Irish Rugby

Image source, Inpho

Stuart McCloskey joked his team-mates had seemed determined to spoil his 200th Ulster appearance as the Irish province trailed 17-0 after only eight minutes before fighting back to beat the Stormers 38-34 in the United Rugby Championship.

"Tonight we decided to get ourselves in a big hole on my big night, the lads were telling me," laughed the centre when interviewed by BBC Sport NI after the game.

Ulster looked in huge trouble after tries from Evan Roos and Ben Loader gave the Stormers their sizeable lead but the home side fought back to notch six touchdowns as they clinched a third successive win to boost their hopes of achieving a play-offs spot.

"All you can do is look at each other smile and say 'start again'," added the 32-year-old of the predicament Ulster found themselves in.

"There wasn't a great deal said when we went 17-0 down but we composed ourselves well and got ourselves back into the game and obviously a bit of ill-discipline by them helped us.

"I thought some of our attacking play tonight was the best it's been all year."

Next up for Ulster in Sunday week's Investec Champions Cup last-16 contest against an in-form Bordeaux side.

McCloskey, who is contracted with the Irish province until the summer of 2027, knows full well Ulster will go into that game game as rank outsiders but says they can take "a bit of momentum" into that contest after three straight wins.

"We can throw caution to the wind [in Bordeaux] and throw it about because they are meant to be the best team about. I know we can score tries, it's just whether we can sort out some of the defensive stuff," added the centre who became the 11th player to reach 200 Ulster appearances.

McCloskey hailed the display of man of the match Jack Murphy whose performance at fly-half included scoring one of Ulster's tries.

"He has a great brain for it and at the age he is, he's miles ahead of what I was at that age and miles ahead of probably most players of that age," added McCloskey of the 20-year-old, who is a son of Ulster coach Richie Murphy.

Image source, Inpho

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy praised the "character" of his side in recovering from 17-0 down after just eight minutes to edge out the Stormers 38-34 in a thrilling United Rugby Championship game at Kingspan Stadium.

The Irish province were on level terms at 17-17 at the break and ended up running in six tries in a bonus-point victory against a South African side reduced to 14 men for much of the second half when skipper Neethling Fouche was sent-off for what was deemed a dangerous challenge on Ulster centre Ben Carson.

"It was an incredible game. I'm absolutely delighted with the win - I thought we showed some character," Murphy told BBC Sport NI after the game.

"Going 17 points down early on, some of it from very good stuff from the Stormers and a couple of mistakes from us, but I thought the lads really rolled their sleeves up and put up an unbelievable performance to get past a very good team.

"At times we've played well in spells in different games this season but we put more of it together tonight."

Murphy believes the spirit of his side shone through as they completed three successive wins for the first time this season.

"I think you could see the hunger within the lads to fight back to 17-17 at half-time and put us into a good place in the second half.

"Five points keeps us in the hunt and looking forward to the next one."

Ulster's next game is their Investec Champions Cup last-16 meeting with Bordeaux-Begles in France on Sunday 6 April.

Image source, Inpho

Connacht and Munster welcome back Irish internationals for the United Rugby Championship interprovincial showdown at MacHale Park on Saturday (14:30 GMT).

The hosts bring in Mack Hansen, Bundee Aki, Finlay Bealham and captain Cian Prendergast for what will be the first time a professional Connacht game is held in County Mayo, and the first time rugby is played at the Castlebar venue in its 95-year history.

The Ireland quartet are among seven Connacht changes from the 43-40 defeat by Ospreys in Wales.

Chay Mullins, Jordan Duggan and Sean Jansen also come into the starting XV.

Munster have three Irish internationals back in their side as Tadhg Beirne, Jack Crowley and Calvin Nash return.

The visitors are also boosted by the return of Oli Jager and Craig Casey from injury as they make five changes from the 28-25 defeat by Glasgow Warriors last weekend.

