 The ERC have just confirmed that Munster Rugby will play Ulster in the Quarter Final of the Heineken Cup in Thomond Park on Sunday, 8th April. Kick off is at 1.45pm.
I doubt tickets will be on public sale for this sought after match. Your best bet will be through the various Munster Rugby Clubs and the Munster Rugby Supporters Club.
Heineken Cup 201 Quarter Final Kick off times and venues:
Sat, 7th April 2012
Edinburgh Rugby v Toulouse, Murrayfield,, Kick Off: 15.00
Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues, Aviva Stadium Kick Off: 17.45
Sun, 8th April 2012
Munster Rugby v Ulster Rugby, Thomond Park, Kick Off: 13.45
Saracens v ASM Clermont Auvergne, Vicarage Road, Kick Off: 16.30
There are so many permutations as to who will meet each other in the Heineken Cup Quarter Finals. The following are my predictions. They are based on analysis of the teams performance to date and a little dose of  gut instinct!
Home      Away
Leinster V Ulster – Leinster 1st on 25 points. Ulster 2nd best runner up on 20 points.
Toulouse V Edinburgh-Toulouse 2nd-22 points. Edinburgh 7th,best runner up 21 pts.
Saracens V Clermont – Saracens 3rd – 22 points. Clermont 6th, 20 points.
Cardiff V Munster – Cardiff 4th 22 points. Munster 5th 21 points.
Posted in Heineken cup
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Tagged cardiff, Frankie Sheahan, heineken cup predictions, Heineken cup predictions quarter finals 2012, leinster v Ulster, munster, predictions, quarter final, Rugby, saracens, toulouse v edinburgh
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Peter O’Mahony arguably the best Heineken Cup player in the pool stages (receiving 2 man of the match awards) has been omitted from both squads and has to be happy with training against the national team. Former Munster/Ireland forward Alan Quinlan said recently on Sky Sports that Peter would be close to getting his first cap.
Declan Kidney today announced the two Irish squads ahead of the 2012 RBS 6 Nations and the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds game against England Saxons. 24 players were named in the Ireland senior squad, with six additional players. The 22-man O2 Ireland Wolfhounds squad includes a few uncapped players as well as full internationals. The Ireland squad, from which the team to play Wales will be selected, will be announced on Monday, January 30 after the Wolfhounds game against the England Saxons.
Declan Kidney, Ireland head coach stated “The Wolfhounds game gives myself and the other coaches one final chance to give games to players to see possible options before we settle on our match day 22 for the opening game of the Championship.”
“It also gives us the opportunity to have a closer look in training at some of the younger players, rather than bringing in more experienced players, who are very much still in the frame for selection.
“There have been some strong performances by players with the provinces going really well. It always gives the squad a good boost when we have teams with players playing well in Europe before we step back up into the international scene.”
Commentating on the start of the RBS 6 Nations, Kidney added: “The tournament begins what is big year for us, with a three Test tour to New Zealand to come in June and ranking points all important for the Rugby World Cup in 2015, but the Six Nations always stands out as high point.”
IRELAND Training Squad (2012 RBS 6 Nations):
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), leoTom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Additional Players
-Ian Nagle (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Tiernan O’Halloran (Galwegians/Connacht) *
Paddy McAllister (Ballynahinch/Ulster)*
Andrew Conway (Blackrock College/Leinster) *
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
O2 IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS Squad (v England Saxons):
Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Chris Henry (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster) *
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Ronan Loughney (Buccaneers/Connacht) *
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster) *
Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Eoin O’Malley (Old Belvedere/Leinster) *
Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Mike Sherry (Garryowen/Munster) *
Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch/Ulster) *
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht) *
* Denotes uncapped player
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Posted in RBS 6 nations rugby
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Tagged 02 wolfhounds, 6 nations, alan quinlan, Declan Kidney, Irish rugby team 6 nations selection, irish team for 02 wolfhounds 2012 v wales, irish team wolfhounds selection, leo cullen, peter O'mahony, rbs 6 nations 2012, rbs 6 nations Irish squad. rory best, RBS 6 nations rugby, Rugby, Stephen Archer, tommy bowe
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 The Left Bank in Kilkenny will host a Guinness Area 22 supporter’s event on Thursday, 19th January, ahead of the final round of European Cup group games as Munster head to Northampton, while Leinster take on Montpellier at the RDS.
With places for the knockout stages still to be decided both provinces will be hoping to hold onto strong positions in their respective pools and claim the luxury of a home draw in the next round.
Host on the night, Matt Cooper, will be joined by ex-Munster legend and recently retired back row Alan Quinlan, as he faces up to an old rival, former Leinster and Ireland hooker Shane Byrne. While ex Ireland and USA team manager Eddie O’Sullivan and player-turned-pundit Neil Francis will also appear on the panel to join in the big debate.
