Articles by Derek Foley

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Late Abbie Larkin goal sees Ireland beat Belgium on aggregate in UEFA Nations League play-off

Ton-up Katie McCabe got her wish, Ireland winning their UEFA Nations League play-off on aggregate against Belgium, albeit losing by a goal, 2-1, in Leuven. But it was Abbie Larkin who grabbed the headlines with a goal two minutes from time and that prevented the game going to extra-time following the first leg finishing 4-2 to the Girls In Green. The tireless Kyra Carusa had made a break towards the box on the right and aimed a cross towards Anna Patten that a defender diverted into Larkin's path. The striker initially misconnected but recovered her composure to toe-poke it home. "Oh God, honestly, one of the best feelings I've ever had," said the 20 year-old Ringsend-born striker afterwards. "Credit to the girls in the second half. We fought through even though the score wasn't going our way. "We never gave up and that shows what we're all about. It shows that we're Irish and we'll never give up. "As soon as the goal went in I was like 'wow'. I actually was about to start crying, it was that good, but I had to focus then for the next two minutes. "I blew my Ma a kiss, to be fair! I'd say she was crying in the stands, but it was amazing. "Even having them here to experience that with me was a feeling I'll never forget and I really appreciate them." For McCabe's winners , there was promotion to League A, with all 16 Section A nations guaranteed at least a play-off when it comes to qualification for the 2027 World Cup to be held in Brazil (24 June - 25 July). Ireland were unchanged from the side that had beaten Belgium 4-2 in the first leg in Dublin , which meant Grace Moloney continued to deputise for the injured Courtney Brosnan in goal. A selection call that wasn't an initial success as the introductions of Patten at half-time and Larkin on the hour transformed from passive to aggressive. Ireland had managed to settle well in the first quarter, not least when Emily Murphy had the goal at her mercy with an early header but failed to hit the target while Aoife Mannion had a shot, taken from inside the box, get past the keeper but blocked by a defender. Belgium had made all the pre-match noises about do-or-die attacking and had made four changes with Everton and Crystal Palace's Justine Vanhaevermaet and Jill Janssens returning from suspension, Zenia Mertens and Marie Detruyer coming in. And they left Ireland trailing just past the half-hour when two wall-passes down the left freed the winger down the line from where a cross and perfectly placed Tessa Wullaert finish breached the Irish defence. Within seven minutes Ireland were two goals down, a hopeful ball forward looked like being swallowed up by the Ireland defence but a poor Caitlin Hayes touch knocked the ball back into Wullaert's path. The Belgium skipper, spotted Moloney had come towards the edge of the box, clipped the ball over the netminder to register her second goal, bringing the sides level on aggregate. The worry at half-time in the Ireland dressing room must have been that their midfield had been swamped, by-passed, as the Belgians spread their players wide dragging Ireland out of shape and, indeed, coach Carla Ward brought in Patton for Ruesha Littlejohn. Ireland started the second-half slowly and contained a considerable amount of pressure before both Marissa Sheeva and Hayes forced saves from Belgian 'keeper Nicky Evrard Larkin had come on between those two chances and soon after was presented with a golden opportunity following a Carusa touch but the Crystal Palace striker pulled her shot across the face of the goal and wide. Despite being on the backfoot for long periods of the first-half Ireland were now enjoying their best phase with play concentrated almost solely in the Belgium half during which some of the home side's challenging passed bordering on spicy - Ireland coach Carla Ward being booked for protesting one of those challenges. Larkin fizzed a 77th minute shot over the bar, Patten had a shot that was handy for the 'keeper to gather, while Carusa got close-on the right but her well hit shot bounced off 'keeper Evrard before Larkin's winning strike. Belgium: Nicky Evrard; Sari Kees, Amber Tysiak, Zenia Mertens, Laura Deloose; Jill Janssens, Justine Vanhaevermaet, Janice Cayman; Marie Detruyer, Tessa Wullaert (Capt), Jarne Teulings. Republic of Ireland: Grace Moloney; Aoife Mannion, Caitlin Hayes, Jessie Stapleton, Chloe Mustaki, Katie McCabe (Capt); Ruesha Littlejohn, Denise O'Sullivan, Marissa Sheva; Emily Murphy, Kyra Carusa. Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

