Colm O'Neill Photography

The winner of the IRB Rugby Photo of the Year Competition 2011 was announced this week and I only got as far as the short list but I’m delight with that anyway.

I picked up a copy of this months rugby world and my shortlisted picture and another one of Paul O’Connell are featured in the best images as selected by Rugby World magazine. There is also an image in the 2012 calendar so not a bad pre-christmas.

Having come from behind to salvage a draw against Montpellier in round 1, Leinster played host to Glasgow Warriors this week in the RDS with an unusually early fixture for a Sunday.

A good crowed turned out for the game, considering the early start.

These guys below also ended up on the 6 O’Clock news:

So to the match. Leinster started strongly and within 4 minutes replied to an early Glasgow penalty with a try from Rob Kearney in the corner after an excellent inside  pass by Isa Nacewa.

Leinster stayed on top with Sexton adding a penalty until Devon Toner was sin-binned for pulling Glasgow’s Al Kellock.

Weir added another penalty on 22 minutes before Eoin O’Malley crossed for the first of his 2 try’s.  

Just before the break Gordon D’Arcy went over to secure a bonus point. giving Leinster a 31-6 half time lead.

The half time minis were Tullow and Clane.

The second half started as a similar affair to the first except for a break away try from replacement scrum half Henry Pyrgos on 74 minutes.

Leinster closed the match off with a that displayed great handling from Rhys Ruddock and Isaac Boss that saw the latter go over under the posts.

The final score of 38 – 13 reflected Leinster’s dominance and now sees them at the top of the group ahead of the the away fixture to Bath on December 11th.

Last night saw the first “main event” of this years RaboDirect pro12 for Leinster and Munster. A much anticipated fixture considering the possible hangover from a knockout at the hands to Wales the world cup and the pending 1st round of the Heineken Cup next weekend.

Not that these 2 teams ever need any fuel to get them going ahead of this derby match, but there surely were a number of scores to settle. Leinster were mindful of the big defeat they shipped at the hands of Munster in the Magners grand final last May and this match up, on paper at least, seemed like it would go to Leinster.

Munster have a number of players that still seem to be bedding in and Leinster’s back row are a proven entity over time. Given that David Wallace is out injured and Alan Quinlan has retired, Denis Leamy is the currently the corner stone of the Munster back row.

So on a chilly Friday evening in November these two old rivals lit up the Aviva, dishing out the hard-hitting servings that we have come to expect from this encounter.

Straight from the start the Leinster backrow seemed to have the edge and in the first half hour Heaslip, O’Brien and Jennings made big gains from bulldozing runs. Although playing at 6, sean O’Brien was keen to win ball and at least made his presence know at ruck time.

Ronan O’Gara and Jonathon Sexton both kept the scoreboard ticking over as there was little to separate the sides.

Leinster looked like going over a couple of time, however strong tackling from Munster kept them at bay and this strong defense was also replicated by Leinster when Conor Murray tried a number of breaks at scrum half.

Munster’s second half fight back was dealt a blow when Denis Leamy was sin binned for persistent infringement and Sexton duly added the points to give Leinster a 24 – 12 lead. The trend of Leinster penalties continued until Jamie Heaslip followed Leamy to the bin and the sides were 14 each.

Munster continued continued the push to the Leinster line with Leinster producing some strong tackles but after Leamy returned to the field the pressure told as referee Pascal Gauzere awarded Munster a penalty try as they applied pressure to the depleted Leinster scrum. Munster then pushed for another score and but Leinster were able to weather the storm and held out for victory.

Brian O’Driscoll was clearly delighted with his teams victory as he watched from the sidelines.

Next weekend sees the start of the Heineken Cup and Muster are at home to last years runner-up Northampton Saints as Leinster start off the defense of their title away to Montpellier.

There was little time for crowed watch as I had to keep all eyes on the game.

The half time mini’s were Athy and St Brigid’s.

I was delighted to find out yesterday that one of my pictures has made the shortlist the IRB rugby photo of the year 2011.

The image was captured at the Magners League Grand Final between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park last May. The image is titled “Clash of the Titans” and shows Leo Cullen and Paul O’Connell leading their teams out ahead of the grand final game.

What makes it particularly interesting is finding out that the image has been shortlisted on the eve of the latest derby edition between Leinster and Munster at Aviva Stadium.

6 images have been shortlisted and I think its fair to say that I’m in with a chance.

The latest edition of the RaboDirect Pro12 from a rain soaked RDS saw the visit of Italian side Aironi. Despite their surprise 25-19 home win over Edinburgh the previous week, Aironi started at the bottom of the league table prior to kick-off and that was where they would remain.

A resilient crowed braved the conditions on an evening that many would have looked out the window and decided to stay dry by the fire.

With the weather so wet sending live images can be an issue as, to date, there isn’t a decent computer that has decent waterproofing combined with accessibility. Sending off pictures immediately can often be the difference between getting them used in the papers or not so timing is everything. However its is also important to make sure you equipment remains in working order – electronics and water don’t mix well! Although professional level cameras and lenses are “weather sealed” most of us still use rain covers. The covers also isolates the cameras from temperature changes. In cold weather your warm hands or breadth can result in condensation inside the camera or lens blurring the images captured and it can also effect the internal exposure meter because the camera sees a brighter image than is actually there.

