Ulster will travel to play Munster in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup on the weekend of 6/7/8th April...

In the rest of the quarter-final match-ups, Leinster will host Cardiff Blues, Edinburgh are at home to Toulouse and Saracens will entertain Clermont Auvergne.

At stake for either Munster or Ulster is a "home country" semi-final against the winner of Edinburgh v Toulouse, while the winner of Leinster v Cardiff will travel to England or France to play the winner of Saracens v Clermont.

Ulster made the knockout stages of the tournament last season, for the first time since lifting the tournament in 1999 but lost out to Northampton Saints at the stadium:mk. Ulster Coach Brian McLaughlin will be looking to go one better this season.

At this stage there are no confirmed details on ticketing arrangements - we will work with both Munster and the ERC once we know the date and KO time, however Ulster will take up our allocation and 2011-12 Season Ticket Holders will get first option to purchase.

Virginia U15's played Cavan at home last Saturday on a bitterly cold morning that saw many balls spilled and knocked on by cold hands on both sides. Virginia were first to score with tries from Ben Conaty and Niall Farrelly and a conversion by Daire Mc Enroe. However Cavan rose their game and responded well with a nicely worked try of their own when they caught the Virginia backs napping and slipped in to score in the corner. They failed to put the conversion over but at this stage the game appeared to be set up for a good competitive clash. Unfortunately however, Cavan's challenge died down and this was to be their only score on the day. Virginia ran away with the game from here on scoring eleven tries in total, running out easy winners on a scoreline of 59 - 5.

Try scorers on the day were Ben Conaty (4), Niall Farrelly (3),Daire Mc Enroe (3 tries and 1 conversion), Jason Mc Mahon (1try and 1 conversion)

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Virginia U9's had their first Home Match of the year against Coolmine on Sunday last. Virginia were outclassed in the first half by Coolmine who scored 3 trys without reply, their Rucking, Mauling and Passing was far superior to Virginias, however, a half time team talk by Cialian Cahill saw Virginia go out for the second half with more determination. Donal, Patrick, Oisin and Eli were singled out by the coach to take the game by” the scruff of the neck “and turn it around. Virginia responded with 3 trys but Coolmine finished out the game stronger and won by 5 trys to 3. Virginia’s overall play was very good. Congratulations to Coolmine and we look forward to the return visit in the near future.

The Virginia Team: D.Maguire, H.McQuade, J.Kelly, D.Filby, P.Sheirdan, M.Walker, E.Caffrey, O.Rourke, N.Tobin, JW.Duffy, G.O’Sullivan, C.Delaney, A.Goldrick, G.Goldrick and K.Duffy.

With qualification for the last eight already in the bag thanks to Friday nights turn of results in Galway and Gloucester, Ulster's target was now to get the victory which would place them atop of Pool Four and secure a Ravenhill quarter-final. All but one of the starting XV charged with doing so were those who had started in the fifth round demolition of Leicester, the only change seeing Ian Whitten take over from the injured Darren Cave at centre.

Ulster did more than hold their own in the first period, carving out the best two try-scoring opportunities, and should have run in at half-time at least three points ahead.

Clermont, whose own progression to the next round hinged on victory in the tie, started at 100 miles per hour, but Ulster did well to weather the storm in the opening five minutes. However, with Dan Tuohy sinbinned on 10 minutes for an early tackle on Morgan Parra after the scrum-half's quickly-taken tap-penalty, they were right back under the cosh. Parra kicked his team ahead as a result of Tuohy's misdemeanour, but Ruan Pienaar equalised moments later after Johann Muller had been illegally taken out at the line-out.

Parra helped himself to another penalty on 20 minutes, and with Tuohy back in play with only a three-point deficit incurred during his absence, Ulster came so very close to taking the lead, Craig Gilroy latching onto an errant Aurelien Rougerie pass and only prevented from crossing the whitewash thanks to a last-ditch tap tackle from Lionel Faure. More disappointment followed for the visitors, Pienaar's long-range penalty just before the half-hour mark spinning narrowly wide of the posts.

Ulster, now controlling the tie, again only just failed to grab a try two minutes later, with Andrew Trimble held up in the right-hand corner and John Afoa similarly halted with the recycled ball, but Pienaar slotted over a subsequent penalty for obstruction, and the tie sat precariously at Clermont 6 Ulster 6.

Then, after another narrowly off-course Pienaar penalty, Stefan Terblanche brought the half to a close with an audacious long-range drop goal attempt which saw the ball drop literally inches short of the Auvergnian crossbar.

Half-Time Score Clermont 6 Ulster 6

The second half opened with the award of two Ulster penalties from successive scrums, the second of which Pienaar elected to kick for goal, shunting his side into their first lead of the match at Clermont 6 Ulster 9. However an Ulster lapse in concentration let Parra straight back in with a penalty of his own to restore parity.

As the hour mark approached and Clermont began to show signs of frustration, Pienaar dispatched a 55th-minute penalty, and Ulster made sure the lead lasted a little longer this time thanks to dogged defence against persistent Clermont pressure. When the try did come on 63 minutes, through replacement forward Ti'i Paulo after multiple phase play, Parra kept his nerve to convert and edge his side four points in front at Clermont 16 Ulster 12.

With the Frenchmen penalised again for popping up early in a 70th-minute scrum, Pienaar kept up his excellent kicking return and reduced the arrears to a solitary point, but this was neutralised moments later by another penalty from his opposite number.

The score sitting at Clermont 19 Ulster 15 with three minutes to go, Ulster launched a final attack in a last attempt to secure a Ravenhill quarter-final, but this evaporated as Rory Best's put-in from a 79th-minute line-out was adjudged not to be straight.

Ulster's losing bonus point, then, sees them finish the group stage on 20 points together with Clermont, who top the pool thanks to their superior try-scoring record. The quarter-final, therefore, will be played on the road, with the exact destination only to be determined after tomorrow's final Round Six matches - and a quick return to the Parc Des Sports Marcel Michelin not out of the question.

Full-Time Score Clermont 19 Ulster 15

Ulster: (15 - 9) S Terblanche; A Trimble, I Whitten, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; (1 - 8) T Court, R Best, J Afoa, J Muller (c), D Tuohy, S Ferris, C Henry, P Wannenburg; Replacements (16 - 23): A Kyriacou, C Black, A Macklin, L Stevenson, W Faloon, P Marshall, N Spence, A D'Arcy

ASM Clermont Auvergne: (15 - 9) L Byrne; S Sivavatu, A Rougerie (c), W Fofana, J Malzieu; D Skrela, M Parra; (1 - 8) L Faure, B Kayser, C Ric, J Pierre, N Hines, G Vosloo, J Bardy, J Bonnaire; Replacements (16 - 23) T Paulo, V Debaty, D Kotze, J Cudmore, A Lapandry, K Senio, B James, R King

Virginia U13s utilised the full strength and depth of their squad this week against Cavan. The talent in this squad is beginning to manifest itself with tremendous performances and the result this week did not disappoint their supporters. Virginia won by 39 – 0 scoring 7 tries and 2 conversions. This result can be put down to the excellent coaching from forwards and backs coaches Andy O’Neill and Brian O’Donoghue and to the great attitude of the squad.

The game itself took place in strong windy conditions with Virginia backs displaying some very good passing moves from the start. Nathan McQuade was at the base of every ruck and maul supplying quick ball to scrum half Nathan McCabe and centers Liam Maguire and David Costello. Wingers Daragh Kiernan, Algirdas Mockus and Conor Farrelly made some menacing runs at Cavan backs and credit to Cavan’s No 15 who made some fine tackles to prevent a landslide score for Virginia.

