Tommy O'Brien grabs brace as Ireland pass Georgia test
A largely second string outfit, under interim coach Paul O'Connell, scored four tries and never looked in danger of a first ever loss to the Lelos.
Tommy O'Brien marked his debut with two well taken scores inside the opening eight minutes, while captain Craig Casey and Nick Timoney helped themselves to second-half tries.
Out-half Sam Prendergast was flawless off the tee, converting all four tries and adding two penalties.
There were also debuts for Darragh Murray, Michael Milne, Jack Aungier, Tom Ahern and Ben Murphy as Ireland made light of the absence of 16 players on Lions duty, seeing off a Georgia team who had their eye on an upset.
O'Connell said: "It's a very important game, a lot of players away with the Lions.
"We've had a load of guys dying for an opportunity and you wonder how they will take that opportunity.
"I'm very happy with how they went about their business, they had a load of intent in what they did and they were really accurate with that intent."
More to follow...
Georgia: Davit Niniashvili; Aka Tabutsadze, Demur Tapladze, Giorgi Kveseladze, Sandro Todua; Luka Matkava, Vasil Lobzhanidze; Giorgi Akhaladze, Vano Karkadze, Irakli Aptsiauri; Mikheil Babunashvili, Lado Chachanidze; Luka Ivanishvili, Beka Saghinadze (capt), Tornike Jalagonia.
Replacements: Irakli Kvatadze, Giorgi Tetrashvili, Beka Gigashvili, Guram Ganiashvili, Ilia Spalacknderashvili, Mikheil Alania, Tedo Abzhandadze, Tornike Kakhoidze.
Ireland: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey (capt); Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Cormac Izuchukwu, Darragh Murray; Ryan Baird, Nick Timoney, Gavin Coombes.
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The Irish Sun
29 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
Oisin O'Donoghue the hero as Tipperary overcome Kilkenny in classic to book first All-Ireland final since 2019
THE SCRIPT rang out at Croker after Tipperary tore it up against Kilkenny - and hurling's greatest rivalry delivered another all-time classic. Oisín O'Donoghue made his SHC debut this summer - but his dream 69th-minute goal fired him into the hall of fame as Advertisement 2 Tipperary edged Kilkenny in a classic clash despite being down to 14 men 2 Oisin O'Donoghue of Tipperary celebrates scoring his side's 4th in the memorable clash at GAA HQ Extra-time loomed large when Martin Keoghan levelled it for the fifth time in the second half and Tipp ace Darragh McCarthy looked on from the stands in floods of tears. The Toomevara man was convinced he had cost his team after picking up a harsh second yellow for rattling Eoin Murphy's knuckles in the 58th minute. The result looked ominous when Cian Kenny's point gave But Tipp never gave in as Forde scored 0-3 on the trot before O'Donoghue landed the killer blow in style. Advertisement READ MORE ON gaa Stalwart Noel McGrath, 34, thought he turned the screw but after some confusion, the score was not given. Somehow his team Stopper Rhys Shelly cleared his lines twice before John Donnelly's 74th-minute bullet was stopped on the line by Robert Doyle. And the Premier silenced their doubters as first half goals from John McGrath, Darragh McCarthy and Jason Forde set them on their way. Advertisement Most read in GAA Hurling Liam Cahill's men will play Cork in an All-Ireland SHC final for the first time ever on July 20, and Kilkenny's wait for glory will stretch to 11 years. It remains to be seen if TJ Reid will ever grace the hallowed Croke Park turf in black and amber again. 'Lots of fight' - RTE GAA pundits react to Sean O'Shea's 'very interesting' interview after Kerry dethrone Armagh He turns 38 in November, but still starred and led the charge for his team with 0-11. They have won six Leinster titles in a row and reached seven All-Ireland semis on the bounce, but they will wait for their first Liam MacCarthy since 2015. Advertisement This loss will raise more serious questions on Noreside, but this was Tipp's day - and how quickly things can change. Boss Cahill faced the same heat when they failed to win a game in the 2024 Munster SHC - and now the ultimate prize is 70 minutes away. Forde's relentless work-rate in their firing line was crucial and he scored 1-5. Conor Stakelum lorded the middle and struck 0-3, while Eoghan Connolly won his battle with Adrian Mullen and outscored him by a point while he was at it. Advertisement Tipp were clever with the ball, and their running game shone through as they ensured Cats full-back Huw Lawlor did not lord the skies as he usually does. Mossy Keoghan struck 0-6 from play, and Jordan Molloy fired 0-4 from midfield but Kilkenny never got a sniff at goal until the frantic finale. And they could give no more after firing 0-30 in an epic that went to the wire. Tipp's inside line of McGrath, McCarthy and Forde fired first half goals to storm four ahead at the break and all of their 3-11 haul came from play. Advertisement But it took them a while to find their groove, and McGrath's 8th minute strike was their first score of the game when Jake Morris' effort was blocked and the Loughmore-Castleiney man lashed home from the loose ball. But the Cats took charge and fired 0-5 on the bounce from here to go 0-8 to 1-0 ahead. Paddy Deegan was keeping Jake Morris quiet, and Kilkenny's zonal defensive shape worked until it didn't. Ronan Maher had a bruising battle with TJ Reid but Kilkenny's stalwart was still their go-man and fired 0-7 in the first 35 alone. Advertisement The Cats went about their business simply, as they pinged diagonal balls across Croker as Reid, Mossy Keoghan, Jordan Molloy and Billy Ryan all pointed into Hill 16. Ryan's score was a trademark Cats move when Lawlor lorded above two Tipp attackers to fetch a long ball before the Graigue-Ballycallan man finished it off. The goals arrived with the rain. Conor Stakelum, Connors and Morris kept Tipp alive before they blew the match wide open with 2-2 in the space of five minutes. Bryan O'Mara's ball caused havoc in the Cats defence as Lawlor, Shane Murphy and Eoin Murphy could do nothing about McCarthy's goal. Advertisement Morris' shot was deflected over by Cats stopper Murphy before John McGrath's point put Tipp ahead. Then came Forde's goal, as Mikey Butler slipped and could only look on in horror. McCarthy brilliantly read Forde's run with a perfect hand-pass and the Silvermines man deftly flicked it over Murphy's head to the net. It was sublime, and was vital to their four-point half-time cushion as Reid pointed four times for the Cats and Stakelum, Connolly, Morris and McGrath did the same into the Davin end. 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Advertisement Subs: A Tynan for Ormond 30mins (blood); N McGrath for J McGrath 50mins, A Tynan for O'Farrell 53, D Stakelum for Connors 57, O O'Donoghue 1-0 for C Stakelum 63, S Kenneally for Ormond 71 REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford)
