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Next week's game versus France will now determine where Ireland finish in Pool D: we have a guaranteed place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals following our win over Italy. 

This evening's game was rarely pretty, but it was ultimately job done by Joe Schmidt's men – they won by 16 points to 9 at London's Olympic Stadium.

Keith Earls scored the only try of the game on the 19th-minute.

Ireland remain top of the table in their group – ahead of second-placed France on points difference.

The Boys In Green had been expected to win comfortably, but faced an Azzuri squad in dramatically improved form. Indeed, the Italians arguably played their best rugby in a long time.

Ireland faced more than one hairy moment, and in the end Johnny Sexton was relieved to kick the ball into touch to sound the final whistle.

And while he'll have plenty to address before next-week's decider, Joe Schmidt will at least be content to come through today's contest without any serious injury worries. 

Next Sunday, the team return to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff – where they opened their World Cup campaign with a win over Canada on September 18 – in the final game of the Pool D group stages.

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Ireland has kicked-off a great Rugby World Cup campaign so far – with tries galore leaving the team sitting on top of Pool D.

And Wales's stunning 28-25 win over host-nation England has had a major impact on the just-released world rugby rankings.

Yes, while the All Blacks remains the best team playing, Wales has climbed up two places on the same list – hitting the No.2 spot for the first time in the 12-year history of the weekly-released table. 

Despite being something of a pre-tournament favourite, England, on the other hand, falls down to No.6. On this side of the water, there was good news for Ireland, however – the Boys In Green are up a spot to No.4 in the world.

France, our most threatening rival in Pool D, is currently ranked No.7.

Scotland is the biggest climber – making it into the Top Ten to reach No.9 from a previous ranking of 12. 

Joe Schmidt's squad next face 14th-placed Italy in six days' time at the Olympic Stadium in London. 

Earlier today it was announced that more than a million people had tuned into TV3 to watch the Ireland Vs Romania game yesterday. 

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So Irish rugby fans have been absolutely taking over London in the run-up to today’s kick-off against Romania.

Some of them have gotten very excited indeed and decided to act like absolute messers with the aid of some of the giant screens put up in Wembley’s fan-zone.

It would appear that a few very familiar Irish names are coming up as missing in the Public Service Announcement.

We reckon that considering there seems to be a healthy number of Irish supporters on site, it should not be too long before the famous names turn up. We just wonder who came up with the idea in the first place.

Wembley fanzone 3

Ireland’s sold out match against Romania is the 300 match in Rugby World Cup history, and it looks like it might as well have been played in the Aviva.

That’s a lot of green jerseys spotted lads.

TV3, who are broadcasting the match today, were reminding everyone not to be too cautious around the underdog team considering the folklore surrounding one of the nation’s most famous citizens.

BOD himself showed no fear as he got up close and personal with some of the Romanian players before the match started:

 

 

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With the Rugby World Cup in full swing across the water, we're being treated to a load of rather impressive Haka right now. 

What a pity though we missed one on our very doorstep – for a visiting New Zealand schools team delighted Co Kildare locals earlier this week with their impressive display.

Better still… the traditional war-cry took place in a service station branch of Supermac's.

Students from the Wairoa College Rugby Academy have certainly been making the most of the Irish leg of their European tour.

Indeed, their busy Facebook page has plenty of snaps of Dublin city centre (they, of course, made sure to visit the Aviva Stadium), as well as Roscrea College in Co Offaly and Dromore High School in Co Down. 

On Monday, the teenagers stopped in SuperMac's in Mayfield just off the M7 in Kildare – and when staff there asked them to perform a Haka, they happily obliged. 

 

Boys perform haka at Supermacs – Junction 14 Mayfield after special request from staff.

Posted by Wairoa College Rugby Academy on Monday, 21 September 2015

 

Numerous locals captured the unique moment on their phones – and a video of the incident uploaded onto the Wairoa College Facebook page has now been viewed more than 20,000 times. 

SuperMac's itself has even shared alternative footage to its own Facebook profile.

 

The Haka… in Supermac's!

Some visitors to Supermac's at Junction 14 Mayfield performed a version of the intimidating and fear-inducing Haka. Check it out below!Thanks to Martin McKeogh who posted the video on Twitter.

Posted by Supermac's on Tuesday, 22 September 2015

 

The U18s squad departed New Zealand on Saturday and are also touring England, Wales, Belgium, France and Dubai, where they will compete with fellow students.

Today, they attended morning assembly at Dromore High School, also tucking into a hearty full-Irish breakfast. 

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They may have only been dating a few months but it seems that Nadia Forde's new romance looks set to go the distance. 

The stunning Irish model opened up about her new beau in her latest interview in OK! Magazine. 

Nadia, 26, didn't hold back as she told the magazine about her relationship with rugby player, Dominic Day.

The reality star looked stunning as she lounged on her bed in a boho-style jumpsuit. 