However the dominance of Virginia’s forwards was the difference on the day. All tries scored came from the forwards. Notable tries were scored by Peter Nulty from the back of a maul and Conor Cahill who refused to be stopped to score the final try of the day. Other forward scorers were “galloping” M.Gordon (1), “crusading” G.Flynn (2), “Quiet Man” O.Kiernan (1) and “the Bolt” R.Smith (1). Niall McWeeney in at no 6 made some good defensive tackles and with Charlie Reilly supporting numerous good phases of play. Out half Nathan McCabe scored 2 excellent conversions in very difficult conditions.

In the final 10 minutes Virginia emptied their bench which led to more open play from their replacement backs Lee Burdis, James Smith, Adrian Rogers and Luke Sherriff to see out the game with an excellent team performance.

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Virginia RFC under13’s - 38

Dromore RFC under13’s -5

After an extended winter break due to adverse weather conditions Virginia’s U 13s got back to winning ways with a convincing win over Dromore in Deer Park Virginia. The game started with Virginia’s forwards dominating play. An excellent break on the blind side by James Smith forced a line out on Dromore’s 5 yard line. Oisin Kiernan turned over the resulting line out to score a good try. Virginia front row forwards Conor Cahill, Shane Doughty and Luke Sherriff had an excellent first half supported well by their back row Niall McWeeney Charlie Reilly and Jason Sheckleton. Good breaks by David Costello at No 11 and Conor Farrelly at full back kept Dromore pinned back in their own half. Further Tries by Ronan Patterson (2) Lee Burdis (1) and Oisin Kiernan (1) with conversions by James Smith (2) and Adrian Rogers (1) saw Virginia go in at Half time leading 31 – 0.

Virginia emptied their subs bench x 7 to start the second half. This led to a more evenly fought game with Dromore getting in for their only try of the game early in the second half. Outstanding performances by Virginia No8 Charlie Reilly, Rory Smith No 5 and Ben Brunton enabled Virginia regain a firm hold of the game. Quick ball from Nathan McQuade back in at scrum half and Nathan McCabe at out half set up good running moves from backs Josh Cummins, Liam Maquire and Darragh Kiernan. This led to score of the day by Captain Lee Burdis who picked the ball up at the back of a ruck on the half way to score under the posts. Nathan McCabe converted to end the game 38 -5 for Virginia.

Good work all round and more to come from this determined and skilful team.
Squad: S.Doughty, L.Sherriff, C.Cahill, O.Kiernan, R.Smith. N.McWeeney, C.Reilly, J.Sheckleton, A.Rogers, J.Smith, L.Burdis, R.Patterson, D.Costello, C.Farrelly, N.McQuade, N.McCabe, R. Brown, O. Rahill, B. Brunton, L.Maguire, D.Kiernan, J.Cummins, D. O’Leary ,A.Moctus, E.O’Reilly, M.Gordon, G.Flynn, P.Nulty, E.O’Connell, L.Kiernan.

Virginia U15's played at home last Saturday in a top of the table clash against Dromore. Once again this proved to be a very tough encounter with both teams playing some fine rugby on the day. Dromore were first to score but they failed to convert. This seemed to be the wake up call that Virginia needed to up their game and after some fine running by the Virginia backs it was Brendan Argue who scored Virginia's first try. This left the team’s level at half time.

The second half continued at the same blistering pace with both teams trying to get the upper hand but once again it was Dromore who scored the first try. With Virginia now trailing by five points the pressure was on but with the help of the home support Virginia threw everything they had at this strong Dromore team and they eventually broke through with team captain Niall Farrelly scoring a great try which was converted by Ben Conaty to rapturous applause from the home support. This put the home side two points ahead and proved to be the winning score on the day. At the end of the bruising encounter Virginia eventually emerged victorious on a scoreline of 12-10, the tightest margin to date. This was another great team performance by this unbeaten Virginia side.

Team:Remigijus Ivaskevicius, Dylan Farrelly, Michael Nowak, Michael Faherty, Niall Yore, Darren Brady, Eoin Sommerville, Niall Farrelly, Jason Winterlich, Jason Mc Mahon, Daire Mc Enroe, Ben Conaty, Evan Doughty, Jack Faherty, Brendan Argue, Eric Shekleton, Peadar Doughty, Ian Goldrick, Dale Smith, Andrew Geraghty, Maliej Stolowski, Tristran Lotscher, Sean Ward, Karl Golden

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On Saturday last, Virginia were hosting Londonderry YMCA in the Kukri Qualifying League 4 competition. With the memories of the trouncing received in the reversed fixtures still vivid in their heads the Ramor men were keen to prove themselves against tough opposition.

On a windy but dry afternoon Virginia started the game very well and put the visitors under pressure from the off. The Derry men resisted well in the opening minutes of the game until they were put under strain by fly half Chris Tully . Making the best of the wind behind his back Tully dished out a clever kick in the opposite corner. The Derry full-back poor return kick was gathered by hooker Gary Daly who kicked and chase. Once again YMCA's rear guard couldn't deal with the bounce of the ball. Daly who followed his own kick, managed to squeeze an old toe-poke to push the ball into the try zone and crashed down to ground the ball ahead of a scrambling defender. Tully added the conversion to bring the score to 7-0.

After a good start Virginia maintained the pressure on the visitors. The locals' upper hand in the set pieces meant a steady flow of ammunitions for their back line. Unfortunately they didn't manage to convert domination into points. And only 5 minutes after conceding a try, the visitors managed to be back level. The Londonderry men were awarded a scrum on Virginia 5 metres line after being held up. Despite their domination at scrum time the Virginia front row was outsmarted; the scrum was wheeled by YMCA pack allowing their number 8 to pick up the ball and crash under the post. The easy conversion was scored. 7-7 after YMCA only visit near Virginia's try line.

Nothing else was score until half-time. Despite great ball possession and territory advantage Virginia couldn't add to their score tally. The lack of score was mainly due to poor discipline at ruck time allowing the Derry men to get themselves out of difficult situations. At the break coach Brady stressed that the second win of the season was there for the taking with a bit more concentration and improved discipline.

Early on in the second half the hosts retook the advantage after Chris Tully kicked a penalty just right of the post to bring the score to 10-7. With the strong wind now behind them the visitors tried to kick their way into the game. But smart play form Virginia's back three of McDermott, McLoughlin and McNally denied YMCA any opportunities. Strong running from the forwards in general were tiring away YMCA's pack. They were consuming to many bodies at ruck time and gaps were starting to appear in their defensive line.

From one of those gaps came the second try for the home team. From a line-out on the right hand side of the pitch the ball travelled through the hands of the back line to found 1st centre Patterson. He fixed his defender and passed to John "the bull" McCabe who ran past the YMCA defense like a hot knife in butter. McCabe took the ball at full speed, with 20 meters left to the try line. He burst through the first two tackles, resisted a last charge from the full-back and crossed the line. Great score after great work from the backs. Against the strong wind the conversion was missed. 17-7.

