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Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Osborne 'leading by actions' in elevated Ireland role
Jamie Osborne has shone with both Leinster and Ireland when opportunities have been afforded to him over the last number of years. A 2024 Test debut in the Summer tour to South Africa was one he had to wait for, having been involved in Irish squads for several years previously without getting his chance. His inclusion at full-back was a big call for Andy Farrell to make. Heading into the fortress that is Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, a then 22-year-old Osborne - who had not played full-back since November '22 in the blue of Leinster - scored a try after 34 minutes. Farrell was clear in his admiration for Osborne, who was deputising for Hugo Keenan during the first-choice 15's Olympic Sevens stint, keeping him in his starting 15 despite a narrow 27-20 first Test loss to Rassie Erasmus' Springboks. The now seven-cap international would start and finish the 25-24 win in the second Test over the Boks' and has gone on to solidify his place as a contender for matchday squads and beyond in the time since. With a number of Irish retirements, and a multitude away with the British and Lions, the 23-year-old has naturally taken on an elevated role in interim head coach Paul O'Connell's Ireland squad for their tour of Georgia and Portugal. Others, like tour captain Craig Casey have done likewise. 'There's a lot of excitement in the group, a lot of uncapped players, so we all just want to get together quickly and put in the best performance we can and just show how much it means to us to play for Ireland," Osborne said. "When you're in the squad with people with a lot more experience, you're probably looking to learn off them a lot. "You're looking up to them, you're asking more questions. Whereas, maybe in this environment, I've been here a couple of years now, so it's probably about passing on a bit more knowledge than I would. "But at the end of the day, I'd still have questions to ask other lads and I hope they'd feel comfortable to ask me questions. So it's a bit of a mix." "I've tried to lead in training on the pitch with my actions mainly and hopefully others can look up to that." The versatile back will wear 13 on his back, rather than 15, when Ireland take on Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday (kick-off, 6pm Irish time). 'Defensively, as a 13, you're probably a bit of a defensive leader in the team. You look at Garry (Ringrose), what he does for whatever team he's involved with these days, he's really combative, and he leads the line," he said. 'It's probably different from, say, being a full-back. You're close to the ball as well. There's that little bit around where you're scanning, you're talking to the 10 and stuff like that. So there are differences, but I'm enjoying each position." Much has been said about his versatility. It's certainly a plus for a coaching setup. Whether it's a help or a hindrance for the player is another question. Osborne only sees it one way. Read More Andy Farrell ups the Lions ante with call for prodigal son Owen I think it's definitely a strength, sometimes it can seem a bit like a bit of a weakness at times if you're not selected and you're thinking 'maybe I should be a bit more specialised in a certain position'... over time we'll see and, you know, hopefully I can figure it out how to best utilise it." IRELAND: J O'Brien, T O'Brien, J Osborne, S McCloskey, J Stockdale, S Prendergast, C Casey (captain); 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, C Prendergast, B Murphy, J Crowley, C Nash.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
First Europe, then the world: Twickenham awaits in year of twin peaks for England
There are two games to think about at Twickenham on Saturday, the one the Red Roses will play in, and the one they want to play in. The first is their grand slam decider against France, which kicks off at 4.45pm. The second – at the same venue, five months and one day later – is the World Cup final which, if everything goes as the team hopes at the Stadium of Light, Franklin's Gardens, Ashton Gate and the other grounds they will visit between now and then, will be the next game they play at the home of English rugby. The Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, has been around long enough to know the smart thing to do is separate the two. 'We've got to be careful focusing on the World Cup final because we've got to earn the right to contest it,' Mitchell said this week. 'It's good to have the chance to be back at our home stadium, but it's an isolated situation, that's the way we see it.' Advertisement Related: England seek seventh heaven in Six Nations slam decider with France But the two games are twin peaks. If the Red Roses make it to the top of the first one, they will only see the second beyond it. The Six Nations is familiar terrain. They have won the title six times in a row and are on a run of 33 consecutive victories in the competition. But they have not been up to the summit of the World Cup since 2014 when Katy Daley-McLean's team beat Canada 21-9 at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris. Eleven years is a long time in any sport and a lifetime in one moving as fast as women's rugby. Only a handful of players from that squad are still in this one. The years in between have seen the development of a professional game, the introduction of new annual domestic and international competitions, the separation of the women's Six Nations from the men's tournament, the launch of the Olympic Sevens and the expansion of the World Cup to include 16 teams. And