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Connacht Rugby signs Prop Sam Illo

After losing a few older players in recent weeks Connacht Rugby is looking to rebuild. They have announced the signing of Irish U20 international prop Sam Illo

Illo represented Old Wesley RFC and has played at underage level at Leinster Rugby, before going on to feature at tighthead in all five of Ireland’s U20 Six Nations games this summer.

The 20-year-old has signed a two-year deal and will link up with the Connacht squad next week as they continue their pre-season preparations.

Speaking on his newest signing, Head Coach Andy Friend says:

“Sam’s arrival to Connacht is another boost for us ahead of the new season. He was one of Ireland’s standout performers in the U20 Six Nations and has a very bright future ahead of him.

I’m confident that at Connacht he will be able to take his game to the next level and give us further options in the front row.”

Playing in four of the five u20 Six Nations matches this year, he starred scoring one try. He is a physical player standing at 6’1” and weighing 118kg, he will be a big presence in Connacht next year.

Sam Illo has shown his excitement for joining the team, he said:
“I’m over the moon to be joining Connacht Rugby and I’d like to thank Andy and all the coaches for giving me this opportunity.

I’m especially looking forward to linking up with Colm Tucker after working closely with him while with the Ireland U20s. To sign my first pro contract is a dream come true and I can’t wait to get started with the rest of the squad.”

To read more about Connacht rugby news during this summer and their Heineken Cup draw, click here.

Team Ireland Swim Team Has Most Successful Olympics Since 1996

The Team Ireland swim team completed their most successful Olympic Games in 25 years on Friday with one final and five Irish senior records.

They signed off from Tokyo 2020 in style as Team Ireland athlete Daniel Wiffen smashed the Irish Senior Record in the 1500m Freestyle with a time of 15:07.69, his second such Record of the Games.

The 20-year-old from Magheralin had set a new Irish Senior Record of 15:16.90 at the Irish National Team Trials in April, days after qualifying for the Olympic Games in 800m Freestyle with another new Irish Senior Record of 7:52.68.

Wiffen again set two new records at the Games in these events, taking the 800m down to 7:51.65 and impressively wiping nearly 10 seconds off the 1500m mark.

Based at Loughborough University, Wiffen also won his heat in both events and moved up six places in the rankings in the 1500m to finish 20th overall.

He said: “I loved it! It was a fun race, I enjoyed it, taking it all in and got a nine-second personal best time as well!

“My target was to go and PB and try and get closer to the 15-minute barrier. I’m obviously closer now, seven seconds off. The tactic was just to get in, if there’s a racer, race with them. If not, I had to assess it during the race and pick it up if I wasn’t going fast enough.”

He added: “It’s been great! I’ve been having so much fun here, I’m so happy to be here. Next, I’m definitely going to have a long break, maybe go on holiday!”

Fellow Olympic debutant and Team Ireland swimmer Danielle Hill also finished her Tokyo 2020 campaign on Friday in the 50m Freestyle where she posted 25.70 to be sixth in her heat and 33rd overall.

Hill said: “Although I may be the fastest woman in Ireland, it’s a very different field out here – it was nice to gain that experience.

“As I said before I went in, you sit in the house and you watch the Olympics and this is the event that you want to do. It’s the one you want to be successful in.

“I’m not quite there yet, but I can walk away with a few things to improve and definitely looking forward to next year.”

The 21-year-old from Larne now looks ahead to making her International Swimming League debut with multiple World and Olympic Champions Katinka Hosszu’s Team Iron.

She said: “I just took a chance and entered myself into the draft. I was so lucky to have two teams looking for me. I decided to go with Team Iron because of the atmosphere that they create and the guys that I will be training with as well – it’s going to be phenomenal.”

Speaking about her first Olympic Games, she added: “I still don’t think it’s sunk in that I qualified six weeks ago. It’s been a whirlwind experience, right from the Trials in April through the Europeans and second Trials and now here. I don’t think I’ve had a chance at any point to breathe and take a step back.

“For anyone who knows the journey I have been on in the past two weeks just to get here and be standing is something that I can be proud of. It’s been a great experience, and I can’t wait for many more.”

National Performance Director Jon Rudd gave his thoughts on Team Ireland’s swimming team’s performance at the Games.

“This is our best Olympic swimming result for a long time and I am extremely proud of these nine athletes and all that they have achieved,” he said.

“The staff here have been amazing in preparing them across the course of three weeks and we also have to thank and congratulate the coaches in the home programmes that got them here and helped us en route.

