The IRFU has today confirmed Joe Schmidt as the new head coach of the Irish rugby team.

Schmidt, the current Leinster boss, will succeed Declan Kidney, who was sacked from the position after a string of poor performances.  It is expected that Schmidt will take over as coach of the team for the Autumn Internationals against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand.

The New Zealander only signed a one-year extension at Leinster and Schmidt is still under contract at the province.  He first took over as coach in 2010 and he has won two Heineken Cups during his time with Leinster.  He has guided the team to the Amlin Challenge Cup this season.

Les Kiss, the current Irish defence coach, is expected to take over as coach of the Irish side until Schmidt’s contract with Leinster runs out; this includes two summer tests against the United States and Canada in June.

Joe Schmidt will be taking over an Irish side who only won one game during the Six Nations this year; confidence is at a low in the side, and he will be hoping to turn their recent run of bad form around against Samoa before the games against Australia and New Zealand.

Image: Wikimedia Commons: Paolo Camera

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre insists that Luis Suarez will not be sold despite his latest controversy in biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

The striker was fined by the club, with the player asking for the money to be donated to the Hillsborough Family Support Group.

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) said the Uruguayan will be approached over anger management counselling following the incident.

Suarez disgraced himself by sinking his teeth into Branislav Ivanovic as the pair tussled for possession in front of the Kop goal, during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at Anfield. Referee Kevin Friend and the linesman both missed the incident, which meant that Suárez was able to remain on the pitch to score the 97th-minute goal.

Brendan Rodgers would not speak directly about the incident after the game, but having viewed the footage later, he admitted that the striker’s behaviour was “unacceptable and I have made him aware of this.”

Suárez last night issued a grovelling apology to Ivanovic.

“I am deeply sorry for my inexcusable behaviour earlier today during our match against Chelsea,” he said. “I have issued an apology and have tried to contact Branislav Ivanovic to speak to him personally. I apologise also to my manager, playing colleagues and everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down.”

Suárez later took to Twitter to say he had spoken directly to Ivanovic. “I’ve just spoken to Ivanovic on the phone and I could apologise directly to him. Thanks for accepting,” he wrote.

Image: Twitter: @MerseyReds1

Dublin Gaelic Footballers left Croke Park smiling after getting one over on Mayo, who eliminated them in the All-Ireland semi final last year.

Allianz Football League Division I Semi-Final: Dublin 2-16 Mayo 0-16

The Dubs demolished Mayo to seal their place in the Allianz Football League Division I Final with six-points.

Jim Gavin’s side did all the damage in a stunning first-half spell, hitting Mayo for 2-4. Paul Mannion and Jason Whelan, two players hoping to catch Gavin’s eye ahead of the championship, hit the Dublin goals after 13 and 16 minutes.

Dublin led by 10 points at one stage in the first half, but Mayo did recover well to hit the final three points of the half to leave seven in it at the break, 2-9 to 0-8. Mayo won the second half by a point and had a couple of goal chances, but Dublin always looked comfortably in control, with Goal keeper Stephen Cluxton and Jack McCaffrey performing excellently at wing-back and man-of-the-match Mannion leading the line impressively.

Mayo made the perfect start and were three points clear inside ten minutes. Cillian O’Connor slotted over two frees either side of a Cathal Carolan effort from play, but the Westerners’ lead might have been even greater but for Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton’s excellence. Cluxton went full-length in the ninth minute to deny Jason Doherty.

Dublin needed something to shake them into life as fans wondered if their team had shown up. However, it arrived in the shape of Paul Mannion’s goal in the 13th minute. Mannion skilfully wriggled clear of his marker and beat David Clarke with a fine shot from a tight angle.

Corner Forward Diarmuid Connolly put Dublin into the lead, before the Jim Gavin’s side hit a second goal when Jason Whelan drilled a shot to the top corner of the Mayo net.

Darren Daly, Mannion and McCaffrey all added points as Dublin continued to run riot, racking up a remarkable 2-4 without reply in an eight-minute scoring burst that sealed the deal for Dublin.

Michael Conroy stopped the Mayo drought with a score from play in the 23rd minute, but it was just a temporary respite as Dublin were really purring in attack. Bernard Brogan and Connolly both hit two points each from play before James Horan’s side finished the half strongly.

O’Connor’s fourth free of the half reduced the gap to nine points, before Conroy and Gibbons also hit the target in added time to leave Dublin ahead by 2-9 to 0-8 at the break.

Donal Vaughan missed a good goal chance, firing a shot straight at Cluxton after O’Connor had set him up superbly. This was one of Mayo’s last chances to change the course of the game, as goal chances were always going to be hard to come by against a mean Dublin defence. They had one more opportunity with seven minutes to go, but Cluxton once again demonstrated why he is the top goalkeeper in the country by denying O’Connor with yet another superb save.

