Company considering a possible
partnership deal with Leinster Rugby.
ricoh It was reported over last weekend that multinational document Management Company Ricoh is talking to Leinster Rugby about a possible sponsorship deal.
A spokesman for the company said it was considering the move as part of an expansion of its sponsorship strategy.
Leinster 42
Leinster rugby badge
Ulster 14
Leinster is the best team in Europe. Now it’s official! They beat Ulster in the all-Ireland final of the Heineken Cup and they beat them in style in front of a near capacity crowd of over 82,000 in Twickenham.
It was the heaviest Heineken Cup final victory in its history as Leinster claimed their third Heineken Cup victory in 4 years. It was also their second title in a row having won it in Cardiff in 2011.
Now the head coach, Joe Schmidt, is aiming for three in a row!
The Leinster team (by no means the fans!) had a quiet celebration on Saturday night. This was due to the fact that they had a big celebration last year in the RDS and went on to lose against Munster in the league final of the Rabo Direct Pro 12. This year they have to face the Ospreys in the final this coming weekend and they are determined to do the double.
To crown an already brilliant season, Rob Kearney, the Leinster full back has been named as the European player of the year for 2012! What an achievement by Leinster.
An unprecedented third victory in four years, they are only the second club in history to win back-to-back titles and the first team to go through a season in Europe unbeaten. The current team is by no means old and will return next season with a hunger for more glory.
So this marks the end of this season’s rugby until the Autumn Internationals. It was an indifferent season for the Irish national team with a poor third place finish in the Six Nations and Wales completing their tenth Grand Slam.
It saw what is considered as the demise of what was a brilliant Munster team,the rise of Ulster to play in the Heineken Cup final, and Connacht going on to compete in their second Heineken cup competition!
By Tony Judge
Copyright © 2012, DPNLIVE – All Rights Reserved
leinster-ulster-heineken
The Heineken Cup is Ireland’s and Europe’s most popular annual rugby competition after the six nations and in a week’s time it will be an all-Irish clash between Leinster and Ulster in the final at Twickenham in London.
The competition started in 1995-96 and is considered the European Rugby cup. Sponsored by Heineken and known as the H Cup in France because of their rules for alcohol-sponsored sporting events, the popularity of the competition was shown in 2009 when a crowd of 82,298 in Croke Park, Dublin, watched the clash between Munster and Leinster in the semi-final. It was a world record attendance for a club game at the time.
This is the first time two Irish teams play each other in a final and it should be a cracker! Its been dubbed the first All-Ireland final to be held outside the country!
It’s not the first time either team have been in the final. Leinster are looking at winning the cup for the third time on the back of winning it last year and having won it previously in 2009. The only other team to win back-to-back finals has been the Leicester Tigers in 2001 and 2002. Ulster is looking to capture it for the second time after winning in 1999.
The Irish teams have an envious record in this competition. Next week Ireland will have had six winners of this coveted trophy and three who were beaten finalists. Not a bad record for a small rugby nation! Munster also won the cup on two occasions in 2006 and 2008. The only other multiple winners are Wasps (2), Leicester (2) and Toulouse (4).
Even though the sport in Ireland is truly an all-Ireland game, with the Irish national side made up of players from Munster, Leinster and Ulster, the rivalry between the two finalists is very strong.
GETTING THERE
The path to the final is a tough one. The competition is held from October to May each season and is made up of club (or provincial) teams from the Six Nation competing countries:
England 6 teams based on the performance of their premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup
France 6 teams based on the Top 14 league
Ireland 3 teams on performance in the Pro 12 competition
Wales 3 teams based on the same competition
Scotland 2 as above
Italy 2 as above
These 22 places are added to by including the holders of the cup and the winners of the European Challenge Cup. If they have qualified already, the country can award the extra place to another team.
As an Irishman and a rugby fan, I always cheer on any Irish team in the competition. On this occasion I will be rooting for Leinster. I hope it will be a cracking game and that both teams do us proud!
So, COME ON LEINSTER!
By Tony Judge - Sports Corrrespondent
Copyright © 2012, DPNLIVE – All Rights Reserved
pauloconnell
As the headlines say, the Grand Slam is gone. The Triple Crown and Championship too! So we have nothing to lose against Scotland by blooding some young players.
Irish coach Declan Kidney has been talking for some time now about how many good young players have been biting at the bit for a run out. Well here’s his chance.
The current Irish team need to be revitalised and there is no better way than to introduce new players. With a three-test tour of New Zealand scheduled for June now is the time to act.
Six Irish players sat on the bench in Paris. They need to feel they have a chance. Players like Eoin Reddan and Fergus McFadden are obvious choices.
With the clock ticking for the likes of D’Arcy it’s time for a spell of bench duty for him and a few others.
