Latest news with #DonnchaO'Callaghan


The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Rugby legend compares Leinster to ‘Ferrari spreading silage' as he sends warning after ‘rudderless' win over Scarlets
DONNCHA O'CALLAGHAN has compared Leinster to a "Ferrari spreading silage" after their "rudderless" win over Scarlets. Leo Cullen's men set up a Glasgow Warriors with a 2 Leinster beat Scarlets to advance to the URC semi-finals Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile 2 Donncha O'Callaghan was critical of their performance Credit: Seb Daly/Sportsfile Aviva Stadium. They were aided by second-half yellow cards shown to Alec Hepburn and Vaea Fifita after the visitors went into the break trailing by just 15-14. However, Donncha O'Callaghan was less than impressed at what he saw from the Irish province, bringing out an unorthodox metaphor to illustrate his point. He told RTE: "It looked rudderless. Read More on Leinster Rugby "As ex-players, we are always really tough on players, but I would say management and coaches need to have a look at the performance there. "You have players like [Jordie] Barrett, one of the greatest player to ever play the game. "You have the likes of Hugo Keenan and James Lowe and all we're seeing at this point in the competition is them kicking the ball. "I know you got to win games an and find a way, but honestly, it's like having Most read in Rugby Union The game played out in front of a miserly attendance of 12,879 at Lansdowne Road . And O'Callaghan added: "It is really frustrating and you can see it with this crowd, like another poor turnout here today. Simon Zebo brutally trolls Rob Kearney after Leinster loss to Northampton "The Aviva is our home. This is where rugby should light up. You should be excited to come here. "You couldn't fault the crowd there for watching that type of rugby and it's a concern for me." Leinster have a quick turnaround to the semi-final, with next Saturday. The Blues beat the Scottish side 13-5 in the URC regular season last month, and also hammered them 52-0 in the And head coach he told RTE: "What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well. "It's like this time of year now, making sure that we're nailed on for every moment within the game. "I don't think we quite did that today, but it's making sure we recover well now and turn the page quickly, and it's not one of those games that you're going to spend a huge amount of time reviewing."


The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Ryan Tubridy shares glimpse of scenic trip home as he vanishes from airwaves for ‘well-deserved' break
RYAN Tubridy has shared a sunny snap from his trip home to Ireland as he takes a "well-deserved" break. The decided to take a short break from his UK show . Advertisement 2 Ryan has taken a short break from his Virgin Radio UK show Credit: Handout image 2 The host jetted home to Ireland Credit: Instagram Ryan jetted back to Ireland for a holiday and shared an update with fans on The The 52-year-old looked happy as ever as he posed for a snaps in front of the sea in Connemara, Co He captioned his post: "Off on holidays for a couple of weeks. Normal service will resume then!" Advertisement READ MORE ON RYAN TUBRIDY Ryan's fans and friends flocked to the comment section to share their love for his post. Marie said: "Enjoy your much-deserved holiday Ryan." Mary wrote: "Have a brilliant holiday. There's nowhere like the west of Ireland." Tina commented: "Enjoy your well-deserved break." Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Lisa gushed: "Will miss you off the airwaves but enjoy your holiday." Another added: "You sounded so excited yesterday. It's a place you've wanted to go to for years I think. I hope it's all you expected and more. Have a great holiday." Donncha O'Callaghan has Ryan Tubridy in stitches Ex-RTE star Donncha O'Callaghan recently left Ryan Tubridy in stitches after he shared his The star sat down with on his new podcast, The Bookshelf, to discuss his kids' book, Disaster Dad. Advertisement The former Irish DAD DUTIES The Irish host told Tubridy that even though he is well used to being a hands-on dad, it wasn't always so easy. The 46-year-old confessed: "I remember when we brought Sophie home for the first time and I'll never forget the door closing. Advertisement "I just looked over at Jenny and was like, 'Oh my God, here we go'." Ryan humorously jumped in and remarked: "Where's the manual?" Donncha hysterically replied: "Exactly, I'm like we got something with the air fryer but we have nothing with Sophie." Tubridy burst into a fit of laughter at the star's honest remark. Advertisement


