Latest news with #URC
Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Calvin Nash aims to raise the bar with Munster at business end of the season
Calvin Nash is on a mission to be more impactful in the URC knockout rounds after admitting he has not been happy with his recent performances. The 27-year-old Ireland wing has been one of Munster's most consistent performers over the past three seasons, form recognised in the shape of nine Ireland caps. Yet Nash feels he has fallen from the high benchmark he set for himself in the Champions Cup knockout win at La Rochelle eight weeks ago and is determined to return to the levels he expects of himself when Munster go to Kings Park this Saturday for their URC quarter-final against South African heavyweights the Sharks. 'I haven't been too happy with my performances if I am being honest with you,' Nash said. 'I feel like there is still probably a bit in me. 'I want to have a lot more standout performances but look, I'm obviously not getting frustrated with it. I feel like I am doing my part for the team, but standards-wise I would prefer to be pushing myself out there and standing out a bit more.' Nash even pinpointed the areas he wants to improve and how he has gone about rectifying the situation. 'I think a few weeks ago I dropped off in beating defenders and the first man, which is something I felt like I was quite good at before. 'For whatever reason I felt like my carrying wasn't as good as what it had been, so from the Benetton game, I just tried to go back to basics and focus on that – don't be thinking about other things and just scanning a bit better and communicating a bit better. 'I have tried to just narrow my focus, work on my aerial work and beating people and just backing myself with my reads in defence – stuff that I feel like I am good at.' When it is pointed out he is being particularly self-critical, Nash revealed it was part of his effort to return to the peak of his powers. 'I actually thought the La Rochelle game was one of my best games that I've ever played for Munster. 'I'm just being critical that I want, especially towards the end of the season, I want to have as good games as I possibly can do. I'm just trying to be hard on myself and want to push myself a bit more to get better and to be the overall player that I know I can be, and not have any regrets. 'So, yeah, I was just putting it out there being hard on myself. To be honest I don't think I've been playing poorly, I just have more in me.' A strong end to the season would surely see Nash add to those Ireland caps with a place in the touring squad to Georgia and Portugal this summer and the Limerick star said: 'Yeah, it is a big goal. You set out goals at the start of every season and you don't really know what way the season is going to go for you. 'It is a big goal to get on the tour this summer but being honest, like I said, I need to get my performances up again and hopefully fly into this weekend.' Nash has personally enjoyed mixed fortunes at Kings Park, with a regular season draw there securing Munster's play-off place in their title-winning campaign two seasons ago coming three weeks after a humbling 50-35 Champions Cup Round of 16 loss to the Sharks. Munster also lost heavily in Durban last October but Nash has experienced victory as an Ireland player, three months earlier when Ciaran Frawley's drop goal secured a series-tying win over the Springboks in the second Test against the world champions. 'The games over here are some of the hardest games you'll play in the URC,' Nash said. 'Even last summer, some of the hardest internationals I've played. You know you have to step up a bit here and it always takes a bit extra to win down here. That's what we are targeting here, trying to get the most out of ourselves.' The wing added: 'Yeah, I've won there. It's obviously tough as well. We've only got a draw there so it will be a first time for us if we win this weekend. But being honest with you, we just go out and play it like it is, you know, play it like it's any other game. 'At the end of the day, anyone can win, anything can happen and you've just got to play what's in front of you. There's no point looking back at different teams and what has happened before, I feel.'
Scotsman
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Ego boost, altitude and why joining Edinburgh Rugby was right decision
Thompson explains how his kicking game will be affected by playing at 1350 metres Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Beating the Bulls in South Africa is all the more difficult because of the altitude but there can be advantages to playing at 1350 metres above sea level. Ross Thompson reckons it will add six or seven metres to his kicking range and the Edinburgh stand-off hopes to take full advantage in Saturday's United Rugby Championship quarter-final in Pretoria, both from hand and off the tee. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'You can kick long into the 22 from deep,' said Thompson. 'If we get penalties and kick to touch, you can obviously get deeper into their 22. It is an opportunity to try and advance further down the field that way. But likewise you can't sit too flat, because they can put kicks over your head. Edinburgh's Ross Thompson has contributed 110 points in the URC this season. | SNS Group 'So it adds a little bit, but it's not too bad. It is nice - it's a bit of an ego boost, I guess, when you're kicking them a bit further.' Thompson also hopes it will help his place-kicking. He has already contributed 110 points in the URC this season, 105 of them with the boot, and will look to add to his tally of 33 conversions and 13 penalties. 'Normally I'm about 48, 49 metres [off the tee]. I reckon I'd be probably mid-50s at Loftus,' said the fly-half who sits fourth in the URC points scorers table for the season, behind Scarlets' Ioan Lloyd (124), Ospreys' Dan Edwards (120) and Sharks' Jordan Hendrikse (118). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The downside of the rarefied atmosphere at Loftus Versfeld is, of course, the physical toll it takes. The Edinburgh squad will arrive in South Africa on Wednesday and their bodies will have little time to adjust to the thin air. Ross Thompson feels moving to Edinburgh was the correct decision. | SNS Group No such problems for the Bulls who are accustomed to it and like to let the opposition know. There's a famous sign in the stadium which proclaims: 'Altitude. 