International rugby contributes nearly 80 per cent of the Irish Rugby Football Union’s income so winning matches is absolutely vital for the heath of the game.
It’s time for some new kids on the block.
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Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup Draw 2012
Blackrock College v Terenure College
Donnybrook 2.30pm January 29th
Leinster Cup
Gonzaga College SJ V St Gerard’s School
Stradbrook 2.30pm January 31st
Winners Second round Donnybrook February 21st
St Marys’s College V Castleknock College
Donnybrook 2.30pm January 31st
Belvedere College SJ V Clongowes Wood College SJ
Donnybrook 2.30pm February 2nd
Winners Second round Donnybrook February 23rd
CBC Monkstown V CUS
Anglesea road 2.30pm Jan 31st
Qualifier 1 V Kilkenny College
Naas RFC, 2.30pm February 2nd
Winners Second round Donnybrook February 26th
St Michael’s College V Cistercian College Roscrea
Maynooth 2.30pm January 31st
Presentation Bray V Qualifier 2
Templeville 2.30pm February 1st
Winners Second round Donnybrook February 28th
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Paul O'ConnellPaul O’Connell has been named captain of the Irish rugby team for this year’s RBS Six Nations Championship. With regular skipper Brian O’Driscoll recovering from shoulder surgery, Ireland coach Declan Kidney has turned to Munster lock O’Connell to fill the gap.
It’s not his first time to hold this position as O’Connell, Current Munster captain has led his country before, against France in 2004, and also when Ireland played England during their World Cup warm-up series four months ago. He was also captain of the British and Irish Lions side in South Africa in 2009. O’Connell will take the Ireland reins for their opening match against Wales in Dublin on February 5th.
It’s ironic that Ireland’s first Six Nations game is a rematch of their recent World Cup quarter-final against Wales in Wellington, when O’Connell and company made a quarter-final exit.
The Munster captain has played for Ireland on 82 occasions and said it was a huge honour for him to be asked by Kidney to take over the captain’s mantle.
After Wales, Ireland travel to Paris to face France, followed by home games against Italy and Scotland before finishing the tournament against arch rivals England at Twickenham on March 17th.
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“Bad cop, bad, bad cop” says it all.
martin-o-neill-roy-keaneI liked the headline quote in the Irish Herald on Wednesday, 6th November concerning the appointment of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane as the new manager and assistant manager of the Irish national soccer team – “I’m the bad cop, Roy’s the bad, bad cop”.
New rules to be voted on by the main
Premier League board in April.
premier-league-logoEnglish Premier League clubs have decided to respond positively to growing concerns about spiralling wage costs by agreeing to impose spending controls.
UEFA had warned on the 4th of February last that the continued failure to control player’s salaries, some of which have risen 40 per cent at leading European clubs in five years, was endangering the future of football on the continent.
The Premier League has indicated that it is keen to ensure the huge revenue, expected to be in excess of £5 billion, which will be generated by a new three-year television rights deal isn't squandered away by clubs.
West Ham co-chairman David Gold is quoted as saying that the majority of clubs agreed to adopt a restraint on wage increases.
The exact details of the rules, which will be voted on by the main Premier League board in April have yet to be released.
Gold confirmed the main regulation was a "restraint on overspending."
He was referring to the fact that if clubs increase their revenue it allows them to increase their spending as well.
The backdrop to this is the financial meltdown at Portsmouth, which became the first Premier League club to enter bankruptcy protection in 2010.
The rules are designed to prevent a repeat of this.
From now on Premier League clubs which compete in European competitions will have to abide by the financial fair play rules introduced by UEFA to eventually make teams break even on their football-related business.
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Legislation is proposed if FA does
not act before 2013-2014 season.
Hugh RobertsonUK Sports Minister Hugh Robertson has said the governance of English soccer must improve by the start of next season otherwise the U.K. government will bring in legislation to force change.
His remarks followed a report from the UK’s Parliament’s cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Committee which has just been published in London. It concluded that the Football Association (FA), English soccer’s governing body, is in need of “urgent reform” after it failed to implement previous suggestions the panel made in July 2011.
The report stated that the country’s professional leagues, especially the Premier League, have too great an influence over the decision-making processes of the FA. It pointed to increasing commercialisation, a lack of financial regulation, all of which is leading to “significant financial risk-taking among football clubs that threatens the game”.
The panel’s chairman, Conservative John Whittingdale said in an e-mailed statement that the government should “make it clear to the football authorities that further progress on these issues is expected within 12 months”. “If football cannot reform itself, the government should introduce legislation as soon as practically possible.”
A statement by the committee said it was “very disappointed” by the FA’s response to the proposals for change it made in 2011. These included shaking up how the FA operates and ensuring that clubs adhere to financial rules which would be regulated by a licensing system, to prevent financial risk-taking.
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