Ireland and Leinster flanker Keith Gleeson has announced that that he will retire from professional rugby at the end of the season.
 
The 31-year-old made his international debut in 2002 and won 27 Irish caps.

“I’ve enjoyed my time with Leinster and am honoured to have played for both my province and country,” he said.

“My decision is largely inspired by my desire to explore new avenues and opportunities and I feel now is the time to do that.”

He added: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank my coaches, all the support staff at Leinster, my friends and family for their support over the last seven years.”

Gleeson made his senior debut for Leinster in 2001 and since then has gone on to win 115 caps for his province.
 
In February 2002 he burst onto the international scene when he came on as a substitute in Ireland’s Six Nations game against Wales.

He became a consistent member of the Ireland team until the 2004 Six Nations when he broke his arm in the match against Italy.

This was followed by a serious leg injury during a training exercise in August of the same year.

Despite being a potentially career ending injury Gleeson made a full recovery and marked his return to the game with an appearance for his club, St. Mary’s College, late in the 2004/05 season.

He went on to reclaim his place in the Leinster senior team and make a further four appearances for his country.

Born in Ireland, Gleeson emigrated to Australia at the age of seven only to return in 2001 as a result of an invitation to play with Leinster.

While in Australia he played with the New South Wales Waratahs, Australian Barbarians, Australia U19 and Australia U21s.

Gleeson will return to Australia at the end of the year with his wife Fiona to work in the family business.

Eddie O’Sullivan has resigned as coach of Ireland after a disastrous World Cup and disappointing Six Nations campaign.
 
The 49-year-old led the Irish to three Triple Crowns during his six-year reign but his critics felt he did not get the best out of a richly-talented team.

O’Sullivan said: “Having given my role as team head coach much consideration, I have decided to step down.”

Declan Kidney is tipped to take over, but Pat Howard, Wayne Smith, Jake White and Alan Gaffney are also in the frame.

O’Sullivan’s fate was sealed by Ireland’s dismal fourth place finish in the Six Nations, their worst championship performance since 1999. 

They could only beat Scotland and Italy, losing 33-10 to England at Twickenham in their final game last weekend.

At the World Cup, Ireland failed to make it out of the group stages following defeats by France and Argentina.

O’Sullivan’s statement continued: “I would like to thank my management team and all the players that I have worked with during my tenure as Irish coach.

“Their commitment and professionalism in representing their country has been consummate throughout.

“I would also like to thank the IRFU for their unwavering support of me as coach to the team.

“In addition, I would like to thank the Irish rugby supporters who have played a huge role in driving the team on to some outstanding performances in recent years.

“Finally, I would like to wish the Irish rugby team and the IRFU every success in the future, in a professional sport that is becoming more demanding and competitive by the day. 

“I will not be making any further comments on this issue for the foreseeable future, and I would ask that the privacy of both myself and my family at this time be respected.”

Under O’Sullivan, who took over in November 2001, Ireland won three Triple Crowns in four years and narrowly missing out on Grand Slams in 2006 and 2007.

They also rose to number three in the world ranking in late 2006 and early 2007.

O’Sullivan’s position looked secure, prompting the Irish Rugby Football Union to award him a new four-year contract before the World Cup.

The contract even contained a clause allowing him to take time off from the job if he was appointed to coach the British and Irish Lions in 2009.

O’Sullivan had initially insisted he had no intention of quitting.

After the loss to England, he said: “I believe I am the right man to lead Irish rugby.

“I think the question for me is: Have I got the hunger for this job? And the answer to that is absolutely, 100%.”

Kidney is the early favourite to succeed O’Sullivan after enjoying success with Munster, steering them to the 2006 Heineken Cup crown.

The Irishman, who also coached Leinster, has already had a taste of international rugby, working for a short time as an assistant to O’Sullivan.

But Kidney will face overseas opposition from the likes of White, who masterminded South Africa’s World Cup triumph last autumn and has been linked with England.