Mannion added to his growing reputation by scoring two more fine points in the final quarter, bringing his tally to 1-4 for the afternoon. Paddy Andrews also had a late chance to hit the back of the net, but a Mayo midfielder made a fine goal-line save.

Dublin play Tyrone in the final on April 28.

Scorers for Mayo:C O’Connor 0-8 (0-7f), C Carolan 0-1, M Conroy 0-3, J Gibbons 0-1, K McLoughlin 0-1 (0-1f), A O’Shea 0-2.

Scorers for Dublin: J Whelan 1-1, P Mannion 1-4 (0-1f), D Daly 0-1, D Connolly 0-3, J McCaffrey 0-1, B Brogan 0-4 (0-1f), S Cluxton 0-1 (0-1f).

Teams
Mayo: D Clarke; K Keane, G Cafferkey, C Barrett; L Keegan, D Vaughan, C Boyle; J Gibbons, S O’Shea; K McLoughlin, A O’Shea, C Carolan; C O’Connor, J Doherty, M Conroy.

Dublin: S Cluxton, K O’Brien, P McMahon, J Cooper; J McCaffrey, G Brennan, D Daly; MD Macauley, C O’Sullivan, P Flynn, J Whelan, D Connolly, P Mannion, P Andrews, B Brogan.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons: Fergal Mac Eoinin

Dublin born mixed martial artist Conor McGregor fought for the first time in the UFC last weekend.  McGregor, who fights at Featherweight, was able to secure a first round win against the American Marcus Brimage in an entertaining bout. 

The Dublin fighter looked comfortable on his debut and outclassed the highly touted American.  McGregor was able to pick up the knockout of the night bonus at the event in Sweden, which comes with a $60,000 bonus.

UFC President Dana White confirmed after the event that the Irishman’s next fight will likely be on the promotions upcoming event in Boston on August 17. An opponent is yet to be confirmed.

Following McGregor’s 67 second knockout, Dana White said: “”I’m blown away. First of all, it’s his first fight ever in the UFC; he walked out tonight and got in the Octagon like it was his 100th fight in the UFC”.

He later went on to say “Kid was totally relaxed, he’s a beast, I’m impressed”.

Conor is only the second Irish fighter to appear in the UFC, the first being Welterweight Tom Egan.  His record now moves to an impressive 15-2 with 12 of his wins coming via knockout.

Image: Twitter (@TheNotoriousMMA)

Two Austrian visitors that traveled far and wide to support their Countrymen in the World Cup were robbed by Irish ‘pick pockets’ who made a quick getaway. The victims were deprived of their wallets and World Cup tickets. The match was the main purpose of their trip and subsequently left a sour taste with the Austrian natives.

Evidently, this doesn’t paint Ireland in a great light and FAI officials kindly offered the two men tickets for the Austrian v Ireland match on Tuesday March 26, 2013.

However, it wasn’t only members of the FAI that were sympathetic in their actions to the visitors. When the news broke publicly, Irish supporters created an online forum where people could donate to the thread ‘Donations for Austrian Fans.’ The funds raised were aimed at giving the destitute supporters food and drink after the match.

In recessionary times, it’s wonderful to witness and be part of such camaraderie and charitable spirit. Irrespective of the fact that the Austrians were Ireland’s rivals for the match, the Irish extended the hand of friendship in times of need and I think it exhibits the compassion of the people as a nation. In spite of the wrongdoings of the thieves, Ireland prevailed and changed the wounded mindset of the Austrian fans.

According to JOE.ie, ‘the couple in question were contacted and agreed that any extra money will be donated to charity.’  Over 50 charitable Irish individuals showed their support by contributing to the online forum and funds were exchanged to the Austrians in a hotel prior to kick off.

Damage control was implemented effectively by the Irish and they wronged the right of those that were unlawful. Hopefully, the Austrians will remember the outcome of their trip and the generosity of the Irish people and forget the incident at the beginning of their eventful stay.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons: || UggBoy♥UggGirl || PHOTO || WORLD || TRAVEL ||

Tiger Woods is back as golf’s world number one today following a two shot victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, over England’s Justin Rose.

Woods returns to the top spot for the first time since October 2010, and he regains his crown from Irish man, Rory McIlroy.  This is Woods’ third victory of 2013 and with a winning total of 13 under, Woods secured his eighth victory at the event.

Play resumed on Monday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which had been postponed on Sunday because of the bad weather.  The victory marks Tigers 77^th PGA Tour win, and having won three of the five tournaments in which he has started this year, it seems as though the Tiger of old is back.

World number two McIlroy has struggled this year since his big money move to Nike, who also sponsor Woods.  Rory did not participate in this weekend’s tournament; instead he is sticking to his own schedule, which he believes will bring him Masters success in April.

