Irish Rugby

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Ireland say that Tadhg Furlong, Mack Hansen and Joe McCarthy "continue to make good progress" in their returns from injury.

Forwards Furlong and McCarthy have not featured in the 2025 Six Nations, missing the wins over England and Scotland with calf and head injuries respectively.

Wing Hansen started against England, and was originally named to play against Scotland, but was replaced by Calvin Nash for the 32-18 win in Murrayfield.

Ireland are top of the Six Nations table with a maximum 10 points from their two games and are next in action against Wales on 22 February.

An Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] statement said the side are "optimistic" the trio will be involved in the Principality Stadium.

Ireland reported no fresh injury concerns after their win in Edinburgh with some of those not involved set to be released to their provinces for United Rugby Championship [URC] action this weekend.

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Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan will miss the Women's Six Nations through injury.

The Gloucester-Hartpury lock missed Ireland's victory over Australia and the WXV1 competition in the autumn after sustaining a serious knee injury when playing for her club in June.

She had previously been co-captain, with Edel McMahon, during the Six Nations campaign, but it was announced by the IRFU on Tuesday that she will be absent for this year's tournament.

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand will bring together 40 players for a training camp next week to prepare for their Six Nations campaign which begins against France in Belfast on 22 March.

There are eight uncapped players included in the group.

Sophie Barrett, Jane Neill, Beth Buttimer and Jane Clohessy graduate from the under-20s set-up, while Alma Atagamen caught the eye playing for the under-18s and is also selected.

Amy Larn and Katie Heffernan will be seeking debuts for the side having previously represented Ireland in sevens.

Caitriona Finn is again included in the wider squad having travelled to Vancouver for WXV1 last year without taking the field.

Ireland finished third in the 2024 Six Nations to qualify for this year's World Cup.

They will be in a pool with Japan, Spain and New Zealand at the tournament in England which starts in August.

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Ireland prop Tom O'Toole is available for Ulster's United Rugby Championship (URC) trip to Benetton on Saturday after serving a six-game suspension.

O'Toole, 26, was sent off for a dangerous clearout on Alex Nankivell during his province's 22-19 defeat by Munster in December and missed four Ulster fixtures, as well as the opening two rounds of Ireland's Six Nations campaign.

"He's been brilliant, he's been making some real progress this season," said Ulster's forwards coach Jimmy Duffy.

"He's asserting himself as a real leader in the group. It's brilliant to have him back, he'd been in a great space prior to getting the little lay-off."

Fellow Irish internationals Jacob Stockdale, Stuart McCloskey and James Hume all came through their returns from injury in last week's 38-31 friendly defeat to Queensland Reds and bolster head coach Richie Murphy's options for the visit to the Stadio Monigo.

Andrew Warwick and Eric O'Sullivan both picked up knocks last week however, leaving Ulster potentially short of options at loose-head prop.

Hooker Tom Stewart is also a doubt with a hamstring issue.

Duffy said the side are awaiting scan results on a number of injuries, as well as news of whether Irish internationals Iain Henderson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Rob Herring will be released from Ireland's Six Nations squad to feature.

Ulster are ninth in the URC and will be in action for the first time since losing to Zebre at home last month.

"We know the journey we're on. It's probably not nice if you're a fan waiting for this stuff to come to fruition but the lads are working really hard," Duffy said.

"It is a young group, which we've said numerous times. That will take time.

"They've shown in some big games that they're capable of it but consistency is what we're chasing at the moment. We've shown big performances but it's backing it up week to week."

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Peter O'Mahony says being booed by Scottish fans was "one of the biggest compliments of my career" after he helped Ireland to a resounding Six Nations win at Murrayfield on Sunday.

Having been left out of the squad for Ireland's win over England, the Munster flanker returned to the Irish pack for a dominant victory in Edinburgh that keeps Simon Easterby's side on track for a third straight title.

And the 35-year-old was wholly unperturbed by the boos that greeted him as he exited the field while being replaced early in the second half.

"I don't know what it is," he told reporters on Sunday when asked why he relishes facing Scotland.

"It's competitive. Look, we've had the Glasgow thing [with Munster] for a long time. Every time it's a battle.

"I think someone said I got a fairly savage boo when I came off, potentially one of the biggest compliments of my career, in 111 Test matches, so thanks Murrayfield, I appreciate it."

When asked if he heard the boos at the time, O'Mahony - who also thanked Scottish fans in an Instagram post on Monday - added: "No, I didn't, but I'll take it."

O'Mahony has been one of the chief protagonists in Ireland and Scotland's rivalry in recent years and was at the centre of a fiery World Cup encounter in Paris in 2023.

He did not start any of Ireland's autumn Tests in November and said he "loved" his return to the team on Sunday as the Six Nations holders secured an 11th straight win over Scotland.

"I'm a broken record saying it's a huge honour to be picked for Ireland, but I loved that today I have to say, loved it," said the former Ireland captain.

"I thought we had a really good first half, first 10-15 minutes we spoke about our start. After the second half we felt like we were all over them so I enjoyed that."

A battle-hardened Test centurion with five Six Nations titles to his name, O'Mahony also knew better than to big up Ireland's chances with three games still remaining.

After visiting Wales on 22 February, Ireland host pre-tournament favourites France in Dublin on 8 March before finishing the campaign away to Italy a week later.

"Of course we know what's at stake," he said.

"As I spoke about [earlier], you get ahead of things and something goes wrong.

"We'll have an evening off and a few days off, then back in the camp and we've a big lead into another big game against Wales."

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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."