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“IT’S NOT LIKE he doesn’t know we’ve got faith in him,” said Joe Schmidt after handing Sean Cronin a first ever start in the Six Nations. The hooker has had to be incredibly patient at international level, ordinarily finding himself behind captain Rory Best and among the replacements when Ireland play Tier 1 opposition. Sunday’s Six Nations clash with Italy will be Cronin’s 68th Test appearance, but 58 of them have come with the number 16 on his back after bouncing into action off the bench. “I’m sure he’s excited,” Schmidt said of the 32-year-old hooker at Carton House today. Click Here: Portugal National Team soccer tracksuit “He’s trained well.…

Chris Van Vliet recently interviewed Ember Moon at Axxess before the Royal Rumble. According to Moon, her dream match-up is WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix. Below are some highlights of the interview. Ember Moon on wrestling being her childhood escape: “For me it was kind of a blur because my childhood was such brutal torture and wrestling was my escape. So any wrestling that I could watch made me thoroughly excited. I remember the first time that The Hurricane chokeslammed The Rock though. I was like ‘No, it’s not going to happen!’ That was so great. I do remember that. That was one my fondest childhood moments. And the…

WARREN GATLAND SAYS there is “no doubt” Wales’ players have been affected by a proposed merger between the Scarlets and the Ospreys ahead of their Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday. The newly-formed Professional Rugby Board (PRB) are to discuss plans for a radical change to regional rugby in Wales, which could see the introduction of a club in the north of the country and one less team in the south. Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) chief executive Martyn Phillips addressed Gatland’s Grand Slam hopefuls on Monday to discuss the issue, which Wales’ head coach stressed has been driven by the regions rather than the governing body. Gatland has urged his squad…

THE IRELAND U20 TEAM to take on Wales on Friday evening [KO 7.05pm, RTÉ 2] shows one change from the side that clinched the Six Nations title last weekend. Harry Byrne returns for the Grand Slam bid in Colwyn Bay, having missed out on the win over France in Cork due to injury. He replaces Ben Healy at out-half in Noel McNamara’s side. Click Here: Mexico National Team soccer tracksuit “It was great to win the title with last week’s win over France, but it’s testament to the players how they’ve parked the victory and are fully focused on what can be achieved in Wales this Friday night,” said McNamara.…

“I’M AN AMBITIOUS, coach,” says Brett Wilkinson, and the former Connacht stalwart hasn’t let mileage hold him back from progressing his new career. Click Here: f1 racing suit for sale Though he is just five years removed from the neck injury which cut his playing days short after his 183rd appearance for the western province, at 35 Wilkinson has already absorbed a wealth of coaching experience. After testing the waters outside of rugby after retirement, he diverted his full focus to coaching with Buccaneers and succeeded in bringing the Athlone club to promotion from AIL Division 1B as well as a Connacht Senior Cup. Wilkinson with his coach of the…

An eight-man elimination tournament was announced on 205 Live yesterday where the winner will be facing the Cruiserweight champion Buddy Murphy at WrestleMania. The first two matches of this tournament will take place next week on 205 Live, featuring Kalisto vs Tony Nese and Brian Kendrick vs Drew Gulak. The remaining participants of the tournament were never announced but during last night’s show, there were two matches that 205 Live GM Drake Maverick said would have big implications on the tournament. In those two matches, Humberto Carrillo defeated TJP and Mike Kanellis defeated Cedric Alexander. They were not tournament matches but from what it looked like, the winners will be…

A new rumor suggests that The Undertaker could be the next wrestling legend to get an online podcast. According to a report by PWInsider, Starrcast, LLC applied to trademark the term “Dead Man Talking.” As previously reported, The Undertaker is set to appear at this year’s Starrcast, which is being held in Las Vegas the same weekend as AEW Double or Nothing in May.  The filing for the trademark reportedly references podcasts. Conrad Thompson also conducts wrestling podcasts with Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff and Tony Schiavone. Before anyone gets too excited, the report notes that the filing could simply be related to Undertaker’s appearance at Starrcast 2019. The event is…

MUNSTER HAVE INCLUDED five senior players in their ‘A’ team for Saturday’s Cara Cup game against the New England Free Jacks, with Duncan Williams named as captain. The scrum-half is joined in the starting XV by Liam O’Connor, Conor Oliver, Dave O’Callaghan and Alex Wootton, with eight academy prospects handed starting opportunities in Massachusetts. Williams has made just four senior starts this term. Source: Tommy Dickson/INPHO Click Here: Koke jersey sale Alan Tynan and Conor Phillips start in the back three alongside Wootton, who has struggled for game-time this season, while U20 Grand Slam winners Sean French and Ben Healy are named at outside centre and out-half respectively. In the…

FORMER IRELAND INTERNATIONAL David Wallace believes that the IRFU needs to see the bigger picture and fully utilise the resources they have to remain competitive at the top of world rugby. The financial gap between the Tier One nations in the northern hemisphere has widened in recent years and it looks like a trend that is set to continue after it was announced that Canal+ will pay €97 million per season to screen France’s Top 14 matches from the 2019/20 season on a four-year deal. That figure is over 10 times more than the broadcasters pay to show the Pro12. “The IRFU has to take a top-down approach and look at…

JOE SCHMIDT REJECTED the notion that he is picking players for Ireland based on reputation but did say that Test form in the past is among his selection criteria. Connacht’s sensational Pro12 final win over Leinster has led to renewed question marks around the omission of their try-scoring back-three stars Tiernan O’Halloran, Niyi Adeolokun and Matt Healy for Ireland’s tour to South Africa. Healy is now set to come into the Ireland group as a replacement for the injured Luke Fitzgerald, but criticism from Irish supporters has once again labelled Schmidt as conservative in his selection. Schmidt says he is picking players based on performance. Source: Colm O’Neill/INPHO In reference…