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Caolin Blade
Cáolin Blade (born 29 April 1994) is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for United Rugby Championship club Connacht and the Ireland national team. Early life Blade grew up in Monivea, a village in County Galway. He attended Athenry Vocational School in nearby Athenry. In addition to rugby, Blade also played Gaelic football and hurling at under-age level. Blade started out in rugby with local junior club Monivea, where his father played out half and brother have also played at scrum-half. He played with them until 2013, moving to All-Ireland League club Galwegians after entering Connacht's academy. Professional career Connacht Having already played for the province's second tier side, the Connacht Eagles, Blade joined Connacht's academy at the start of the 2013–14 season. Blade largely featured for the Eagles throughout the year but made his debut for the senior team in the final game of the season, coming on as a replacement in 45â ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaà Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht. Connacht plays its home games at the Galway Sportsgrounds, which holds 8,100 spectators. Connacht play in a predominantly green jersey, shorts and socks. The Connacht Rugby crest is a modified version of the provincial flag of Connacht and consists of a dimidiated eagle and an arm wielding a sword. With the province containing just over 8% of the total Irish population, Connacht has a much smaller base of rugby union players to choose from than the other three provinces. This player base is also affected by the relative popularity of Gaelic Athletic Association sports such as hurling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaà Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster Branch, which is responsible for rugby union throughout the Irish province of Munster. The team motto is "To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible." This is derived from the motto of the MacCarthy clan – "Forti et Fideli nihil difficile". Their main home ground is Thomond Park, Limerick, though some games are played at Musgrave Park, Cork. History Foundation and early years Munster was officially founded in 1879, at the same time as Leinster and Ulster, with Connacht being founded ten years later in 1889. The first interprovincial matches between Leinster, Ulster and Munster, however, were held in 1875. The founding of the Munster branch of the IRFU was intended to organise and oversee the game within the province and prevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro14
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South African teams previously from the SANZAR Super Rugby competition. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe (along with the English Premiership and the French Top 14), the most successful teams from which go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup. Since 2022–23, despite the name, South African teams have been eligible to qualify for European competition, and one South African place is guaranteed. Beginning with the creation of the Welsh–Scottish League in 1999, the league became known as the Celtic League when it grew to include teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The league was sponsored by Irish cider makers Magners from the 2006–07 season until 2010–11. At the start of the 2010–1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2014–15 Pro12
The 2014–15 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the fifth with its current four-country format. It was the first season to be referred to as the ''Pro12'' to not have RaboDirect as the title sponsor, having been replaced by Guinness. Leinster were the defending champions having beaten Glasgow Warriors in the previous season's playoff final, to become the first team in the league to successfully retain the trophy. Leinster were unable to defend their title as they failed to qualify for the end-of-season playoffs for the top four teams after the regular season. Glasgow Warriors finished the regular season on top of the table, and were crowned champions for the first time, beating second seeded team Munster 31–13 in the final. Thus, the Warriors became the first Scottish team to win a professional trophy, beating Edinburgh's appearance in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leinster Rugby
Leinster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaà Laighean) is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland and the most successful Irish team domestically. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Leinster play their home games primarily at the RDS Arena, although larger games are played in the Aviva Stadium when the capacity of the RDS is insufficient. Before moving to the RDS in 2005, Leinster's traditional home ground was Donnybrook Stadium, in Dublin 4. The province plays primarily in blue with white or yellow trim and the team crest features a harp within a rugby ball, the harp being an ancient symbol of the province found in and taken from the flag of Leinster, although the colours are closer to the flag of the President of Ireland or the Coat of arms of Ireland. Leinster turned professional along with its fellow Irish provinces in 1995 and has competed in the United Rugby Championship (formerly known as the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Lam
Patrick Richard Lam (born 29 September 1968) is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby. Born in New Zealand, he represented New Zealand in schools and under-21 rugby. He played for Auckland, North Harbour, , Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints. He also won 25 caps for Samoa, including at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 World Cups. His usual position was number 8. Since retiring as a player he has coached teams including Auckland and Connacht. Playing career Lam was born in Auckland and attended St Peter's College, Grafton, and captained the New Zealand Secondary Schools rugby team. He played at loose forward for Auckland, North Harbour and Crusaders, before moving to England where he first played for Newcastle Falcons. In his first season at Newcastle he made 22 appearances as they won the 1997-98 Premiership. However, after that triumph he moved on to Northampton Saints, with whom he won the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviron Bayonnais
Aviron Bayonnais ( eu, Baionako Arrauna), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'', in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which, for the 2016-17 season, competed in the top tier of the French league system, in the Top 14 competition. In the 2015–16 Rugby Pro D2 Season they were promoted after finishing 2nd and winning the playoff final against Aurillac. In the 2016-2017 season, they finished in last place, and will be relegated back to Pro D2 for the 2017-18 season. Founded in 1904, they play at the Parc des Sports also known as Stade Jean-Dauger in Bayonne. Their mascot is a pottok pony called ''pottoka''. They have ties to the French Basque community. History The club was established in 1904, making their first final appearance in the 1913 season, where they defeated S.C.U.F. 31-8 at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir. The national domestic championship was replaced by the Coupe de l'Espérance during World War I. The competition was played f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Professional Club Rugby
European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) is the governing body and organiser of the two major European rugby union club tournaments: the European Rugby Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup. A third tournament, the European Rugby Challenge Cup Qualifying Competition was introduced as a qualification competition for clubs from minor nations to enter the Challenge Cup. EPCR shared control of this tournament with Rugby Europe, the international federation for rugby union in Europe, and with the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR). The tournament was discontinued after the 2018–19 season. The organisation was established in 2014 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland and is now headquartered in Lausanne. Switzerland was chosen so as not to have the headquarters in any of the six participating countries. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home matches at Sandy Park, a purpose-built facility on the outskirts of the city. They have been known by the name Chiefs since 1999. The club was promoted to the Premiership Rugby, Premiership for the first time in 2010. Since promotion, the Chiefs have become one of the leading clubs in the Premiership, winning the championship title twice, in 2016–17 Premiership Rugby, 2016–17 and 2019–20 Premiership Rugby, 2019–20 respectively, and reaching a further four finals. In October 2020, the Chiefs won the 2019–20 European Rugby Champions Cup, Champions Cup, the top prize in European club rugby union, for the first time, defeating French club Racing 92 in the final of a tournament that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Exet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flagship analysis programmes such as ''Match of the Day'', ''Test Match Special'', ''Ski Sunday'', ''Today at Wimbledon'' and previously '' Grandstand''. Results, analysis and coverage is also added to the BBC Sport website and through the BBC Red Button interactive television service. History The BBC has broadcast sport for several decades under individual programme names and coverage titles. '' Grandstand'' was one of the more notable sport programmes, broadcasting sport for almost 50 years. The BBC first began to brand sport coverage as 'BBC Sport' in 1988 for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, by introducing the programme with a short animation of a globe circumnavigated by four coloured rings. This practice continued throughout the n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
