Rory Keane

1 week ago | extra.ie | Rory Keane

TOMMY O’Brien has been hailed as the next big thing in the Irish game, but the Leinster wing wouldn’t exactly be classed as a rookie. The Dublin native will turn 27 next month and it is five years since he made his senior debut in Leinster colours, getting 20 minutes off the bench in a Pro14 game against the Ospreys at the RDS. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW O’Brien had been tipped for big things since his school days in Blackrock College.

2 weeks ago | extra.ie | Rory Keane

Unless a billionaire tycoon like Jeff Bezos suddenly decides to buy a big stake in Munster and bankroll a flurry of marquee signings, this current squad doesn’t have the capacity to close the gap on the European heavyweights any time soon. If private investment was sunk into the club and the IRFU suddenly revised their stance on the number of overseas recruits in provincial squads, Munster could go out and sign the likes of Malcolm Marx, Angus Bell, Eben Etzebeth and Ardie Savea.

2 weeks ago | extra.ie | Rory Keane

It’s fitting that Munster are back in Bordeaux this afternoon. Once again, the province face a daunting task against a supposedly superior French force on their home turf. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW But the Munster men will take heart from what their predecessors achieved at this venue 25 years years ago. If you wanted to find the flash point for Munster’s love affair with this competition, you could trace it back to a sweltering May day at Stade Chaban Delmas in 2000.

2 weeks ago | extra.ie | Rory Keane

It’s been 10 years since Ireland beat England in the Women’s Six Nations. A hard-fought 11-8 win in Ashbourne during the 2015 edition of the championship is the national team’s last positive result in this fixture. Ireland haven’t won a Six Nations since that 2015 campaign either. Today's top videos STORY CONTINUES BELOW Suffice to say, both teams went on very different trajectories after that game. England have become a global superpower.

2 weeks ago | extra.ie | Rory Keane

Leinster have been a force of nature this season. Saturday’s rout of Harlequins at Croke Park was the club’s 18th victory in this current campaign. The only defeat in any competition thus far was a last-gasp loss by a second-string outfit to the Bulls in Pretoria a few weeks ago. Leo Cullen’s troops have looked like a team on a mission. They seem like a playing group who spent a long summer hearing about three successive Champions Cup final losses as well as no league title since 2021.