At that stage of the game both team were aware of the importance of the next score. But Virginia had a real firm grip on the game. Virginia defense was well in place, Captain Pienaar relentless tackling was annihilating any hope of a score for the visitors. The host were putting the Derry team under huge pressure at ruck time with clever counter-rucking. The Derry line-outs were targeted too. Good jumping by lock Ben Gilmore allowed him to harvest few balls on opposition throws. And from one of them stolen balls came the next score. Gilmore disrupted the Derry throw and the ball was fumbled by their jumper, it was caught by Fintan O'Reilly who ran at the YMCA line. Following a couple of rucks the ball went through the hand to find winger Jamie McDermott. Mc Dermott flirted with the touch line but remained on the pitch, and following a good dive he scored in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed but Virginia were now 15 point ahead, 22-7.

The last try would come only few minutes before the final whistle following a quick penalty played by prop Damien Agasse. The French front row tapped quickly for himself on the half-way line and as props do, ignore the 5 men overlap on his right hand side only to run and crash in the nearest opponent. Sacrebleu! Nevertheless, the play bounced few times on the left hand side to end up once again on McDermott's wing. The youngster was eager to redeem himself, since he had been sent-off in Derry for an alleged "dangerous" tackle. He didn't disappoint and once again whizzed down the touch-line to score in the same corner for his second try of the day. No conversion, 27-7 final score.

A good start of the year for the Virginia team. Even though there is still a lot of room for improvements the team displayed great commitment and effort on the day. They were well rewarded with 4 tries and an enjoyable game!

Training as usual on Wednesday and Friday night 8pm, good number expected to prepare next week difficult fixture away to Ballyshannon.

Virginia RFC Ist XV - 3

Civil Service NI Ist XV - O

There was no shortage of drama for the patrons who made their way to watch Virginia 1st XV as they welcomed Civil Service NI to Deerpark on Saturday on a wet and windy day. This was the 2nd time these teams have met this season with Service winning the reverse fixture 39 – 5 five weeks previous. Virginia still without a win in qualifying league 4 started the game very positively. After receiving the kick off Virginia set it up a kicked downfield, from the resulting lineout, on the away teams 10 metre line, the home teams forwards managed to get their hands on the ball with some excellent lineout play from Brian Murtagh. The ramor men retained possession and through the backs moved towards the visitors 22, some strong running lines from number 8 Fintain O Reilly and Hooker Sam McQuade forced Civil Service to concede a penalty inside their own 22. Virginia Captain Werner Pienaar opted to go for the posts however the tight angle and windy conditions meant the kick from fullback Daniel McNamee was pushed just to the right of the posts.

Virginia remained on top and it wasn’t long before they were back in the Belfast men’s 22 again. Some more strong running from Virginia forwards prop Thomas Owens and 2nd row Wesley Martin led to quick hands from the Centres Ben Gilmore and John McCabe and winger Tony McLaughlin thought he was over in the corner, however the referee brought the play back for a forward pass in the move a decision a few of the Virginia players and supporters wouldn’t have minded being referred to the TV match official. The remainder of the first half was evenly contested with defences coming out on top in a tough bruising encounter. Civil service did apply some pressure with a few minutes left till the break however some good defence from the men in black and some particularly good scrums kept the try line safe. However the visitors were awarded a penalty in which captain Ben Scott decided to go for the posts. Once again conditions came into play and the kick was brought by the wind to the left of the posts.

Half Time Virginia 0 – 0 Civil Service
The home side who were now wind assisted for the 2nd half felt confident from their play so far that they could go on and win the game. However Civil Service had other ideas and started the 2nd half well with some good tactical kicks which were dealt with well by Daniel McNamee and winger Paul Daly. However as the first half proved scores were going to come at a premium and when Civil service missed a long range shot at goal in the 20th minute it looked like it may have been a stalemate.

Nobody could have envisaged the drama that was to come in the final ¼ of the game. Virginia began to get on top and were pushing their opponents back into their own half with time running out it increasingly looked like a one score game. Virginia outhalf Christopher Tully had two drops at goal both going wide of the posts. With 10 minutes left Civil Service Had possession on their own 22 and tried to clear their lines, Virginias tenacious number 7 Enda Brady blocked the ball down and as it bounced towards the Service try line he managed to get his hands on it and get over the line in what looked like the opening try of the game. Once again the referee, who was fair and consistent throughout, decided not to award the try on the grounds the ball was knocked on. From the resulting scrum Civil Service worked their way up past half way and were awarded a penalty for not rolling away. Some ill discipline from Virginia led to the loss of ten yards and Service decided to have a kick at goal with 3 minutes remaining. The kick started straight but began to fade as it approached the goals and dropped just wide of the posts the home team thought they were out of jail however some less than steady hands led to a knock on and 5 metre scrum to Civil Service. Virginia forwards gave a massive push and an under pressure service pack were forced to give away a penalty which scrum half Cian Wogan took quickly and ran 40 metre down field. The support from the Virginia players got there and they retained possession.

After some scrappy rucks the referee awarded Virginia the put in to a scrum and announced it was the last play of the game. On the half way line and the game a 0-0 the home side knew it was going to take something special from here. Another good scrum led to clean ball for the backs who crashed it up through centre Ben Gilmore. The forwards secured the ball and took it forward with some strong running and good hands from front rower Garry Daly. After a number of phases Virginia were awarded a penalty on the Service 22, 10 metres from the left hand side of the field. Captain Werner Pienaar once again signalled for the posts in what was to be the last kick of the game. Christopher Tully took the kick which looked to be going over but was fading fast as it dropped towards the posts no one knew where it would end up, at the very last second it dropped and bounced off the crossbar. As some stood in shock watching winger Tony McLaughlin who had raced after the kick managed to catch it as it came of the bar, Virginia players managed to secure the ball and popped it out to Fintain Reilly who was stopped yards from the line. Scrum half Wogan whipped the pass out to outhalf Tully who kicked a dropgoal and sparked mass celebrations from the Virginia players and supporters.

Civil Service who had been so close to winning the game were extremely gracious in defeat. Virginia will be happy to finally get a win under their belts and will have felt they should have won without so much drama.

Virginia RFC U13's 42

Portadown RFC U13's 0

Virginia rugby Under 13's continued their winning streak with another convincing win, scoring 42 points without reply in this one sided game. This is their second 40 plus point victory in a row. Virginia u13s had a similar result beating Cavan 42 -0 last week in Swellen Pk. The u13s has a 30 strong squad most of which is a result of Virginia’s successful Mini’s rugby development.

The Portadown game started well for Virginia with their forwards dominating all the scrums, rucks and procession at the break down. Notable displays were by Gerry Flynn (1 try), Oisin Kiernan (3 tries) and Conor Cahill. The backs also played their part with good passing moves resulting in three well deserved tries by James Smith (2) and Ronan Patterson (1). Virginia cleared their bench at half time giving a welcome start to new comers Josh Cummins, Evan O Reilly and Robert Brown all of whom played well.

Squad: G.Flynn, L. Sherrif, C.Cahill, M.Gordon, O.Kiernan, N.McWeeney, R.Smith, C.Reilly, N.McQuade, J.Smith, A.Mockus, L.Burdis, R.Patterson, R.Browne, C.Farrelly. L.Maquire, A.Rogers, N.McCabe, S.Doughty, J.Cummins, E.O’Reilly, P.Nulty. B,Brunton, D.Kiernan, O.Rahill, D.Costello, J.Sheckleton, L.Kieran, E.O’Connell, D.O’Leary.

Virginia RFC - 26

Portadown RFC - 0

Virginia U15's played Portadown at home on Saturday last December 3rd on a very cold morning. Portadown were a much changed team from the previous fixture causing Virginia plenty of problems in the early stages of the game . The team was very slow to start with the backs spilling a lot of ball due to cold hands. However, when Virginia eventually got their act together there was no stopping them and they took control of the game from there out. This allowed the home side to use their full panel of players giving everyone a game.