The Masters begins in a few weeks’ time at the world famous Augusta National Golf Club, from April 11 to 14.  The world will be watching hoping to see Woods and McIlroy go head to head for the coveted Green jacket and the title of world number one.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons: cliff1066

Conor Sammon has replaced Robbie Keane in the starting eleven for the Ireland v Austria World Cup Qualifier in the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Sammon, a striker for Derby County, has made two appearances for the boys in green so far: a full 90 minutes in a 2-0 win over Poland in a friendly this year and a substitute appearance in the 87^th minute on  Friday night.

He is a controversial inclusion ahead of the likes of Kevin Doyle and Wes Hoolahan after Captain Robbie Keane was ruled out of the group C clash with a calf strain.  In other injury news for Ireland, Marc Wilson of Stoke has been named in the starting XI, although he could miss the game with a groin injury.  Fulham defender Stephen Kelly will start in his place if Wilson cannot prove his fitness.

Paul Green has been moved to the bench after a brilliant display on Friday in which he kept Swedish talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of the game.  He is replaced by Glen Whelan who is fit again after an ankle knock that ruled him out of the game on Friday.

The rest of the squad is unchanged for the game tomorrow evening in which the Boys in Green will be hoping to capitalize from an excellent scoreless draw on Friday. The Austrians will be no pushover, however, after an emphatic 6-0 drubbing of group rivals Faroe Islands .

The starting XI for Ireland is: Forde(Millwall), Coleman(Everton), O’Shea(Sunderland), Clark(Aston Villa), Wilson(Stoke), Kelly if Wilson is injured, Walters(Stoke), Whelan(Stoke), McCarthy(Wigan), McClean(Sunderland), Sammon(Derby), Long(West Brom).

What do you make of this starting line up?

Image: Flickr Creative Commons: gordonflood.com

Dublin’s Gaelic footballers have secured their place in the semi-finals of Division I of the Allianz Football League on Saturday night with a comfortable win over Down at Croke Park.

Jim Gavin’s side won the game by nine points as the full-time whistle was blown, despite having trailed by four points midway through the first half, and by two at half-time.

A dominant second-half performance paved the way for Dublin, as they knocked over 1-10 after the break, with Down hitting just 0-2.

Dublin started the second half well, and a goal from Kevin McManamon put them five points clear. Down never looked like finding a way back after the goal was scored.

Things were very different in the first half, as Down raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead. Mark Poland (2), Brendan McArdle and Kevin McKernan all got on the score sheet for the Mourne Men.

Gavin brought on midfielder Michael Darragh Macauley after 22 minutes due to a dismal display from both Cian O’Sullivan and Denis Bastick. The Ballyboden man-made a big impact, injecting some much needed energy around the middle of the field for Dublin.

Dublin got their first point from play 28 minutes into the game, with Bryan Cullen firing over. They made it 0-6 to 0-4 a couple of minutes before half-time when Cian O’Sullivan burried a shot over the bar.

Down still had the lead 0-7 to 0-5 at the break, with Paul McComiskey and Nicky Devereux trading scores before the whistle. However, the break came at a great time for the Dubs as it didn’t take them too long to assert their dominance after the restart, with points from Diarmuid Connolly (2) and Paddy Andrews drawing them level for the first time at 0-8 a piece after 44 minutes.

All three of those points were scored from a distance. Dublin took full advantage of having a strong wind behind them scoring into the Davin stand, having struggled against it in the first half.

Dublin’s goal came from a powerful run from Macauley, who charged up the field, and laid it off to McManamon, who broke two tackles before losing control of the ball. He reacted quickly to the ball falling and crashed it into the back of the net to make it 1-10 to 0-8 after 52 minutes.

Dublin continued to kick scores in the final quarter of the game to add to their lead, while Down raised their second white flag of the second half when substitute Danny Savage a free from a difficult angle into a booing sea of blue.

Both managers used their benches to their advantage as the clock ticked on. Dublin’s Kevin Nolan came on as a substitute, making it his first appearance of 2013.

Scorers for Dublin:K McManamon 1-0, P Mannion 0-5 (3f), D Connolly 0-4 (3f), B Cullen 0-1, C O’Sullivan 0-1, N Devereux 0-1, P Andrews 0-2, S Cluxton 0-1 (1 ’45)

Scorers for Down:M Poland 0-2, B McArdle 0-1, D O’Hare 0-3 (2f), K McKernan 0-1, P
McComiskey 0-1, D Savage 0-1 (1f)

Dublin:S Cluxton; D Daly, J Cooper, K O’Brien; J McCaffrey, G Brennan, N Devereux; C O’Sullivan, D Bastick; C Dias, P Andrews, B Cullen; K McManamon, D Connolly, P Mannion.

