Frank Schnittger 
It’s not often I get all my predictions right, so I’m going to blow my own trumpet a little here. In a preview of Round 5 of the URC, written for the Irish Rugby Fan Forum, I predicted not only four wins for the Irish provinces, but got the broad shape of those victories right. Those results mean all four provinces are in the top 6 of the URC table (1. Leinster, 2. Glasgow, 3. Ulster, 4. Connacht, 5. Edinburgh, …
Round four of the URC was distinguished by a few notable events. Zebre Parma won their first match since April 2022 after a number of recent near misses. All the Welsh regions lost, and the South African sides continued to struggle in the absence of their World Cup heroes, with the one exception of the Bulls, who lead the table on 15 points, where they are joined by Leinster and Glasgow followed by Ulster and Connacht on 14 points, and …
Leinster 36 Edinburgh 27 Munster 45 Dragons 14 Connacht 22 Ulster 20 As the dust settles on a good, if ultimately unsuccessful, world cup campaign, the focus is once more on how the provinces are doing in the URC. Connacht lead the table on 13 points, having won three from three home matches, their latest being a highly competitive and entertaining 22-20 win over Ulster. Munster are in second place, on 12 points after two bonus point wins and a …
Once again, the pundits are ascribing huge significance to the Springboks world cup victory when it could just as easily be described as a random event occasioned by small margins. The Boks won three matches by one point (and lost to Ireland by four) and had the rub of the green last night. The All Blacks were denied a brilliant try by an almost imperceptible knock on (itself occasioned by an illegal playing of their man in the air) and …
United Rugby Championship: Round I Zebre vs. Ulster Sat. Oct. 21st. 13.00 Connacht vs. Ospreys Sat. Oct. 21st. 15.00 Munster vs. Sharks Sat. Oct. 21st. 17.15 Glasgow vs. Leinster Sun. Oct. 22nd. 16.00 Right on cue, the URC makes it’s seasonal bow this week-end just as Ireland are knocked out of the World cup. Our world cup players will doubtless be afforded a few weeks rest, so these earlier rounds are an opportunity for the other squad players to stake …
A million words have been written about this match and my policy as a blogger is never to repeat any of them: Unless you have something original to say, the best policy is to say nothing. And the truth is: there is not much left to say. As expected, the match was a tight 50:50 contest which could have gone either way, but Ireland simply left themselves with too much to do when they went 13-0 down early on. Once …
The first hour of this match was the best I have ever seen Ireland play. Not only were they absolutely clinical in taking nearly all their chances, but they defended as if their lives depended on it. 36-0 and 6 tries to nil after an hour against a very good side like Scotland is the stuff that dreams are made of. Ireland had a dream start scoring an excellent try off their first real attack thanks to Garry Ringrose doing …
There is an old rugby aphorism that it is the forwards who decide who wins a match, and the backs decide by how much. The Irish backs decided they weren’t having any of that, dealing with the Springboks kicking game and providing an almost impregnatable wall in defence. Faf De Klerk and Mannie Libbok are a wonderful pair of half backs, but their place kicking can be iffy, and on the night, it was their lack of place kicking accuracy …
The world Cup has kicked off with some fantastic matches, great play, and some intriguing results. France 27 New Zealand 13 Italy 52 Namibia 8 Ireland 82 Romania 8 Australia 35 Georgia 15 England 27 Argentina 10 Japan 42 Chile 12 South Africa 18 Scotland 3 Wales 32 Fiji 26 The opening encounter between the hosts, France, and three time winners and perennial contenders, New Zealand, did not disappoint. After some typically cagey opening kick ping pong they were sliced …
My first book (and venture into fiction writing) has been published and is now available in hardback, paperback, and Kindle formats here. If you have Kindle Unlimited (and maybe Amazon Prime?) you can even read it for free. The book is a future history written from the perspective of 2040, 15 years after Irish reunification. It is written as a memoir by a young English journalist who falls in love with an Irishwoman, Ireland, its people, and its politics. It …
Andy Farrell is due to announce his final 33-man world cup squad next Monday after Ireland’s final warm up match against Samoa on Saturday. No doubt some fringe players will get another chance to impress on Saturday, but the vast bulk of the squad will have been pencilled in on his World Rugby squad notification form. Ireland plays at least one less warm up match than most other nations in the belief that the risk of injury to key players …
Keir Starmer was in a tricky position. With 290 seats he was 36 short of an overall majority and only two ahead of the Lib Dems and the Tories combined. Only the SNP could give him an overall majority, and they refused all entreaties to support his government unless he would agree to a second independence referendum to be carried out within 12 months. He might even have been agreeable to that if they not also insisted on a Treaty …
I was out and about at various voting centres in Belfast on election day being careful to divide my time between protestant, Catholic, middle class and working-class areas. Most people were happy enough to chat though some gave me the middle finger. Reactions were sharply divided with many unionists saying they were protesting against “Sunak selling out our country when it isn’t even his to sell!” This chapter follows on from: Chapter 1: My private meeting with Rishi Sunak Chapter …
Much has been written about the amazing result of the 2024 UK General Election. As I was now the Climate Change Correspondent of the Tribune, I didn’t actually cover the lead up to the campaigns as a professional reporter. However, as an amateur enthusiast I kind of felt I knew how it would all play out, even though I had little hard evidence to back up my hunches. This chapter follows on from: Chapter 1: My private meeting with Rishi …
Continued from Sovereignty 2024: My meeting with Rishi Sunak My second private briefing in Chequers in August 2024 wasn’t all that different from the first. The rumour was that the PM was considering calling the general election for October. He didn’t want to have to reconvene parliament to give Labour a platform to lambaste the Government. Better to get it over with quickly. The public wouldn’t start paying attention until September anyway, and memories of a paltry budget were fading. …
Chapter 1: My private meeting with Rishi Sunak My story begins one fine summers day back in 2024 in Chequers, the country home of the British Prime Minister. The PM had just been given a rather ominous briefing on the prospects for the British economy. A general election was in the offing and there was almost no good news for the PM to build a campaign around. I was there as a relatively new reporter for the Tribune, a reputable …
In Pleas for greater speed and transparency must be heeded if the Windsor Framework is to succeed, Brian Walker presents continuing discussions on the operation of the Windsor Framework as being simply a case of finding practical solutions to practical problems. But there are at least five distinct games being played here: 1. The DUP need continuing justifications for avoiding the appointment of a SF First Minister, and any problem will do, even if it was also a problem under …
Congratulations are due to RTE for destroying the market value of one of their greatest assets. It is not as if RTE is overflowing with marketable talent. It is not the role of an agent to ensure that RTE are following the requirements of their own internal audit department and indeed, their external auditors. Had the invoice read “for marketing services” as opposed to “for consultancy services” it would not even have been misleading. Big companies like Renault frequently use …
The Irish Times opinion columnist, Finn McRedmond, raises pearl clutching to a fine art form in We should not expect contrition from Michael D Higgins. The President has few executive functions, but it is only convention that he should not enter into public debate on topics broadly within the purview of the government of the day. Questioning the appropriateness of having an Irish academic who saw fit to become a Dame of the British Empire chair a forum on Irish …
In Dáil Elections 2024 – Predicting the Northern Six Counties… David Nesbitt paints a benign picture of elections taking place for Dail Eireann in the northern 6 counties after a shock border poll for a united Ireland in 2024. He assumes there will be a smooth transfer of sovereignty with no mention of violence or disruption and no transitionary period for Stormont. Indeed, he assumes the election will be utterly routine with roughly the same parties contesting the elections and …