“An Olympic Final plus the equivalent of two semi-finals (Top-16 finishes) is outstanding for us, as is achieving five Irish Senior Records across seven days of racing.

“We had 15 swims in total and in 13 of them, we rose through the rankings or held our pre-meet position. It’s all fantastic work from and within this team – and we are excited at what this team can achieve in three years time when Paris comes calling”.

Team Ireland now turns its aquatic attention to diving, which begins on Monday when Rio 2016 Olympian Oliver Dingley competes in the preliminary round of 3m Springboard.

On Wednesday, Tanya Watson becomes Ireland’s first-ever female diver to compete at the Olympic Games when she steps up for the preliminary round of the 10m Platform.

IRFU Outline Difficult Road Ahead at Council Meeting

The Annual Council Meeting of the Irish Football Rugby Union has been advised that the IRFU is still at significant financial risk due to the persisting impact of COVID 19

This is despite ongoing work across the professional and domestic game to ensure the continuing safe participation in rugby.

Patrick Kennedy, Honorary Treasurer, told delegates at the online meeting that despite many positive developments such as the ongoing vaccination rollout, successful pilot test events and the gradual relaxation of government restrictions, that rugby is “far from out of the woods”.

Kennedy outlined that without the assistance and commitment of government, sponsors, broadcasters, and patrons the IRFU would not have survived as it has, and that continued support remains vital.

The IRFU’s financial year end would move permanently to 31th July, to ensure alignment with the new global season. Kennedy confirmed that a full financial update will be issued from the Union in November.

At the meeting it was confirmed that current President, Des Kavanagh, Senior Vice President, John Robinson and Junior Vice President, Greg Barrett, will remain in their respective roles for the forthcoming season.

On the day that Munster’s Fiona Steed and Connacht’s Yvonne Comer were appointed to the Union Committee, delegates were reminded that, from 2023 a minimum of one in four nominees to the IRFU Committee from each Province must be female.

Speaking of the challenging environment Philip Browne, CEO, told irishrugby.ie:

“Irish Rugby is continuing to grapple with the most significant financial crisis in our history and we are expecting to report another year of losses in 2021, when our audited accounts are released later this year.”

Why are the IRFU losing money?

The key issue remains the absence of fans at provincial grounds and the Aviva Stadium. The IRFU continues to address this particularly through its active participation in the cross-sport working party on return of fans to stadiums.

“We have made encouraging progress in recent weeks with the return of increasing numbers of supporters to various sporting and cultural events, which leaves us hopeful that fans may return in meaningful numbers to our grounds in Autumn.

“As the only sporting organisation fully supporting a professional game, we are dependent on the national and provincial teams’ ability to generate revenues which have been decimated by the impact of COVID restrictions since March 2020.” Browne added.

Looking back at his most challenging season at the helm of Irish Rugby, Browne said that the IRFU had to implement a 10% permanent cost base reduction, approved by the Union in March of this year and with that came some difficult decisions.

“As in many industries, regrettably we have had job losses and pay cuts across the organisation for the last 12 months while we also eliminated all non-critical overheads.” Browne added.

Further government funding needed

Browne also outlined that the IRFU will be making a submission for further government funding in 2021 if possible.

The meeting heard that the bulk of the 2021 losses are already realised as the 2020/21 season has now concluded. The IRFU, alone, has suffered a 47% reduction in turnover for the six months to the end of June 2021, compared to the first half of 2019.

Browne explained: “Our two largest income-generating home games every two years against England and France were held behind closed doors with a loss of match income of over €16m. These are the games that keep Irish Rugby going.”

“Without additional government funding in 2021, and a return of fans to our stadia in meaningful numbers later this year, the IRFU would once again have to review all activities and swiftly implement another round of very unpalatable cost reductions. Further cuts, if necessary, would have a significant impact on the organisation and all activities from grassroots to pro game pathways.”

Irelands Favourite Sports Betting Options

Ireland is a country with great heritage and some exciting sports including the likes of hurling and Gaelic football that has even led to the rise of some modern sporting stars like Jack Grealish who found his start in the sport before moving to more traditional football – it’s certainly a country that loves to place a bet too  at some of the best American express casinos and betting sites, with some of the biggest sports in the world being amongst the most represented – but which are the favourites for wagering in the country?

Football – No surprises at all, but the biggest sport in Europe is the most bet sport in Ireland too. Whilst not having a huge history with international success, it has helped to produce some of the all-time greatest in football who have went on to find success in the likes of the Premiere League and English national team with names like Roy Keane, Robbie Keane, and George Best too. There are some exciting odds on regional games too, so certainly worth checking out if you haven’t explored away from the more traditional options of the likes of the Premiere League before, then it may certainly worth be checking out.