So to the match… Early pressure from Leinster was held off by the Aironi defense but a number of penalty misses from Isa Nacewa meant that both sides remained scoreless for most of the first half.

Aironi winger  Sinoti Sinoti was yellow carded for cynical play on 23 minutes but Leinster were unable to take advantage as Aironi absorbed the 10 minutes.

Leinster debutants Noel Reid and Steven Sykes had positive first outings with Sykes knocking on a number of times in the wet conditions.

Leinster’s back three of David Kearney, Fionn Carr and Isa Nacewa made some strong runs and supports lines but they couldn’t convert chances into points.

Aironi managed to hang on to the ball for long periods made use of their possession when former Munster man Nick Williams crossed over and Tito Tebaldi converted to give Aironi an 7 point lead at half time.

This weeks mini’s saw Terenure and Tullamore in action.

The second half saw Ian Madigan replaced Reid and he made an immediate impact by exploiting a gap to go over near the posts.

Nacewa converted to leave the sides at 7-all as the rain poured down.

Nacewa, benefiting from strong forward display, crossed over after a close scrum but failed to convert.

Leinster had started to take control and Luke Fiztgerald broke free with an intercept from near half way to run in right under the posts.

Leinster who were now starting do dominate went looking for the bonus point and kept Aironi back in their 22.

The result was a 4th try for the bonus when captain Rhys Ruddock touched down and Nacewa converted. The fans were delighted that they braved the weather to see the bonus point win which may be considered as a good omen for the following wold cup match between Ireland and Italy.

Luke Fitzgerald was awarded man of the match but both Leo Auva’a and Devin Toner could easily have been in the mix.

Gameweek 3 of the Rabodirect Pro12 saw Glasgow warriors travel to the RDS on a sunny but cool September evening. Early evening rain meant there would be a somewhat greasy ball during the game but the pitch seemed to hold up perfectly well during the game. A sparse crowed, stirred up by Leo the Lion were in good voice.

With these lads enjoying empty your pockets’ chips in the stands you can’t help but wonder how we have come to be enjoying such fancy food options at a match – even during a recession!

More fans to follow below.

Leinster took an early lead from a couple of Isa Nacewa penalties before Scott Wight pulled back 3 points for Glasgow. Shortly after some pressure from a Glasgow scrum resulted in Nick Campbell crashing over for a try.

Shortly before half time a Leinster back line move saw Dominic Ryan offload to Ian Madigan to score and Isa Nacewa converted. Leinster led 13 – 10 at half time.

The mini’s from Boyne and Navan provided the half time entertainment. 

Early in the second half Leinster suffered what appeared to be serious injuries to Dominic Ryan and then Kevin McLaughlin which  will worry management .

Considering that a number of internationals are away at the world cup and Mat Berquiest will be out for around four months, Joe Schmidt will presumably be giving Ian Madigan a lot more game time. 

Leo Auva’a also left the pitch with an injury and the pack had a very different make up to when the game started. Richardt Strauss and Aaron Dundon both stood in at openside as the pack juggled duties under pressure.

Warriors started to get a hold of the game and Stuart Hogg crossed over for a score. The crowed lost some of their voice at this point and even the ball boys had enough with just under 20 mins left.

Leo the Lion even had to look hard to see where the win was going to come from as the match was coming to the closing stages.

Leinster packed on the pressure for the remainder of the match but they couldn’t break the Warriors’ line and Glasgow held out for a win which clearly delighted them.

So with 2 defeats from the first 3 games, Leinster will look to get back to winning ways away to Scarlets next Saturday, the 24th of September.

Fan watch – A few faces from the crowed this week at the RDS:

Last Friday night saw the first home game for Leinster in the newly named RaboDirect PRO12.

A reasonable attendance of over 14,000 saw Leinster gain their first win in the competition, having gone down 27-3 to Ospreys the previous week in Swansea’s Liberty Stadium.

A slow first half saw Leinster lead 6 points to 3 over a weak Dragons side. Fionn Carr made a number of breaks which resulted in a try and Jamie Hagan stood out for some strong running through the Dragons’ defense. Brendan Macken and Ian Madigan also crossed the whitewash and Man of the Match Isa Nacewa was on hand to kick 16 ponts.

The Leinster win was marred by a knee injury to  Ian Madigan’s 2nd half replacement Mat Berquist who looks like he will be out of action for approximately 4 months. With Jonathan Sexton away at the world cup extra pressure will now fall on Ian Madigan.

Leinster’s next game will be Saturday 19th at the RDS against Glasgow Warriors.

Welcome to my first blog post.

This is where I’ll be giving updates on what I’m photographing.

It will mainly be rugby but I’ll certainly post anything weird and wonderful, or anything out of the ordinary.

Enjoy