IRFU CHIEF EXECUTIVE Philip Browne has admitted that the hard work starts now for Ireland after this morning’s formal launch of the bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Browne also underlined the importance of the GAA’s support, with several of the organisation’s stadia set to be used if Ireland wins the bidding process.

A figure in the region of €1.5million will be invested into the campaign to bring the global tournament to these shores, with the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive offering their full support.

If Ireland’s cross-border bid proves successful, it is believed a fee in excess of €130million would have to be paid to Rugby World Cup, the organisation which oversees the competition, as a guarantee.

Invitations to officially bid to host the tournament are likely to be distributed in 2016, following what Browne calls an “an informal process” with World Rugby [formerly the IRB] next year.

A decision on the hosting of the 2023 World Cup will be made by World Rugby in 2017.

Speaking this morning at the Royal School in Armagh City, Browne admitted that this project is among the most monumental the IRFU has ever undertaken.

“I think it’s got to be up there. Certainly building the Aviva Stadium with the FAI was a big project, but this is a very, very significant project.

“We’ve entered the whole project with serious intent and what’s fantastic to see is the two governments standing so closely behind us. That really does show the intent of the island of Ireland in relation to this.

(L-R) Martin McGuinness, Peter Robinson, Philip Browne, Enda Kenny, Joan Burton and Louis Magee. Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO

“So, yes, it’s a huge thing for the island, it’s a huge thing for rugby. Having got it to this stage, it’s about putting in the hard work to make sure we win.”

Browne pointed to South Africa, Italy, Argentina and “maybe” France and the USA as serious competitors in the process, indicating that the IRFU are under no illusions as to how strong their own bid will need to be.

HARLEQUINS HAVE BEEN dealt a blow with the news both Nick Evans and Chris Robshaw have been ruled out of Saturday’s crunch European Champions Cup game against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.

Evans lasted just 11 minutes of last weekend’s game against Matt O’Connor’s side before being forced off with a groin problem.

The 34-year-old was replaced by Tim Swiel and his absence for the second part of the double-header represents a significant setback for the English Premiership side as they look to take control of Pool 2.

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Robshaw, meanwhile, will sit out Saturday’s game because of a shoulder injury he sustained during the 24-18 win at the Twickenham Stoop.

The England flanker will see a specialist later this week and while ‘Quins are hopeful of Evans returning to action next week, the extent of Robshaw’s injury has yet to be determined.

Harlequins are currently top of Pool 2 with 12 points from three games and can take a major step towards qualification if they can make it four wins from win in the return leg.

Provinces need internationals to excel in crucial Champions Cup weekend‘Everyone has to be an option’: Nick Evans joined BOD to explain his decision making process in attack

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But what about [insert your fave county here]? Don’t worry, this is just the first in a series of articles that will cover every county in Ireland – even yours – over the next few weeks. 

1. It was another glorious year for the under 21 hurlers

They beat Cork to claim the Munster title.

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

2. A third straight All-Ireland success followed

Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

3. Anthony Foley took over the top job in Munster

Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO

4. Axel masterminded wins over Leinster and Saracens so far this season

Source: James Crombie/INPHO

5. Never one to let her brother hog all the plaudits, Rosie Foley swam across the English channel

The 39-cap Irish international spent 15 hours and 53 minutes in the water one fine July day. A month earlier, she swam from Portumna to Killaloe to warm up.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS COACH Jim Mallinder downplayed the incident which could cost Dylan Hartley his place at the Six Nations with England.

The Saints overcame Leicester Tigers 23-19 on Saturday, despite Hartley’s early dismissal for elbowing Matt Smith after being powerfully cleared from a ruck by the Leicester centre.

Hartley’s reaction caused a brief fracas between the two sets of players, and could land Hartley with a ban.

Match referee JP Doyle initially seemed content to brandish a yellow, but following a long discussion with television match official Sean Davey, Hartley was shown a red card and sent on his way.

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Despite being down to 14 men for over an hour, Northampton managed to claim an impressive win and top spot in the Premiership courtesy of Jamie Elliott’s late try and Mallinder believes the England hooker’s early dismissal inspired his side.