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Jack O'Donoghue shines for Munster, Paul Boyle's switch to no7 at Connacht, Rob Baloucoune posts Ulster hat-trick in Johannesburg

Munster got the better of Connacht, 17-15, at Thomond Park, and while it was a deserved win in the face of not hitting the heights of last week, it still needed the Reds to come from behind as they trailed 12-15 at half-time. A win that adds to the southern province's sprint start, their fifth from five outings and which sees them occupying second place in the table, albeit equal on 23 points, behind Stormers. Given those two sides meet in the next set of URC games, Round Six, their Saturday night November 29th clash at Thomond Park is surely one of the hottest sporting tickets of the year. “The one thing that wasn’t missing today was effort," said new boss Clayton McMillan after the win over Connacht. "And after last week, when you play those sorts of games, a lot of the emotion, a huge amount of energy spent, it can be tough to back up the following week, and we acknowledged that early. “I thought the coaching staff and the players really responded well to the challenge during the week. We parked the euphoria of the previous week and got on with the business, knowing that Connacht were going to come here and throw the kitchen sink at us and that’s what we got. “So really pleasing and I could sense through the warm-up that we were there mentally and the effort was there. We weren’t gifted a lot, and we had to work for everything, but we got there.” Thus Saturday night's tussle hinged on the only second-half score, Man of the Match Alax Nankivell putting Jack O'Donoghue in for an unconverted try in the 67th minute - part of yet another eye-catching game from the Waterford-born 31-year-old. O'Donoghue has been capped twice, against Canada 2016 and Japan 2017, and while he has recently suggested international rugby has now bypassed him there is little doubt five games into the 2025/26 season, McMillan has the magic beans the back-row is thriving on. There was also interest in Stuart Lancaster putting Paul Boyle in for a first game in the no. 7 shirt - he had never started a professional game there before - with the knock-on suggestion there had been a conversation with Andy Farrell about the lack of coverage for Josh van der Flier at the higher level. This, in turn, could allow Sean Jansen concentrate on no8, a player who was a star performer for Ireland A against England in Bristol last February - carrying for more metres than any other Irish player in atrocious conditions in a match which wasn't televised. Boyle bagged one of the Westerners three tries and if there is another 10/15 percent to come from him as an open-side flanker Lancaster - whose singular overarching expertise is the no7 role - may have made a very, very interesting call. “You can’t underestimate how tough that was,” said Munster skipper O’Donoghue afterwards. “We started the game really well and probably fell into a bit of complacency. “In fairness to Connacht, they threw everything at us, but our defence was awesome. We came away with the four points, so absolutely we will take it. We are delighted.” Elsewhere there was, by the way, a performance worthy of 'instant' international recognition and it came from Robert Baloucoune for Ulster against Lions in Johannesburg. Ulster lost 49-31 to Lions, swamped in the last quarter at altitude where they were literally out on the feet and couldn't contain tackles, in a 12-try thriller. He's big, he's quick, he looks back to full fitness for the first time in 18 months and he bagged a sixth, 40th and 53rd minute hat-trick that helped keep Ulster in the game, three points adrift for instance with 13 minutes to play. "It's a difficult one to take, we're in that game for 55, 60 minutes and let it get away from us in the end," said Ulster boss Richie Murphy. "Over the course of the game, our error count was probably too high and we just invited the Lions into the game. "Scrum dominance from them put us under a lot of pressure, but it's a massive effort from the players in a very tough situation, 28 or 29 degrees at altitude, it's not an easy place to be." Baloucoune has been inspirational: "Incredible. Having Rob back is fantastic. He got through another full game, which is exciting for us, and long may that fitness level continue. "We have an embarrassment of riches in the back three. Zac Ward has been on fire, Werner Kok has been really good and Mikey Lowry's flying. "I thought both Bryn Ward and Joe Hopes (making debuts) put in a big shift. There's going to be little things there that we'll review and give them some feedback. It's good to see them both come through the game and contribute so much."