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BreakingNews.ie
8 hours ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan carry injuries as Lions land in Australia
The British and Irish Lions touched down in Australia with head coach Andy Farrell revealing there are lingering injury concerns over Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan. Farrell's squad arrived into Perth after a 20-hour journey from Dublin via Doha ahead of Saturday's opening fixture on Australian soil against the Western Force. Advertisement There is doubt over whether Ireland duo Gibson-Park and Keenan will be able to take part at Optus Stadium because of respective glute and calf problems, but Scotland centre Huw Jones has recovered from an Achilles issue and is available. Settling in for the long haul ✈️🇦🇺 #Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 22, 2025 'We'll see how they pull up in midweek,' Farrell said of Gibson-Park and Keenan. 'Huw Jones is good, he's been training. He trained fully with us last week so he's up and running.' Farrell confirmed that the team against Western Force will mostly be made up of players from Leinster, Bath and Leicester, who joined up with the Lions after last Saturday's United Rugby Championship and Gallagher Premiership finals. Advertisement There were no fresh injuries arising from Friday's 28-24 defeat by Argentina at the Aviva Stadium, with Farrell keen not to dwell on the disappointing tour send-off. Andy Farrell says the Lions will learn from their defeat to Argentina (Niall Carson/PA) 'We're here to build for what's going to be a fantastic Test series. We want to play some good rugby along the way,' he said. 'We'll find out more about each other as we keep on going. Of course we'll analyse what went on against Argentina and why, but that's all part of the journey – to understand where we need to go next. 'It's great to be here, this is what it's all about. We're here for a good time. Hopefully we can start this part of the tour off really well on Saturday.' Advertisement
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
IRFU's ‘A' Interprovincial Championship providing valuable game time for players
Last weekend Leinster won the reconstituted 'A' Interprovincial Championship by beating Ulster 35-21 at Gibson Park, a result that went unheralded in the media – not even worth a brief with the scoreline, never mind a report. The teams contained a liberal sprinkling of outstanding young talent alongside several names that will be familiar from the senior provincial match day squads. The IRFU relaunched the competition with a view to not only celebrating its 150th anniversary but also as a playing outlet going forward to provide game time. The IRFU's performance director David Humphreys said at the time: 'With the success of the Emerging Ireland tours, coupled with the return of an 'A' international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows. 'Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local clubs.' READ MORE Despite the lukewarm reaction from mainstream media and supporters, the tournament has proved to be a godsend for academy players in the four provinces, for whom the majority would otherwise have been largely limited to playing AIL club matches. Nothing wrong with that if a player is lining out in Division 1A but there's a significant drop-off in standard for every rung of the ladder beneath. There is no substitute for matches, where practice examines theory. All the training and gym work in the world can help to nurture, but won't refine, a player's rugby IQ. But matches, specifically URC and either Champions Cup or Challenge Cup, were in relatively short supply for many players in the four provincial academies. At the start of the 2024-2025 season there were 74 players listed in provincial academies across a three-year cycle. They were ascribed as follows: Leinster 22 (Year 1 – 10, Year 2 – 7, Year 3 – 5); Ulster 20 (7, 11, 2), Munster 19 (7, 6, 6) and Connacht 13 (4, 5, 4). In macro terms Connacht played the fewest academy players in URC and Challenge Cup games, three of 13 (23 per cent). Ulster, in URC and Champions Cup, gave competitive game time to five of 20 (25 per cent); Munster, likewise, to seven of 19 (37 per cent); while Leinster provided the most opportunities to academy players with 14 of 22 (64 per cent), seeing game time in URC and Champions Cup. Leinster academy hooker Gus McCarthy made his Ireland debut against Fiji in the November internationals. