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Wednesday 20 January 2021
From The42
Rob Kearney looks back on painful memories of his early clashes with Munster.
The Leinster centre has made his seasonal reappearance in this fixture over the last two years, but now feels in better shape than ever.
With a South Africa trip in store for the Westerners, a December return has been mooted.
Johann van Graan was delighted with how his team adapted to the scrum-half’s off-the-cuff skill.
‘To go up there just to play is not going to be acceptable. We play this game to win,’ says the Munster and Ireland back row.
Catch up on all the Pro14 inter-pro action here.
Fullback Mike Haley will be monitored after pulling out of the Ulster rout with a tight hamstring.
Connacht looked within for the causes of their loss to Leinster.
Dan Goggin and Tommy O’Donnell scored two tries apiece as Johann van Graan’s side returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion.
The Leinster flanker’s head was trampled on by Connacht prop Dominic Robertson-McCoy.
Tries from Garry Ringrose and Sean Cronin took the reigning champions out of sight in Galway.
After sitting out Ulster’s trip to South Africa, the second row is raring to go again at Thomond Park this evening.
Connacht v Leinster feels a little spicier than usual.
It’s still early days, but Johann van Graan’s side need to show huge improvements in their inter-pro clash this evening.
The Leinster captain starts his third consecutive Pro14 game tomorrow evening.
Johnny Sexton leads a Leinster line-up selected with revenge in mind.
While talk of ‘hatred’ emerges from Leinster, Connacht’s new coach says he wants to set new standards.
Andy Friend says talk of John Muldoon’s conversion ‘is history’, and his side are focusing on grasping their next opportunity.
The sides meet in Saturday’s Pro14 inter-pro at the Sportsground.
Rory Scannell says Munster can’t look past Ulster this weekend as they look to steady the ship.
However, hooker Rhys Marshall has been sidelined with a calf injury.
Laura Guest has gone from captaining Munster to inter-pro success to leading them as head coach.
The Women’s Inter-provincial Series goes down to the wire in Donnybrook tomorrow night.
Leinster have yet to concede a point in this year’s championship.
Munster joined the western province at the top of the table with a comfortable win over Ulster at UL.
Leo Cullen’s side booked their place in next weekend’s Pro14 final with a thrilling inter-pro win.
Fatigue may or may not be a factor for Leinster, but they will be without key personnel in their defensive setup.
The eastern province are straight back into it as they turn their attention to a Pro14 semi-final against Munster this weekend.
The Munster skipper is keen to measure up against the new champions when he makes his RDS bow.
The Champions Cup finalists haven’t broken the 18,000-mark at the RDS yet this season, but the Pro14 semi-final is expected to be packed out.
Munster will need to improve vastly in the next two weeks before the Pro14 semi-final against Leinster.
The Irish provinces will meet at the RDS on Saturday 19 May.
The retiring captain even kicked a conversion in a record Connacht win over their rivals to the east.
As John Muldoon brings the curtain down on a remarkable career, the eastern province are focused on their job in hand.
Jono Gibbes’ side have found form just as their season seemed to be fizzling out.
‘We had no margin of error and we managed to fight and scratch our way through and get ourselves in a position to put pressure on Edinburgh.’
The winger is set to be involved in the Pro14 inter-pro tomorrow.
“Any team knows in rugby that if you go over 10 penalties in a game you’re going to struggle,” said captain CJ Stander.
Returning from injury, Conor Oliver and Chris Farrell also impressed in the bonus-point win over Connacht.
After falling short in in both of their seasonal derbies, Munster are back on home turf demanding a win.
JOE BIDEN WILL be officially sworn-in as the 46th president of the United States today.
This year’s inauguration will be like no other, taking place amidst a global pandemic and two weeks after riots at the Capitol.
The official transition of power will take place at noon local time (5pm Irish time), but Donald Trump has already said he won’t be there to pass the baton to his successor – becoming the first outgoing president not to do so since Andrew Johnson in 1869.
Trump may not be watching, but many others will be.
We want to know: Will you watch Joe Biden’s inauguration as US President?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
Larry Donnelly reflects on the final days of President Donald Trump’s term.
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