Australian Gaffney is due to step down as Saracens director of rugby at the end of the season and will join Leinster as backs coach in August, but he would be the perfect choice if a stop-gap was required.

Howard, another Australian, steered Leicester to a Premiership and EDF Energy Cup double in 2007 before returning home to manage his family’s pharmaceutical company.

He was soon tempted back into the sport, becoming general manager of the Australian Rugby Union’s high performance unit, though he is now quit that role.

Smith has an impressive club record, lifting Northampton at of the doldrums and guiding the Canterbury Crusaders to Super 12 glory in two successive years.

But he has endured a chequered Test career.

Appointed New Zealand coach in 1999, he was deposed in 2001 following a poor Tri-Nations.

He linked up with Graham Henry as backs coach for his second stint with the All Blacks but that ended in failure with a quarter-final exit at last autumn’s World Cup.

Simon Easterby has retired from international rugby just two days after winning his 65th cap for Ireland as a replacement against England.

The 32-year-old Llanelli Scarlets captain believes the time is right to walk away from the international stage.

“I’ve been extremely fortunate to play with some of the great players of Irish rugby and it has been a privilege to be involved with them,” said Easterby.

“After eight years in the squad I now feel this is the time to step down.”

The former British and Irish Lion, who turns 33 in July, played in every game of the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Six Nations championships and is Ireland’s most capped back-row forward.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it but, with the demands on international rugby players these days, and with a young family, I feel this is the right time to move on to the next stage of my life.

“Over the next two years my main focus is on the Scarlets, where hopefully we can bring some success to the fans.”

Easterby won his first cap against Scotland at Lansdowne Road in 2000 and continued success in an Ireland jersey saw him receive a call-up for the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand as a replacement for the injured Lawrence Dallaglio.

With Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell injured, he captained Ireland in the 2005 autumn series.

Easterby still has a two years to run on his Scarlets contract

England relieved the pressure on coach Brian Ashton with an impressive Six Nations win over Ireland at Twickenham.

Despite going 10-0 behind courtesy of a Rob Kearney try and two successful kicks from Ronan O’Gara, the home side hit back for an important victory.

Danny Cipriani kicked 18 points on his first start while Paul Sackey, Mathew Tait and Jamie Noon all crossed.

The win ensured England ended on a high - but the future does not look so good for Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan.

His position has come under increasing threat following his side’s early exit from the World Cup last year and will not have been improved by a third defeat of a disappointing campaign.

Ireland drew first blood after just four minutes, with Kearney grabbing only his second international try.

Scrum-half Eoin Reddan took a quick tap on England’s 22, feeding the ball quickly out to the left.

Geordan Murphy’s dancing feet caused indecision in the England defence, allowing Kearney to dive over despite Phil Vickery’s desperate tackle.

O’Gara landed the conversion and made it 10-0 just three minutes later with an easy penalty.

Ireland lost flanker Denis Leamy to injury on 12 minutes - and as he walked off the pitch Cipriani slotted his first points for England with a penalty of his own.

The home side then drew level with 20 minutes gone.

Some intense pressure and incisive passing ended with Sackey going over on the right, Cipriani adding the extras.

Noon almost added a second try on 24 minutes after England opened up the Ireland midfield beautifully.

But the Newcastle centre, who had taken Cipriani’s offload at pace, was held up just short.

England went into the lead for the first time on 30 minutes when Cipriani, looking increasingly assured, slotted a straightforward penalty after Ireland had infringed at a ruck.

Murphy hobbled off soon after with a leg injury, but there were no further scores before the interval.

It did not take long for the scoreboard to start ticking over again after the break.

Cipriani stepped up to make it four out of four successful kicks at goal with his third penalty of the afternoon on 45 minutes.

Ireland’s main threat was coming from Ulster winger Tommy Bowe, whose jinking runs caused several moments of panic in the English defence.

But it was O’Gara who had the chance to level the scores on 50 minutes after the England forwards had infringed at a ruck.

