Irish Rugby

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Celtic Challenge Cup:

Clovers (31) 41

Tries: McGann, Costigan (2), Lane, Nic a Bhaird (2), Deely Cons: Fowley (3)

Glasgow Warriors: (5) 19

Tries: Fraser, Bogan, McNamara Cons: McNamara (2)

Clovers made it five consecutive wins in the Celtic Challenge as they claimed a bonus-point 41-19 victory against Glasgow Warriors in Cork.

The hosts had the bonus-point secured by half-time, after five first-half tries from five different scorers gave them a commanding 31-5 lead at the break.

Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird and Amee Leigh Costigan, who both touched down in the first half, added further tries after the restart to wrap up the comfortable win.

The victory sees Clovers remain in second in the table, four points behind Wolfhounds with a game in hand.

McGann gave Clovers the lead on five minutes when she spotted a gap and darted through in the left corner.

Three minutes later they had their second try as Enya Breen swivelled past two players and kicked to Costigan, who won the foot race to score in the right corner.

Lane crossed for the third try before Glasgow replacement Katie Yoemans was then shown a yellow card moments after coming on, for a high tackle.

Clovers made their player advantage count as Nic a Bhaird bustled her way over the whitewash with Deely also finishing off a slick move from the home side for their fifth try.

Glasgow registered their first score three minutes before half-time, capitalising on a Clovers handling error as Roma Fraser touched down.

The hosts scored again a minute into the second half as Nic a Bhaird burst over, but Glasgow responded with a try of their own from a driving maul as Hollan Bogan grounded the ball.

Costigan got her second of the game as she raced down the right, evading a number of challenges before sliding over.

Briar McNamara got Glasgow's third try after patient play, but the Clovers were able to see out the win.

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Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby praised his side's "intent to attack" in their Six Nations victory over Scotland.

The back-to-back champions are two from two with a pair of bonus points after following up last week's win over England with a 32-18 success in Murrayfield on Sunday.

"We did what we set out to do in the game," Easterby told BBC Sport.

"We started strongly and limited Scotland to a few opportunities in the first half.

"We felt like we had control of the game in the first half and the scoreline reflected that."

Easterby added that Scotland losing both Finn Russell and Darcy Graham to injury after the influential pair collided in the 21st minute had an impact on the game.

"We were good at not giving their individuals opportunities," he added.

"They were hamstrung by injuries to Finn Russell and Darcy Graham, but we delivered an intent to attack in the right way.

"I thought Sam Prendergast put us in the right areas more often than not and that is what you need. We managed the game well throughout."

Prendergast, in his fifth Test outing, was named player of the match and felt his side were better in Edinburgh than they had been last week against England.

"I thought we started unbelievably in the game," he said.

"We put so much pressure on. We did really well in the second half when they got their purple patch to come back.

"It wasn't perfect from us but it was better than last week and we'll keep trying to get better week on week."

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Former Ireland fly-half Ronan O'Gara said there is "nothing to report" regarding links to Australia's head coach position but added he does want to "test himself against the best" in international rugby.

The 47-year-old has been head coach of Top 14 side La Rochelle since 2019, and won back-to-back Investec Champions Cups with the French side in 2022 and '23.

His success at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre has led to rumours of a switch to Test rugby, most recently the Wallabies position that will be vacated by Joe Schmidt later this year.

"It's the way it goes," he told BBC Sport.

"I'm always convinced that if you do the business with your club team they'll come looking for you. I've been living a dream in France with a bunch of boys that have given me an opportunity to potentially go and coach in international rugby.

"I want to do it that, of course. I want to test myself against the best coaches in the world."

Stressing his "loyalty" to La Rochelle, the club who gave him his first opportunity to be a head coach, O'Gara added that if he was to leave for an international job, it would only be for a country with the potential to be the "best in the world".

"It's unbelievably exciting, but for me to get on a shortlist you have to make sure my bread and butter, which is La Rochelle, is going well," he said.

"I've a loyalty to them because they've put me where I am.