Subs:MD Macauley for D Bastick (22), S Carthy for C Dias (47), C Guckian for D Daly (52), P Ryan for D Connolly (61), K Nolan for J McCaffrey (66)

Down:B McVeigh; D Rooney, B McArdle, R Boyle; D Turley, K Quinn, D O’Hagan; P Turley, K McKernan; C Laverty, M Poland, P McComiskey; D O’Hare, A McConville, B Coulter.

Subs:C Harrison for A McConville (31), D McKibbin for D Turley (50), K King for D Rooney (53), D Savage for M Poland (56), R Kelly for D O’Hare (60)

Image: Wikimedia Commons: Tom Marsh

The league was all but won last weekend by Manchester United, as they increased their lead at the top of the table to fifteen points following Manchester City’s defeat at Goodison Park to Everton, allowing United to capitalise with a modest 1-0 victory over Championship-bound Reading.

David Moyes, and Everton fans, finally had something to smile and cheer about on Saturday when Leon Osman rocketed a shot from twenty-five yards into the top corner, leaving Joe Harte stranded in the middle of the goal. It was a venomous shot and left the England No. 1 with no chance. It was a very heated game, seeing six yellow cards in total with one sending off.

Steven Pienaar was dismissed on the hour mark for a second bookable offence, and from then on it look as though City would equalise. But it did not happen, thanks to some rough-defending from Everton. Jelavic, who has been out of form lately and has since been dropped to the bench, came on in the last-minute and curled a fine shot over Joe Hart to make it 2-0 and Goodison Park erupted into frenzy. Moyes himself ran onto the pitch in jubilation.

Wayne Rooney’s 21st minute goal was enough to give United the win at Old Trafford for their 24th win in 29 league matches. An impressive tally. Arsenal made sure of staying in fifth place with two second-half goals to give them a 2-0 win over Swansea.

Elsewhere, Liverpool‘s ambitions of grabbing a Europa League spot for next season were set-back with a 3-1 defeat to Southampton at St. Mary’s; Manchester City have also been defeated here this season by the same scoreline. Stoke City added another 0-0 draw to their collection, after a stalemate with  West Brom.  While any hopes of QPR pulling off a miracle at the bottom of the table were seeing to by Aston Villa.

Tottenham have been on a poor run of form this week. After losing to Liverpool last weekend and Inter Milan during the week, they looked confident to get back in form against Fulham who have been pretty unimpressive this season. Berbatov scored the only goal in that game as Spurs lost yet again.  Chelsea move ahead of them in the table into third place after beating West Ham 2-0.

Newcastle were beaten 2-1 by Wigan, with a horrendous tackle by  McManaman being the talking-point of the match. Unfortunately, the referee did not send him off and he has since gotten away with it. Very frustrating to see, considering that players have been dismissed this season for tamer challenges. Haidara, on the receiving end of the challenge, needed to be stretchered off and taken to hospital.

Image: Flickr Creative Commons: Andrea Sartorati

Mickey Harte’s Tyrone squad ended Dublin’s winning streak in Division 1 of the Allianz Football League, on Saturday night at Croke Park with a one point victory.

The match was the best played one all season by both teams, played at a very high intensity, and the Red hands came out just on top after a ding-dong second half when the lead changed hands a numerous amount of times.

The key moment of the game for Tyrone was 10 minutes before the end, when they hit four points without reply, through Plunkett Kane (2), Patrick McNeice and Peter Harte; they then took control of the game and left Dublin with too much to do in the closing minutes of the game.

Tyrone had the lead of 0-10 to 1-6 after the first half. The two sides exchanged the first five scores, Dublin leading 0-3 to 0-2, and they then extended the lead to four when they broke through for a goal just after 15 minutes.

Philly Ryan got the score, tapping into an empty net after Kevin McManamon’s shot, following an energetic run, trickled past Tyrone defenders and towards the line.

Two points from the outstanding Seán Cavanagh, and a fine score from Stephen O’Neill brought Tyrone back into the game within five minutes. Tyrone finished the half the stronger of the two sides, leading by one at the break following two more scores from the highly experienced duo of Cavanagh and O’Neill.

Tyrone were three ahead 10 minutes after the restart, with points from O’Neill and Cavanagh, which were once again followed by a fine score from McManamon.

The lead remained three midway through the half, but Dublin then went ahead with four quick-fire points, from Diarmuid Connolly, Paul Flynn, McManamon and Paddy Andrews.

That left it 0-14 to 1-12 with 15 minutes to go, but then came the Tyrone with four unanswered points. These scores were critical for Tyrone.

At the end of that surge, Tyrone led by three. Dublin fought hard by kicking two points before the end of the game, from Connolly and substitute Michael Darragh Macauley. It wasn’t enough to deny Tyrone the win, who certainly look set to make the semi-finals.

Image: Wikimedia Commons: Michael McGonagle