Unfortunately for the Irish, he was off target with his kick.

England were forced into a change of their own on 52 minutes, when Toby Flood, who had impressed at inside centre, limped off to be replaced by Jonny Wilkinson.

Having been singled out for criticism in the wake of the Scotland defeat, Wilkinson had been dropped to the bench to make way for Cipriani.

But the record-breaking points scorer ran on to the Twickenham pitch to a chorus of cheers, suggesting he was still a favourite among the England fans.

It was another substitute who extended England’s lead on 58 minutes.

Tait, on as a blood replacement for Sackey, scorched his way over in the right corner following another sweet passing move.

But no sooner had he scored than Tait was off again, able to watch from the bench as Cipriani landed the conversion to make the score 23-10 in England’s favour.

Ireland worked hard to get back into the match, but it was England who looked the more dangerous.

Noon showed great skill in chipping the ball over the onrushing Irish defence as he made inroads down the right touchline while Tait, back on for Sackey, was also a thorn.

The impressive Noon wrapped up victory for England with 11 minutes remaining, shrugging off two tacklers to force his way over in the left corner.

Cipriani duly added the extras, converting from the touchline to keep his unblemished record intact.

The Wasps youngster added another penalty six minutes from time as England ran out convincing winners, clinching their first victory over Ireland in five attempts in the process.

More importantly, it gave Ashton a morale-boosting lift at the end of a week when he has come under fire for England’s lack-lustre performances and the treatment of Wilkinson, who many felt was made the scapegoat for the loss to Scotland.
——————————————————————————–

England: Balshaw, Sackey, Noon, Flood, Vainikolo, Cipriani, Wigglesworth, Sheridan, Mears, Vickery, Shaw, Borthwick, Croft, Lipman, Easter.
Replacements: Tait for Sackey (48), Wilkinson for Flood (53), Hodgson for Wigglesworth (75), Chuter for Mears (76), Stevens for Vickery (60), Kay for Shaw (61), Haskell for Lipman (64).

Ireland: Murphy, Bowe, Trimble, Horgan, Kearney, O’Gara, Reddan, Horan, Best, Hayes, O’Callaghan, O’Connell, Leamy, D. Wallace, Heaslip.
Replacements: Fitzgerald for Murphy (35), P. Wallace for Horgan (77), Stringer for Reddan (71), Buckley for Horan (67), Jackman for Best (71), Easterby for Leamy (12), O’Driscoll for D. Wallace (67).
 

Ireland have recalled Geordan Murphy at full-back for Saturday’s Six Nations date with England at Twickenham.

However, the Leicester player must undergo a fitness test on his injured leg before winning his 56th cap.

With skipper Brian O’Driscoll injured, Shane Horgan moves inside to join Andrew Trimble at centre with Robert Kearney returning to the left wing.

The pack remains the same while Ronan O’Gara will lead Ireland for the first time while winning his 82nd cap.

“Paul O’Connell would be the obvious choice to captain the side, but he is still trying to reach full fitness after being out for quite a while,” said coach Eddie O’Sullivan. 

“I would prefer if he had no other matters on his mind other than his own game. I have every faith in Ronan as captain. He will revel in that position.”

If Murphy fails to come through, O’Sullivan will have to tinker further with his back three, having had to do so prior to the defeat by Wales when both Murphy and Girvan Dempsey were ruled out.

Leinster’s Luke Fitzgerald would move up from the bench to the wing with Kearney returning to full-back and Connacht’s Gavin Duffy called up to the bench.

“At present, Geordan is rated 50/50, and we will know later in the week about his availability,” said O’Sullivan.

——————————————————————————–

Ireland: Murphy; Bowe, Horgan, Trimble, Kearney; O’Gara (capt), Reddan; Horan, Best, Hayes, O’Callaghan, O’Connell, Leamy, D Wallace, Heaslip.
Replacements: Jackman, Buckley, M O’Driscoll, Easterby, Stringer, P Wallace, Fitzgerald.