The Sharks are to put down roots in Switzerland as their venture into European rugby gathers momentum, with the plan for them to have a permanent base in a central location to make touring easier in the United Rugby Championship. This forward-thinking initiative makes sense from a logistical point ...

Not really - there is very good coaching available in the more serious clubs & reasonable coaching even in the smaller ones. There are plenty of scholarships available to US universities if a 16 yo shows real promise. I was chairman of a Tennis Club for over 10 years & we had good facilities (lotte...

The Sharks are to put down roots in Switzerland as their venture into European rugby gathers momentum, with the plan for them to have a permanent base in a central location to make touring easier in the United Rugby Championship. This forward-thinking initiative makes sense from a logistical point ...

Yep. Typically it depends on the sport. Boxers pretty much always represent Ireland, IIRC. Some sports like hockey are a mess. NI based players can represent GB, but the national team also plays as an all island team, like rugby. Think they generally went with the green jersey last time, despite it...

Insomnia is no joking matter - I struggled with it for two years much to the detriment of my career and social life. Tried everything, sleep clinics, CBT, sleeping pills of all kind, Xanax, no improvement. Eventually my doctor found a solution that was life changing - TERCIAN. Three drops each night...

The 42 list (42 being the mperfect number we should get a slam :lol: La liste Pilier gauche : BAILLE Cyril (Stade Toulousain), GROS Jean-Baptiste (RC Toulon), POIROT Jefferson (Union Bordeaux-Bègles) Talonneur : CHAT Camille (Racing 92), ETRILLARD Anthony (RC Toulon), MARCHAND Julien (Stade Toulous...

Porterbelly1 wrote:Looks like Aly Muldowney has left Bristol.

There's the 2nd row cover Connacht have been crying out for...

Amen to that!

In a provincial cup final, I caught a kick-off, ghosted through the oncoming pack and to my surprise I found mysef in sight of the line. I touched down before turning triumpantly to meet my oncoming team mates.... as the the ball rested firmly on the five-metre line. On another occasion, my opposite...

Floppykid wrote:France is my second team for RWC.
Just wish they had a couple of world class players in their pack to pull something off.

Pity they didn't take Sekou Macalou: he's on fire for a piss-poor Paris at the moment. Check out yesterday's perfromance...

French clubs keep a close eye on talent in the French Pacific. Jeffrey Heafala, who's with Stade Francais, played underage for France. He's from Wallis. Jocelino Suta previously of Toulon is also from Wallis. There are young players from Wallis et Futuna and elsewhere in the French Pacific with clu...

New Caledonia (pop 278,500) French Polynesia (pop 275,918) Vanuatu (pop 272,459) Soloman Islands (pop 599,419) Papua New Guinea (8,084,999) Top two-and-a-half were (or are) administered by the French ... they play soccer Solomons was British but has had a turbulent recent history ... tend to prefer...

Go back 10 years or so and I think they briefly reached a peak of about 5 American Samoans on an Eagles roster, with 3 of those being the Suniula brothers. One of Roland or Shalom have been around forever, and still plays in the MLR. American Samoa since has their own union as a member of World Rug...

camroc1 wrote:Time spent in school is not counted for residency purposes in rugby.

If I recall corerctly, Vasily Artemyev was prevented for playing for Ireland U19s for that very reason?

backrow wrote:

assfly wrote:Sexton.

Can you elaborate a bit ?
You’ve met him/ your mate met him blah blah ?

I met Sexton a couple of times during his sentence in France. An absolute gent.

Quite a few obvious ones for Ireland Stuart McCloskey Matt Healy Sean Reidy Billy Holland Rory O'Loughlin Adam Byrne Ross Byrne I won't include JOD as he has been blighted by injury and Niyi who I still think deserved persevering with especially when Ireland gave Dave Kearney 16 caps x( Surely Rodn...

To be fair, this rule generally applies to publically-owned facilities only. It also also applies to other forms of swimwear too. For health reasons, I have to wear a surf top to protect some damaged skin and as a result I get asked to leave swimming pools regularly. I always explain why I wear it b...

Welcome to my world: a tough place for a ex-pat!

danny_fitz wrote:Well?

Newbie from France here, first post: Top 14 fixture list is usually released the week preceeding 14 July. That's the week when our six-week summer holiday starts....

Hello all. New poster, French-Irish Connacht fan. Looking forward to joining the stimulating discussion on Irish rugby matters and endorsing the prevailing views of the opinion makers here....