Munster sit sixth in the standings and three points above 12th-placed Connacht.

Connacht: Hansen; Mullins, Gavin, Aki, Treacy; Ioane, Blade; Duggan, Heffernan, Bealham; Joyce, Murray, Prendergast (capt), Hurley-Langton, Jansen.

Replacements: Tierney-Martin, Buckley, Aungier, Murphy, Boyle, Devine, Hanrahan, Cordero.

Munster: O'Connor; Nash, Farrell, Nankivell, O'Brien; Crowley, Casey; Loughman, Barron, Jager; Wycherley, Beirne (capt); Ahern, Hodnett, Coombes.

Replacements: N Scannell, Wycherley, Archer, Kleyn, Quinn, Murray, R Scannell, Kendellen.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says his side are "in good health" ahead of their Six Nations meeting with Italy in Parma on Sunday.

Bemand's side came close to causing an upset in their opening game of the 2025 tournament in Belfast last weekend but in the end ran out 27-15 losers to France.

"We feel like we played a Test match but came through in reasonable health so a full squad to pick from pretty much," said the Ireland coach on Thursday.

"Stacey Flood came back from injury and was available for the first game, but we won't be moving and shaking too much.

"We've a good panel, the wider squad is competing hard and people have the opportunities to break in.

"The beauty of where we have got this group to over the last 18 months is that we can now tolerate work, can now tolerate big games against some sizeable athletic opposition. And the cost to us physically is, touch wood, fairly low cost at this point."

Wing Beibhinn Parsons and full-back Meabh Deely remain out through injury but both players could return to action later in the tournament.

Bemand explained that his squad have reflected on the mistakes they made against the French and are preparing to give of their best against the Italians.

"We have looked at some of the performance aspects of it and we got quite a lot wrong in the game, as did France. The first game of the Six Nations and it's our first game testing ourselves against this kind of opposition. We are coming in with higher standards for ourselves.

"So in that sense we do feel it was a missed opportunity. We got momentum coming from behind. We let them off the hook.

"As a group, we haven't shied away from that. I love the honesty of the girls, they're prepared to meet the challenge."

Image source, Inpho

Robert Baloucoune's inclusion for the first time this season is one of five Ulster changes from the last-gasp win over Dragons for Friday's United Rugby Championship home game against Stormers (19:35 GMT).

After a long recovery from a hamstring injury, Ireland wing Baloucoune is named at right wing as Stuart Moore drops out of the backline with Michael Lowry switching to full-back.

John Cooney, who will depart Ulster at the end of the season to join French club Brive, starts at scrum-half with Nathan Doak relegated to the bench.

Fit-again Andrew Warwick replaces Callum Reid at loose-head prop with the other forwards changes the inclusion of lock Kieran Treadwell and back row Matty Rea in place of Matthew Dalton and James McNabney.

Rea's selection means that David McCann switches from flanker to number eight.

Reid and McNabney are named on a replacements bench that includes fit-again hooker Tom Stewart.

Ireland centre Stuart McCloskey will be making his 200th Ulster appearance in Friday's contest.

Currently unavailable for selection due to injury are Ethan McIlroy (knee), Ben Moxham (knee), Werner Kok (hamstring), Cormac Izuchukwu (ankle), Jake Flannery (knee), Iain Henderson (hamstring), Eric O'Sullivan (knee), Jude Postlethwaite (thumb), Sean Reffell (calf) and Lorcan McLoughlin (knee).

Friday's contest is crucial to ninth-placed Ulster's hopes of staying in contention for the play-offs as they face a Stormers side who currently occupy the eighth and final qualification spot, one point ahead of the Irish province.

Ulster: Lowry; Baloucoune, Hume, McCloskey, Stockdale; Murphy, Cooney; Warwick, Herring, O'Toole; O'Connor (capt), Treadwell; Matty Rea, Timoney, McCann.

