Latest news with #GavinCoombes
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Deegan replaces Prendergast on Ireland bench
Max Deegan will replace Cian Prendergast on the Ireland bench for Saturday's Test match against Georgia in Tbilisi (18:00 BST). In a squad update on Saturday afternoon, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said Connacht back row Prendergast withdrew from the game because of illness. Advertisement Leinster's Deegan, 28, made his Ireland debut in February 2020 and earned his second cap against Fiji in November 2022. With Caelan Doris injured and Jack Conan on British and Irish Lions duty, Munster's Gavin Coombes starts at number eight against Georgia. Ireland: J O'Brien; T O'Brien; J Osborne, S McCloskey; J Stockdale; S Prendergast, C Casey (capt); J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; C Izuchukwu, D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G Coombes. Replacements: T Stewart, M Milne, J Aungier, T Ahern, M Deegan, B Murphy, J Crowley, C Nash
BBC News
05-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Deegan replaces Prendergast on Ireland bench
Max Deegan will replace Cian Prendergast on the Ireland bench for Saturday's Test match against Georgia in Tbilisi (18:00 BST). In a squad update on Saturday afternoon, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) said Connacht back row Prendergast withdrew from the game because of illness. Leinster's Deegan, 28, made his Ireland debut in February 2020 and earned his second cap against Fiji in November 2022. With Caelan Doris injured and Jack Conan on British and Irish Lions duty, Munster's Gavin Coombes starts at number eight against Georgia.
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gavin Coombes: ‘I've been waiting four years for this'
Gavin Coombes knows what it's like to win in Georgia. Eight years ago in Kutaisi, he was part of an Ireland Under-20 group that finished ninth in the World Championship, a squad that included Caelan Doris, Rónan Kelleher, Fineen Wycherley and Calvin Nash, a team-mate at the Mikheil Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi for Saturday night's match. The previous year Nigel Carolan's 20s had reached the World Cup final, but it was to be an altogether tougher experience 12 months on. Coombes and his cohorts lost all three pool matches, going down to Italy and Scotland before taking a shellacking from New Zealand. Victories over Samoa and Georgia rescued a ninth-place finish. He has mixed memories of the experience on the pitch. Off it, they're more pleasant. 'We had some not great results, and we won a few games. I think when you're playing 20s rugby it's very enjoyable. You're playing with a lot of people you grew up with. I have fond memories.' Coombes was in the vanguard of a glut of young players that established west Cork as a rich source of rugby talent, alongside Darren Sweetnam, his cousin Liam Coombes, Jack Crowley, John Hodnett, Jack Crowley and the Wycherleys, Fineen and Josh. READ MORE Coombes is a cousin of Irish rowing royalty, the O'Donovan brothers, Paul and Gary , and he grew up on a dairy farm in Betsboro, about 3km outside Skibbereen. He played all sports, but a significant part of his childhood was spent on the sidelines at Skibbereen RFC, watching his father Eric and uncle John. His aunt Mags was the first woman to be elected club president. Liam is her son. There was no bushel that could hide Gavin Coombes, who was always tall for his age and now stands at 6ft 6in. His power game was evident from a young age, and so too his athleticism. But there were gaps in his game, which were not evident as much when playing with Munster but became more apparent as he progressed from age-grade internationals to playing in the senior national side. When he won a brace of caps in the summer of 2021, against Japan off the bench and a try-scoring start against the USA, the expectation was that he would become a feature. Ireland's Gavin Coombes scores a try during the game against the USA. Photograph: Donall Farmer/PA Wire It didn't materialise despite a stellar try-scoring rate for Munster and his largely consistent excellence. There were also a couple of blokes called Jack Conan and Caelan Doris who were reluctant to accommodate his international ambitions. Sitting in a hotel in Tbilisi he's guarded rather than evasive. In four years since those caps he's had to listen to a list of his playing shortcomings. Some of it could be considered fair appraisal, some of it a little picky and ignoring the substance of his performances. The Georgia match has been inked on his calendar as a chance to regain a foothold once again in Test rugby. He explained: 'It's huge. It's probably been my target for the season, to get here. So now I've got to take that opportunity with both hands. 'It's been a while since I've played, so I want to put my best foot forward and hopefully, farther down the line, it gives me more opportunities.' He has scars from the knock-backs, but he's used them as fuel. 'I guess after I played four years ago, I had put a lot of pressure on myself to try to get in and play regularly, but when you get disappointed a few times, I think you have to step back from the situation and look at the players that you're competing with. 'I'm competing with two of the best 'eights' in the world, so, just looking at myself and focusing on myself and then all I can do is improve what I'm doing. I can't control what they're doing. I'd say I'm a good bit different. I made a lot of mistakes in those four years. It is experience gained. 'I feel like four years ago I might have taken it for granted and thought that was the normal thing to do; when you're 23, you're picked for Ireland and then your career goes in that trajectory. I'm definitely going to be a lot more grateful for the opportunity this time and hopefully I can grab it.' Gavin Coombes in action for Munster. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho When asked about the mistakes or missteps, he listened to the feedback from people whom he respected. 'There were a lot of mistakes on the pitch, mistakes off the pitch maybe with regards to preparation, planning and different things like that. 'I would be in conversation with Paulie [ Paul O'Connell ] a good bit and the coaches in Munster would be constantly chatting with the coaches up here [with Ireland], so I'm well aware of the areas of my game that I need to work on. 'I've definitely gone after a few of those areas, but I think for any player that sits up here they can never say they're a complete player. It's just about planning those little one-percenters wherever you can.' He acknowledges that his point of difference in his ball carrying, which is something his team-mates in Tbilisi will rely on when it comes to the gainline. He'll relish the physical confrontation and collisions. 'I guess that's something I pride myself on week-in, week-out with Munster, so if I want to go where I want to go, I have to bring it to this stage.' The veil descends a little as if he catches himself saying too much. He knows the pitch is the proving ground. He needs to make it his time. 'I've been waiting for four years.' That's it in a nutshell. It's about actions now.
Irish Examiner
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
'I've given the lads a selection headache' - Jack O'Donoghue hungry for more after making Munster return
When Jack O'Donoghue finally got the call to make his Munster return, the back-rower had very little time to digest the news. Yet after two months on the sidelines, he wasted little time taking his opportunity and there is still plenty of pent-up energy waiting to be unleased over in Cardiff on Friday night. An ankle injury against Scarlets in mid-February cost O'Donoghue six weeks of the season but the 31-year-old had to wait patiently for another four weeks before he could pull on a red jersey again and represent his province. It should have been an return to action off the bench after he was named among the replacements for last Saturday's URC clash with the Bulls at Thomond Park, but a tight hamstring felt by Peter O'Mahony during the warm-up saw O'Donoghue promoted to the starting line-up and the Waterford native was delighted to get through the whole match without any adverse effects, other than the 16-13 home defeat. 'I hadn't played in a while and going 80 minutes, it was a really physical game and I felt every bit of that on Sunday,' O'Donoghue told the Irish Examiner. Read More Gavin Coombes: Munster still in title hunt despite Bulls defeat 'That gave me a lot of confidence personally, I ended up in the deep end, didn't even have time to think about it, it was just sink or swim and once you get that first bit of contact under your belt, you're in the game and flying it. 'I'd grabbed my bib and was planning on sitting on the bench and all of a sudden I'm told I'm starting. That was literally it but I've been chomping at the bit to get out there. 'I was really disappointed not to be involved in the La Rochelle and Bordeaux games so I was itching for an opportunity. I was incredibly hungry, I pushed myself really hard to get back fit and in contention for those European Cup games but the lads were going really well, the team was going really well so I knew I'd have to bide my time and wait for an opportunity. 'Unfortunately for Pete and lucky for me that came on Saturday and I was able to put in a performance that I'm proud of and will give the lads a selection headache this week. "I was happy to get 80 minutes under my belt, that fills me with confidence going into the next game that I'm getting back to match fitness.' There will be decisions to be made by the Munster decision-makers ahead of Thursday's team announcement for the trip to the Arms Park, when two rivals for play-off spots put their seasons on the line. O'Mahony is expected to be back in the mix, as are another back-rower Gavin Coombes, wing Calvin Nash and scrum-half Craig Casey, who was another late withdrawal last Saturday due to illness. Munster need all hands on deck following the Bulls defeat and O'Donoghue was not shying away from the importance of the remaining three games of the regular season with his team lying seventh and needing a top-eight finish to make the play-offs as well as qualify for the Champions Cup in 2025-26. 'It's massive in terms of the league table, getting a bit of confidence back for us. Coming off a two-game losing streak isn't easy, and Cardiff are going well, they had a great day out in the Principality and they're home and they're buzzing. 'Saw comments from their coaches during the week about the opportunity to get into the play-off spots and they're going to be coming all guns blazing, and we're going into their back garden to try and cause an upset. 'Every game you'd treat it like a cup final, you're either qualified or you're completely out of it. A win is almost like an eight- or 10-point swing, depending on who wins, and that's massive in terms of that middle table. Leinster, the Bulls and Glasgow are already qualified but there's five more spots there that are up for grabs and every point counts. 'Every point matters now and it's about just getting four points this weekend and if you get an extra point that's great, but it it's very much about getting a win this weekend, taking some time off the next week to regroup and then we go at it again. 'It's a two-game block and then another two-game block so easy to prepare yourself for mentally, you know, give it two weeks of hell, then get some time down and then you'll be able to go again. So leave it all out there on Friday night.'