The first half hour of the event, from 6.30pm to 7pm, will be broadcast live on the Last Word on Today FM, and the entire event will be streamed live on www.Facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland and www.todayfm.com .
Fans interested in attending this event should register now at:
www.Facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland
 With the London Olympics 2012Â just around the corner, Irelands Olympic hopes are pinned on Katie Taylor for gold in Womens Lightweight boxing.
The Olympics start on the 27th of July 2012 in London and run for 2 weeks.
Ireland’s Top Ten Olympic hopefuls:
1.Katie Taylor (Women’s Lightweight Boxing) Serious Gold Medal Contender
2.Paddy Barnes (Men’s Light Flyweight Boxing) Gold Medal Contender
3.Grainne Murphy (Swimming-800m Freestyle/400m Free/400m I.M.) Serious Medal Contender, best chance in 800m Freestyle
4.Nicolas Roche (Cycling)
5.Derval O’Rourke (Atletics)
6.Robert Heffernan (Athletics- 20km/50km Walk) Great Medal Prospect in both events, best chance in 50km Walk
7.Analise Murphy (Sailing-Laser Radial Class), very young sailor, currently ranking in the worlds top ten Laser sailors,
8.Peter O’Leary & David Burrows (Sailing-Star Class) Great Medal Prospect
9.Equestrian- Individual Showjumping. We have a number of world class contenders with Billy Twomey, Cian O’Connor and Jessica Kürten.
10.David Gillick, (Athletics-400 metres)
Book an Olympic speaker for your event.
Front Row specializes in booking past and present inspirational athletes for speaking engagements, product endorsements, personal appearances and voiceovers. Lord Sebastian Coe, keynote speaker and head of the winning London 2012 Olympic bids features amongst many other Olympic speakers such as Sir Steven Redgrave, Dame Kelly Holmes, Roger Black and Duncan Goodhew can be sourced by us for your upcoming event. We can also source a range of Irish Olympians such as boxer Michael Carruth, Sonia O’Sullivan and John Treacy Silver medal winning athletes.
Posted in Olympics 2012
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Tagged Analise Murphy, athletics, Cian O'Connor, David Burrows, David Gillick. Olympic gold Ireland., Derval O'Rourke, Grainne Murphy, Irish Olympic hopefuls, Jessica Kurten, Katie Taylor, laser radial class, Nicolas Roche, olympics 2012, Paddy barnes, Peter O' leary, Robert Heffernan, Sebastian Coe
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 Ireland takes on Wales in the first home game of the 2012 Six Nations Tournament. Get tickets to this exciting match and entertain your clients in style with our superb corporate hospitality package.
Ireland v Wales Sunday 5th February,Kick off 3.00pm
Our hospitality package includes:
- Pre lunch drinks in the Berkeley Hotel, D4, located minutes from the Aviva stadium.
- 4 course silver service lunch with wines
- High profile guest speaker
- Seated category 1 match tickets
- Complimentary match programme
- Post match drinks and fingerfood in the Berkeley Hotel D4 for 90 minutes after the match followed by a cash bar
- TV facilities before and after the game, newspapers and event management throughout
Cost €399 per person + vat
To snap up this excellent packages, simply contact Frankie Sheahan at Front Row on 021 4275500 or email Frankie@frontrow.ie
We will also be offering special packages for the Ireland v Scotland Game on Saturday, March 10th 2012.
 Guinness Rugby Supporters Area 22 is coming to Limerick to Collins Bar in Dooradoyle for a ‘Christmas Special’ on Thursday December 15th with rugby stars Jerry Flannery, Alan Quinlan and Paul Wallace in attendance on the rugby panel for a Q&A with rugby fans.
Tickets are free, you just need to register on Guinness Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland?sk=app_222988607758135
 Bar Solo at the Carlton Hotel in Galway City will host a Guinness Area 22 Supporter’s Event on Thursday, 17th November, ahead of Connacht’s clash against the mighty Toulouse. The weekend’s big game will also be Connacht’s first ever home fixture in the competition and they come no bigger than the current French champions and four time European Cup winners.
Host on the night, Matt Cooper, will be joined by a man who will be hoping to line out at the Sportsground that Saturday, key Connacht player, John Muldoon. Muldoon will appear alongside a former Toulouse stalwart, who currently still resides and runs his own pub in the French city, Trevor Brennan. Brennan is also the proud owner of two European Cup medals which he won in 2003 and 2005, while playing in the south of France. Paul Wallace and myself, Frankie Sheahan, will also appear on the panel.
The first half hour of the event, from 6.30pm to 7pm, will be broadcast live on The Last Word on Today FM, and the entire event (running to 8pm) will be streamed live on the Guinness Rugby Ireland Facebook Page and on www.todayfm.com
Fans interested in attending this event should register now at www.Facebook.com/GuinnessRugbyIreland
 It’s hard not to feel sorry for Gloucester Rugby.
