Saracens now hit in the pocket with a European fine
Fresh from stating they would not be appealing the £5.3million fine and the 35-point deduction handed out by Premiership Rugby, t…
Liam Heagney
19 Nov 2019, 11:21
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.
'My first ever comms and my mic didn't work… I was crying inside' - BOD on punditry gaffes, Saracens cheating, time-wasting scrums and Ireland hosting a World Cup
Brian O'Driscoll is eloquence-personified as he remembers his embarrassing punditry debut, chastises Saracens, slams the refereein…
Liam Heagney
17 Nov 2019, 7:06
Doping in South African rugby? Brian O'Driscoll isn't jumping on the Neil Francis bandwagon
Allegations of a doping culture being rife in South African rugby have arisen in the wake of their recent World Cup win, but an Ir…
Liam Heagney
17 Nov 2019, 3:13
How a short Dublin walk felt like a millions miles on Saturday for one set of Leinster brothers
The Irish province got their latest Champions Cup campaign up and running against an easy on the eye Benetton on a day of mixed em…
Liam Heagney
16 Nov 2019, 14:09
'There is a lot little details if you come into our team you will spot straightaway. One example - we don't have fines'
Kieran Crowley has transformed the miserable fortunes of Benetton Treviso in the last three years and assistant Marco Bortolami ha…
Liam Heagney
16 Nov 2019, 4:02
Allen Clarke on the fight to ensure his fate at Ospreys isn't similar to fellow Irishman Jackman at Dragons
The Swansea-based club's poor start to this season has sharped the focus on whether their Irish boss can stay the course unlike wh…
Liam Heagney
15 Nov 2019, 11:37
Saracens pick just four of their Champions Cup final XV for opener in Paris
Between the World Cup and the salary cap sanctions, continuity has been difficult at the crisis-hit Londoners who head to Paris wi…
Liam Heagney
15 Nov 2019, 8:18
'As someone from the southern hemisphere, it is a phenomenal achievement just to get out of your group'
Johann van Graan tackles why the Irish province isn't more respected for a quarter-final record bettered by only four rival clubs …
Liam Heagney
15 Nov 2019, 7:36
'Commercially, it has been a disappointment... lots of reasons for that'
When EPCR was set-up following the civil war that ended ERC, organisers believed the new Champions Cup's revenues would monster th…
Liam Heagney
15 Nov 2019, 5:13
'It's about people, 63 young players and 32 staff... the complexities, the dynamics, the feelings of those relationships'
Stuart Hooper thought he still had some time to learn the ropes but Todd Blackadder's early exit from Bath plunged him into the di…
Liam Heagney
14 Nov 2019, 11:15
'Everyone says we're a million dollars, working hard, pushing more in the gym, running further... but so is everyone else'
After their longest-ever pre-season, Harlequins arrived into the new Premiership campaign looking to make a statement but it hasn'…
Liam Heagney
13 Nov 2019, 9:19
Racing 92 have finally issued a statement regarding the absent Leone Nakarawa
It has been one of the most bizarre post-World Cup stories, Leone Nakarawa's failure to report back for club duty with Racing, and…
Liam Heagney
13 Nov 2019, 4:50
One pro team's huge turnover: just two players are at Ulster longer than 27-year-old Iain Henderson
Iain Henderson debuted for Ulster as a 20-year-old in 2012 surrounded by a hugely experienced squad... now just two players are le…
Liam Heagney
12 Nov 2019, 14:21
'He has probably got more hair products than my wife does'
As skipper at Sale, Jono Ross is well-placed to have an insight on the World Cup's most talked about hairstyle... he also talks So…
Liam Heagney
10 Nov 2019, 5:07
Munster's pursuit of Springbok stars begs questions of IRFU stance on Aki
It looks very odd that a move abroad would end Bundee Aki's Ireland career, yet the penny-pinching IRFU is planning to happily acc…
Liam Heagney
10 Nov 2019, 4:00
Mark McCall has finally broken his silence over Saracens' salary cap breaches
Saracens' director of rugby failed to turn up at Wednesday's Champions Cup launch following the Premiership salary breaches announ…
Liam Heagney
09 Nov 2019, 10:20
'Saracens are going to be quite emotional... like a bear with a sore head'
It has been a tumultuous salary cap week in the Gallagher Premiership and Gloucester might have drawn the short straw in being the…
Liam Heagney
08 Nov 2019, 9:13
European chairman's stark message for some fellow rugby administrators - stop holding the sport back
Heading into his fifth season as EPCR chairman, Simon Halliday is demanding better governance for professional rugby and calls on …
Liam Heagney
07 Nov 2019, 13:54
'No, I don't live my life with regret' - Munster's van Graan on missing last Saturday's Boks triumph
A young spectator at the grounds for South Africa's two previous World Cup wins, Johann van Graan has no regrets at missing the th…
Liam Heagney
07 Nov 2019, 3:10
World Cup winner Erasmus' poignant promise to the late Anthony Foley
The tragic October 2016 death of Munster's Anthony Foley wasn't forgotten by Rassie Erasmus in the hour of his greatest rugby triu…
Liam Heagney
05 Nov 2019, 15:47