Replacements: Stewart, Reid, Wilson, Sheridan, McNabney, Doak, Carson, Ward.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland's Erin King believes she is playing alongside some of the best back rows in the world during the Women's Six Nations.

King, 21, started her side's 27-15 defeat by France to kick off their campaign last weekend alongside Aoife Wafer and Brittany Hogan.

Wafer scored twice in another superb display, while Hogan was instrumental in some stout defensive stands.

"I'm so lucky to be among some of the best back rowers in the world. I think they're dragging me along," said King, who was named women's breakthrough player of the year at the World Rugby awards in November.

"There's so much competition in our back row and our squad, I think we just keep pushing each other and helping each other improve.

"I'm learning so much off them and I'd say they're learning things off me."

Such has been the form of that trio, the squad's co-captain Edel McMahon was named on the bench for the France loss.

"She's helped me so much," said King of the flanker.

"I'm so lucky to be around such a great person on the pitch and off the pitch.

"She helps me with anything I need and it's great to have her in the camp."

Ireland will travel to Italy for round two of the Women's Six Nations on Sunday, a game that will be be live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from 14:45 BST.

King said Ireland need to be "a little bit more accurate" than they were against France.

"I think we'll go in with loads of confidence and see what we can do," she added.

"I think we can go out there and put in a performance, tweak the things that weren't as good as we know they can be, and just be a little bit more accurate around the park."

Image source, Inpho

Ulster back row James McNabney said "it was a bit surreal" to be included as a development player in Ireland's Six Nations squad.

The 22-year-old debuted for his province last season after making 14 appearances for the Ireland Under-20s.

His inclusion for Ireland's pre-championship training camp in Portugal was his first involvement with the senior national side and came after a string of impressive performances at Kingspan Stadium.

The call-up was a surprise to the player himself, however, who struggled to believe the news when he heard while working on the family farm.

"I was actually just finished putting in silage with the telehandler and I looked at my phone and saw I got the email," said McNabney.

"I wasn't sure it was true and I had to have a good look to make sure it was legitimate because I didn't think I'd be on the radar for something like that."

The number eight, who has featured 11 times for Ulster this season, said it was strange to suddenly be alongside the Irish Test stars.

"It was a bit surreal. When you go go-karting with Peter O'Mahony and Caelan Doris, you think it seems a bit nuts.

"But they're only human like the rest of us, they're great lads and were really welcoming to me. It was great."

McNabney felt he came away from the experience a better player.

"I really loved it, it was a good opportunity," he added. "There's definitely things I've worked out that need to be much better since being there.

"I've been stretched massively, but we know now where we're at and what the finishing goal looks like so we can work towards it."

McNabney will next be in action against the Stormers at Kingspan Stadium on Friday night, a match that will be broadcast live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Image source, Inpho

Paul O'Connell has been named Ireland's interim head coach for the summer tour of Georgia and Portugal after Simon Easterby was appointed to the British and Irish Lions coaching team.

Defence coach Easterby was given the Ireland interim head coach for the recent Six Nations because Andy Farrell is on a sabbatical from the role as he prepares to lead the Lions in Australia.

However, Farrell, as expected, has named Easterby in a Lions coaching team which will also have further Ireland representation in scrum coach John Fogarty and backs coach Andrew Goodman.

This led the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) to confirm later that forwards coach O'Connell, 45, will take charge of the Ireland squad in the Tests against Georgia and Portugal which take place on 5 July and 12 July.

IRFU performance director David Humphreys congratulated Easterby, Fogarty and Goodman on their inclusion in the Lions coaching team.

"It is a huge statement of faith in their skillsets and standing within the wider game, and I have no doubt that they will contribute greatly to a successful Lions tour," said Humphreys.

"Simon's appointment means that an opportunity arises for a new interim head coach for the two-match summer tour to Georgia and Portugal and I'm delighted that Paul O'Connell will assume the role for this tour."