Combat Sports – It’s much easier to follow a sport if you have a big representative from your home country, and in recent years Ireland have certainly had plenty to celebrate from combat athletes. Conor McGregor is of course the big name here, being a huge draw for the biggest MMA events in the UFC and a huge betting favourite throughout much of his career, whilst not a character that everyone can get behind, he did certainly help to put Ireland on the map in terms of combat sports prowess. Similarly, whilst not born in Ireland, the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury was born to an Irish family and shows his pride when he steps into the boxing ring, often considered to be one of the best heavyweights of all time and another huge betting favourite for fans in Ireland too.

(Image from sport360.com)

Rugby – Unlike football, the Irish national team for Rugby has a stellar list of performances within the sport and a string of results all the way back to 1987 where they’ve made it to the quarter-finals nearly every single year. Whilst not being able to take it all the way, they have certainly shown their talent in the sport leading to many fans growing up to want to be Rugby players rather than the more traditional football player – having won the grand slam trophy in 2009 it certainly gave plenty of fans something to be excited about too, and another big betting favourite in the country.

There are of course honourable mentions like horse racing too which is likely the biggest in the country, but as this falls outside of the typical sporting environment it is a little different to mention.

Irish Sailing React To ‘Emotional Day’ In Tokyo

Friday’s racing marked the end of Irish sailing star Annalise Murphy’s third Olympic Games following two light wind races on Sagami Bay in the women’s single-handed class.

Despite her recovery of form on Thursday when she scored a race win and a second-place, Friday saw her finish the ten race series in 18th place overall, outside the top ten for Sunday’s medal race final.

Murphy noted after the race to RTÉ that she “can’t see [herself] going to another Olympics”, possibly ending a fruitful period for Irish Sailing.

“Over two decades, Annalise has made a massive impact on our sport and is certainly Ireland’s greatest Olympic sailor ever,” said James O’Callaghan, Performance Director with Irish Sailing.

“She has been a European champion and competed in three Olympic Games, won races in each and won a Silver medal.  Her legacy lives on in the dozens of female and male athletes inspired by her performances.”

The Irish squad gathered at the dinghy park in  Enoshima Harbor where there was an informal tribute gathering held to honour the National Yacht Club sailor.

Ireland still has one boat competing with the final three races of the Men’s 49er skiff event scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Robert Dickson (Howth YC) and Sean Waddilove had two top ten results and an 18th on Friday and lie 14th overall.

Saturday’s three races are crucial to their prospects of achieving a place in Monday’s medal race final.

“We have moved on and are completely focussed on the remainder of the regatta,” said O’Callaghan, after the sailors’ times were disqualified yesterday after they used illegal equipment.

“When we fully debrief what has occurred with the equipment issue plus every aspect of our preparations, we will strengthen our processes to ensure this sort of thing cannot happen again.”

Team management will also be engaging with World Sailing and the International 49er Class Association to provide feedback about equipment rules and their application of them by measurers and International Juries in future.

Team Ireland Swimmer Wiffen Breaks Another Irish Record

Team Ireland swimmer Daniel Wiffen broke another Irish senior record this morning – this time in his Men’s 1500m Freestyle heat.

The Magheralin man swam the first heat with a time of 15:07.69, a time nine seconds greater than his previous record in the event – 15:07.90

However, his time is not enough to progress to the final and he finished 20th overall.

All four heats are now completed with the eight fastest swimmers progressing to the final.

The 20-year-old had previously broken the Irish senior record in his Men’s 800m Freestyle heat but also did not progress in that event.

The Irishman clocked in a time of 7:51.65 to win his heat and break the first of two Irish senior records.

The Loughborough University swimmer ends his first Olympics with two Irish senior records from just two swims and has an impressive future ahead of him.

Speaking to RTÉ after his race on Friday morning, Daniel Wiffen said: “Over the moon with that race. I would have liked to have been a bit faster but we can’t ask for much more than a PB and [I’m] happy to improve my record by just under 10 seconds as well. It’s great.”

Wiffen puts his improvements down to a lot of hard work and his move to Loughborough.

Fellow Team Ireland athlete Danielle Hill also competed in her second event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this morning.

The Larne swimmer finished sixth in her Women’s 50m Freestyle heat with a time of 25.70.

Hill was disappointed with her performance on Friday morning and looked downbeat in her post-race interview with RTÉ.

The Olympian said that she felt the need to breathe after 35m, which is not always a good sign.