Virginia are away to Armagh on Saturday next December 12th. Hopefully we can continue our good run of form for the remainder of the League and qualify for knock out stages of the competition.

Virginia ran out winners on a scoreline of 26 - 0. Try scorers on the day were:
Daire Mc Enroe , Niall Farrelly , Ian Goldrick and Ben Conaty. Conversions were by Jason Mc Mahon (2) and Daire Mc Enroe (1).

Our First team out which was led by Caolinn mcCormack played Dundalk. In the first few minutes we had our first try which Amy Whitley got in and over the line to touch down from a beautiful pass from Megan Higgins. Next try came from a pass from Tara O'Leary right out to Ciara Byres flying up the wing to touch down. Our second game saw us facing our good old rivals Navan. Nicole Filby intercepted a pass and straight up the line for a fine try. Next try came from Ellie Smith.

Then it was the turn of our Second team which was led by Edith Lynch who were faced with the formidable boyne. There were some fine scores from Clara Lynch, Megan Brodie and Rebecca Warren to go with some sublime runs. Megan Grimes had a fansatic off load to Sara Whitley who ran the whole length of the pitch and popped the ball up for Ciara Browne coming in from behind to touch down for a wonderful try.

Scores on the day were: Amy Whitley, Ciara Byres, Ellie Smith, Caolinn McCormack, Tara O'Leary, Nicole Fibly, Edith Lynch, Sara Whitley, Rebecca Warren, Clara Lynch, Megan Brodie and Ciara Brown.

We had a great day out and it was toped of with both teams taking 1st and 2nd in the blitz. Watch this space for the next outing in the new year. Thanks to all the girls for their hard training during the year. Next training Sunday 11th december at 10.30am

Virginia under 10's travelled to Balbriggan on Sunday last the 20th of November . After two cancelled games the previous week the lads were really up for a game . First up was the hosts Balbriggan within one minute Paddy Nagle crossed the line for the 1st try from some great rucking from Conor Fitzpatrick and Dylan Turner, Sean McEvoy scored another try. The 1st half was finished off with a try from Adam Sherriff .The second half didn't go all Virginia's way with Ballbriggan scoring a couple of trys only for some great tackling from William Burke and Jack Ryan ........they might have scored more it finished 6 - 4 to Virginia.

In game two Virginia took on Clondalkin who were physically a big side ,but in true Virginia fashion the boys got stuck in .Paddy Nagle struck straight from the start with a try, with Micheal Reilly , Joey Tyers and Luke O 'Sullivan all tackling well Clondalkin were not getting through. Just before half time John Dolan ran the lenght of the pitch to score .The second half started with Conor Nulty scoring he ended up with 3 trys in the game . Jack Ryan and Cormac Brown linking up to provide a nice passing for Adam to score in the corner .Virginia did not let their opponents in for a score with great rucking and tackling from Tadigh Hagan ,Zachery Cummins and Gary Goldrick

Virginia U15's were away to Cavan last Saturday. In spite of the wet conditions the side managed to run in seven tries and convert two of them to emerge winners on a scoreline of 39 - 0. Virgina dominated this game from start to finish due to the fact that they were a physically bigger and stronger side. Cavan tried hard throughout the game but were no match for this Virginia team who are playing very well at the moment.

Try scorers on the day were:
Ben Conaty (2), Niall Farrelly (2), Andrew Geraghty, Darren Brady and Jack Faherty (1) each.

Team:
Jack Faherty , Andrew Geraghty, Brendan Argue, Ben Conaty, Daire Mc Enroe, Jason Winterlich , Jason Mc Mahon, Remigijus Ivaskevicius, Eric Shekleton, Michael Nowak, Niall Yore, Evan Doughty, Darren Brady, Eoin Sommerville, Niall Farrelly, Peadar Doughty, Tristan Lotscher, Dylan Farrelly, Daniel Faulkner, Dale Smith, Michael Faherty, Maliej Stolowski, Robert Mc Cabe, Karl Golden

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Virginia U15's travelled to Dromore last Saturday November 15th for a top of the league clash with the home side. After travelling a long journey the game started on a beautiful morning for rugby. The home side started the strongest with Virginia having to weather a huge storm for the first fifteen minutes before they managed to get the first score of the game with a try scored in the corner by Evan Doughty which was duly converted by Ben Conaty. This helped the Virginia team to settle and adjust to the pace of the game. However this wasn't to last long as Dromore came right back at Virginia scoring a try of their own, but they failed to convert which left Virginia two points ahead. At this stage both teams were fighting hard to get the upper hand which made for a great display of rugby from both sides. It was Virginia who managed to score next with a penalty scored by Ben Conaty which was awarded after a passage of great play by the Virginia forwards who were starting to get to grips with their opponents. This left the half-time score at 10-5.

The second half started with Virginia still in control and after some slick passing in the backs Ben Conaty slipped in for a try in the left corner. As Virginia were still celebrating their try Dromore immediately retaliated with a fine break-away try of their own touched down under the posts and easily converted to leave the score at 15-12 to Virginia. The game swayed back and forth for the remainder of the second half with both teams trying to get control .Virginia were forced to make a number of try saving tackles before Ben Conaty managed to break away and score his second try of the game. Dromore fought back hard but couldn't find a way through the Virginia defence as time ran out and the game ended with Virginia ahead on a scoreline of 20-12. This was the Virginia squads best performance to date with every player leaving the field exhausted after giving one hundred percent effort for the sixty minutes of play.

Virginia are away to Cavan on Saturday next November 19th.

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The Virginia Forest 5k run was held on Sunday last and a large crowed turned out on a beautiful Autumn morning. Runners and walkers of all levels participated and many of the local GAA and running clubs were represented.

Results

In the Under 18's category:

In first place with a time of 20.11 was Patrick Murphy
In second place with a time of 27.50 was Darren Brady
and in third with a time of 27.51 was Brendan Argue

Mend Under 40's:

In first place with a time of 18.56 was Derek Croal
In second place with a time of 19.20 was Sean McDaid
and in third with a time of 19.21 was Killian Heery

Men's Over 40's:

In first place with a time of 18.43 was Shane Boyle
In second place with a time of 21.28 Padhraig Smith
and in third with a time of 21.31 was Donal Briody

Ladies Under 40's:

In first place with a time of 21.07 was Eimear Mc Govern
In second place with a time of 24.00 was Clare Mc Crystal
and in third with a time of 25.33 was Ann Lynch

Ladies Over 40's:

In first place with a time of 23.50 was Maureen Getty
In second place with a time of 26.16 was Marie Smith
and in third with a time of 27.07 was Kathleen Connors

The committee and members of Virginia RFC would like to thank all the runners and walkers for their participation in this event, and for making it such a wonderful day

Click here to view full results.

Virginia Rugby Club, Under 14 girls tag team headed off for their first blitz tournament last Saturday. It a was very successful start to the day with a win in our First game against Navan, with scores from clara lynch, ellie smith and great runs from Amy whitley and Tara o'leary.

The Second game saw us up agenised Ratoath and with impressive runs from Edith lynch, Meagan higgins and Sara whitley and scores from Caolinn mccormark, Ciara brown,Rebecca warren, we notched up our second win of the day.

