Rugby’s leading nations have united to announce a blanket ban on playing international matches for recruits to the proposed breakaway R360 league. England, New Zealand, Ireland and France are among those who currently either favour or exclusively pick players from their domestic competitions. That meant signing up to the globe-trotting R360 itinerary was always set to put their players’ Test careers on hold.
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Séamus Coleman and John Egan have made their long-awaited returns to the Ireland squad, two of seven players recalled by Heimir Hallgrimsson for the October World Cup qualifiers.
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The Republic of Ireland ended their season with a largely underwhelming 0-0 draw away to Luxembourg. The ‘end-of-term’ vibes were evident at Stade de Luxembourg as Ireland struggled to find any real rhythm against a side ranked 91st in the world, hitting the woodwork in both halves without looking like cutting the hosts apart.
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Evan Ferguson scored his first goal since November as the Republic of Ireland preserved their Nations League B status with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Bulgaria. Adam Idah struck after coming off the bench to secure a 2-1 play-off second-leg win in Dublin to give the fans something to celebrate after Valentin Antov had given the visitors a shock lead.
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Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty scored first-half headers as the Republic of Ireland battled back to beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the first leg of their Nations League play-off. Marin Petkov fired the hosts into an early lead at a sparsely-populated Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv but midfielder Azaz quickly levelled with his first international goal.
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