Latest news with #BrianO'Driscoll
Irish Daily Mirror
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman attend Wimbledon as actress wears Irish design
Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman were among the spectators at Wimbledon on Saturday as they took in the action from the Royal Box. The couple were all smiles as they arrived at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. Rugby great O'Driscoll wore a beige suit, while his actress wife wore a pink floral dress from Irish brand Férí, which costs almost €400 to buy. Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner remain on track for a semi-final showdown at Wimbledon, following their respective victories on Saturday. Djokovic notched up his 100th win at the prestigious tournament, advancing to the fourth round with ease. Meanwhile, Sinner continued to navigate a serene course through the choppy waters of Wimbledon with another straight-sets win. Irish Mirror sport Solus embed With this win, the 23-year-old Italian has lost a mere 17 games across his three matches. Federer previously held the record for the fewest games lost in the first three rounds at Wimbledon, with 19 in 2004. Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman attend day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships (Image: John Walton/ PA) 1 of 7 Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman attend day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships (Image: Getty Images) 2 of 7 Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman attend day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships (Image: Getty Images) 3 of 7 Brian O'Driscoll and Amy Huberman attend day six of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships (Image: Getty Images) 4 of 7
Extra.ie
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Brian O'Driscoll caught in the crossfire of fiery Michael Cheika outburst on live TV
Rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll found himself in the eye of a storm during Saturday's Gallagher Premiership final, as a furious Michael Cheika let loose over a refereeing decision – live on TV. The final, held at Allianz Stadium, saw Bath take on Leicester Tigers in what should have been a tightly contested showcase of English club rugby. However, tensions boiled over just before half-time when Leicester boss Cheika erupted on the touchline, visibly enraged with how the closing moments of the half were being handled by officials. Michael Cheika. Pic: Getty With the clock in the red and his side trailing by three, the Australian coach stormed down to share his frustration with one of his own staff, but his anger was far from contained. @tntsports A RAGING Michael Cheika has a word with Brian O'Driscoll🫣 #rugby #raging #angry #rugbyunion #funny #cool #GallagherPremFinal ♬ original sound – TNT Sports On his way back to the stands, Cheika then made a beeline for TNT Sports pundit Brian O'Driscoll, who was pitchside as part of the broadcast team. Cheika appeared to aim a few words in O'Driscoll's direction before storming off again. The former Ireland and Lions captain remained composed, offering nothing more than a cheeky grin. The former Ireland and Lions captain remained composed, offering nothing more than a cheeky grin. Pic: TikTok The TNT Sports commentary team were taken aback by the scene, with Alastair Eykyn remarking: 'Michael Cheika is absolutely raging. Is that all about that final decision? 'This will be the final play of the first half… We'll find out what the trouble is, because Brian is all over it!'
Irish Independent
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
BOD and Amy Inc: How the ‘happy, outgoing' power couple built a €12m business brand
It is a match that is etched into Irish rugby lore. On St Patrick's weekend, 2000, Ireland ran riot against France in Paris and Brian O'Driscoll announced himself to the sporting world with a hat-trick of tries. After each one, he celebrated by cupping his hands in the shape of an 'O'.
Irish Independent
09-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
The Indo Daily: Rugby stars, Leaving Cert grinds, lewd jokes and a High Court case
The private grinds industry in Ireland is booming, and is estimated to be worth between €50-€60m. Investors, including well-known names like Brian O'Driscoll and Caelan Doris, have been keen to get in on the action, as the pair did when they helped fund hybrid learning platform Grinds 360 last year. But the competition in the grinds world can be just as intense as it is on the rugby pitch, and sometimes notably bitter. Take the case of respected maths teacher Rob Browne, whose high-profile transfer from the Dublin Academy of Education to Grinds 360 led to a contentious dispute that landed in the High Court where, among other things, a lewd joke made on TikTok was under scrutiny. On this episode of The Indo Daily, host Kevin Doyle is joined by Sunday Independent journalist Mark Tighe, to discuss this unusual legal battle.