Our Third game of the day put us up agenised Dundalk which ended up a draw game, this was a very tough game there was some very impressive passes all round and some fine skill from Nicole fibly, Megan brodie and Megan grimes & Ciara Byers.

In our Fourth game we met Navan and overcame them by 5-2, this left us well ahead in the tournament and the final in our sights. Virgina ladies under 14’s went on to beat Ratoath in the final by 6-4 with scores from Tara, Clara and Ellie, they also played Dundalk again with a win 5-4, In a very tough game.

There was a brilliant performance from ALL our girls. We travel to dundalk on the 3rd of december for our next blitz.

Back: Edith lynch, Dessie Higgins, Ellie smith, Ciara Byres, Amy Whitley, Rebecca Warren, Nicole fibly, meagan Higgins, Ciara brown, Caolinn McCormack, Leona McNally. Front: Clara lynch, tara o'leary, Sara Whitley, Meagan grimes, Meagan Brodie.

Congratulations to Donal Kindlon for winning the Rugby World Cup competition! 2nd place goes to Eoin Doyle and 3rd place to Gerry Oakes who beat Jimmy Gargan on 4th with a better tie breaker!!

1st prize: 100€
2nd prize: 60€
3rd place: 20€

Thanks to everybody for taking part.

VRFC

View final table.

Virginia RFC U15's played host to Clogher Valley on Saturday November 5th. This was the team’s third game in eight days and this showed as the players lacked the sharpness shown in Tuesdays challenge game against Sligo. Virginia however managed to overcome their tiredness and even though Clogher Valley started the game strongly, they eventually succumbed to the speed and power of the Virginia squad who ran in nine tries and finished clear winners on a scoreline of 51-0.

Try scorers on the day were Eoin Sommerville (3), Brendan Argue (2), Andrew Geraghty (1), Jason Mc Mahon (1), Ben Conaty (1), Niall Farrelly (1)

This week of tight fixtures provided a great chance to make full use of our large squad of players who all got a game at some stage. Well done to all players on their dedication and attendance, especially the younger players who are adjusting to playing at this age grade. Keep up the good work everyone.

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Virginia RFC U15's played Sligo in a challenge match at home on Tuesday last November 1st. This was a very physical encounter between two sides unbeaten so far in their own leagues. The game was played in ideal conditions which produced some great rugby from both sides . Virginia who had found things relatively easy in their previous league games knew they were in for a very different game from the kick-off. Sligo threw everything at Virginia for the first 10 minutes but could not break through the Virginia line. The Virginia backs had to make some spectacular tackles while the forwards had to fight and scrap hard for every ball. It was Virginia who eventually broke through first with a great try from Ben Conaty (his first of four for the afternoon).Virginia started to take control of the game from here on running in another three tries to leave the half-time score 22 - 0.
Sligo started the second half with great determination but it was Virginia again who were first to score with Evan Doughty running in two tries in succession before Sligo eventually broke through for a try. Virginia responded with some great passes resulting in their final try scored by Brendan Argue. The game finished on a scoreline of 39 - 5 .This was an excellent challenge for Virginia which made them play their best rugby to date. Virginia continues their Ulster League campaign on Saturday at home to Clogher Valley.

Front Row:
Andrew Geraghty, Michael Nowak, Robert Mc Cabe, Ben Conaty, Dillon Farrelly, Jason Winterlich, Eric Shekleton, Dale Smith, Tristran Lotscher,Peadar Doughty

Back Row:
Hugh Brady, Jason Mc Mahon, Eoin Sommerville, Maliej Stolowski ,Niall Farrelly, Darren Brady, Niall Yore, Evan Doughty, Ian Goldrick, Remigijus Ivaskevicius, Brendan Argue, Douglas Kincaide Missing from photo: Jack Faherty

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Newry RFC - 3

Virginia RFC - 24

Virginia RFC u17s travelled to Newry on Saturday morning in their ongoing league campaign. After a hasty warm up the match started off at a fierce pace with Newry putting on severe pressure for the first 20 minutes in which time the Virginia defence held strongly conceding only 3 points from a penalty kick during the Newry packs bombardment.

From the restart Virginia began to give Newry a taste of their own medicine with the Virginia forwards pounding holes into the oppositions defence. This set the trend for the rest of the game with the pack driving through phase after phase then letting out to the backs. The half time whistle sounded with Virginia leading 7-3.

After an encouraging team talk from Captain Liam Gordon the Virginia side went back onto the field with their heads up. After some hard hitting rugby and an injury to a Newry prop the scrums were made uncontested giving Newry a slight advantage. However this was put away by a brilliant try from Jack Tighe running the pitch after stealing the ball from the Newry ruck. The game ended with Virginia beating Newry 24 - 3.

The lads all look forward to their next match against Clogher Valley at home on the 11th of November

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Newry RFC – 0

Virginia RFC – 24

Virginia U15's travelled to Newry on Saturday last and after a game played in very wet and windy conditions they came away with a fine win on a scoreline of 24 - 0. This tally could have been much higher but for the tenacity of the Newry backs who held Virginia up on several occasions and prevented them from touching down in the goal area. Virginia who were short a few regulars on the day always maintained control of this game despite several players adapting to new positions.

Try scorers on the day were:
Daire Mc Enroe (2), Ben Conaty (1) and Jason Mc Mahon (1).

Our next game is at home to Clogher Valley on Saturday week, November 5th.

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Cavan - 2

Virginia - 4

Virginia RFC U11s travelled for their first away match of the season last Saturday to near neighbours Cavan for a friendly fixture. Virginia started brightly and dominated much of the first half. It was a close affair though and by half time there was only one score in it after Michael McKeown Boyle crashed over for the visitors. Cavan started brightly in the second half and were soon level. Virginia hit back with a try from Finn Lotscher, but Cavan weren't to be beaten. The home side dominated much of the rest of the match and after equalising again went on to score two more to win 4-2. It was an encouraging run-out though for Virginia with many of its new signings showing great promise for the season ahead.

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Virginia RFC - 31

Monaghan RFC - 0

Virginia U15's played Monaghan at home on Saturday last and they proved to be our strongest opposition so far. Virginia started very strongly scoring their first try within the first 5 minutes and the subsequent conversion was slotted over the bar by Ben Conaty. This set the tone for the game with the Virginia forwards dominating the lineouts and scrums with some great rucking which delivered fast ball to our backs who had the upperhand on their opponents throughout the game. Virginia scored five tries in total with the best try coming from a set move in the lineout finished well by Darren Brady. The game finished off on a final score of 31 - 0.

Try scorers on the day were Daire Mc Enroe (2),Brendan Argue (1),Darren Brady (1),Niall Yore (1) and conversions by Ben Conaty (1),Daire Mc Enroe (1) and Jason Mc Mahon (1).

Virginia travel to Newry next Saturday hoping for more of the same.

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Virginia RFC – 7 Try’s

Cavan RFC – 4 Try’s

Virginia u9’s started their first game of the season playing away from home with a convincing win over Cavan rfc. Virginia,s result came about as a result of great team play resulting with a score line of 7 try’s to 4. Notable performances on the day were by Donal Maquire for his ball carrying, Oisin O Rourke with 2 excellent try’s, Malachy Walker/ Luke Doyle for their tackling and Nathan Tobin for leading from the front. These Vrfc U 9s played with great effort and fun. Cavan to their credit responded with 4 good try‘s. Solid start to the season for vrfc 9’s.