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Taken in an overall context, roughly 60 per cent of academy players in the four provinces – 45 out of 74 – did not see a single minute in either the URC or Champions and Challenge Cups in Europe. A magnificent seven first-year academy players played senior provincial tournament rugby, with the standout performer Ulster outhalf Jack Murphy, who notched 894 minutes across 13 matches with 11 starts. Four Leinster players, hooker Stephen Smyth (five games – 65 minutes), scrumhalf Oliver Coffey (two games – 14 minutes), wing Reuben Moloney (one – three minutes) and secondrow Alan Spicer (one – two minutes); one Munster player, hooker Danny Sheahan (one – 15 minutes); and two Ulster players – Murphy and centre Wilhelm de Klerk (two – 104 minutes) also managed the landmark achievement. US-born tight head prop Niall Smyth has gone from year-one academy to a senior contract for next season despite missing most of the season following shoulder surgery. There were other eye-catching numbers, not least Murphy's former Pres Bray team-mate Finn Treacy (eight matches – 489 minutes) who had a brilliant season with Connacht, while in Leinster hooker Gus McCarthy (14 – 583 minutes), who was also capped by Ireland, secondrow Diarmuid Mangan (12 – 667 minutes), wing Andrew Osborne (10 – 669 minutes) and centre Charlie Tector (10 – 589 minutes) all enhanced their status. It is germane to point out that Munster prop Darragh McSweeney, backrow Luke Murphy, centre Fionn Gibbons and prop Ronan Foxe had seasons curtailed by injury; so too prop Alex Usanov (Leinster) and secondrow Spicer (Leinster). The pointy end of the decision-making process comes in year three where, if a player hasn't already received a senior contract, it is the end of the line with the buffers in view. Only scrumhalf Jack Oliver of that cohort hasn't progressed at Munster, released early to take up a contract with the Glasgow Warriors. In Leinster, centre Ben Brownlee, Aitzol Arenzana-King and Rory McGuire leave the province, with the latter two heading for contracts with Richie Murphy's Ulster. The other year-three players, Mangan and Tector, have upgraded to senior contracts as have a plethora of year-twos in Munster and Leinster. The new intake to the academies will be announced shortly (Ulster have released five players) but, as this season has proved, trying to find space to expose them to elite-level rugby is a difficult challenge and for many a composite itinerary of A interpros and club matches will have to suffice. Leinster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Aitzol Arenzana-King (Year 3) 22 Wing 2 (1) 62 Ben Brownlee (3) 22 Centre 0 0 Oliver Coffey (1) 20 Scrumhalf 2 (0) 14 Hugh Cooney (2) 21 Centre 5 (4) 325 Billy Corrigan (1) 19 Secondrow/Backrow 0 0 Casper Gabriel (1) 20 Outhalf 0 0 Fintan Gunne (2) 21 Scrumhalf 12 (3) 368 Diarmuid Mangan (3) 22 Secondrow/Backrow 12 (8) 667 Gus McCarthy (2) 21 Hooker 14 (7) 583 Henry McErlean (2) 22 Fullback 2 (1) 80 Rory McGuire (3) 22 Prop 5 (0) 51 Hugo McLaughlin (1) 20 Fullback 0 0 Reuben Moloney (1) 21 Fullback 1 (0) 3 Liam Molony (2) 21 Flanker 0 0 Conor O'Tighearnaigh (2) 22 Secondrow 1 (1) 50 Andrew Osborne (2) 21 Wing 10 (9) 669 Niall Smyth (1) 19 Prop 0 0 Stephen Smyth (1) 20 Hooker 5 (0) 65 Andrew Sparrow (1) 20 Prop 0 0 Alan Spicer (1) 20 Secondrow 1 (0) 2 Charlie Tector (3) 23 Outhalf/Ccentre 10 (7) 589 Alex Usanov (1) 19 Prop 0 0 Munster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Max Clein (2) 21 Hooker 0 0 Seán Edogbo (1) 21 Backrow 0 0 Ronan Foxe (2) 22 Prop 3 (0) 15 Michael Foy (1) 19 Secondrow/Backrow 0 0 Fionn Gibbons (3) 22 Centre 0 0 George Hadden (2) 22 Prop 0 0 Dylan Hicks (2) 20 Outhalf 0 0 Shay McCarthy (2) 22 Wing 6 (3) 307 Darragh McSweeney (3) 22 Prop 0 0 Luke Murphy (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Evan O'Connell (3) 21 Secondrow 5 (3) 213 Ben O'Connor (2) 20 Fullback 7 (5) 414 Gene O'Leary Kareem (1) 19 Centre 0 0 