Liam Heagney

Dublin

Journalist at RugbyPass

journalism... 🏉 with trend-setting RugbyPass World Rugby. Dublin via Limerick.

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Articles

More Wales players named in Opta Six Nations Best XV than Ireland

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

Wales finished the 2025 Guinness Six Nations with a humiliating 68-14 home loss to England last Saturday, but their second successive wooden spoon campaign wasn’t without a silver lining. The Opta Index, which scores performances individually, has unveiled its team of the championship and the Welsh have two players, lock Dafydd Jenkins and back-rower Jac Morgan, named in the XV.
France's Peato Mauvaka cited for yellow-carded Ben White incident

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

The 2025 Guinness Six Nations isn’t over for Peato Mauvaka as the France hooker has been summoned to attend a disciplinary hearing this Thursday following his yellow-carded incident with Scotland’s Ben White. There were 20 minutes played at the Stade de France when the French front-rower was sin-binned for foul play against the Scottish scrum-half.
Ex-Ireland player salutes 'how quickly things changed' for England

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

England finishing above Ireland in the Guinness Six Nations was an outcome few, if any, predicted after the Irish comfortably defeated Steve Borthwick’s side in round one on February 1. The back-to-back 2023 and 2024 champions impressively hit back from a 5-10 interval deficit to surge 27-10 ahead before a couple of late consolation tries from the visitors gave the 27-22 result a misleading complexion that it was a tight game. It certainly wasn’t in the second half.
Four England talking points after their Six Nations rout of Wales

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

What an incredible difference six weeks can make. Exiting Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on February 1, you would have got long odds on the fanciful notion that the just slain England would somehow finish above Ireland when the curtain fell on Guinness Six Nations 2025.
The Steve Borthwick verdict on Maro Itoje's Lions captaincy bid

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

England boss Steve Borthwick has given his verdict on Maro Itoje’s bid to captain the British and Irish Lions on their tour to Australia. Borthwick’s side rounded off their latest Guinness Six Nations campaign with a record away hammering of Wales, scoring 10 tries to win 68-14 in Cardiff. Victory left England finishing with a four-wins-from-five campaign for the first time since they last lifted the Six Nations title in 2020.
England player ratings vs Wales | 2025 Six Nations

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

England player ratings live from Principality Stadium: Now we can say for certain this is a Steve Borthwick team definitely on the up, their sublime 68-14, 10-try record Cardiff hammering of Wales moving them on top of the table ahead of the final match of the championship on Saturday night between title favourites France and Scotland.
Jack Bracken: 'It’s a daunting one, definitely takes some bravery'

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

Jack Bracken is forging his own path in rugby, carving out a niche for himself on the wing with England U20s, but he is still very much a chip off the old block that is Kyran Bracken, the scrum-half who was part of the Clive Woodward Test squad that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Six changes for Ireland, including the return of Jack Crowley

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

Interim Ireland boss Simon Easterby has reacted to last Saturday’s damaging home loss to France by making six changes to the team to take on Italy this weekend. The Irish had their hopes of an unprecedented hat-trick of Guinness Six Nations titles jolted by the 27-42 loss that sent them tumbling from first to third place on the table after four rounds.
Two changes for title-chasing France but 7-1 bench tactic retained

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

Fabien Galthie has made two changes to his France team and retained his 7-1 bench split tactic for Saturday night’s Guinness Six Nations finale at home to Scotland in Paris. Having jumped on top of the table with last Saturday’s 42-27 trouncing of Ireland in Dublin, a win for the French over the Scots would see them clinch a first championship title since 2022.
Ex-Ireland prop: 'We don't have enough competent fatties to compete'

2 months ago | rugbypass.com | Liam Heagney

Retired Ireland front row Nick Popplewell has questioned the IRFU’s development system for props, claiming too many youths coaches select “slow wing forwards” ahead of specialist loose and tightheads. The 60-year-old, who was a 1993 British and Irish Lions Test team pick in New Zealand, won 48 caps for his country in a career that also included winning the English league with Newcastle.