“In terms of the red card, it’s disappointing,” Mallinder said. ”Dylan’s got to keep his arms down, but he was being held and I don’t think there was any malice in it.

“I think Smith went down pretty easily to be honest, which was disappointing. It’s a tough game. If you looked at that 80 minutes of rugby, it was hard, physical, some great tackles. Some of them were quite high and people got penalised for those.

“I don’t think there was any malice in that and JP’s first reaction of a yellow card would have been the correct decision.”

Source: NZAUTV News/YouTube

Mallinder added: ”I tell you what Tom Wood said [at half-time]… let’s do it for Dylan Hartley. That was really the theme.

“You don’t want to be down to 14 men but what we have got is playing with 14 men against Leicester and knowing we can come back and win.”

Hartley previously missed the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia after abusing referee Wayne Barnes in the 2013 Premiership final, also against Leicester.

Remembering Páidí Ó Sé and David Gillick on mental strength; the week’s best sportswritingAndy Lee’s tequila and Devin Toner’s an elf! It’s the best sporting tweets of the week

FRIDAY’S LOSS TO Munster marked the halfway point in Leinster’s Pro12 season. So it’s time to get the red biro out and run the rule over their campaign so far.

Overall record

Won 9. Lost 5. Drawn 1 (Fifth in Pro12, 2nd in Champions Cup pool).

High point

It has been a relatively tough season for Matt O’Connor, but the high points and positives to take from the first half of the season are that the eastern province are neck and neck at the top of their Champions Cup pool.

To that end, the home win over Wasps was arguably one of Leinster’s more complete performances this season. Though Leinster’s injury woes are obvious, that was a game that saw Jamie Heaslip proving that he’s more than capable of carrying his side over the gainline if asked to do the job.

Low Point

The 18 – 12 victory over an under-strength Ospreys captured Leinster’s season in a nut-shell. There was a win to celebrate, but only after this late November game (in the shadow of the joy surrounding Ireland’s series sweep) had inched past in frustratingly stop-start fashion.

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Rhys Ruddock v Cardiff Blues (after 2.20 in the clip below).

Source: Leinster Rugby TV/YouTube

Player of the season so far

Ian Madigan: While the Blackrock boy is commonly lauded for his skills as a playmaker, he has been unable to make the Leinster backline hum this season. However, his mechanical kicking routine is incredibly impressive and that accuracy has so often proved to be the difference for Leinster in their biggest European games this season.

Breakthrough talent

Jack Conan: The powerful number eight made his debut in blue early in the year, but this season (perhaps aided to injuries above and beside him in the depth chart) he has seen more opportunities to make his presence felt in the first team and does not look an inch out of his depth.

Playing style

As captain, Heaslip was eager to stress how he felt that Leinster were now playing a less ‘robotic’ game under O’Connor with players given more license to play off the cuff. This may well be the case, however, the plan has rarely materialised in that free and easy rhythm. And while Leinster rightly point to their 28 tries as the best in the Pro12, they are level with Treviso as the side with the fewest tries in the European Cup.

Source: Inpho/Billy Stickland

In the away fixture against Harlequins, Leinster showed attacking ambition throughout with Jimmy Gopperth conspicuously operating very flat to his scrum-half. More often, though, the Kiwi (departing at the end of the season) has looked short on the confidence needed to run that style of gameplan and the uncertainty spreads to the kick-chase game and so to the rest of the side.

One thing to work on in 2015

Force out the unforced errors: Changing an out-half is not the solution for Leinster. For an attacking team to flourish, they must return to doing the basics well at every ruck and every collision. If they can come together, playing on the same page, then this group of players will always be incredibly effective.

Marks out of 10? 6.

‘Out goes the sledge, in comes the vice’: It’s the rugby quotes of the year

THERE ARE MANY reasons I am incredibly lucky to work for TheScore/The42.ie, but undoubtedly the main one is the level of coverage we provide women’s sport.

Let’s not forget, Irish women have provided us with some of our finest sporting moments over the past year including the Irish women’s U19 side falling just short of a European Championship final, the women’s rugby team’s victory over four time World Cup winners New Zealand and, of course, Katie Taylor’s fifth world boxing title in a row.