“[The Olympic experience has] been nice,” Hill said.

“I’ve been so caught up in the emotions of swimming and what happened beforehand that I don’t think I fully enjoyed the experience, but then again it hasn’t been a full Olympic experience.”

Both swimmers will now look towards Paris 2024 after their time in Tokyo.

McIlroy And Lowry React To Olympic Golf R2 Climb

Team Ireland golfers Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have soared into medal contention after posting fantastic scores in round two.

Now at the halfway stage, McIlroy and Lowry’s rounds of 66 and 65 respectively have seen them move up the leaderboard after an unspectacular first day.

Overnight, the pair sat in tied 31st and tied 20th place respectively and were determined to make a move towards the medal positions.

The Team Ireland duo are currently tied for 7th and right into the mix heading into the weekend with some play from round two still to finish tomorrow after a weather stoppage.

“It felt good, it didn’t feel much different to yesterday,” said McIlroy, who opened with a round of 69.

“I felt like I played well yesterday, I just didn’t score as good as I could have and I think that’s why I came off the course maybe not as disappointed as I would have been because I knew that the good golf was in there and it was nice to see some of that good golf today.”

Ranked 13th in the Official World Golf Rankings, McIlroy drove the green on the 294-yard par 4 6th, before sending his eagle attempt 15 feet by.

Holing the return effort, it was the start of a nice run that saw him make the turn on 6-under par.

“It was a momentum starter, I three-putted that green yesterday so I was sort of thinking of that as well,” he laughed.

“It was nice to hole that one coming back and it certainly gave me some momentum going to the 7th, that tee shot there was good and the eagle on the 8th was great. There are a few holes here that the length off the tee is an advantage and that is one of them.”

Play resumed at 6.20 am after a second weather stoppage of the tournament at 3:57 am, and neither McIlroy’s nor Lowry’s momentum was dampened as they both carded birdies on the restart.

“Golf’s a funny game,” Lowry reflected afterwards.

“I started off lovely and just sort of had that momentum for the whole day then. Especially when I came out after the delay. I holed a lovely putt on 13, an eight or nine-footer, and then from there, I just played lovely for the rest of the day.

“I actually missed a short one on 17, which would have been nice to hole, but I’m happy with my score and very happy that I have a chance to do something special over the weekend.”

Xander Schauffele (USA) set the pace on 11-under with Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, Chile’s Mito Periera, Alex Noren of Sweden and Austria’s Sepp Straka also within touching distance of those elusive medal positions.

The two Irish golfers are also close to Schauffele and the pack leaders and will look to close down that gap over the next two rounds.

Lowry wants to keep the momentum going and climb up that leaderboard again.

“Same thing, stay patient and try and make as many birdies as I can. The worst thing you can do is go out there and be really aggressive and make silly mistakes because at the end of the day, we’re only playing for 1st, 2nd and 3rd this week and that’s what it’s all about.

 

“I just want to get off to a good start tomorrow, shoot a good score and get in the mix for Sunday. That’s what I’ve been wanting since The Open has finished. My full mindset has been just about putting my head down and trying to get myself into contention on Sunday of the Olympics – that even seems weird to say that! Hopefully that happens.”

 

Play was suspended for a second time at 09.30 am, and will not be resumed this evening, so the Irish pairing will have to wait until tomorrow morning for the third round draw.

Olympic Athletics: Irish 4x400m mixed make final in hectic race

Team Ireland had eight athlete’s competing in Day One of the athletics in Tokyo 2020, as well as being part of the first ever 4x400m mixed relay

4 x 400m Relay Round 1 – Sophie Becker, Cillin Greene, Phil Greene, Christopher O’Donnell

The Irish lined up in lane four with decent starting time, the fourth best in the race. The main teams to look out for were the Dominican Republic, Nigeria and the world’s fastest, Team USA.

Greene lined up first for Ireland and ran a very decent race, running a personal best for himself, with the team completing the handover first.

Healy went second for Ireland starting at the top which she held for 200m until the lanes merged. By the next baton handover the top four teams were basically level.

Becker ran next, in which the Nigerian team attempted a different strategy. They used their second male athlete next to give their female a major head start going into the last 400m. Ireland finish the lap in fifth.

O’Donnell was in charge of Ireland’s final run in which he brought blistering pace, overtaking Nigeria with 50m left and holding off an ascending Germany.

Ireland finished the race in fourth, just outside the automatic qualification places, USA first, Dominican Republic second and Belgium third.

But, this is where the race got even more hectic.