"La Rochelle is a great team to be with. If you want to go from a club team to an international team, you've got to make sure that international team could be the best in the world."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist at Murrayfield

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Men's Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Date: Sunday, 9 February Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One & BBC iPlayer; live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Sounds

Ireland wing Mack Hansen has been ruled out of Sunday's Six Nations game against Scotland at Murrayfield because of a hamstring injury.

The Connacht back missed training on Saturday and will be replaced on the right wing by Munster's Calvin Nash.

Hansen was an injury doubt earlier this week after cutting his knee in the win over England before being passed fit, but is unavailable because of "hamstring tightness".

"Not at all really," Ireland captain Caelan Doris said when asked if it upsets the team's rhythm on the eve of the game.

"It's disappointing for Mack obviously. He's been integral to what we've been about over recent years but I think he's made the right call.

"There's a lot of trust in Calvin in how he's been when he's been with us over the last number of years and also with how he's played for Munster this year, so I think it'll be a seamless transition."

Ireland will hope the Australia-born 26-year-old, who missed last year's Six Nations because of a shoulder problem, will regain fitness in time for Ireland's trip to Wales on 22 February.

Ireland interim boss Simon Easterby was already without prop Tadhg Furlong and lock Joe McCarthy for Sunday's game.

Nash, 27, started all five of last year's championship games - scoring tries against France and Italy - as well as both Tests against South Africa last summer.

He made his Ireland debut in a 2023 World Cup warm-up game against Italy and started for the first time in last year's Six Nations win over France in Marseille.

Ireland team to face Scotland

Ireland: Keenan; Nash, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Bealham; Ryan, Beirne; O'Mahony, Van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: Sheehan, Healy, Clarkson, Baird, Conan, Murray, Crowley, Ringrose.

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Full-back Hugo Keenan says Ireland's 10-game winning run over Scotland hasn't been discussed ahead of Sunday's Six Nations game in Edinburgh.

Scotland's last win over Ireland came in the Six Nations at Murrayfield in 2017.

Both sides won their opening matches as Ireland defeated England in Dublin while Scotland battled past Italy.

"To be honest, I didn't even know there was a streak like that," said Keenan, who added Ireland's win over England was "a good start" to the Six Nations.

"It's not something we talk about. We don't look at our successes against them in the past.

"We just take it for each game that comes around. We're not looking at any history records, I suppose."

Ireland are aiming to win an unprecedented third Six Nations title in a row and Keenan, 28, feels their second match with Scotland will be "such a tough battle".

"I can just remember the tough games and match-ups that we've had them over the last number of years and how it's always so competitive," he said.

"They're in a good, rich vein of form and they'll be fancying themselves, so we're just taking them for the team that is in front of us this week and not really looking back too much on the years gone by.

"It's going to be a huge challenge for us. I know they're hugely up for it and we've just got to match that and bring more to the party as well."

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Men's Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Date: Sunday, 9 February Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Kick-off: 15:00 GMT.

Coverage: Watch on BBC One, iPlayer & BBC Sport website, listen on BBC Sounds

Interim boss Simon Easterby says he is unsure about Ireland being labelled favourites for Sunday's Six Nations game against Scotland.

Given Ireland's dominance in this fixture in recent years, winning the last 10 encounters, many have tipped the champions to leave Murrayfield with a win.

But Easterby insists there is little between the sides and has called on his team to improve on last week's victory over England.

"I don't think we go in there necessarily as favourites when they had such a good autumn and a good win last week at home against Italy, and we're playing away from home," said Easterby.

"It's finely balanced in terms of favourites, underdogs, I don't think there's that much in it at the moment.

"We just know we have to be a lot better than we were last weekend in a lot of areas because of the threats they have and their ability to play attacking rugby, but also the way they can stop teams playing as well."

Sexton helping Prendergast and Crowley

Easterby has made just two changes for the Scotland game, bringing in Peter O'Mahony and Robbie Henshaw while retaining Sam Prendergast at fly-half ahead of Jack Crowley.

