Analysis
Four World Rugby U20 Championship match day three talking points
Wales versus defending champions France in Pool A is essentially a play-off to decide who clinches the single best runner-up spot …
Liam Heagney
09 Jul 2024, 2:48
Contributors
Liam Heagney
@heagneyl
A seasoned rugby journalist, Liam hails from Limerick and has covered World Cups, Lions tours, Six Nations Championships and European Cup campaigns since 2000. He became a content editor at RugbyPass in 2019 after joining from the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday in Ireland.
Analysis
World Rugby U20 Championship match day three game-by-game guide
Three matches are scheduled for Athlone: Ireland-Australia (2pm local time), France-Wales (4:30pm) and South Africa-England (7pm).…
Liam Heagney
08 Jul 2024, 8:35
The ‘slow poison’ that Rassie Erasmus loved about his Springboks
Only Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith from the starting pack remained on the field with the match delicately poised at 13-8 i…
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 10:20
Rassie Erasmus claims beating Ireland wasn’t ‘monkey off the back win'
Before this weekend’s 27-20 win in Pretoria, the Springboks had lost their last three encounters with Ireland, losing in Dublin …
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 7:36
The reason why Andy Farrell believes Ireland can level Test series
The reigning Guinness Six Nations champions never got going in Pretoria until it was too late, losing 20-27 at Loftus Versfeld and…
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 6:52
England statement: Call-up for uncapped prop Emmanuel Iyogun
Marler’s early exit resulted in a Test debut for his Harlequins teammate Fin Baxter, who didn’t let his side down in his maide…
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 3:30
Exclusive
Asher Opoku-Fordjour: 'You want to be the one that dominates'
Marler is not alone in liking the look of Asher Opoku-Fordjour. Alex Sanderson, the youngster’s boss at the Sharks, is constantl…
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 2:36
Analysis
Kwagga Smith and three other South Africa vs Ireland talking points
Despite knocking around at altitude for over a week, Ireland were flat for far too long a stretch on the high veldt while South Af…
Liam Heagney
07 Jul 2024, 2:31
The Andy Farrell reaction to the TMO calls that went against Ireland
Andy Farrell has given his reaction to a frustrating 20-27 defeat for Ireland on Saturday evening in Pretoria, suggesting his team…
Liam Heagney
06 Jul 2024, 15:13
Analysis
Ireland player ratings versus South Africa – Castle Lager Test One
After all the talk, South Africa’s big day finally arrived and they had their chance to avenge last September’s Rugby World Cu…
Liam Heagney
06 Jul 2024, 14:28
Analysis
Four talking points after World Rugby U20 Championship match day two
There were thrilling finishes, loads of excellent tries and even the novelty of needing a review to judge whether the final kick o…
Liam Heagney
05 Jul 2024, 7:09
Interview
What last-gasp hero Finn Treacy made of Ireland's 24-phase try
The Irish looked set to be beaten as they had surrendered an early 12-0 lead and were trailing 15-16 and were fortunate not to be …
Liam Heagney
05 Jul 2024, 4:42
Interview
The Junior Boks explanation for their heavy defeat to Argentina
The Junior Boks had won the previous two games they had played against the Argentinians. Now, with the tables drastically turned, …
Liam Heagney
05 Jul 2024, 3:33
Interview
The Rico Simpson verdict on his TMO-reviewed game-winning kick
The Baby Blacks place-kicker had his frustrations during his team’s ding-dong match with France, the defending champions.
Liam Heagney
05 Jul 2024, 2:43
Interview
Jono Gibbes' ‘do-or-die’ reaction to late, late New Zealand U20s win
The Baby Blacks trailed 0-11 at the break following an opening period where they were heavily penalised on the penalty count, culm…
Liam Heagney
04 Jul 2024, 20:01
Recap: World Rugby U20 Championship 2024 in Cape Town – Day Two
RugbyPass will spend the day at the Danie Craven where the all-European clash of the Irish and the Georgians gets things going at …
Liam Heagney
04 Jul 2024, 6:41
Interview
Lucas de la Rua: 'You're almost in shock, there’s nothing you can do'
His exotic-sounding name is rooted in the Iberian Peninsula as both his parents hail from Spain, but he is very much a born-and-ra…
Liam Heagney
04 Jul 2024, 2:12
Interview
Getting to Know: South Africa U20s full-back Bruce Sherwood
The Capetonian, who celebrated his 20th birthday last week ahead of the opening-round win over Fiji at DHL Stadium, was part of Ba…
Liam Heagney
04 Jul 2024, 2:04
Analysis
Four World Rugby U20 Championship match day two talking points
It’s the sort of programme that should have rugby fans having two gadgets on the go at the same time so that none of the action …
Liam Heagney
04 Jul 2024, 1:42
Interview
Getting to Know: England U20s loosehead Asher Opoku-Fordjour
A year ago he was coming to the age-grade event in Cape Town off the back of a challenging season in England. Part of the Wasps ac…
Liam Heagney
03 Jul 2024, 2:42