Sitting behind her, the Wales player looked smart in a red polo shirt, holding a protective hand around Nadia's trim waist. 

Nadia couldn't help but gush about her new relationship. 

"It was just me and the cats for three years before Dom! He makes me feel like I’m part of a team."

"This is definitely the happiest I’ve ever been in a relationship."

Aside from their blissful relationship, the former I'm A Celeb… star opened up about how Dominic was there through the toughest time of her life. 

Nadia's mother passed away in June, following a five-year battle with lymphoma. 

"Dom was away at the time but sent a big, beautiful bunch of flowers, apologising that he couldn’t be there with me, at that moment, on that day." 

"I completely wasn’t expecting it but was so touched. I still have the card in my purse."

When asked about her plans for the future, Nadia revealed: "I've taken the last couple of months off. I'm back auditioning and I was going to release a single but I stopped because of the family stuff, so it's all going to start again."

It seems the brunette beauty has everything back on track!

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Former Munster player and Irish rugby international Ronan O’Gara has revealed the perceptions he believes people had of him as a player.

He was at Cork Opera House last night speaking with Newstalk as part of a panel previewing the Rugby World Cup. During their chat Ronan admitted that he knows some people may not have looked too favourably on him.

"The perception of me when I was playing was cranky, narky, arrogant, bit of a w*nker,” he said.

He has also spoken with the Irish Times of late about how difficult he found it when his personal life began to receive more attention than his sporting career, and it wasn’t all positive.

“Obviously it was new when you hear personal stuff about you. Anything but rugby you couldn’t care less but something like a marriage being over when there is absolutely no basis is too severe.”

It doesn’t look like he’s let any of that get to him now as he’s pretty content with his latest gig off the field. He had an interesting take one what life is like as a TV pundit.

"I essentially get paid to sit on my arse and watch the team. It's great. You live like a king."

Sounds like someone is living the dream.

"You've great facilities, you sit down, you've runners getting you tea, coffee, purple snacks, yellow Snacks, sandwiches, chips," he said.  

To be fair, it is not as if all of this ‘purple Snack’ luxury hasn’t been earned. Ronan is Ireland’s second most-capped player behind Brian O’Driscoll and the fourth most-capped in Rugby Union history.

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After an unprecedented winning streak, Irish rugby has suffered back-to-back losses – to Wales and England – in the space of just eight days.

But the boys in green, for whom we still have BIG World Cup glory hopes, are clearly in jovial spirits today.

Taking to Instagram, No.8 star Jamie Heaslip posted an EPIC snap of his team-mates alongside the legendary sprinter, Usain Bolt.

Captured is 31-man squad, as well as trainers and coaches, surrounding the Jamacian athlete, who recently successfully defended his 100m and 200m World Champion titles in Beijing.

The group is collectively pulling Mr Bolt's iconic lightning strike pose – with the snap quickly gaining 1,500 likes in less thn hour.

In the accompanying caption, Jamie said it was "great to hear him speak during the week," – implying that the team is very much getting into a winning mentality.

The 2015 Rugby World Cup is being held in England, and kicks off on Friday, September 18.

Ireland begins its campaign the following day – playing Canada in Cardiff. 

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Over the weekend rugby payer Keegan Hirst came out as the first openly gay player.

In an interview with The Sunday Mirror, he spoke openly about coming out to his teammates and how he found it challenging to come to terms with his own sexuality at times.

Keegan, 27, who plays for Batley Bulldogs and is a father of two children said that it was as if he was “letting out a long breath that I’ve held in for a long time.”

He raised by a single mother in a council estate in Batley and Keegan says that he struggled as a young man to come to terms with his sexuality:

“I had a wife and kids. I’ve been a builder, doorman, worked in factories, I play rugby. I tick every macho box. How could I be gay? I’m from Batley for goodness sake. No one is gay in Batley.”

Only a few weeks ago he split up with his wife who he says blamed herself but Keegan says he couldn’t bear the guilt of it all, “of her not knowing.”

Since the news broke, many people have been sharing messages of support with the sports star.  One of those being human rights activist and Harry Potter star Emma Watson.

In a series of tweets about courage, Emma proved to one of many A-list stars to show their support for Keegan’s decision to speak publicly about his personal life.

 

Another was Stephen Fry.

In 2013 Emma, a UN Goodwill Ambassador with the HeForShe campaign made headlines for her speech inviting men to join the fight for gender equality.

She continues to speak on issues of equality regularly, something which Keegan himself has recognised for a while now it seems!

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Well would you look at who we spotted having a smashing good time in the sunshine.

Ahead of some serious training in preparation for the World Cup it looks some of our favourite Irish rugby stars are indulging in some much needed R&R. Surely this is how all high-performance athletes blow off some steam ahead of their big competitions, right?

The lads do look like they’re in good form though, and we do give some recognition to the Kearney brothers for representing their Leinster colours.