The remainder of the Ireland coaching team for the summer Tests will be announced next week.

The venues and kick-off times for the two games are yet to be confirmed.

Ireland's tour squad is likely to be considerably understrength with a large contingent of regulars expected to be in contention for Lions selection.

Munster great O'Connell, who won 108 Ireland caps and played on three Lions tours including the 2009 series where he captained the side in South Africa, was appointed Ireland forwards coach in 2021 after Easterby switched to the defence coach role.

Image source, BBC Sport

After defeat to France in their opening Women's Six Nations match, Ireland head to Parma to face Italy.

The match will be live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from 14:45 BST on Sunday.

Stats provided by Opta

Italy's recent good form over Ireland

– Italy have won the last two Women's Six Nations meetings between the sides.

– Two of their three wins over Ireland have come at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma (also in Dublin, 2024), where this fixture will take place

– Since the start of the 2023, Italy have won just two of their 11 Women's Six Nations - both against Ireland.

How the teams stack up

– Italy have lost each of their last three Women's Six Nations home encounters, but have only lost four in a row at home once since 2011 (2017-2018).

- They have not won their first home game in a campaign since 2014 (v Scotland)

– Ireland have won two of their last four Women's Six Nations matches (L2) after losing seven in a row previously.

– They will be aiming to avoid losing their opening two games in a campaign for the fourth year in a row, after not doing it in any of the previous 14 editions.

– Ireland have won just one of their last 11 Women's Six Nations away clashes (L10), and have lost each of their last seven by an average margin of 39 points, conceding 88 points in their most recent one (88-10 v England).

Notable individual player performances

– Italy's Alyssa D'Inca (13), Valeria Fedrighi (10), Francesca Sgorbini (9), and Aura Muzzo (9) hit more defensive rucks than any other players in the opening round last weekend

– Only England captain Zoe Aldcroft (34) hit more attacking rucks than Ireland's Erin King (32) last weekend. Six Nations debutant King also tallied up the most lineout takes of any player in round 1 (11)

– Linda Djougang made three dominant tackles against France, the most by any player in round 1. The most-capped member of the Ireland squad also made the most dominant tackles of any player in the 2024 Championship (17)

– Ireland back rower Aoife Wafer was the only player to cross the try-line more than once during the opening round of the 2025 Championship (2), also making the most carries (17), the most metres-in-contact (47), and winning the joint most turnovers (3) of any player.

Image source, Inpho

Ireland prop Niamh O'Dowd said they will need to improve their execution against Italy in round two of the Women's Six Nations on Sunday (15:00 BST).

Scott Bemand's side were beaten 27-15 by France in their opening fixture last weekend.

Although they were just 17-15 behind going into the final 10 minutes, their efforts against a side they have not beaten since 2017 were undermined by 31 handling errors.

"It'll be the same for us focusing on ourselves, we're going to try and throw punches," said O'Dowd of the approach for the trip to Parma.

"We have our set-piece, we know our lineout works, we know our scrum can function. [It will be] more of the same and then just maybe just tidy up on the execution."

One area where Ireland have showed real improvement of late is their set-piece.

All three of their scores last weekend came off the lineout and they were successful with 18 of their 19 throws out of touch.

O'Dowd credits the work of forwards coach Alex Codling who joined Scott Bemand's ticket last year.

"We spend a lot of time, especially on the lineout, with Codders [Codling]," said the loose-head.

"He's been great. His level of detail, we've never experienced that level of detail. He also puts a lot of trust in us to get to that level.

"He backs us all the way. We've just put a lot of work into it every week and getting it all right."

Image source, Inpho

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy says Robert Baloucoune is looking "really sharp" as he prepares to make his comeback from injury.

The wing, who has four caps for Ireland, has not featured this season because of a hamstring problem with his last outing coming against Benetton in April.

