Jack Ryan and The Irish Sport Horse BBS McGregor were second at the Longines FEI World Cup event in Sharjah.
Jack Ryan has continued his excellent run of results by taking the runner-up spot with The Irish Sport Horse BBS McGregor in Sunday five-star Longines FEI World Cup Grand Prix at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
The twenty-one-year-old Kilkenny rider and BBS McGregor, who is owned and bred by his mum Marguerite Ryan, were a key part of the recent winning Irish Nations Cup team in Abu Dhabi.
Ryan picked up just one time fault in the first round of yesterday’s competition which was enough to give one of the 10 places available in the jump-off. He kept the fences standing again in round 2 to finish on his one fault score from the first round to take second place overall and €30,000.
Tipperary’s Trevor Breen and Highland President finished in seventh place with one fence down in the jump-off, just ahead of Derry’s David Simpson and Foudre F in eighth.
Victory in the FEI World Cup Grand Prix of Sharjah went to Latvia’s Kristaps Neretnieks and Valour with the only double clear of the competition. Sweden’s Evelina Tovek finished third with Winnetou de la Hamente Z.
Co Down’s Conor Swail continued his excellent run of form, when taking victory in the three-star Grand Prix at Thermal, California.
Riding the 13-year-old gelding Vital Chance de la Roque, Ireland’s top-ranked rider at world No.9, was one of 35 athletes to take on the first round course built by fellow Irishman Alan Wade.
Swail used the most of his draw as last to go of the 10 combinations who made it through to the second round. He crossed the line clear in 36.53 seconds, which pushed American Karrie Rufer and Mr. Europe into runner-up spot in a time of 36.72 seconds. Canada’s Lisa Carlsen completed the top three aboard Livestream 2 in 37.79 seconds.
Speaking about his winning mount, Vital Chance de la Roque, the Co Down man said:
“He jumped amazing. I don’t need to keep saying how great he is. If you just read his results, that shows for himself. It was a nice win. We were last to go. The time was very hard to beat. Karrie [Rufer] put up a very fast time. But I did feel if I did what we just explained, I would maybe just make it. So, thankfully, today he had a great round.”
US horse Life Is Good is among 750 horses from 20 different countries that have been nominated for the 26th Dubai World Cup meeting, on 26 March 2022.
With nine races, including six Group 1s, on the card and $30.5 million in total prizemoney, the Dubai World Cup meeting will culminate in the running of the 26th Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup.
Run over 2,000 metres on dirt, the Group 1 Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup has attracted 153 nominations, including 23 individual Group/Grade 1 winners. Among them is Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Life Is Good for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has also nominated Happy Saver and Dr Post, and Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie, already a winner at Meydan Racecourse in the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2.
There will also be a strong home defence, with Godolphin Group 2 winner Real World nominated by nine-time World Cup winner Saeed bin Suroor, and Group 1 winner Salute The Soldier by Bahraini trainer Fawzi Nass.
Japan, who won the Dubai World Cup in 2011 with Victoire Pisa, will be well-represented, with 2021 runner-up Chuwa Wizard among their nominations, as well as Grade 1 winner Café Pharoah.
The Legends Tour has announced the field for the Celebrity Series Grand Final at the MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius in March. The competition will feature eight of the biggest celebrity personalities from sports, entertainment, and media.
The winners from the three qualifying events and the highest ranked available celebrities on the Order of Merit will all travel to the Indian Ocean to compete for a prize fund of £100,000 for their chosen charities, with the winner receiving £25,000.
The inaugural final will take place on March 29 at Constance Belle Mare Plage, Mauritius, teeing off a week of golf, followed by the MCB & Constance Pro-Am from March 30-31 and the MCB Tour Championship tournament taking place from April 1-3.
Former Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur star Teddy Sheringham will be competing in Mauritius along with Liverpool Football Club legend Robbie Fowler.
Former Scotland and British Lions captain Gavin Hastings will also tee it up in Mauritius having won the Scottish Senior Open Celebrity Series at Royal Aberdeen in September 2021.
Scottish football manager Gordon Strachan will also tee it up in Mauritius along with Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin, who was winner of the Irish Legends Celebrity Series in August.
Athletics Ireland has selected a team of two athletes to compete at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat, Oman on March 4th & 5th.
