Munster pre-season friendly in Biarritz cancelled due to delay on pitch renovations
Biarritz informed Munster Rugby this week that due to a delay to pitch renovations at the Stade Aguilera, they would be unable to host the province for the match.
Both clubs explored alternative venues in an attempt to fulfill the fixture, however, no viable solutions were found.
After the disappointing decision Munster will now make alternative arrangements regarding pre-season preparations.
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Extra.ie
5 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Kerry boss hints at exit after final win
Jack O'Connor looks poised to bow out as one of Gaelic football's most decorated managers after masterminding an emphatic 10-point victory over Donegal at Croke Park yesterday. A comprehensive 1-26 to 0-19 win comes in a season when Kerry also won the National League and Munster championship, and it's the fifth time O'Connor has guided his native county to a league and Championship double. Kerry's 39th All-Ireland senior football title might just be the greatest of his senior management career that dates back to 2004 and comes in three different instalments. Kerry manager Jack O' Tyler Miller/Sportsfile 'My last hurrah' is how he termed yesterday's thrilling triumph, with captain Gavin White and the Clifford brothers Paudie and David so influential in a five-star team performance that left Ulster champions Donegal shellshocked. Paudie Clifford admitted afterwards that the talk of Kerry being a 'one-man team' in light of his brother David's talent was a hugely motivating force, saying the team didn't take well to being 'disrespected' in such a way. 'We felt disrespected for a long time. Ryan McHugh of Donegal in action against Paudie Clifford of Kerry. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile A team that was in three of the last four All-Irelands and have won two of the last four, we felt very disrespected. 'Being called a one-man team when you have fellas like Joe O'Connor, fellas like Jason Foley [who] have worked all their lives to play for Kerry, and you're called a 'one-man team' because you haven't won every All-Ireland.' Donegal manager Jim McGuinness was blunt in admitting his team just came up short: 'We didn't perform, Kerry did perform, that's the bottom line. Sometimes in life you've got to put your hands up and you've got to take it on the chin.
Irish Times
6 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Tough old year' ends sweetly for Kerry manager Jack O'Connor
At the end of a tough old year, the last word goes to Jack O'Connor . And if it is to be his last act as Kerry manager, as he intimated afterwards, it will be a sweet way to go. The sweetest. O'Connor entered the press conference room with the easy gait of a man released from the pressure of a difficult year in the trenches. He might be done with all of that stuff now. 'Well, all I know is I was going out the door Thursday evening with the bag and my missus took a picture of me going out the gate,' said O'Connor when asked if he will be returning to the Kerry sideline in 2026. His latest term is now up. 'I have a fair idea now that will be up on the wall as my last hurrah, I'd say now she'll be framing that one. READ MORE 'I think I was on record earlier in the year there that it would probably be my last hurrah, do you know.' This is O'Connor's fifth All-Ireland senior football triumph as Kerry manager; his first was achieved 21 years ago. His place in the pantheon of GAA managers was never in doubt but this success elevates all that has been achieved before. The renaissance man. He freshened up his back room team over the winter; the return of Cian O'Neill was seen as a big coup and so it proved as Kerry finish the season as National League, Munster and All-Ireland champions. But it wasn't as smooth and polished a campaign as that array of silverware suggests. In the aftermath of their win over Armagh, O'Connor let loose in response to criticism of his team. He was measured and tranquil on Sunday evening. Not bullish, more relieved and reflective. 'It was a tough old year. I found this a tough year,' he exhaled. 'I was inside here a month ago and there was a lot of steam coming out of my ears. It wasn't faked or it wasn't put on, it was authentic because I felt that we were getting a lot of unfair stick and we were trying our butts off and have been from the start of the year. So, for us to finally get the reward is great.' Kerry manager Jack O'Connor and his son Cian O'Connor celebrate at the final whistle. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho O'Connor's first Sam Maguire triumph at the helm was in 2004 with a team that included Liam Hassett, Tomás Ó Sé, Paul Galvin, Colm Cooper and Johnny Crowley. He added to his collection in 2006, 2009, 2022 and now 2025. Three terms, five All-Irelands, spanning more than two decades: O'Connor's ability to evolve and mould new teams in different eras will surely define what, up to Sunday, had strangely been an occasionally underappreciated managerial record. The fifth might well in time be regarded as his greatest achievement. 'They're all good because they're all hard-earned,' he replied, declining to take the bait. 