Thomas Clarkson
DOB: 07/04/1990
POSITION: Prop
CLUB: Leinster
IRELAND CAPS: 8
Thomas Clarkson became the 18th Ireland player to receive a call-up to the 2025 tour when he came in as injury cover ahead of the first Test.
The Leinster front row has eight Ireland caps to his name since debuting against Argentina in 2024 and impressed in the Summer Series Tests in July.
The 25-year-old started all three of Leinster's URC play-off games as they won their first trophy since 2021.
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RTÉ News
13 hours ago
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Dublin book All-Ireland final spot after extra-time goal rush against Galway
(After extra-time) Dublin will face Meath in an all-Leinster TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship final on 3 August after the Metropolitan outfit secured an extra-time victory over Galway at Glenisk O'Connor Park. The Dubs were three goals up and cruising with two minutes left on the clock but had a late scare when Galway found the net twice before running out of time. While Dublin – who lost to Galway under the same circumstances at the quarter-final stage of last year's competition – broke the deadlock with an early point from team skipper Carla Rowe, Galway moved into the ascendancy when Olivia Divilly and Roisin Leonard split the posts in quick succession. Niamh Hetherton swiftly restored parity at the opposite end, before their Connacht counterparts responded with a 0-02 salvo by Corofin attacker Leonard. Yet, after Rowe doubled her tally just shy of the first-quarter mark, Dublin edged back in front when Hannah Tyrrell coolly slotted a 17th-minute penalty beyond the reach of Galway netminder Dearbhla Gower. The sides were back on level terms as a result of Kate Slevin and Leonard finding the range, however, and an impressive scoring spree from the Tribeswomen followed a pointed free from Tyrrell on 23 minutes. Although this left the tie delicately poised on the restart, almost 14 minutes passed before the next score of the game arrived through the boot of Dublin corner-forward Kate Sullivan. There was a sense inside the final quarter that every score was going to be vital and after Slevin levelled matters with a close-in free, Tyrrell responded with a similar effort to help Dublin re-establish a slender lead. However, there is plenty of resilience in this Galway team and the Westerners swung the pendulum in their favour with a 0-02 salvo from Eva Noone. The 2004 All-Ireland champions looked set to prevail when substitute Andrea Trill kicked over in response to a Sophie McIntyre effort, but there was enough time left for Tyrrell to force extra-time with a nerveless pointed free. Former Ireland women's rugby international Tyrrell seized the initiative for Dublin in the additional periods with a brace of points and even though Olivia Divilly registered her third of the game, substitute Orlagh Nolan found the target to put Dublin two clear - 1-13 to 0-14 - on the stroke of 70 minutes. Dublin found themselves on course to set up a repeat of their 2021 decider against Meath when Rowe, with a brilliant backheel, and Sullivan bagged goals in the second half of extra-time. While Trill and Olivia Divilly rattled the net for Galway in a chaotic finale, Dublin's place in the showpiece and a rematch of the 2021 All-Ireland were ultimately secured. Dublin: A Shiels; J Tobin, L Caffrey, N Donlon; S Goldrick (0-01), M Byrne, N Crowley; E O'Dowd, N Hetherton (0-02); N Owens, C O'Connor, H McGinnis; H Tyrrell (1-06, 1-00 pen, 0-05fs), C Rowe (1-02), K Sullivan (1-01). Subs: O Nolan (0-01) for O'Connor (27), L Grendon for Rowe (40),S McIntyre (0-01) for Owens (47), Rowe for Hetherton (52), Hetherton for McGinnis (61), A Kane for Byrne (74), H Leahy for Donlon (75), C Darby for Rowe (76), A Timothy for Sullivan (76). Galway: D Gower; B Quinn, A Molloy, K Geraghty; H Noone, N Ward, C Trill; L Ward, S Divilly; N Divilly, O Divilly (1-03), A Davoren; E Noone (0-03, 0-01f), R Leonard (0-05, 0-04fs), K Slevin (0-02, 0-01f). Subs: L Noone for N Divilly (h-t), K Thompson for Leonard (41), L Coen for Davoren (50), A Trill (1-01) for Slevin (58), M Glynn for S Divilly (70), Slevin for L Noone, Davoren for Coen, M Banek for Quinn (all 71), C Cooney for Molloy (75), S Ni Loingsigh for Banek (77).