Surely that bright blue was eye catching enough to distract the competition. We’re not going to lie, it certainly caught our eye while we were mid-scroll on Instagram. 

Here they are working on their hand-eye coordination:

 

A video posted by jordimurphy (@jordimurphy) on

They also enjoy a nice sunset:

 

Couldn't pick a better group to get my downtown with #r&r

A photo posted by Rob Henshaw (@robhenshaw) on

Having a spot of banter over some dinner:

 

A photo posted by Ian Madigan (@ian.madigan) on

They just can't stay away from the beach!

 

A photo posted by Dave Kearney (@dave.kearney) on

It's certainly nice to see that some people are enjoying their summer season. Let us never forget the summer of blue shorts. 

Thanks guys!

 

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He’s been retired from the game for more than a year, but Brian O’Driscoll continues to rake in the cash.

In fact, accumulated profits at his main firm soared by €100,000 to more than €3.6m last year – the same year he was saying goodbye to Leinster and Ireland fans.

In 2013, profits at ODM & Promotions had increased by €340,000.

Brian’s second autobiography, The Test, was released last November just in time for the Christmas rush.

The 36-year-old rugby legend also works as a presenter and pundit for Newstalk and BT Sport, and has lucrative deals with HSBC and Lexus, although much of his mega-earnings come from savvy investments.

Through a government-incentive for retired athletes, the Dubliner can also claim back 40 percent tax on his gross earnings from sports activity for the next ten years.

He set up his firm back in 2001 when he was still just 22. At the time, Brian had just months previously scored an incredible hat-trick of tries in Paris – a performance which understandably catapulted him into the public consciousness.

In the same year, he also joined the Lions squad for the first time for the team’s tour of Australia.

Mr O’Driscoll has been married to actress and author Amy Huberman for five years and they have two children: two-and-a-half year old Sadie, and Billy, who was born in November. They live in a €1m home in Goatstown in south Dublin, a property they bought back in 2005.

Meanwhile, Johnny Sexton, 30, is doing well too: new accounts show a record year for JAS Management and Promotions Ltd, with accumulated profits soaring by €385,000 to €861,250.

He is married to his childhood sweetheart, teacher Laura Priestley, and they have one son, Luca, who celebrated his first birthday last month.

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It's already one of the most hotly-anticipated sporting events of the year, and the rugby world cup is now just two months away.

Taking place in England from September 18 to October 31, Ireland will be expected to perform well – emerging top of Pool D, a group which also boasts fellow Six Nations teams France and Italy.

And at least now we know what the boys in green will be wearing: Canterbury, which is making the jersey for the first time since 2007, officially unveiled its design this morning in Galway.

The jersey is simple and classic – and has a striking similarity to the England jersey (probably because they're both made by Canterbury).

There is also a white trim around the neck and no collar.

The Irish rugby team is currently ranked third in the world behind New Zealand and South Africa.

Our best result in a world cup is still the quarter finals stage; we've made it that far five times, most recently in 2011 when the tournament was held in New Zealand.

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Irish and Leinster flanker Jordi Murphy and model girlfriend Laura Finnegan are definitely on-again if Jordi’s Instagram is to be trusted.

The genetically blessed Dublin couple are reportedly ‘taking it slow’, but that hasn’t stopped them making the most of their time off. Soaking up the sunshine in Ibiza, the pair have kept us all totally envious as Jordi shared plenty of snaps on his Instagram account this week. Even starting off with an adorable pic of his nephew kitted out in the freshest Leinster gear to make us all go ‘awh’.

Getting in some serious tanning time, the rugby star joked he was still rocking a farmers tan on day one. Considering the luxury accommodation seen in the photo, we don’t think he had any trouble committing himself to the sun loungers! Jordi and Laura were staying at the Hard Rock Hotel and took time off from posing in their tiny swimwear to party at the Ocean Beach Club. The club is owned by Gary Lineker’s party-keen playboy brother Wayne.

The trip wasn’t just a romantic getaway though, with Jordi finding time to get himself and his buddies to some beach parties too. Embracing his Spanish roots the Irish rugby star wasted down no time getting his shorts out and balancing out that tan. His mate James Tracey didn’t have the same luck though becoming known as the “Casper” of the squad in comments on the post.

Jordi also couldn’t help but treat himself to some creative body art. Displaying some colourful designs all over those massive arms of his as he posed for another photo with the hashtag #zooproject. We wanted a photo of Laura’s reaction, or if she got a matching sleeve!

It wouldn’t have lasted very long anyway, considering the other photo’s Jordi shared of the stunning Laura showing off her bikini bod in the crystal clear ocean. Sporting a neon yellow bandeau style two piece the Assets model, and chemical engineering student, looked picture perfect.

Wrapping up the fabulous trip by sharing a photo of their tasty looking last meal, it looks like Jordi and Laura made the most of their time off.

After being reportedly on and off since they were in their teens, the couple, 24 and 23, are looking more loved-up than ever after their holiday.

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