Firstly, the world record holding United States team was disqualified. One of their athletes was judged to have started their run outside of the designated area for collecting the baton. This is known as rule TR 24.19, now Ireland sat in third.

Five minutes later and the Dominican Republic were also disqualified. In a more technical rule called TR 24.20, their final runner was seen to illegally change their position in the baton changeover area.

Ireland would have been fast enough to qualify for the final anyway with a time of 3:12.88 but now with these disqualifications, they were second in their heat.

They will now join Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Great Britain, Germany and Spain in the final.

The other heat was very fast so they do enter the final as the sixth fastest team. It was a very impressive feat to make the first ever Olympic 4x400m mixed final but hopefully they can find even more energy to leave a mark on the final.

Other Athletic Results for Day One

Women’s 800m heats

Nadia Power – Heat 2 – 2:03.74 – 7th

Louise Shanahan – Heat 3 – 2:03.57 – 7th

Siofra Cleirigh Buttner – Heat 4 – 2:04.62 – 7th

Men’s 400m Hurdles heats

Thomas Barr – Heat 3 – 49.02 – 2nd (Qualified)

Davy Fitzgerald Leaves Wexford

Davy Fitzgerald has stepped down as Wexford Senior Hurling manager after five years.

The news of Fitzgerald’s departure was announced by Wexford GAA in the early hours of Friday morning.

Fitzgerald said;

“I have informed the County Board that I will not be in a position to continue in my role as Bainisteoir of the Wexford Senior Hurling team.

“The main reason for this is down to the six-hour round trip from my home in Sixmilebridge, which I have done for the last five years.

“I have never felt closer or happier with any team in all my years coaching and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of my five years in Wexford.

“It has been an absolute privilege and an honour to have worked with every one of the players during my time in Wexford.”

“There were ups and downs, highs and lows, as is the nature of the sport, all of which was experienced with a sense of collective pride and enjoyment.

“To the players, county board, clubs and people of Wexford, I wish to thank each and every one of you for playing no small part in every enjoyable second of the journey.

“From the first meeting in Gorey in October 2016 to last Saturday week in Thurles, you have all made me feel so welcome, supported and proud to be involved with Wexford.

“On behalf of myself and my backroom team I wish to thank everyone associated with Wexford GAA for everything over the last five years and I wish you all the very best for the future. Le Croí agus Lámh, Davy.”

Davy Fitzgerald’s time as Wexford manager has been a successful one.

Gaining promotion to Division 1A of the National Hurling League, before winning Wexford’s first Leinster Hurling Championship title since 2004 with a 3-point victory over Kilkenny in Croke Park.

In the 2021 Championship season, Wexford was defeated by Clare in the All-Ireland hurling qualifiers, with Fitzgerald indicating that his time in charge was coming to an end, admitting that the past year in charge of Wexford was ”the toughest” he had experienced in GAA

Wexford’s Response

With Wexford GAA chairman Mícheál Martin stating;

“We wish to sincerely thank Davy and his backroom team for the manner in which they have carried out their duties over their stewardship.
Davy’s arrival in 2017 resulted in immediate promotion to Division One of the National Hurling League and a first Leinster Final appearance since 2008.
In the last five years, we have been consistently competitive, with the 2019 Leinster final victory the standout moment.
Davy’s contribution to the activities of Wexford GAA went above and beyond those expected from a Senior Team Manager. Davy is and will always be held in the highest of esteem by all in Wexford GAA.”

Olympic Equestrian: Watson and O’Connor compete

Team Ireland had two jockeys and horse competing at Eventing Dressage day 1 at the Dressage Park in Tokyo this morning

Ireland’s first competitor, Sam Watson started early at 08:30 in the morning in Japan. The Clonmel man rode Flamenco as they completed his routine in an elegant fashion with 34.30 in penalty scores.

This sits himself at 14th in the individual event after session 1 while also placing 12th in the team event.

The 35-year-old Watson was happy with his performance, finishing ahead of seven other jockeys while Team GB’s Oliver Townsend sits on top after riding Ballaghmor Class.

Next up for Ireland in Session two at 09:30 was Austin O’Connor riding the Irish bred Colorado Blue . These two completed the course with a penalty score of 38.00.

This sits himself in 34th of 42 of the individual event while bringing Ireland to 13th in the team event.

Watson and Flamenco have dropped into 28th after the second session while Britain’s Townsend still holds first with his routine only have 23.60 penalty score.

Ireland’s third member of the equestrian team will take to the ring tomorrow in Day two, Session three just after midnight.

Sarah Ennis will be riding Woodcourt Garrison as Ireland’s last hopes of bring up their score in the team event.

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