Irish Independent
13 hours ago
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Dublin set up all-Leinster TG4 All-Ireland senior football championship final by beating Galway
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RTÉ News
18 hours ago
- RTÉ News
'It's nice to play rugby and get match-fit' - Tadhg Furlong back to his best but warns of second Test swing
While Tadhg Beirne grabbed the headlines in the British and Irish Lions' commanding first Test win in Melbourne, another Tadhg has also found his top form in Australia. Tadhg Furlong only played nine games for club and country in 2024/25 as he dealt with a series of niggling injuries, and arrived into Lions camp in June following a six-week layoff, with his final game in the domestic season coming in Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints in early May. His place in the squad was by no means guaranteed, but having worked his way ahead of Will Stuart and Finlay Bealham in Andy Farrell's depth-chart, he justified that faith with a vintage display in Brisbane as he helped the tourists to a 27-19 win. "I haven't been playing a whole lot of rugby," he replied, when it was suggested to him that he looks like someone who is enjoying his game. And while the Lions' hectic travel schedule has led to less time on the training pitch, the 32-year-old (below) believes it's worked in his favour. "I love rugby. I genuinely do. It's never a chore for me to train or to play. "Ironically the lack of training on this tour is great for my body because you come to the game fresh. Previously I would have had a lot of overload injuries. It's nice to play rugby and get match-fit by playing rugby, two games a week." A Lion in 2017 and 2021, Furlong has now started all seven Tests across these three tours, but the Leinster tighthead is still looking to win a series, having drawn against New Zealand before losing to South Africa four years ago. Across those two previous tours, he's seen both series flip in the second Test. Eight years ago, the Lions recovered from a defeat to the All Blacks with an impressive win in Wellington, while roles were reversed in Cape Town in 2021, when the Springboks came from behind to clinch the second and third Tests. And those experiences are a stark reminder that the Lions' work is far from over ahead of their trips to Melbourne and Sydney. "There's a flow to it. The group is edgy, we don't know each other. We don't know Australia, what they're like on the pitch, they don't know us. "You do all your prep, there's a realisation then after that about what it takes in the game, there's an ebb and flow on it. "As stupid as it sounds, it's all about putting the game out there and there'll be tweaks and changes and nuances, a little bit of tit for that. "It's a little bit like the old Heineken Cup used to be with the double header, it changes. "There's two sides to the coin. Obviously, there's us not getting complacent, learning the lessons. We have a midweek game again, it'll be great to see the boys go out and see who puts their hands up. We can do the Tuesday-Saturday [schedule], we know that, so if lads go well there then we know they will be in contention. "The other side of that is that we know what it means to the Aussies, the desperation is all on the line for them next weekend." Four years on from the South African series being played out to the backdrop of silence in empty stadiums in Cape Town, Suncorp Stadium was fully charged with the touring supporters outnumbering their Australian hosts. And Furlong says that support hasn't gone unnoticed. "Class, even the town, you know? On Thursday it filled up, you can feel it, everyone wears red. "I'm sure Canterbury are delighted with the sales of the stuff, everyone seems to be wearing the kit, they wear their club hat or whatever. "It's why the Lions is special, it's not lost on us." Among that support is his mother Margaret, who joined the camp along with the other families of the squad for a special jersey presentation on Thursday evening, a poignant moment for the family after the passing of Tadhg's father James in late 2023. "My mam and aunty are over, she did my jersey presentation on Thursday. "It's nice, to be fair to her it's not easy to be here, any time she'd have travelled previously was with my father but she's great, she's out and about. "She was kayaking on the river this morning, she sent me a picture out on the river, fair play to her."
