Three tries in the second half saw Ireland through to the quarter finals of the Rugby World Cup 2011 as Pool C winners!
O'Driscoll's 45th try moved Ireland to 17-9 in the second half and with players all stepping up tot he mark the space was created for Keith Earls to celebrate his 24th birthday
A win ?
A draw ?
A defeat with two bonus point?
Nobody really cares which way Ireland do it, all of the above work as results on Sunday which would see Ireland go through to the knockout stages. The euphoria of that win over Australia is over, it's time to knuckle down. We always knew tha
Paul O'Connell is Ireland's biggest concern ahead of the game against Italy in Pool D on Sunday. The Lions captain picked up a hamstring injury in his superb performance against Australia last week.
Whoever loses the Pool D clash faces a trip home, but that won't force the Ireland management's ha
Sunday’s World Cup clash between Ireland and Italy turned into a war of words yesterday, sparked by Italian coach Nick Mallett writing off the Irish scrum. In retaliation, Ireland full-back Rob Kearney called on the team to take the Italian remarks “personally”.
Italy must beat Ireland to r
Ireland’s Geordan Murphy and Italy’s Martin Castrogiovanni and are Leicester team mates and co-owners of an Italian restaurant business partners so, with their nations due to clash in the World Cup on Sunday, they have been doing their very best to wind each other up.
"He's been texting me. The
"Italy have pulled out some famous victories in the last few years. Hopefully on Sunday it won't be our turn to be on the wrong end of a result," said Keith Earls in an interview today as the Irishmen gear up for the match against Italy in Sunday’s Rugby World Cup match.
This afternoon, Ireland
It's a bit of a shake up for an injury hit Ireland squad going into this years Six Nations.. The team features one new cap and nine changes to the team that beat Argentina in November.
Fergus McFadden makes his first senior cap joining Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald in a new look back three.
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Italy, 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship, Croke Park, Saturday, February 6, kick-off 2.30pm):
15 - Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt)
12 - Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Andrew Trimble (Bal