Irish Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Munster assistant coach Lawler is confident any problems can be ironed out before Cardiff on Friday
Munster have adopted a 'heal thyselves' philosophy rather than dwelling unduly on the well documented, and acknowledged, officiating fiasco in their 16-13 URC defeat to the Bulls last weekend. A primary area of focus is the lineout issues that have scuppered their ambitions to a ruinous degree in the last two matches, their defeat to Bordeaux-Begles in the Champions Cup quarter-final and the Bulls game at Thomond Park. Alex Codling's secondment to Munster earlier in the season had a very positive effect, but given that his primary role is with the Ireland women's team during the Six Nations Championship, there has to be a little bit of a remote element – reviewing game footage – to his work in trying to repair and reboot a malfunctioning set-piece. Rather than focusing on the problem Munster assistant coach Mossy Lawler is confident that a solution can be found ahead of their next game, against Cardiff at the Arms Park on Friday night. READ MORE He said: 'It's not been an excuse. If you look at the Bordeaux team we played, and certainly the Bulls too, Bordeaux are one of the best defensive lineout teams in Europe, and if you make any inaccuracies there in your detail they are going to pick you off. 'It's not ideal ever having any kind of coach away. But Alex (Codling) is in constant contact with Tommy (O'Donnell) and his shot callers so from that point of view there has been no stone left unturned. And there is a hell of a lot of experience in this group, so I have no doubt we will get it right this weekend.' Munster head coach Ian Costello with assistant coach Mossy Lawler. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Lawler made an interesting observation about how Munster need to stick closer to their playing DNA, trust it, and that if they were able to do so in the match environment that they possessed the players and patterns to be successful. 'Before I joined (from Connacht in the summer of 2023) this group won a URC playing with ambition and that has been our mantra. We are a possession-based team, and we want to hold on to the ball and go after teams. 'Obviously the last couple of weeks we haven't been as accurate as we have wanted to be, but we certainly won't be tightening up. We have a hell of a lot of experience in the room who have played in massive games, bigger than what we will face in the next couple of weeks. So they will be leading the charge into being who we are and sticking to who we are.' Gavin Coombes, a consistently brilliant and integral performer for the province this season, missed the Bulls game with an ankle injury sustained in Bordeaux, but his presence at the media conference suggests that he will be back to drive Munster's push for the playoffs in Cardiff. Munster's Gavin Coombes against Bordeaux on April 12th, 2025. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho He's upbeat in his views. 'We've beaten a very good La Rochelle team in Europe and Bordeaux, we saw glimpses of where we put them to the sword, so I think to say we're a long way off it is completely wrong. 'I believe in this group, and we have been off it on a few occasions during the season and a few games, but when we've been on it we've had some great days and some great performances. There's a lot of belief in this group that we have the talent to challenge for the league, and that's definitely what we're speaking about. 'We've reviewed it (the Bulls game) and probably small things that we didn't get right so that's frustrating for us, but I don't think you can fault the effort that we had on the pitch. Defensively we were defending on our own line quite a lot in that first half and putting in big shots, turning those over. 'I think everyone realises this is a huge week so it's not one where we can come in (on Monday) and feel sorry for ourselves and waste a day. We've got a six-day turnaround, we're playing Friday evening, we need everyone on it. 'Everyone had it parked by the time we came in, we had a quick review and spoke about what we can work on, you know, small moments where the game got away from us.' Munster had a day off on Tuesday and returned to the training pitch on Wednesday. Every match now is like a cup final, and as they have demonstrated in the past that's when the province is at its most focused and dangerous.