Sunday World
4 days ago
- Health
- Sunday World
Donncha O'Callaghan on why he's embracing the ‘dad bod' after 20 years as an athlete
'Like, who gives a s**t that you're PB-ing at 46?'' The former rugby star is now better known as a radio and TV presenter after retiring from the game in 2018. And the father-of-four says he's loving his more laidback diet and exercise regime after 20 years as an elite athlete. Donncha O'Callaghan with Maverick Hernandez Sanchez, Alicia Ottun and Katie and Ellie Talbot 'It's not sustainable,' Donncha reflects on his sporting prime. 'I'm gone the other way totally with that — I'm fully embracing it. 'Within professional circles, it's very easy to be on top of things — your nutrition is looked after, all your physio and deep tissue massage. 'It isn't until you come away that you get an appreciation for how difficult it is. 'From rugby, it's mad, you don't see, like, a chicken breast — that's 40 grams of protein. You see two scoops of rice or pasta as 50 grams of carbohydrates. Rugby legend turned TV personality Donncha O'Callaghan News in 90 Seconds - May 30th '[You're] looking at the nutrients as opposed to, 'Oh my God, that tastes amazing!' 'To be fair, it's quite enjoyable, because there's no accountability, there's no DEXA scans, there's no millimetres and skin folds of fat, so you can be a bit looser,' he continues. 'I look at some of my teammates and they're in better condition now than when they were playing. 'What a waste that was … like, when we needed you to be in incredible shape, you weren't!' Munster legend Donncha shares four children with engineer wife, Jenny Harte: Sophie (14), Anna (12), Robin (11) and Jake (9). Donncha with his family So he's thrown his towering 6ft 6ins support behind Tesco Ireland's new Stronger Starts Cooks initiative, a free six-week programme aimed at supporting children's health and wellbeing, which is set to be delivered to almost 3,000 pupils across 42 primary schools this year. 'Looking at this research, 92 per cent of parents felt they'd love more cooking within the curriculum,' he quotes a survey conducted by the store, 'and we feel the same. 'It isn't until you go into secondary [school] that you start to pick up Home Economics, if you're into it. 'Other than that, there isn't a whole lot of knowledge about it. So I think it's a good thing if you can do it, and family-wise, get around. Donncha runs out of Ireland 'The big one we do is, if we're doing a roast on a Sunday, everyone gets involved with different things. So Robin, my little girl, makes the best stuffing in the world, and Anna is a dinger at mashed potato. But then, honestly, it's like something you'd see with Gordon Ramsay — if the mash isn't good, everyone's telling her!' The popular host is now also home for breakfast after leaving RTÉ 2FM after five years on the air last year. And the 46-year-old, who quit just weeks after co-host Doireann Garrihy, maintains it was the right call. 'I don't miss the early hours, it was really cruel,' says Donncha, who was also flanked by Carl Mullan on the Breakfast Show. 'If I was in Dublin, I was up at three. 'But I do miss that team, and obviously Doireann and Carl I love to bits, so I do miss hanging around with them. 'I actually do miss presenting a little bit as well, I didn't think I would… but I think it's something you have to enjoy doing. Donncha on Ireland's Fittest Family 'With breakfast radio, you can't bullsh*t it — you have to be a morning person.' On TV, Donncha also joined the Ireland's Fittest Family line-up as a coach back in 2017. But the Cork native reveals how he'd secretly love to take part in another reality TV hit as a competitor. 'We love The [Great British] Bake Off, genuinely,' tells the star, who watched Tommy Tiernan's turn on the recent Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer on Channel 4. 'Like, we're addicted to it. 'I'd certainly love to give something like that [a go]. But, then again, I can't cope when it goes wrong. 'The kids all love baking, and they're good. 'I wish I was better at sticking with the process, but I'll always come up with some way of [taking shortcuts] — if the cake's ready in 20 minutes at 180C, if I crank it up to 200C, it'll be done in ten.' Read more Although he still weight trains, as much for mind as body, the Ireland rugby great laughs that he hasn't succumbed to the Hyrox craze: 'I slag a few of my friends that do it. 'If I could still do stuff like that, I'd be playing. But I do an awful lot of what I like doing. 'I train with a few buddies of mine — I'm actually training with [former Ireland rugby international] Tomás O'Leary at the moment. 'One thing I learned is I don't need to go to the well all the time. 'Whereas rugby, you finish empty — no matter what you do, you max out. 'It happened me on holidays, I was lifting weights, and I tried to go after a few weights that I hit on before and threw out my back, and I was no good for a week on the water slides. 'Like, who gives a s**t that you're PB-ing at 46?'


The Irish Sun
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘I know the feeling', cry fans as Donncha O'Callaghan has Ryan Tubridy in stitches with hilarious fatherhood experience
EX-RTE star Donncha O'Callaghan left Ryan Tubridy in stitches after he shared his honest reaction to fatherhood. The star sat down with Advertisement 2 Donncha O'Callaghan appeared on Ryan Tubridy's podcast 2 Donncha joked about his experience with fatherhood The former Irish The Irish host told Tubridy that even though he is well used to being a hands-on dad, it wasn't always so easy. The 46-year-old confessed: "I remember when we brought Sophie home for the first time and I'll never forget the door closing. Advertisement READ MORE IN DONNCHA "I just looked over at Jenny and was like, 'Oh my God, here we go'." Ryan humorously jumped in and remarked: "Where's the manual?" Donncha hysterically replied: "Exactly, I'm like we got something with the air fryer but we have nothing with Sophie." Tubridy burst into a fit of laughter at the star's honest remark. Advertisement Most read in News TV The ex- To which Donncha added: "And there is only three buttons." RTE star bids emotional goodbye on air Fans were all left laughing at the radio host's comments online. Carmel exclaimed: "Donners is hilarious." Advertisement Simon added: "Great to see you both all smiles." While Noel remarked: "Love this!" And Daithi wrote: "I know the feeling ha!" This comes after Donncha recently revealed that "fatigue" from working on radio caused him to develop Advertisement DON WITH IT The popular presenter was among five leading stars who left the RTE station last summer. The The host had followed in the footsteps of Doireann, Looking back on his time on 2FM, Donncha told : "I started wearing glasses two years into Breakfast because I thought at the age of 46, my eyesight was going a little bit. Advertisement 'TIME TO MOVE ON' "But what I actually realised was that it was just fatigue." The dad-of-four revealed that within two weeks of leaving the radio show, he found that he didn't need to wear glasses anymore. He added: "My eyeballs didn't feel like they were burning as much." The Cork native confessed that he was "grateful" for the opportunity to host on such a beloved radio programme. Advertisement However, he admitted: "It was time to move on and look to something else I'm busy out with the podcast with Tommy Bowe and doing a few kids' books, which is a bit of fun."