Team.
Donal Maquire, Eli Caffery, James Kelly, Dean Filby, Malachy Walker, Saoirse Kiernan, Luke Gillick, Luke Doyle, Natahn Tobin, Harry Mc Quade, Patrick Sheridan, Conor Delaney, Glen O Sullivan, Oisin O Rourke, Jake White Duffy.

Three of the four Rugby World Cup 2011 semi-finalists are on the rise in the latest IRB World Rankings as Australia, Wales and France all benefitted from victories over higher-ranked opponents at the weekend.

France are the biggest movers of the week, rising three places to fifth after beating England 19-12 at Eden Park on Saturday to gain some revenge for semi-final losses to the English at the two previous World Cups.

The climb sees Les Bleus regain the three places they lost after their shock loss to Tonga the previous weekend and means they now sit directly above England, who lose their mantle as the highest-ranked northern hemisphere nation after a two-place fall to sixth.

Wales now hold that tag after rising two places to fourth on the back of an impressive 22-10 beating of Ireland to reach their first RWC semi-final since the inaugural tournament, also on New Zealand soil, in 1987.

The Welsh, who last occupied fourth briefly in early 2009, could have broken into the top three for the first time since the rankings were introduced in October 2003, had their margin of victory been slightly greater or South Africa lost by more points to Australia in Sunday's first quarter-final.

The Wallabies' hard-fought 11-9 victory at the Wellington Regional Stadium sees them swap places with the Springboks to return to the second spot they occupied before RWC 2011. South Africa preserve the southern hemisphere top three, but are now just over a point above Wales.

Ireland, like England, have slipped two places in the rankings to seventh after losing to Wales in Wellington on Saturday. Had the margin been more than 15 points it could have been worse for the two northern hemisphere sides with another place lost to Argentina.

The only quarter-final not to have any impact on the ratings was New Zealand’s 33-10 win over the Pumas at Eden Park, with the home side ranked six places and more than 10 rating points ahead of their South American opponents going into Sunday's second match.

New Zealand’s advantage at the top of the rankings has been reduced slightly to 3.42 points as a result of Australia’s win, while Argentina have slipped one place to eighth after France’s win over England.

There was one other Test match over the weekend in the European Nations Cup, with Cyprus overwhelming Luxembourg 48-7 in Division 2D. However, this did not count towards the rankings as Cyprus are not yet a Full Member Union of the International Rugby Board (IRB) and therefore not ranked.

Wales captain Sam Warburton praised his team's defence after their 22-10 triumph over Ireland in Rugby World Cup 2011's first quarter-final.

After a game of passion and skill at Wellington Regional Stadium, Warburton said: "It was a massive defensive effort from one to 15.

"We always say we don't start games good enough. We started the game perfectly today.

"It was just what we wanted. It's a lot easier to stay ahead of the game than to chase it."

The Welsh scored three tries to one, but it was their defence which was the crucial difference between the sides.

Ireland enjoyed territorial advantage in the first half, but their return of just one Ronan O'Gara penalty was scant reward. And this was due to the miserly Welsh defence.

Brian O'Driscoll, the captain of Ireland, said his team had been outplayed in the second spell.

Worthy winners

"They scored two good tries and we had a bit of weak defence and we're disappointed to be going home," he said.

"It was a great opportunity for us winning the group (Pool C), but they showed they are worthy semi-finalists and good luck to them.

"We needed to deliver a performance similar to the one against Australia (15-6) or the one against Italy last week (36-6). We didn't do that today. We knocked on the ball too much."

The Welsh led 10-3 at half-time through a try by Shane Williams, converted by Rhys Priestland, and a long penalty from Leigh Halfpenny.

The Irish drew level soon after the break when a messy but effective backline move put Keith Earls over wide on the left, despite a valiant tackle by Mike Phillips.

The video referee ruled positively for Ireland, O'Gara converted and Ireland were in the ascendency.

Hit the upright twice

But Phillips scored Wales' second try in the 50th minute with a fine solo effort, beating Gordon D'Arcy and diving over in the corner. The video referee was again called on before Priestland missed the conversion.

Priestland saw a 58th-minute penalty attempt swerve away late, hit the upright and bounce to safety.

But Wales went further ahead in the 64th minute when Jonathan Davies cut inside two defenders and Priestland added the conversion for the 22-10 lead, which lasted until the end.

Five minutes later Sean O'Brien knocked on in front of the Welsh line as Ireland attempted to get back into the match.

With seven minutes left Priestland hit the upright for the second time, but Wales were well in command. They will now take part in their first RWC semi-final since the inaugural tournament in 1987.

This match was a storming affair from the first minute, with Ireland playing with the wind in the first half and dominating in everything but the score.

Excellent Welsh defence

Williams opened the scoring in the third minute after the early part of the match was marked by relentless pressure on the Ireland line. The great start from the Welsh was accentuated by a superb touchline conversion from Priestland.

Unlike the Welsh, who easily beat the Irish defence for Williams' early try, similar chances for the Irish at the other end were foiled by some excellent defence.

The Irish desire to score an equalising try saw O'Gara spurn relatively easy kicks for goal on three occasions in the first quarter.

But in the 23rd minute O'Gara decided to go for goal from right in front, after Huw Bennett was penalised for joining a ruck incorrectly.

O'Gara scored his 200th Test penalty to make the score 7-3, before Halfpenny gave Wales the seven-point cushion at the break.

Virginia Rugby U15's continued their good run when they travelled to Armagh on Saturday last October 1st. After a slow start when they found it hard to get a grip on the game, they eventually settled down and played some beautiful rugby. The Virginia pack were dominant in the line out and the scrum throughout the game. With strong tackling and crisp passing from the backs they totally controlled this game, winning on a score line of 62 - 0, scoring ten tries and six conversions. This was the final pre-season game with the League kicking off over the next two weeks. Hopefully the team will continue this good form throughout the League and Cup Competitions.

Try scorers on the day were Niall Farrelly (3), Ben Conaty (2),Daire Mc Enroe (2),Niall Yore (1), Darren Brady (1) and Evan Doughty (1).

Brian O'Driscoll felt right at home during Ireland's 36-6 victory over Italy on Sunday that clinched their progression into the quarter-finals.

More than 28,000 fans, nearly all of them in green, white and orange, witnessed a first-half performance that held a hungry Italian pack at bay before the Irish kicked away after the break with some expansive rugby.

"That was the best, seeing rows of green everywhere you look," O'Driscoll said of the support.

"It was like Lansdowne Road - in fact, I have played in Dublin before when it hasn't been that good."

Ireland fly half Ronan O'Gara kept the scoreboard busy at a stadium where kickers had previously suffered.

O'Gara, retaining his place ahead of Jonathan Sexton, stroked three penalties in the first 40 minutes as the Irish kept their noses in front despite a tough physical battle against the Italy forwards at Otago Stadium.

An injury to prop Martin Castrogiovanni three minutes before half-time in the final Pool C clash weakened the Azzurri in their key battleground with the score at 9-6.

Tough times

And Ireland won virtually every skirmish after the break, running in three tries against an increasingly ragged defence, while the Italians failed to take the few opportunities they had.

O'Gara finished with 16 points, and the scoreline allowed the luxury of a late appearance by Sexton, who was unerring with one penalty and a conversion.

Those scores were built on the foundation of a prize-fighting display from flanker Sean O'Brien, who took the man-of-the-match award.

"We've done our job but tough times are to come," said O'Brien, looking ahead to the quarter-final against Wales in Wellington on 8 October. "We're halfway there.