1350m. It matters.' It's all about getting in the heads of the opposition but it backfired last season when Glasgow Warriors defeated the hosts in the URC final at Loftus Versfeld and Warriors prop Jamie Bhatti celebrated by posting a picture of himself laughing at the sign while clutching his winners' medal. Thompson, 25, was part of Glasgow's URC-winning squad and although he wasn't in the match-day 23 for the final he was in the stadium and has enough experience of playing there to know the pitfalls. 'I think it's the combination of the altitude and the heat that makes it tough,' he said. 'We're going to need all 23 players. The bench will play a massive part. You can play smart and conserve energy in certain areas of the game. Some of the forwards are going to have to go for 80 minutes, so we have to conserve their energy at times smartly through some of our kicking game, and then when we get the chance, we've got to take it.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Agony for Glasgow Warriors' Ross Thompson, Stafford McDowall and Jamie Bhatti as they watch on nervously during the final minutes of the United Rugby Championship final against the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld. Glasgow held on to win 21-16. | SNS Group Thompson moved to Edinburgh last summer and the switch to his home-town club has been good for the player who found himself behind Tom Jordan in the pecking order at Glasgow. By contrast, he has established himself as the first-choice 10 at Edinburgh, playing in all 18 of their URC games and starting 16 of them. 'It was definitely the right decision and I'm really happy with the way it's all worked out,' he said. 'I wouldn't say it was necessarily a difficult decision from a rugby perspective, but the easy decision would have been to stay at Glasgow, a club that you know. 'But yeah, I'm really happy with how it's all worked out. I couldn't be happier - this last year has gone really well for me personally.' In this the fourth year of the URC, the idea of playing in South Africa is no longer a novelty. The long haul flights and adjusting to the heat and altitude remain formidable obstacles but there is a familiarity to it, particularly for Thompson who had two trips there in quick succession with Glasgow at the end of last season then returned there with Edinburgh at the start of this one. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I guess now it's become normal,' he said. 'At the beginning of the season when we went to South Africa, I'd spent five weeks in the last six months in the same hotel. So I was used to going to South Africa.
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Munster keen to pay tribute to mother of the late Anthony Foley and wife of Shaun Payne
Munster are hoping to have a mark of respect before Saturday's URC quarter-final away to the Sharks to honour two women with strong links to the squad who passed away in the last week. Sheelagh Foley – the mother of former Munster/Ireland No 8 and head coach Anthony and ex-Ireland international Rosie and wife of current branch president Brendan – died last Wednesday, while Michelle Payne, wife of former player and team manager Shaun, also passed away.
Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'It hasn't been mentioned' - 2023 URC title win not on Munster minds ahead of Sharks trip
Munster's odds-defying run to the 2023 URC title may be etched into supporter's minds and hearts but Calvin Nash said the team had not discussed their remarkable knockout performances on the road ahead of this Saturday's quarter-final against the Sharks in South Africa. Ireland wing Nash was part of the squad which ended a 12-year wait for silverware when Glasgow, Leinster and then final opponents the Stormers were beaten on successive weekends. Now Munster face a potentially similar route to the 2025 decider with a daunting challenge against the third-seeded Sharks at Durban's Kings Park. Nash, who started the quarter-final win at Scotstoun, missed the following week's Aviva Stadium semi-final following a failed Head Injury Assessment and then returned in the Cape Town final to score a try in a famous 19-14 victory over the Stormers, said: 'Being honest, it hasn't been something that we've mentioned, it's been two years, the team is different. 'A few of us do have a few reference points but we are taking the game as it is. We are taking each game week by week. The last two games that we had essentially were knockout games for us and we weren't in the best position in the URC. 'That's how we treated them and this week will be no different.' Nash has enjoyed mixed fortunes at Kings Park, with a regular season draw there the highpoint as Munster secured their play-off place in that title-winning season coming three weeks after a humbling 50-35 Champions Cup Round of 16 loss to the Sharks. Munster also lost heavily in Durban last October but Nash had already experienced victory as an Ireland player three months earlier when Ciaran Frawley's drop goal secured a series-tying win over the Springboks in the second Test against the world champions. 'The games over here are some of the hardest games you'll play in the URC,' Nash said from Durban on Wednesday. 'Even last summer, some of the hardest internationals I've played. You know you have to step up a bit here and it always takes a bit extra to win down here. That's what we are targeting here, trying to get the most out of ourselves.'
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Great asset' Rowe signs new Glasgow deal
"Great asset" Kyle Rowe has much more to give after signing a new two-year deal with Glasgow Warriors, says head coach Franco Smith. The Scotland winger has become a key part of Smith's side since arriving from London Irish two years ago. Also comfortable at full-back, the URC title winner has scored 16 tries in 35 games for Glasgow, who host Stormers in the quarter-finals on Friday. "It was a really straightforward decision for me," Rowe said on his new deal. "I love being part of this club and the group we have here, so it was an easy decision to make. "The style we play here really suits my game, and I love pulling on the jersey. Everyone here always drives each other forward, and I know we'll take that energy forward into the quarter-final too. "There's a real buzz about the place ahead of this weekend, because these are the matches that you want to be involved in. Everyone's pulling in the same direction and we want to go do something special as a club once more." Head coach Smith added: "Kyle is someone who we believe has only scratched the surface of his potential, and his passion for representing both Glasgow Warriors and Scotland is clear to see whenever he takes to the field. "His ability to cover both wing and full-back is a great asset to us as a squad, as is his innate try-scoring ability and willingness to work without the ball."