The battle between the out-halves has attracted intense debate, but Easterby believes the attention is "part of their growth".

"Jack had a bit more of that last year throughout the Six Nations and dealt with it really well.

"He's also had a period of not being selected every week so that's a different dynamic to what Sam's going through at the moment.

"But they would share experiences with each other. Jack's been through that and we're fortunate to have Johnny [Sexton] in camp as well to impart some of his experiences in that position over the years, his battles with ROG [Ronan O'Gara] and how that developed over time."

Easterby added: "They're pretty comfortable in their own skin. They are down to earth, level-headed, extremely competitive and ambitious but understanding as well that there are ebbs and flows in life, in games and your selection.

"They're just figuring out a the moment how to get through that and we're supporting them the best we can."

Mark Strange
BBC Sport NI contributor

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Ulster fell to a 38-31 defeat to Queensland Reds in a mid-season friendly match at Kingspan Stadium.

In a game that saw former Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss welcomed back to Belfast as boss of the visitors, the northern province had Irish international trio Jacob Stockdale, James Hume and Stuart McCloskey all make their returns from injury.

Stockdale and Hume would both get on the scoresheet in a game that featured 11 tries, six for the Reds and five for the hosts.

Visiting hooker Matt Faessler was the first to dot down when he got over off the back of a rolling maul.

The hosts were held up over the line twice in quick succession as they sought a response before they finally got the ball down after 19 minutes when Stockdale was set free by a wide pass from Aidan Morgan who then added the extras.

The game was end-to-end with Australia captain Harry Wilson going over from close range for a seven-pointer before Ulster answered back just before the half-hour mark when scrum half Conor McKee nipped over after linking up well with Stuart McCloskey.

However, Kiss' side would lead at the break when Wilson broke the line and popped off to scrum half Tate McDermott to canter over under the posts.

Harry McLaughlin-Phillips added the conversion to give his side a 19-14 lead at half-time.

With Stockdale and McCloskey replaced at the break, it was another returning international in James Hume who went over in the corner before Stockdale's replacement Mike Lowry capitalised on a loose pass in their own half from the Reds to go over in the corner and erase the five-point deficit ten minutes after the break.

The game flipped again when Heremaia Murray bounced off white shirts and put opposite wing Tim Ryan over for a converted score to nudge his side ahead again.

The game had loosened by the final quarter and Ryan went over again, this time after nice work from full back Campbell and Tom Lynagh added another difficult conversion.

With a large number of replacements used, the game got scrappier which suited the Australians and Murray got a score of his own in the corner.

Richie Murphy's men kept plugging away and Stewart Moore barged over for a try, converted by James Humphreys, to set up a grandstand finish but Ulster could not force their way over from close range in the final moments.

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Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby spoke to reporters after naming his team for Sunday's Six Nations game against Scotland (15:00 GMT).

On recalling former captain Peter O'Mahony:

"Certainly after the England performance, we felt like it was a good chance to bring Pete in and bring his experience to the table and keep Bairdo [Ryan Baird] involved off the bench."

On why playing Scotland brings out the best in O'Mahony:

"He has that ability, doesn't he, to play big when it's needed.

"He had the edge around him in training last week when he wasn't involved and brought a lot of competition to the group to those who were starting. He was disappointed not to get the selection in the 15 or 23 for England.

"I think what he does do when he plays against sides like Scotland is he plays right on the edge, he's confrontational.

"He leads by example, other players will certainly follow that example and he brings the type of experience that takes time and caps to build the know-how and knowledge."

On sticking with Sam Prendergast at fly-half ahead of Jack Crowley:

"He [Crowley] was disappointed and so were a lot of other players that didn't make the starting 15 or the bench.

"Keeping some continuity in selection was important. I agree that Jack was good coming off the bench last week. The game had opened up a bit and that was party due to the way he played in different areas of the pitch. He did add real quality off the bench as did a lot of other guys.

"Jack's clearly disappointed but he's an unbelievable person, he's so supportive. His own disappointment doesn't allow that to reflect on how he trained yesterday, how he is around the camp and the way he is supporting Sam and the other players.