'The first one here, 21 years ago, was a great one because it's the first one. The first one gives you credibility, do you know? I wouldn't have come back the second time or the third time unless I had won something previously.' [ Jack O'Connor: 'Being involved in it so long now, I go off my instinct to know what is appropriate and what isn't' Opens in new window ] But there must be a deep sense of satisfaction in outwitting Jim McGuinness. This was an All-Ireland final played on Kerry's terms. They got their matchups spot on, they started the game on the front foot and they never relented until the final whistle. Much of the prematch talk centred on how Kerry would avoid getting overwhelmed by Donegal's hard-running game but the Ulster champions were simply smothered at source. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor commiserates with Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Peadar Mogan and Finnbarr Roarty have been punching holes in opposition defences all year – but they hardly managed to get out of their own half in this final. Like a magnet drawn to a fridge, Gavin White's supernatural ability to inhabit the space where it seemed every single breaking ball landed sucked away so much of Donegal's energy. Kerry nullified Ciarán Moore; Shaun Patton's kick-outs were targeted. The Munster champions didn't just hammer the hammer, they nailed Donegal to the turf. 'I thought we worked the Donegal defenders and that in turn takes away a bit of their legs from going the other way,' added O'Connor. And of course there was the influence of Paudie Clifford. The Fossa man had 76 possessions during the game and, with Donegal opting not to man-mark the Kerry playmaker, he essentially had the run of Croke Park. It was a high-risk tactic by Donegal, who remained committed to their zonal defensive system; all the while, Clifford was able to pick passes and create chances at times from a walking pace. Kerry manager Jack O'Connor reacts to Joe O'Connor's late goal at Croke Park. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho Before Jarlath Burns handed over the Sam Maguire to Gavin White, the GAA president lavished praise upon O'Connor – suggesting his achievements in leading Kerry to yet another All-Ireland now put him in the same bracket as the late Mick O'Dwyer. 'Sure the rest of us are only trotting after Micko,' said O'Connor later. 'He has created a great history and tradition in Kerry and the rest of us are only trotting after. 'Bit sentimental for me because I brought the cup to him and to his house in 2022 and we had a nice half-hour chat there, and there was a nice photo taken, so I treasure that because he was an idol of mine. As I say, he's created the history and the rest of us are only trotting after him.' All future Kerry managers will now be trotting after O'Connor too. He's played his part in the proud story of Kerry football. And so it was no harm before he trotted out of the press conference room that he was able to land a little dig at the noisy neighbours, too. 'Our mantra at half-time was we weren't going to collapse like we saw with the Cork hurlers maybe last week.' Ouch. And with that he was gone, five All-Ireland titles and all the doubters silenced. Not a bad way for a tough old year to end.
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Inside Kerry star David Clifford's life with girlfriend Shauna and son Óigí
David Clifford exploded onto the intercounty stage in 2018. Since his Kerry debut, he's been hailed as "a once in a generation" talent, with his abilities drawing comparisons to global icons like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. These accolades and his on-field achievements, including one All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, five Munster titles and three National Leagues, mean everything to the 26 year old – yet he stays humble and down-to-earth. He also claimed Young Footballer of the Year in 2018 and Footballer of the Year in 2022 and 2023. Earlier this year, Clifford spoke to our colleagues at RSVP Magazine to discuss his life off the field with his partner and son. A viral photograph captured you with Kerry performance coach Tony Griffin following the All-Ireland Football Final defeat to Dublin. Can you recall how you felt in that moment? There was a lot of disappointment and regret, I suppose. Croke Park is the best place to be when you win and the worst place to be when you lose. To have somebody like Tony and to have such close friends on the team shows how lucky you are. You survive through the bad days together. You must move on from it too, your life can't revolve around whether you win or lose a game. It would make for a long career for you, because you're going to have more losses than wins. Is it hard not to overthink things? We're all guilty of that. You need to be well settled off the field and have plenty going on away from sport. It's very easy to think about football all the time, but then there would be no enjoyment in it anymore. Off the field, for you, is it hard to get the balance right? It can be at times. The people around us make a lot of sacrifices so we can go out and train so many evenings a week. I try to be settled and relaxed, and I try to enjoy my life as much as I can. That allows me to put everything into the game. Your son Óigí is nearly three now. Does he recognise you on TV and know what the green and gold jersey means? Yeah, he's gone mad for sport at the moment. He's wearing jerseys and he loves it. But he's not too happy with me going out training because I'm going to be gone for a couple of hours. He loves coming along with me to watch the Fossa games at the weekend. He's great craic. Does that add an extra level of enjoyment for you, seeing him loving it as well? I hadn't thought about it like that until you said it. He's