"There’s fire in the belly, and that's what we had tonight."

O'Brien drew whistles from the crowd when he needed to change his shirt just before half-time, enjoying a moment similar to Sonny Bill Williams' 'wardrobe malfunction' for New Zealand against Tonga as he struggled to force the jersey over his considerable torso.

Bruising run

"I don't think I really compare to Sonny Bill Williams, I don't really have the same body," he said.

"But I was trying to get the shirt on as soon as possible."

O'Driscoll sprinted through for his first try of the competition on 47 minutes. Another bruising run from him soon after led to the ball being recycled to Keith Earls, who scored in the corner, and Earls added another in the final minute to cap a great night for the Irish. Italy coach Nick Mallett said the Irish support had been a significant factor in the outcome of the match.

"I think every New Zealander had a green shirt on tonight, because I don't believe there are that many Irish with enough euros to have been here," he said.

Italy looked a beaten side by the time O'Gara converted Earls' first try to make it 26-6 after 53 minutes.

Take responsibility

And with the Azzurri making 97 tackles - 38 more than the Irish - fatigue set in as the Irish backs took control.

Italy's lack of bite was summed up by an overthrown lineout from hooker Salvatore Perugini as they set up for a drive in Ireland's 22 late in the match, gifting possession back to the men in green.

"We have to be men about it and take responsibility," said Italy captain Sergio Parisse after their bid for a first quarter-final appearance fell short.

"No-one took a backward step on the pitch. We have to be realistic and say Ireland are a better team than us, and they played at a higher level than us."

Three-try Ireland blasted out of the blocks early in the second half to ease to a 36-6 win over Italy in the final Pool C match at Otago Stadium on Sunday.

Ireland, who finished top of their pool with this victory, will now face Wales in the first quarter-final at Wellington Regional Stadium next Saturday.

Captain Brian O'Driscoll crossed the Italy line first in the 47th minute and was soon followed by wing Keith Earls as Ireland overran their opponents.

With just over a minute remaining, wing Tommy Bowe came close to scoring, but failed to ground the ball in a chase with two Italian defenders.

However, Earls scored his second and Ireland's third try when sprinting into the left corner. Replacement Jonathan Sexton kicked the conversion for 36-6.

The Irish had held a 9-6 lead following a scrappy first half after Ronan O'Gara hit three penalties to Italian Mirco Bergamasco's two.

Succession of penalties

The succession of penalties continued just two minutes into the second half as O'Gara made it 12-6 when Italy were penalised for not rolling away at a ruck.

O'Gara failed to extend Ireland's six-point lead a few minutes later when he missed a drop goal attempt from just outside the Italian 22m.

However, Bowe broke through a gap in the Italy defence on the 47th minute, offloaded to centre O'Driscoll and he sprinted over the line for the match's opening try. O'Gara kicked the conversion for a 19-6 lead.

Then it was happy 24th birthday for left wing Earls when he crossed in the corner five minutes later after Gordon D'Arcy sparked the attack. O'Gara added the extras for a 26-6 advantage.

Ireland were well on top now and came close to adding a third try through Rob Kearney, but the full back was held up by the Azzurri defence.

Sexton, who had come on for O'Gara in the 67th minute, then landed a penalty three minutes later to extend Ireland's lead to 29-6 after Italy did not release the ball in a ruck.

Nerves appeared to get the better of both sides in this crucial match as there was little flow to first-half play, but several handling errors and numerous penalties.

The closest to a try in the first half came when Ireland's Bowe crossed the Italian line, only for play to be taken back by the referee for a forward pass from man of the match Sean O'Brien.

A much-improved second half performance by Ulster was not enough to salvage a result tonight at Rodney Parade, as the damage inflicted by Jason Tovey's boot in the first period helped the Newport-Gwent Dragons to a 22 - 9 victory.

Personnel changes from the side which took on the Ospreys last Sunday saw Adam D'Arcy replace the injured Jared Payne at full-back, while Nigel Brady took over from Andi Kyriacou at hooker, and Willie Faloon came in for Robbie Diack in the back row. Ian Porter and Conor Gaston returned to the bench, where they were joined by Academy prop Kyle McCall.

Ulster were somewhat off-colour in the first half, with uncharacteristic errors among the backs surrendering possession too often, and indiscipline giving Dragons out-half Tovey multiple opportunities in very kickable positions. In prime rugby-playing conditions, however, Ulster started the brighter, and with the Dragons infringing at the breakdown in the first five minutes, Paddy Jackson kicked the visitors into an early lead from the home 22. But an Ulster offside two minutes later allowed Tovey to redress the balance virtually immediately, before two promising breaks, one for each side, were blighted by knock-ons.

A further Ulster offside on 17 minutes gave Tovey office to put his team into the lead, and prospects began to look gloomy for Brian McLaughlin's men when Nevin Spence was sent to the sinbin on 22 minutes for his second high tackle of the match. The Dragons wasted no time in exploiting the Spence-shaped hole in the centre of Ulster's line, Tom Riley running over after good approach play from the line-out. Tovey converted to establish a ten-point lead at Dragons 13 Ulster 3.

After an off-target penalty attempt from Jackson just before the half-hour, yet another Ulster offside was penalised by referee Neil Patterson, and Tovey was only too happy to oblige and increase the lead further still. But holding on in the tackle from the Dragons straight from the restart allowed Jackson to keep his side in touch, as his superb long-range penalty raised the score to Dragons 16 Ulster 6.

With Spence back in the fray Ulster strove to contain the rampant Dragons until half-time, but were undone on 39 minutes when Paul Marshall strayed offside, and Tovey kicked over his fourth successful penalty of the encounter. A disappointing half then came to an end, with Ulster in dire need of a major improvement in the second period if they were to avoid a heavy defeat.

Half-Time Score Dragons 19 Ulster 6

A bright break engineered by Luke Marshall in the opening minutes of the second half saw the young centre use his power and speed to thrust into Dragons territory, but in keeping with the pattern of the game thus far, the assault came to an end when Spence was penalised for holding on in the tackle as Ulster neared the try-line. The Dragons then kept up their practice of converting their possession into points moments later, when Tovey kicked over again after Declan Fitzpatrick had been pulled up for not binding.

A 50th-minute Jackson penalty again kept Ulster in touching distance, and one of the visitors' most promising attacks followed, with replacement scrum-half Porter intelligently exploiting a gap in the Dragons defence from the line-out and making excellent ground before a touch of over-exuberance among the Ulster backs resulted in crossing and put paid to the move.

With the next score crucial in determining the outcome of the encounter, Ulster were spared on 63 minutes when Tovey's penalty from the right hand side rebounded off the upright, and were then most unfortunate five minutes later as Ian Whitten's toe just sneaked into touch before he grounded by the left corner flag for what could have been a game-changing try.

It was not to be, however, as the Dragons were happy to close out the game playing percentage rugby in the Ulster half after their late scare. A second consecutive defeat on the road for Brian McLaughlin's outfit sees them sitting on a middling record of three wins from five in the RaboDirect Pro12, a return they will hope to improve upon next Friday when they welcome Benetton Treviso to Ravenhill.