"He's a great fella and we're fortunate to have those two. Jack started every game in the Six Nations last year.

"He had those experiences and we're trying to grow both of them and grow Sam's experiences not just at home last week in a huge game for him and us as a team but also this week away from home, how does he handle those experiences which are very different to last week."

On Ireland's recent dominance against Scotland:

"I'm not sure it matters that much. We're always continually trying to evolve, as are Scotland and they showed that in the autumn that they can mix it with the best.

"It's been spoken about outside the camp but we're just trying to focus on getting our own game in order and delivering a better performance than we did against England because that's what it'll take to beat Scotland in Murrayfield."

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Men's Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Date: Sunday, 9 February Venue: Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Coverage: Watch on BBC One & BBC iPlayer; live on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Sounds; live text commentary on BBC Sport website

Bundee Aki has urged Ireland to guard against switching off against Scotland in Sunday's Six Nations game at Murrayfield.

Holders Ireland dominated the second half in last weekend's opening win over England.

However, the Irish were slow to start and conceded two late tries which allowed England to leave Dublin with a losing bonus point and Aki has warned his team-mates they cannot afford such lapses against Gregor Townsend's side.

"Yeah I think the boys rectified it and spoke about it. We said that obviously if we switch off like that, in any part of the game, against Scotland, they will rip you apart," said centre Aki, who scored Ireland's second try in the 27-22 defeat of England.

"If Finn Russell sees those things he will absolutely take you into the gutters, and same as Duhan van der Merwe, Huw Jones, Darcy Graham.

"If anyone sort of switches off, they will absolutely cut you apart. We've just got to make sure that we're mentally prepared, mentally sharp and make sure we're on top of it from the first whistle to the last."

The 34-year-old has also called on Ireland to display a ruthless edge against Scotland, who beat Italy in their opening game.

"The game at the weekend, there were obviously a few things in the first half which didn't go our way or we didn't stick the passes that we wanted to," explained Aki.

"But we sort of found our way into it in the second half. Against Scotland, we probably won't have those kind of chances throughout the game and we've got to make sure that we're much more clinical.

"That's the good thing about the squad, we get to improve on what we didn't do well in the game.

"We're obviously very proud of being able to adapt in the second half but we're trying to be more clinical and accurate."

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When Stuart McCloskey suffered a "decent enough" hamstring tear against Munster in December, just a few weeks out from the Ireland squad announcement, he knew the Six Nations was going to come too soon for him.

The timing was far from ideal, especially given McCloskey's ongoing attempts to reclaim a Test starting spot.

But after seven weeks on the sidelines, the 32-year-old centre is available again for Ulster and will feature in Friday's friendly at home to Queensland Reds.

McCloskey retains hope that he may he get a call from Ireland interim head coach Simon Easterby during the Six Nations and he will be an interested spectator on Sunday when the holders face Scotland at Murrayfield.

"I think we've had, touch wood, the number over Scotland over the last few years and I think [Sione] Tuipulotu being out for Scotland as well is going to be massive," said McCloskey.

"So that I think hopefully tips it in our favour."

He added: "He's probably the form 12 in Europe, if not the world, over the last six months or so.

"Losing a guy like that, a guy that a lot of their shape goes around as well, I think he takes a lot of pressure off Finn Russell.

"Losing a guy like that is always going to affect your team, especially when he's such a fulcrum for what they do in attack."

McCloskey's return is part of a triple boost for Ulster boss Richie Murphy, who also welcomes back Jacob Stockdale and James Hume, the latter having spent 10 months out with a knee injury.

Now 32, he will be one of the most experienced heads in an experimental Ulster side facing a Reds outfit packed with Wallabies experience on Friday.

The Reds are now coached by former Ulster director of rugby Les Kiss and McCloskey smiled when asked about catching up with his former boss on Friday.

"Strangely, he messaged me on LinkedIn about six months ago saying, 'I probably won't see you when you're at this game', but it looks like I am,  so it'll be good to have a beer with him after."