But what I love about this website is that we’re not just there for those marquee, front-page-making events, we also cover ladies football, camogie, rugby and soccer from club level right up to inter-county and international in a way I believe all media organisations should.

The well worn argument for lack of coverage elsewhere is that women’s sport isn’t good enough and there isn’t an audience for it. That’s bullshit of course.

The simple fact is that, the more coverage a sport gets, the more people are likely to attend. The more people who attend, the more money goes into the sport. The more money floating around for coaches, high-performance training, etc, the higher the standard.

TG4 have been at the forefront of women’s sports coverage in this country showing GAA, the Rugby World Cup and Katie Taylor’s successful world title defence as well as their regular coverage of ladies football and camogie. They’ve shown there is an audience for it and perhaps it’s time that RTÉ followed suit.

As well as increased coverage, it would also make a nice change if articles on the achievements of Irish sportswomen didn’t inevitably descend into a critique on the attractiveness or otherwise of the subject.

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It rarely, if ever, happens with male athletes and it shouldn’t happen with women’s sport either.

So my sporting wish for 2015 is the same sporting wish I have every year, that we treat all sportspeople equally.

Afterall, if we celebrate a Katie Taylor world title the same way we would a male boxing one, why shouldn’t we expect the same level of reporting on the camogie championship as we get on the hurling one?

Glory for Katie – the pics from South Korea as Taylor is crowned world championKatie Taylor wins a remarkable fifth world boxing title

JOE SCHMIDT HAS a number of selection calls to ponder over the next month, including the left wing position.

While the Kiwi head coach has a decision to make regarding Ireland’s 10 shirt for the opening game of the Six Nations against Italy on 7 February, his wide options look well stocked.

Tommy Bowe would appear to be a strong favourite to retain the 14 jersey after two tries in two starts there in November, but the 11 shirt looks altogether more open.

Simon Zebo certainly put his best foot forward against South Africa and Australia, but the Munster man is not short on fellow contenders. Among the possibilities for Schmidt is the fit-again Dave Kearney, who was excellent in last year’s Six Nations success.

Having returned from a lengthy knee injury late in November, the Leinster man has now racked up six 80-minute appearances and is beginning to look closer to his best.

The likes of Zebo, Ulster’s in-form Craig Gilroy, Munster’s returning Keith Earls and Andrew Conway provide competition for that coveted Ireland slot, but even within the Leinster group Kearney highlights the fight for places.

Fergus McFadden is on a similar trajectory of form to Kearney after his own injury problems, while Zane Kirchner has plentiful experience and Darragh Fanning has been backed by head coach Matt O’Connor this season.

“[Ireland] is always at the back of your head, but my main focus at the moment is performing for Leinster and getting on the team sheet,” says Kearney.

“There’s a lot of competition for the Ireland backs and for the Leinster backs, nothing really changes.”

Kearney last played for Ireland in the Six Nations-clinching game against France in Paris. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

With his focus on Leinster at present, Kearney agrees that a crucial fortnight lies ahead for the province, with Champions Cup fixtures against Castres and Wasps to come, decisive games in the race for a quarter-final.

Easing of the injury problems in Leinster has been helpful, even if Jack McGrath’s three-week suspension came at an inopportune moment.

“I think we’ve been luckier in the past few months with guys coming back from injuries,” says Kearney of the personnel boosts.

“There’s been a lot of leaders who’ve been out who’ve come back into the frame and that brings confidence back too.

The 25-year-old admits there “probably is a bit more pressure” on the squad at this stage of the season, although Leinster have grown accustomed to managing expectations. More pertinent in this week’s build-up is sharpening the backline’s armoury.

Last week McFadden spoke of the need for Leinster’s backs to start delivering tries, a sentiment Kearney echoes:

“It was good to get four tries against Cardiff, but as a backline we need to score more tries. Hopefully it’ll be a similar game plan this weekend, get the ball a bit wider and the backs can get a bit more ball.”

Having bided his time on the sidelines for Leinster and Ireland, Kearney will want as much of that possession heading in his direction as possible.

Leinster wary of wounded animal as focus turns to weakened CastresLeinster captain Jamie Heaslip an injury doubt for visit of Castres