The 27-year-old could make his return in the United Rugby Championship (URC) game against the Stormers at Kingspan Stadium on Friday, a match that will be broadcast live on BBC Two NI, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

"It's been a tough year for him, it's more than 11 months that he's been out," said Murphy.

"He's through a couple of weeks training and he's starting to look really sharp.

"It's brilliant to have him back in."

Murphy feels like Baloucoune can be a leader in what is a young group.

"His voice in and around, the changing room, he's quite quiet but when he says something, the lads listen," he added.

"Especially in our backs, where we've a mix of young and old, his experience is vital."

Prop Andy Warwick and hooker Tom Stewart are also available for selection after injuries, but Ulster are still without a number of key personnel including Ethan McIlroy, Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Cormac Izuchukwu and Iain Henderson.

Meanwhile prop Sam Crean has returned to Saracens following his short-term loan.

Friday night's game is the last in the URC before attention turns to Europe with Ulster set to face Top 14 power Bordeaux-Begles in the last-16 of the Champions Cup on 6 April.

Sat ninth in the URC table going into this weekend's action, one place and one point behind their opponents in Belfast on Friday, Murphy said there will be no switch of focus.

"We're dealing week to week. It's going to be a massive challenge but the great thing for us is that we play Friday night and we don't play Bordeaux until Sunday," he said.

"It gives us the weekend to have a think about it and really get into it during the week.

"For us, Bordeaux is very much on the backburner. Our league position is the most important thing at the moment."

Image source, Inpho

Ireland co-captain Edel McMahon said her side cannot "get too ahead of" themselves before facing Italy in Rome on Sunday.

Scott Bemand's team lost their opener of the Women's Six Nations for the fourth season in a row against France in Belfast on Saturday but offered a strong showing in the 27-15 defeat.

While the side ranked fourth in the world had scored 56 and 53 points on their two most recent visits to Ireland, the hosts were just 17-15 behind in the final 10 minutes before France put a late gloss on the scoreline.

"The thing is not to get too ahead of ourselves knowing that we could have won," said McMahon, who was used as a second-half replacement.

"It's actually still about showing up. You can talk and talk and talk, but if you don't action and do, you're not going to earn it.

"As much as [against France] we knew we could have won that game, we still need to make sure we implement that plan. Believing is one thing, doing is another."

With McMahon named as a substitute, and her fellow co-captain Sam Monaghan absent through injury, wing Amee-Leigh Costigan led the side out at Kingspan Stadium with hooker Neve Jones serving as vice skipper.

McMahon felt it was "an easy pick" to have Costigan serve in her place.

"Leigh is just a leader in her own right," said the flanker.

"A lot of people were asking how I helped her out - you don't need to help Leigh, she's a leader in how she carries herself.

"It was an easy pick for her, the same as Neve Jones."

McMahon, who won her 31st cap against France, added that the pair "embody the core values of the Ireland squad.

Image source, Getty Images

Amee-Leigh Costigan felt Ireland needed to make more of Gabrielle Vernier's red card during their opening 27-15 defeat by France in the Women's Six Nations.

The visiting centre opened the scoring with an early try at Kingspan Stadium but was shown a 20-minute red in the second half.

Ireland were 17-5 behind at the time of the 27-year-old's high tackle on Eve Higgins but Neve Jones' maul try from the resulting kick to the corner made it a one-score game.

The hosts would not score again, however, until after France were restored to 15 players.

Scott Bemand's side did cut the gap to just two points with 14 minutes left but France pulled away again in the closing stages.

"Getting different outcomes when they have a red card, like what should we look at and how can we get points on the board with that?" said Costigan when asked what the side must learn from the defeat.

The wing, who described captaining the side for a first time as "such an honour", felt there were elements of the performance to build upon going into their round two fixture against Italy in Parma on 30 March.

"After a big training build up towards this first game, I think we'll take the learnings, improve on them, and then have a look at Italy and see where we want to attack," she added.

"We've seen what we can do, but we really do want more and just to push on with that."