They have done everything right. They have a policy on social media, put in place after controversial Twitter posts by one of their players.
The decision on Fuimaono-Sapolu’s citing for bringing the game into disrepute is now out, and can be read here. What I want to deal with in this post is the effect of this on the player’s employers, especially the question of defamation.
I raised this issue in a previous post. It turned out to be pretty on the money. To quote from paragraph 23 of the decision:
“The suggestion that this is an exercise of free speech is specious – there are limits to what one may say about others and those who are maligned without justification can seek relief through defamation proceedings – the statements used here cross those limits.”
Now, let’s pause here and think who said this; His Honour, Judge Jeff Blackett. Judges do not use words like “can seek relief through defamation proceedings” lightly. Now, I may be putting two and two together and making five; if I am, I apologise to the learned judge. But it’s highly significant, because it’s bringing the spectre of a player being sued for defaming a referee into sharp focus.
And for a player’s employer, that’s a nightmare. Because, this is the issue I raised the other day – the issue of vicarious liability, an employer being held liable for the actions of an employee. This is what the learned judge had to say on the topic:
I have no doubt that they have acted responsibly and done all that they could to control their players… In this case the Player was intent on speaking out and I do not believe that the SRU could have done anything else to prevent his misconduct. Nevertheless the Union is vicariously liable for the acts of its players and I must mark that relationship with a sanction.
So, an union – or, presumably, a club – is, in rugby terms at least, liable for what its players do. There’s now a precedent, from a judge – again, not a man who would lightly use terms of art like “vicarious liability” -Â that Twitter use is close enough to the job of being a rugby player to make an employer liable for what the player tweets.
At which stage, if you’re running a club or union, you should start getting worried. Not only is it enough to have a social media policy – there was one at the RWC, as one can see from the decision – not only is it enough to do one’s best – Samoa did, everyone agrees – if it happens, one can be liable.
Ex-Harlequins player Sam Stitcher passed this article on social media insurance on to me. While I have no link to AIG – nor, so far as I know, does Sam – it strikes me as a good idea. Social media insurance now seems to be a very prudent investment for a club with players who can get them into trouble. It’s a belt-and-braces approach; but, if a club or union is vicariously liable for what’s tweeted, then the whole reason for belt-and-braces comes to the fore. It’s to prevent being caught with your pants down. Samoa don’t have a lot of money; they could well have ended up being fined a lot of it due to Eliota Fuimanoa-Sapolu’s tweets. At that point, you’re either glad you have, or wish to God you had, insurance.
This is an area that is developing fast. But no club can afford to take lightly the combination of vicarious liability, defamation, and “ambassadors” losing the run of themselves on Twitter; until this becomes more certain, it would seem prudent not to risk having to pay out if a player lands you in the unpleasantness.
Meantime, poor Gloucester are waiting to see if their “ambassador” will ever play rugby again, or even turn up to training [update; from his Twitter feed, he has]. As I said; it’s hard not to feel sorry for them.
But I suspect they won’t be the last dealing with these problems.
This post was written by my good friend and legal expert Tim O’Connor. There is lots more rugby law on his legal blog here.
 Rory McIlroy made the most difficult decision of his 4 years of professional golf career by switching from his long term agent Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management to Horizon Sports Management last Wednesday. Horizon are based in Dublin and manage his good friend Graeme McDowell’s golfing career.
A number of reasons have been suggested for his move, such that ISM havent given him the guidance and support that he needed, the handling of some of his recent media faux pas being poor, it seems they didn’t want to upset their precious sports star.
Rory is friends with Conor Ridge, who runs Horizon, and was impressed with how he manages McDowell. Horizon sports will hopefully give Rory, known as an impetious and fiery sports personality, the structure and support that he deserves. Horizion Sports have been noticeably quiet about Rory’s move, perhaps discretion is the new order of the day.
As for Rory’s stance on his reasons for the move:
“Sometimes to go forward in your career, you need to make a decision,” McIlroy said. “I thought it was a decision I needed to make. I felt like for four years, Chubby was the best guy. But sometimes to progress you need to have a different view and a fresh view of things. It’s about me trying to play my best golf. That’s all there is to it.
“With a new environment around me, it might enable me to play even better.”
ISM have garnered plenty of sponsorship deals for Rory McIlroy, the main ones being Santander Bank, Oakley, Jumeirah Estates and Titleist.
Horizon Sports have won over a huge golfing superstar with 22 year old McIlroy, fresh from his win of the Shanghai Open last week and only 4 months since winning the US open. I wish them the very best of luck with nurturing his future career.
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The ERC have just confirmed that Munster Rugby will play Ulster in the Quarter Final of the Heineken Cup in Thomond Park on Sunday, 8th April. Kick off is at 1.45pm.