Olympian Brendan Boyce of Finn Valley AC will represent Ireland in the Senior Men’s 35KM Race. Coached by Olympian Rob Heffernan, Boyce has had a strong opener to the 2022 season with a 12th place finish in the Spanish Open 20km race in a time of 1:27:13.
2021 was an impressive season for Finn Valley star, coming 10th in the Tokyo Olympic Games 50km Walk in August after coming 9th in the European Race-Walking Team Championships in the Czech Republic just months before in May 2021.
Mullingar AC’s Matthew Glennon will represent Ireland in the U20 Men’s 10km Race. The 18-year-old coached by Michael Lane, who also coached Olympian Jimmy McDonald, is a rising star within the Irish race-walking scene.
Glennon represented Ireland at the European Athletics U20 Championships on Tallinn last summer where he finished in 22nd spot.
Corkman David O’Meara saw Lord Glitters collect a third Meydan Racecourse win in the Group 2 Singspiel Stakes.
The great grey made a minor piece of history in becoming the first horse to win back-to-back renewals of the 1,800 metre turf contest, coming from the back of the field in trademark style to secure the win under regular rider Danny Tudhope.
Only fourth in the Group 2 Al Rashidiya on his 2022 debut, trainer David O’Meara felt that Lord Glitters would improve for that run and he was right; the nine-year-old was a length too good for Royal Fleet and old foe Zakouski.
Lord Glitters’ success was the first of this year’s Carnival for a horse trained in Britain, but it nearly came four races earlier when Alignak was just beaten in the Race Of Future Handicap, over 2,410 metres on turf. Trained by Jamie Osborne and ridden by his daughter Saffie, the grey came with a storming run but couldn’t quite get to Godolphin’s Global Storm, who hung on by a length under William Buick.
Players in bold still currently play for Connacht and/or Ireland
Current Connacht Players:
Kieran Marmion – Marmion has played over 160 times for the province since his debut in 2012. The 28 year old made his senior Ireland debut in 2014 against Argentina.
Niyi Adeolokun – Has made over 90 appearances for Connacht since 2014. Made Ireland debut in 2016.
Bundee Aki – Has also made over 90 appearances for the province. Has made 26 appearances for Ireland since 2017.
Finlay Bealham – Has played over 140 times for Connacht since 2014. Has gone on to play 9 times for Ireland.
Jack Carty – Is approaching the 140 appearance mark at Connacht. Has been at the province since 2012. Made Ireland debut in 2019.
Ultan Dillane – Has been with Connacht since 2012. Has made 93 appearances to date. Has made 16 appearances with Ireland since debut in 2016 against England.
Matt Healy – Healy has been at Connacht since 2012. He has made 139 appearances scoring 280 points. Made senior Ireland debut on tour in South Africa in 2016.
Dave Heffernan – Still plying his trade at Connacht since 2012. Made 129 appearances. Made Ireland debut in 2017.
Tiernan O’Halloran – Has been with Connacht since 2009. He has made 181 appearances for the province. Made Ireland debut in 2016 against South Africa.
Mack Hansen – Hansen made his debut for Ireland in the 2022 Six Nations, his mother was born in Cork and moved to Australia as a child. Mack moved from the Brumbies to Connacht in 2021.
Past Players
Robbie Henshaw – Played with Connacht from 2012 to 2016. Making 77 appearances. Joined Leinster in 2016. Made Ireland debut in 2013 against Australia. Has made 43 appearances to date.
Quinn Roux – Came to Connacht on loan from Leinster in 2014 and has been at the Sportsground ever since. Has made nearly 100 appearances. Ireland debut came in 2016 against South Africa.
Nathan White – Played for Connacht from 2012 to 2016. Made Ireland debut in 2015 against Scotland. Has since retired from the game.
Gavin Duffy – Had two spells with Connacht 2003/04 and then 2006 to 2014. Made over 170 appearances. Made 10 appearances from Ireland between 2004-2009. His debut came on the 2004 tour to South Africa
Tony Buckley – Played for one season with Connacht 2004/2005 making 60 appearances. Made Ireland debt on tour to Argentina.
Kieran Campbell – Campbell played for Connacht from 2008 to 2010. He made 9 appearances for the club. He would make his Ireland debut in 2005 in Japan.
Rodney Ah You – Played for Connacht from 2010 to 2016. He made over 120 appearances. Ireland debut came in 2014 against Argentina. Currently playing with Newcastle Falcons.