the remarkable progress of the Red Roses, who have proved themselves to be one of the most successful sports team on the planet. In this Six Nations: 38-5 v Italy, 67-12 v Wales, 49-5 v Ireland, 59-7 v Scotland. They have rattled up 213 points and conceded only 29, scored 33 tries and shipped six, and – by their own admission – done it all without ever turning in a performance they have been entirely happy with. They have won 25 games in a row, and 54 of their last 55. Which brings us right around to that one they lost. Advertisement It was, of course, the last World Cup final, when they went down 34-31 to the Black Ferns at Eden Park in one of the most compelling games of the last decade. When you win as often as the Red Roses do, the losses are going to stay with you. This one still haunts them. The feeling back then was the team were so used to winning (they went into that match on the back of 30 consecutive victories) they struggled when the game began to turn against them. It is Mitchell's job to make sure the same thing does not happen again this year. When Wales were in their prime, Warren Gatland used to say he felt they had forgotten how to lose. With the Red Roses, the worry is that they have forgotten what to do when it feels they might. Mitchell relies on internal competition between his first and second teams to create that sense of pressure. 'It is unusual, especially to people on the outside,' says Mitchell, 'but what you don't see is what we're doing internally, we get plenty of failure in training, and we thrive on that, that's where we get our drive.' There is a lot riding on whether they can pull it off. In England, the World Cup has been pitched as an opportunity to grow the game. The RFU has launched a project called Impact '25 in partnership with UK Sport and Sport England, which has provided £12m in funding for the women's game, a lot of it for basic amenities like upgraded toilets and changing rooms. Given that the Red Roses' run of results was the key reason why the RFU was able to meet its elite performance targets (which allowed their executives, including the CEO Bill Sweeney, to claim the lion's share of their six-figure bonuses) it is the least they ought to be doing. Advertisement Rugby needs the women's World Cup to succeed. The women's version is the one area of the game which is still growing, and fast. World Rugby say that the number of registered participants has increased by more than 50% in the three years since the last World Cup and a series of attendance records have been set around the world including in England, where a crowd of 58,598 turned out for their game against Ireland in 2023. These are double-edged statistics, which reflect the time, money and attention the governing bodies are now investing into women's sport, and also their dismal lack of support for it in the years gone by. Ticket sales for this grand slam match have been underwhelming. The RFU is expecting Twickenham to be half full on Saturday, whereas all the talk beforehand was that it might be the first time in history that the ground had been sold-out for a women's match. It is a sign of how far the women's game has come that a crowd that size can be described as disappointing, the first women's World Cup final in 1991 did not get 4,000 spectators, let alone 40,000, and there is little doubt Twickenham will be sold out for the final in five months' time. It seems likely that a lot of fans decided to save their money for that tournament. As demand goes up, so do expectations, and English rugby is banking on the Red Roses rising to meet them.
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
First Europe, then the world: Twickenham awaits in year of twin peaks for England
There are two games to think about at Twickenham on Saturday, the one the Red Roses will play in, and the one they want to play in. The first is their grand slam decider against France, which kicks off at 4.45pm. The second – at the same venue, five months and one day later – is the World Cup final which, if everything goes as the team hopes at the Stadium of Light, Franklin's Gardens, Ashton Gate and the other grounds they will visit between now and then, will be the next game they play at the home of English rugby. The Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, has been around long enough to know the smart thing to do is separate the two. 'We've got to be careful focusing on the World Cup final because we've got to earn the right to contest it,' Mitchell said this week. 'It's good to have the chance to be back at our home stadium, but it's an isolated situation, that's the way we see it.' But the two games are twin peaks. If the Red Roses make it to the top of the first one, they will only see the second beyond it. The Six Nations is familiar terrain. They have won the title six times in a row and are on a run of 33 consecutive victories in the competition. But they have not been up to the summit of the World Cup since 2014 when Katy Daley-McLean's team beat Canada 21-9 at the Stade Jean Bouin in Paris. Eleven years is a long time in any sport and a lifetime in one moving as fast as women's rugby. Only a handful of players from that squad are still in this one. The years in between have seen the development of a professional game, the introduction of new annual domestic and international competitions, the separation of the women's Six Nations from the men's tournament, the launch of the Olympic Sevens and the expansion of the World Cup to include 16 teams. And the remarkable progress of the Red Roses, who have proved themselves to be one of the most successful sports team on the planet. In this Six Nations: 38-5 v Italy, 67-12 v Wales, 49-5 v Ireland, 59-7 