are growing in confidence and if they beat Kilkenny, the crowds will follow Opens in new window ] Since joining Leinster in 2009, they've won three finals, beating Kilkenny in 2012 and 2018 (after a replay), and Wexford in 2017. Kilkenny have beaten them in the finals of 2010, '15, '16, '20, '22, and '23 – and are going for six-in-a-row on Sunday. 'Obviously, we had a poor performance, didn't perform as well as we wanted to against Kilkenny the first day,' says Mannion. 'We'd Offaly the week after, which was probably a good thing. The games come in fairly quick, and we got a few wins, obviously, and it gives you a bit of momentum.' Galway manager Micheál Donoghue during the Leinster SHC game between Dublin and Galway at Parnell Park on May 25th. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Mannion also reckons Donoghue's liberal use of the panel during the league, which touched on 40 different players, is paying dividends now. It also helps that players such as Daithí and David Burke and Conor Whelan are finding their groove again. 'Definitely. I suppose in our group now, you have younger players coming in, and you have a few experienced players. Since the league, the panel has been trimmed. Micheál and the management team, that was what they set out to do when they came in, to get a look at as many players as they could. 'As the league goes on, you mightn't be seeing the results that you want, but when you look at the bigger picture, there's loads of players getting games, which is definitely a huge positive. There's huge competition there now, which is very good.' Win or lose on Sunday, by injury-time goal or otherwise, Mannion also knows there is ultimately a bigger prize on offer. 'Obviously, you have a prize of a Leinster final, but you also have a prize going forward to an All-Ireland semi-final. When you finish up, of course you'd want to have a second or a third or as many All-Ireland medals as you can. It's something we'd love to get back to.'
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Champions Cup game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh would be 'financially advantageous', says Munster COO
Qualification for next season's Champions Cup may have brought a huge sigh of relief with Munster Rugby but it has also opened the door to an opportunity for the province to cash in an extra €500,000 dividend. When Tadhg Beirne's side secured sixth place in the URC standings with a win over Benetton at Cork's Virgin Media Park last month it not only meant avoiding the ignominy of becoming the first Munster team to fail to quality for Europe's top-tier competition and a hammering to the balance sheet for 2025-26. It allowed the organisation to begin implementing their plan to stage a Champions Cup pool game across town at Páirc Uí Chaoimh this December. The decision to move a European fixture away from Thomond Park was not taken lightly but there were sound economic reasons a change of strategy once Munster gained the approval of GAA Central Council last March, as chief operating officer Philip Quinn outlined to the Irish Examiner this week. With the EPCR pool draw not due until later this summer, the precise date of the fixture remains unclear though the intention is to play the pool game in one of the opening two rounds in December, whichever the draw allows. 'Ticket sales, they were down this year,' Quinn said of the Champions Cup home games this season. 'EPCR1, that one in December, we've seen now two years in a row where it was Bayonne and Stade Francais, where it's gone down significantly versus what we would have budgeted. Also, this year the IRFU had their 150th anniversary that fourth international (against Australia in Dublin last November 30) definitely hit us substantially. 'We were playing the Lions that night and we saw that one fall off a cliff, so it did impact us on that side of things. 'I suppose seeing the last couple of years in that EPCR game, where we've been below what we expected on it, that's where I suppose it's given us the opportunity to look at Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the current year. 'I talk about moving a game from Thomond to Cork not being financially advantageous when it's a sell-out (in Limerick). When it's not a sell-out there's a huge opportunity. Suddenly we can bring it to a much broader audience, hopefully in December, and we will make a significant amount of money. 'It will be somewhere around an extra half a million, versus what we'd make from that one-off game in Thomond. That's a big uplift for us next season.' Munster's victory over Benetton at Virgin Media Park gifted them a spot in Europe's top-tier competition for next season. File picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile Quinn stressed Munster would not be taking anything for granted in terms of ticket sales but added there was confidence the Champions Cup match had the potential to be on a par with the 40,885 supporters who watched the January 2024 friendly with Crusaders at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, or even the 41,400 sold for the previous season's first visit to Cork GAA HQ in November 2022; when South Africa A came to town. 'Based on the feedback we're getting, I would be very positive,' the COO said. 'Look, we've done a huge amount of work on all the data behind travelling support from Cork to Limerick, and the other way around. It's no secret to say for a game in Thomond, 70 per cent are travelling from outside county Limerick to the game. Whereas when we looked at the games in Cork, it's the other way. It's 70 per cent from within the county. That's the reality of the population mix. For a smaller URC game, it can be a bigger percentage from Limerick, and that can get up to 40 per cent… but it really is travelling from all around the province. 'And it's not only games, when we look at the events and concerts in both venues as well, that's where it jumps out, that for games and events in Limerick we're hugely reliant on the market outside of County Limerick, and for games and events in Cork it's mainly the market within the county of Cork. 'But that's nothing against Limerick, that's purely down to demographics and population. That's what's jumping out at us. So when we put out our economic impact assessments, it's actually on that. It shows how many are coming from outside the county and that's purely down to population. The Cork populations is probably around 580,000, Limerick is somewhere around 200,000. 'So you'd expect that and if anything, the proportion of Limerick people attending games versus the proportion of Cork relative to population, the support is probably stronger in Limerick but the numbers aren't higher. 'So when we're looking at games in Cork then yeah, we're quite confident, based on the success, what we saw with the Crusaders and South Africa. It still needs to be a successful team, the team needed to playing well but we are confident that we will get close to a sell-out.' Read More 200-cap stalwart Rory Scannell leaves Munster after 12 years
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Lar Corbett: Galway turned a corner against Dublin, they can catch Kilkenny by surprise in Leinster SHC final
When Galway joined Leinster in 2009, the hurling world expected them to become the team to regularly challenge Kilkenny. Since then, however, they've won the Bob O'Keeffe Cup just three times. Kilkenny's tally in that time? Ten.