John Cooney – Played for Connacht 2014/15 while on loan from Leinster. Moved permanently to the province from 2015 to 2017. Has since joined Ulster. Made Ireland debut in 2017.
Sean Cronin – Played from 2008 to 2011 with Connacht making 62 appearances. Has been at Leinster since then. Has made over 70 appearances for Ireland since debut in 2009 against Fiji.
James Downey – Downey made 26 appearances for Connacht from 2004 to 2006. Made senior Ireland debut against Canada in 2013. Retired in 2016 after short spell with Wasps.
Pat Duignan – Played 88 times for the province. He played in two qualifying games ahead of 1999 Rugby World Cup.
Eric Elwood – Elwood was one of Connacht’s greatest ever players. He played from 1989 to 2005 with the club. He made 168 appearances scoring over 1000 points. Made Ireland debut in 1995, played 35 times scoring 296 points.
Jerry Flannery – Career began at Connacht in 2001 to 2003 made 6 appearances. Moved to Munster for remainder of career. Would make 41 appearances for Ireland.
John Fogarty – Fogarty made over 100 appearances for Connacht between 2003 and 2008. He made his debut in 2010 against New Zealand. Has since become part of Andy Farrell’s backroom team (scrum coach) with Ireland.
John Muldoon – Made 327 appearances for Connacht from 2003 to 2018. Made Ireland debut in 2009 against Canada.
Mike McCarthy – Had two spells at Connacht 2003/04 making 24 appearances. Would join province permanently in 2007 making 136 appearances. Ireland debut came in 2011 against Scotland in a World Cup warm up game. Finished up with Ireland in 2016.
Ian Keatley – Played three seasons at Connacht 2008-2011. Made 77 appearances scoring 688 points. Ireland debut came in 2009 against Canada.
Bernard Jackman – Jackman played with Connacht from 1997 to 2005 under Warren Gatland. He made 9 appearances for Ireland from 2000 to 2008. He joined Leinster in 2005.
Ronan Loughney – Loughney played with Connacht from 2006 to 2017 making over 180 appearances. Made Ireland debut in 2012 against New Zealand.
Eoin Reddan – Played with Connacht from 2001 to 2003. Made 18 appearances before going on to play for Munster, Wasps and Leinster. 71 caps for Ireland. Retired in 2016.
Johnny O’Connor – Had two spells at Connacht from 2001 to 2003 and again 2007 to 2013. Making 137 appearances in all. 12 appearances for Ireland between 2004 -2006. Debut coming against South Africa.
Mark McHugh – Played for Connacht, Montpelier and Nice. Made Ireland debut in 2003 against Tonga
Matt Mostyn – Began playing with province in 1999 to 2000 and again 2000 to 2008. Would go onto play 100 times for the province. Would make 6 appearances for Ireland debut, four of these at the 1999 World Cup.
Tom Tierney – Played for Connacht and won 8 international caps from 1999 to 2000. Has coached the women’s national team in the past.
Noel Mannion – He played for the Ireland team from 1988 to 1993, winning 16 caps and scoring 3 tries, after making his debut in October 1988 against Samoa in a 49–22 win at Lansdowne Road. He was part of the Ireland team at the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
Joey Carbery starts at outhalf for Ireland against France in the Six Nations due to Ireland captain Johnny Sexton being ruled out with a hamstring strain sustained in training yesterday.
The game will be a first Six Nations start for Carberry and a first return to a match day 23 for Jack Carty since the 2019 World Cup.
The centre partnership of Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose continues in midfield.
The back three is made up of Hugo Keenan at fullback, with Mack Hansen and Andrew Conway on the wings.
James Ryan will captain the side and is joined at lock by Tadhg Beirne. The backrow sees Caelan Doris at six, Josh van der Flier at seven and Jack Conan at No.8 withAndrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong completing the front row.
Iain Henderson, Robbie Henshaw and Jack Carty are added to the replacements for this week joining Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
Ireland v France will be televised live by VIRGIN (ROI) and ITV (NI).
IRELAND Team & Replacements (v France, 2022 Guinness Six Nations, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, February 12, kick-off 4.45pm):
Player/Province/Club/Caps –
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps
14. Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 28 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 38 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 34 caps
11. Mack Hansen (Connacht) 1 cap
10. Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 28 caps
9. Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 13 caps
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps
2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 17 caps
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 53 caps
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 26 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 41 caps CAPTAIN
6. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 13 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 36 caps
8. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 23 caps
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