v Scotland. They have rattled up 213 points and conceded only 29, scored 33 tries and shipped six, and – by their own admission – done it all without ever turning in a performance they have been entirely happy with. They have won 25 games in a row, and 54 of their last 55. Which brings us right around to that one they lost. It was, of course, the last World Cup final, when they went down 34-31 to the Black Ferns at Eden Park in one of the most compelling games of the last decade. When you win as often as the Red Roses do, the losses are going to stay with you. This one still haunts them. The feeling back then was the team were so used to winning (they went into that match on the back of 30 consecutive victories) they struggled when the game began to turn against them. It is Mitchell's job to make sure the same thing does not happen again this year. When Wales were in their prime, Warren Gatland used to say he felt they had forgotten how to lose. With the Red Roses, the worry is that they have forgotten what to do when it feels they might. Mitchell relies on internal competition between his first and second teams to create that sense of pressure. 'It is unusual, especially to people on the outside,' says Mitchell, 'but what you don't see is what we're doing internally, we get plenty of failure in training, and we thrive on that, that's where we get our drive.' There is a lot riding on whether they can pull it off. In England, the World Cup has been pitched as an opportunity to grow the game. The RFU has launched a project called Impact '25 in partnership with UK Sport and Sport England, which has provided £12m in funding for the women's game, a lot of it for basic amenities like upgraded toilets and changing rooms. Given that the Red Roses' run of results was the key reason why the RFU was able to meet its elite performance targets (which allowed their executives, including the CEO Bill Sweeney, to claim the lion's share of their six-figure bonuses) it is the least they ought to be doing. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Rugby needs the women's World Cup to succeed. The women's version is the one area of the game which is still growing, and fast. World Rugby say that the number of registered participants has increased by more than 50% in the three years since the last World Cup and a series of attendance records have been set around the world including in England, where a crowd of 58,598 turned out for their game against Ireland in 2023. These are double-edged statistics, which reflect the time, money and attention the governing bodies are now investing into women's sport, and also their dismal lack of support for it in the years gone by. Ticket sales for this grand slam match have been underwhelming. The RFU is expecting Twickenham to be half full on Saturday, whereas all the talk beforehand was that it might be the first time in history that the ground had been sold-out for a women's match. It is a sign of how far the women's game has come that a crowd that size can be described as disappointing, the first women's World Cup final in 1991 did not get 4,000 spectators, let alone 40,000, and there is little doubt Twickenham will be sold out for the final in five months' time. It seems likely that a lot of fans decided to save their money for that tournament. As demand goes up, so do expectations, and English rugby is banking on the Red Roses rising to meet them.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Burton in 'dream' England women's rugby debut three years after 25-day coma
At the double: England's Abi Burton crowns her Test debut with the second of her two tries in a 67-12 Women's Six Nations win over Wales (Adrian Dennis) England's Abi Burton capped a "dream" Test debut by coming off the bench to score two tries as England hammered Wales in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday, three years after spending 25 days in a coma while battling encephalitis. Advertisement The two-time Olympic Sevens competitor has made a remarkable comeback to elite rugby union after a 76-day stay in hospital in 2022 after dealing with the auto-immune condition which attacks the brain. Burton lost three stone in weight and was wrongly detained under mental health regulations after an initial misdiagnosis. The back-row forward came on with just 13 minutes of normal time left at Cardiff's Principality Stadium yet still managed to score two of England's 11 tries in the 67-12 rout. "I'm so excited," Burton, 25, told the BBC. "I've tried not to let the emotion get the better of me this week but, honestly, this group is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to be a part of it, so yeah it was a dream debut. Advertisement "Earlier on this week when we came for the team run I just stood here (on the pitch) and I just absolutely relished it. It's unbelievable and to make my debut here also is like a really big dream come true. Twickenham would be amazing, but this is also pretty cool as well." Burton, speaking in midweek about the health problems she had overcome, said: "It's super freeing." "I now play without the thought that I'm going to disappoint somebody or disappoint whoever's around me, because ultimately every time I step on to the pitch now, I think this could be the last time because there was a point where I didn't even ever think like that." She added: "I probably took some of those moments, those five, six years that I had playing in international rugby in the Sevens, going to all these extraordinary places, probably took those for granted quite a bit. "So now when I step on the pitch, good game, bad game, I'm just happy to be running around with my mates, smashing people up, doing what I love." jdg/dj