Irish Times
31 minutes ago
- Irish Times
GAA clarify full-time score in Tipperary-Kilkenny semi-final after confusion over scoreboard error
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Irish Times
31 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Tipperary edge past Kilkenny in game so wild even the scoreboard could not keep up
In the end the game was elevated to chaos, hurling's original state. Shapes and plans collapsed. In the bedlam, passes failed, bodies fell, blind clearances were cheered to the heavens. The machine logging turnovers exploded. Everything was desperate. Gloriously, agonisingly desperate. And then, when the final whistle blew, nobody could swear to the score. The giant scoreboard in Croke Park read Tipperary 4-21, Kilkenny 0-30, but before the match officials left the field they stood in a huddle for three or four minutes, doing their sums or getting their story straight. Word of the uncertainty spread quickly. In their live coverage, the BBC attributed 4-20 to Tipp. If the scoreboard had been wrong, then Kilkenny had spent the last couple of minutes of stoppage time pounding the Tipp square for a goal they didn't need. Two points would have saved them; they had chances for two points and tried to spin each of them into a goal. The disputed score was Noel McGrath's point in the final minute from a wide angle. The green flag umpire tried to catch the ball as it came down from the netting, but the umpire in control of the white flag waved his hands immediately, and emphatically, indicating a wide. On the scoreboard, though, Tipp had gone four points up. READ MORE If the umpire was wrong, Hawk-Eye would surely have had a word in the referee's earpiece. Over the years, those interventions have not been uncommon. If the referee stops play and makes the shape of a TV screen, it invariably means that the umpires have made a mistake. Play resumed. [ Kilkenny 0-30 Tipperary 4-20 FT: Superb Oisín O'Donoghue goal wins it for Tipp – As it happened Opens in new window ] Tipperary's Noel McGrath celebrates with his brother John McGrath. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho In answer to questions after the game, a GAA spokesman said that 4-21 for Tipp was the 'official score'. That's what appeared on the GAA's website. However, that story changed within an hour. Contacted by a reporter, the referee James Owens said that Tipp had scored 4-20. At 7.40pm, nearly two hours after the game had finished, the GAA confirmed that 4-20 had been Tipp's total. 'The GAA acknowledges there was confusion over the final score,' read a brief statement. 'The CCCC is awaiting the full referees report in order to establish how the initial mistake occurred.' The only score that matters is the one that appears in the referee's report. An error had clearly been made by the scoreboard operator. Did it make a material difference to the outcome? It made a material difference to Kilkenny's real-time assessment of their needs. Everything else is conjecture. In his post-match press conference, before Owens had offered his clarification on the final score, the Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng made nothing of it. He said he thought there were three points between the teams. That was the sum of his answer. Referee James Owens red cards Darragh McCarthy of Tipperary. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho And still Kilkenny nearly saved themselves. John Donnelly beat Rhys Shelly with a rocket in stoppage time only for Robert Doyle to block the shot on the goal-line with an outrageous piece of scramble defence. Doyle followed the ball out until it was cleared and then dutifully ran back to take up his station next to TJ Reid, who was standing a yard from the Tipp goal-line, frozen to the spot. It was a mesmerising match and by distance Tipperary's best performance since the 2019 All-Ireland final. Reduced to 14 men when Darragh McCarthy was sent off for a second yellow card offence 12 minutes from the end of normal time, Tipp explored the depths of their bloody-mindedness. With terrific clarity, they kept going. In a blistering cameo, Andrew Ormond and Jason Forde combined for three scores in as many minutes, to put Tipp a point up with 68 minutes on the clock. Ormond was fouled twice for frees that Forde converted from long distance with unerring conviction, and then Ormond fed a pass to Forde under pressure for another towering score from under the Hogan Stand. Is that the goal that decides it? More sloppiness from the Kilkenny defence and Oisín O'Donoghue scores. 📺Watch 📻Listen 📱 Follow — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) The game, though, was blown apart by Tipperary's fourth goal in the last minute of normal time. In the Kilkenny D the ball changed hands two or three times, frantically. Paddy Deegan looked like he would clear it and lost it. Finally, the ball was poked into Oisín O'Donoghue's path and the young sub fired a thunderbolt into the top corner of the Kilkenny net. It was a goal fit to win any match. This was Tipp's third successive championship victory over their bitterest rivals, the first time they have run up such a sequence in more than 50 years. The prize is another meeting with Cork, the first ever between these counties in an All-Ireland final. Their recent history is one-sided. Cork beat them by 18 points in last year's championship, by 15 points in this year's championship and by 10 points in the League final to boot. Now everything returns to zero.