Jake O'Riordan (1) 20 Scrumhalf 0 0 Jack Oliver (3) 22 Scrumhalf 0 0 Ruadhán Quinn (3) 21 Backrow 11 (2) 306 Kieran Ryan (3) 23 Prop 8 (0) 113 Danny Sheahan (1) 21 Hooker 1 (0) 15 Gordon Wood (1) 20 Centre 0 0 Ulster Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Sam Berman (1) 21 Centre 0 0 Jack Boal (2) 22 Prop 0 0 Jacob Boyd (2) 20 Prop 1 (1) 48 Tom Brigg (2) 20 Backrow 0 0 Wilhelm de Klerk (1) 20 Centre 2 (0) 104 Cameron Doak (2) 20 Prop 0 0 Ethan Graham (2) 21 Wing 0 0 Joe Hopes (3) 21 Secondrow 0 0 Charlie Irvine (2) 22 Secondrow 1 (1) 80 Lukas Kenny (2) 20 Wing 0 0 Clark Logan (1) 19 Scrumhalf 0 0 Ben McFarlane (2) 20 Fullback/wing 0 0 James McKillop (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Jack Murphy (1) 20 Outhalf 13 (11) 894 Jonny Scott (1) 20 Centre 0 0 Zac Solomon (2) 20 Hooker 0 0 Josh Stevens (2) 20 Backrow 0 0 Rory Telfer (3) Wing 4 (1) 151 Henry Walker (2) 19 Hooker 0 0 Bryn Ward (1) 20 Backrow 0 0 Connacht Age Position Matches (starts) Minutes Fiachna Barrett (2) 22 Prop 1 (0) 20 Billy Bohan (1) 19 Prop 0 0 John Devine (3) 21 Centre 0 0 Tomás Farthing (1) 19 Scrumhalf 0 0 Max Flynn (1) 20 Flanker 0 0 Daniel Hawkshaw (3) 23 Centre 0 0 Shane Mallon (3) 23 Wing 0 0 Éanna McCarthy (1) 20 No 8 0 0 Seán Naughton (2) 20 Outhalf 1 (0) 21 James Nicholson (2) 21 Fullback/Wing 0 0 Finn Treacy (2) 20 Wing/Centre 8 (7) 489 Matthew Victory (2) 21 Hooker 0 0 Harry West (3) 22 Outhalf 0 0
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Lions call-up 'bizarre' after Doris injury - Gibson-Park
Jamison Gibson-Park admits his British and Irish Lions call-up felt "bizarre" in the wake of Leinster's Investec Champions Cup exit and team-mate Caelan Doris' injury. New Zealand-born scrum-half Gibson-Park was one of 15 Ireland players named in Andy Farrell's 38-man Lions squad earlier this month. However, the squad was named just five days after Leinster's shock semi-final loss to Northampton Saints, a game in which Ireland captain Doris sustained the injury that ended his hopes of making the tour to Australia. "It was bizarre, to tell you the truth, it was an emotional rollercoaster," said Gibson-Park, reflecting on Lions squad announcement week. "There's plenty going on, Caelan probably being the biggest one. It was unbelievably tough on him."He's been such a great player for club and country. He's had an unbelievable run with injuries and it's just the cruelty of the game sometimes."We were sickened for him, but in the same breath there's something there to celebrate. It was a pretty strange week." 'I'm looking forward to getting stuck in' Leinster beat Glasgow on Saturday evening to set up a home United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Scarlets on 31 while Leo Cullen's side remain in the hunt for a ninth domestic title, their wait for a first Champions Cup since 2018 was extended in gut-wrenching fashion on 3 May when Northampton edged a riveting semi-final 37-34 at Aviva Stadium. Having also lost three successive finals before this season, Gibson-Park admitted the team's mood was "fairly bleak" following the Northampton game. "You have to suck it up, take the learnings and move on," said the 33-year-old, who has 43 Ireland caps. The Lions squad assembled for the first time in London on Sunday ahead of this summer's tour. Farrell's side will take on Argentina in Dublin on 20 June before travelling to Australia, with Tests against Joe Schmidt's Wallabies on 19 July, 26 July and 2 August. Gibson-Park, who has been a pivotal figure in Farrell's Ireland team since making his debut in 2020, is the favourite to wear the Lions nine jersey. Wales' Tomos Williams and England's Alex Mitchell are the other two scrum-halves in the squad. "I'm looking forward to getting stuck in," said two-time Six Nations winner Gibson-Park."A couple of unbelievable players, massive parts of the teams they play on. It will be awesome to spend some time with them and pick their brains."I wasn't really in the mix last time (the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa). I was a little bit far away."Once I started getting a bit more exposure at international level, it became a little bit real. From then on it's a massive aspiration. It's a cool thing to be able to say."