Irish Daily Mirror
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster youngster to emulate Brian O'Driscoll historic feat this summer
Stephen Smyth has made just four appearances for Leinster, all of them this season as a sub, and been on the pitch for a grand total of sixty-five next game will be for Ireland in either Georgia or Portugal in which point the 20 year-old hooker will become the first player to play for Ireland without having started for his province since Brian O'Driscoll made his debut against Australia in has been some week for Smyth, who is still a First Year Academy trainee at the Blues and who started the season as, technically, their SIXTH choice hooker and who was the very, very last to know he was selected. Smyth was in Australia on an Academy sabbatical/leadership course with Rugby League outfit Melbourne Storm - a plane ticket/summons home came in the same email as 'congratulations you have been selected...'.As for being down the pecking order at Leinster, no shame there as both Dan Sheehan and Ronan Kelleher were established Ireland stars and, indeed, are going on the Lions Tour this McCarthy was so established Andy Farrell capped him in the November 2024 Series while John McKee and Lee Barron had both made 2022 debuts for the the 2024/25 newbie at Leinster had caught the eye at almost every representative level on the way up culminating in playing Six Nations, World Championships for Ireland U21 and Old Wesley in the AIL through 2023/ the previous parts of his resume which included such as captaining Leinster Schools, playing Ireland U18, captaining Ireland U19 in Japan were impressive the more for Smyth having started his rugby as a centre, moved to no8 and has only latterly converted to hooker."Somebody of his size profile, probably was always going to end up in the pack," says Old Wesley coach Morgan Lennon with whom the hooker has prospered."He's made remarkable strides, it's not obvious to most people that he has only transitioned to hooker two years ago when he came out of school where he was a no8."Like anybody who's picking up the situation at that stage, throwing was the biggest challenge because he'd always been a good ball-carrier, good defender."From the minute I came across him, when he came out of school and made the decision to come to us he always had the raw materials, the size-profile."When you look at him he looks very like a Dan Sheehan or a Ronan Kelleher, he's got that physical profile, six foot two, six foot three, 14 kilos and he's dynamic, quick, powerful."Switching position in rugby doesn't have to be traumatic, Brian O'Driscoll was a scrum-half in school, Denis Leamy was a place-cking centre at school it is just that anyone switching to hooker has a whole new responsibility, throwing into the BOD's case he was playing AIL for UCd when called up by Warren Gatland for the 1999 Australia tour, making his debut at 19 years, four months and 21 days and who would make his Six Nations debut in 2000, a campaign in which he would score his famous Paris hat-trick. "It was the throwing that was always going to be the thing that was going to separate him, that was going to cause some problems and he would be the first to admit he's worked incredibly hard on that."He struggled during the first Ireland U20s campaign when he first came out of school and couldn't really get in."There was a lot of talk about him and I was kind of being told about him, the background noises that he was not going to get to be a pro, but his throwing came on incredibly between the end of the U20 Six Nations and the U20 World Cup."Then, obviously, there was a couple of injuries which meant he started a lot of the games in the 20s World Cup and he's just gone on an upward trajectory since then."That's in part as former Leinster hooker Aaron Dundon (2010-16) is Line-out Coach at Welsey."It's funny because myself and Aaron, we've talked about quite a bit around Stevie and the thing about him is that Aaron would always say that a hooker has to be throwing regularly in game situations, and he has thrown regularly with us."It didn't always go our way, there were times where we were playing AIL and it was like 'Oh my god, we're never going to win him out here'."But he has shown he has the playing capacity and the mental capacity to not let that get into his overall game and I think he also matured a huge amount in two years, he obviously growing from a boy to a man not just on the physical side but mentally too."Smyth, says Lennon, has proved himself remarkably committed to Wesley who are, don't forget an amateur side."Stevie and Billy Corrigan who is also at Leinster and still U20s have been brilliant for us, so good that at 20/21 years they are part of our leadership group."Their contribution here has been excellent whether it is making it to all our training sessions in the evenings even if they have been with Leinster or the U20s in the morning, picking up cones or chatting to the lads."So I'd imagine there will be more for Stevie to pick up while on tour with Ireland, he'll have an exposure to different coaches and while I don't know I would expect Stevie to be able to relate to Paul O'Connell, I think they'll have some common ground."Those who have seen Smyth in action this season for Leinster are hardly legion, there has just been Connacht away (7 mins, Nov), home to Lions (2 mins, Nov), home to Cardiff (23 minutes, March) and away to Bulls (33 mins, March).And while the immediate future is clear, touring and hopefully picking up an Ireland cap, it may be that, given the number of top-flight hookers queuing at Leinster there will be some David Humphreys-style thinning was loaned to Munster for the latter part of this season with the move now full-time and this week's appointment of Stuart Lancaster to Connacht comes with the suggestion there will be a 'loan superhighway' set up between the western and eastern and Kelleher won't be going anywhere but if the question is whether Lancaster will be able to capture one of McCarthy, McKee or Smyth - either full-time or on loan - the answer is almost certainly 'yes'.