also copying the celebrations of the soccer players he sees. He's getting to that age now where I've an extra reason to go out there and play. Óigí is clearly gearing up for the All-Ireland! The structure of the championship has changed. The national league, provincial championship, round robin series and knock-out games are condensed into the first seven months of the year. How are you finding it? When you're stuck in the middle of it and you're going to work, training and matches, you don't think about that kind of stuff. It's great to have games and the structure at the moment is great because you've got a game, then a week off and then another game. You're recovering for a week and then preparing for a week. The four or five week gaps in the old system used to be long. I like that element of it. We're getting a lot of good competitive games, and there's very few negatives to that. Kildare legend Johnny Doyle won a club championship at 45 years old last year. Would you like to do something similar? It's hard to know. I want to play for as long as I can anyway. The day you're inside in the full-forward line and some young fella beats you out to the first couple of balls, that's probably when it's time to move on [laughs]. There has been talk of a return to September All-Ireland finals again. What do you think of that? I'm very happy with the split season. From a selfish point of view, as a teacher anyway. Nobody wants to hear about teachers and their holidays, but we get to have a month of summer holidays after the All-Ireland. That's very enjoyable, being able to go away. On the other side of it, when I was in primary school the build-up to an All-Ireland final in September was brilliant. There are pros and cons. What's your own schedule like? Much has been made about how busy you are with Fossa, East Kerry and Kerry. We're very lucky with our three managers, there's no problem if we need breaks here and there. We're conscious that winning doesn't last forever. East Kerry hadn't won the county championship for 20 years and Fossa has never won the junior. We have to milk it while we have it. It's important to get the breaks as well. It's not just tough physically, it's mentally draining as well. You have to deal with the highs and lows and the build-up to games. How do you deal with the pressure of being David Clifford in a football-mad county? The main thing is trying not to think about it like that. I have different targets for myself or different targets for the team. You always hear [Manchester City manager] Pep Guardiola saying that having targets takes the emotion out of the game. As boring as it sounds, that tends to work a lot of the time. You're big into other sports and you're a Celtic fan. How important is that, having interests away from GAA? That's my approach anyway, I try to have interests in other things. For other people, their interests may not be sports. At the moment, it's impossible to keep up with all the sports. You'd nearly want two or three TVs on the go [laughs]. You've been compared to Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan and been called a "once in a generation" talent. What's that like? There's an uncomfortable nature to it. I learned from my parents to be humble and not to appear arrogant. You don't want to be talking about yourself in that light, you want to let it brush off you. The Pittsburgh Steelers were in Dublin last April. Would you ever try your hand at playing in the NFL? It hasn't really crossed my mind. I'm a relatively safe person in that I'm settled in a job and settled in life. To turn that upside down to try something new isn't something that would appeal to me too much. It's class to see the Irish players that have joined the NFL. We're looking forward to seeing if some of them can get on the pitch. How does it feel to be settled so young? You've made your career in football at an early age, you've a child and a good job. Maybe it will all turn upside down at some stage [jokes]. It's fine, that's just the way things have happened for me. Things fell into place nicely. I'm far from perfect, let that be known. I enjoy life and I feel like I've a great life. I'm very lucky with the people I have around me. You were one of the youngest players when you joined the Kerry panel in 2018 and six years on you're one of the most experienced in the dressing room. It's hard to believe. A lot of us came into the panel together in 2018 and 2019, so we've gone through the years together. Without even noticing it, we've had some incredible life experiences with trips away and big wins and defeats. Every year before you commit to another season you have to make sure you're still enjoying it – thankfully, I still am. Your brother Paudie is team captain this year, what's that like? It's much the same as before. Paudie and I don't spend too much time talking about football together, but we do spend a lot of time together in general whether it's golfing or being around our same circle of friends. Him being captain is great for Fossa too. If you finished your career with one All-Ireland win, how would you accept that? You'd like to win the All-Ireland every year, but that's not the reality of it. If I was to retire I wouldn't be going around telling people that I've an All-Ireland medal or don't have an All-Ireland medal. While they're great to win and you do everything in your power to win them, you just have to get over it. Hopefully, that won't be the case! David Clifford of Kerry celebrates his goal (Image: ©INPHO/James Lawlor)