Full-Time Score Dragons 22 Ulster 9

Dragons:
(15 - 9) M Thomas; T Chavhanga, T Riley, A Smith, M Poole; J Tovey, W Evans (1 - 8) N Williams, T Willis (c), N Buck; A Jones, R Sidoli; A Coombs, G Thomas, L Evans
Repalcements (16 - 23) R Buckley, P Price, K Jenkins, D Waters, J Groves, J Bedford, G O'Driscoll, M Jones

Ulster
(15 - 9) A D'Arcy; C Gilroy, N Spence, L Marshall, I Whitten; P Jackson, P Marshall (1 - 8) D Fitzpatrick, N Brady, J Cronin; L Stevenson, D Tuohy; P Wannenburg, W Faloon, C Henry (c)
Replacements (16 - 23) A Kyriacou, K McCall, A Macklin, T Barker, R Diack, I Porter, J McKinney, C Gaston

The Ireland team to play Italy in the final Rugby World Cup Pool C match against Italy this Sunday shows eight changes and one positional switch to the starting side that played Russia in the last game.

Tommy Bowe comes onto the right wing in place of Fergus McFadden. Captain Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy are named as the centre pairing in place of Paddy Wallace and Keith Earls, who retains his place in the side and moves to the left wing. Conor Murray is named at scrumhalf in place of Isaac Boss.

Hooker Rory Best and prop Mike Ross return to the starting front row with Paul O’Connell coming into the second row in place of Leo Cullen. The final change sees Stephen Ferris named in the back row instead of Donnacha Ryan who moves into the replacements.

Ulster's Tom Court and Andrew Trimble are named among the replacements.

IRELAND Team & Replacements (v Italy, 2011 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Otago Stadium, Sunday, October 2, kick-off 8:30pm local time/8:30am Irish time):

15 - Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
14 - Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
13 - Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) Captain
12 - Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
11 - Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
10 - Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
9 - Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
1 - Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
2 - Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
3 - Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
4 - Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
5 - Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
6 - Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
7 - Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
8 - Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Replacements:
16 - Sean Cronin (Leinster)
17 - Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
18 - Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
19 - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
20 - Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
21 - Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
22 - Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Tonga shocked France 19-14 in a Pool A match at the Wellington Regional Stadium on Saturday.

France showed little during a match dominated territorially by Tonga, with so many promising moves snuffed out by keen Tongan tackling or poor decision-making by the French.

The French did score a try in the final seconds to bring up the final score, but it was too little too late for Les Bleus in the match. But in gaining a bonus point, France do go through to the quarter-finals.

Tonga had scored their only try of the match in the 27th minute when scrum-half Taniela Moa breached the France backline with a fine run.

From the resultant tackle-ball Morath kicked diagonally for Sukanaivalu Hufanga on the opposite wing, who collected, skirted the touchline in a French tackle, but managed to regain composure and dot down.Morath converted to give Tonga a 10-6 lead.

In the 35th minute France were penalised for offside and Morath increased Tonga's lead to 13-6, which was the half-time score and France were running out of ideas.

Tonga went 19-9 ahead in the in the 71s minute when Morath succeeded with a penalty kick to at that time to remove France from bonus point territory;

Tonga try-scorer Hufanga was given a yellow card by referee Steve Walsh two minutes from half-time when he lifted Vincent Clerc in a tackle and dumped him on his back.

French mistakes were rife in the second spell. Dimitri Yachvili missed touch with a defensive penalty early on and such was the Tonga dominance, it took seven minutes for the French to get outside their territory.

Yachvili made some amends in the 50th minute with a successful penalty for a late tackle by Alisona Taumalolo to close the gap to 13-9

The second tip tackle of the match saw France replacement Fabrice Estebanez given a yellow card and from the resultant penalty Morath put Tonga up 16-9 with 15 minutes to play.

Les Bleus had wasted little time getting on the scoreboard at the beginning of the match, with Dimitri Yachvili slotting a penalty within the first minute as Tonga were caught offside.

Tonga equalised in the seventh minute through a penalty from Kurt Morath after France did not release the ball.

After giving up territory for some time after the equalising penalty, Tonga finally broke out of their half and were immediately awarded a penalty for French hands in the ruck, but Morath failed to give Tonga the lead with the penalty.

From the 20th minute France began to show some flair on attack and Tonga were perhaps lucky they were penalised for being offside and didn't concede a try in the 23rd minute. Yachvili kicked the simple penalty to put France ahead 6-3.

Canada and Japan drew 23-23 in John Kirwan's 23rd Rugby World Cup match as a player or coach. The draw was just the third in 263 RWC matches, with Canada and Japan having played the previous draw at RWC 2007. Kirwan's 23 matches is a record, surpassing Jason Leonard's 22 matches as a player.

Japan extended their record Rugby World Cup winless streak to 18 matches.

He said it

"I'm thinking about leaving some baskets of chips in the corners of the pitch. That should distract him. "- Ireland's Geordan Murphy suggests a novel way of tackling the scrummaging threat of Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni, his Leicester teammate and Pool C opponent on Sunday.

Stars and stripes

While the Rugby World Cup brings together the world's biggest stars, it also provides an opportunity for lesser-known players such as USA number 8 Nic Johnson to get up close and personal with their idols.

"I can't help but get starstruck sometimes," he said. "When I see the other players like Sergio (Parisse) in the locker room I want to go up and ask for a photo or an autograph."

And on the eve of his departure from New Zealand, what is his most treasured memento from Rugby World Cup 2011? A sneaky post-match photo taken with one of his heroes, Ireland second row Donncha O'Callaghan.

Scenic drive

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll took cash off two teammates after smacking the longest drive at Lake Taupo’s hole-in-one challenge.

O’Driscoll, who plays off scratch, hit a ball 238m into New Zealand’s largest lake. The drives are measured using a laser machine, which takes into account the clubhead speed, launch angle and the flight of the ball.

O’Driscoll’s efforts pale in comparison to the performance of All Blacks scrum half Piri Weepu, who smashed the ball a whopping 273m in December to set a record for that month. Remarkably, he did so with a broken leg.

Bad luck of the Irish

The Irish are getting plenty of opportunity to test their luck, as the team’s hotel in Dunedin is attached to a casino.

One player who hasn’t had any good fortune so far is flanker Donnacha Ryan. “I’ve had a go at the slot machines, but the only machine I’m winning on is the ATM,” he said.

Asked if he had tried card counting as a way of beating the house, he replied: “I gave it a go and my understanding is that there are 52 of them.”

Auld enemy

Journalists at a Scotland team press conference on Wednesday seemed determined to goad players into some unguarded anti-English sentiment ahead of their crucial Pool B clash at the weekend.

Are they upset they have had to turn out on "paddy fields" in torrential rain when England have played all three pool matches in a stadium with a roof? Do they feel any sympathy that Jonny Wilkinson is apparently "unhappy with the dimples" on the Gilbert ball? Is the prospect of knocking the auld enemy out of the tournament an added incentive?

Eventually, one Kiwi reporter decided to cut to the chase. "Tell us, do you loathe England?" he asked scrum half Chris Cusiter, who diplomatically dead-batted the question away.

Murphy's law

Ireland full back Geordan Murphy was resigned to playing the gooseberry as journalists in Dunedin focused their attention on backs coach Les Kiss and back row Denis Leamy during a press conference on Wednesday.

The Leicester back was amusing himself by indulging photographers with various facial expressions when he was startled by a journalist’s ongoing question, which had apparently started with the word “Geordan”.

“I thought I was going to get through the whole thing without a question,” said Murphy, bolting upright from his slouched position.

Italy's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup for the first time remain alive after their forwards overwhelmed USA on the way to a 27-10 win and a bonus point on Tuesday.

After captain Sergio Parisse had given the Azzurri a dream start by diving over for a try after three minutes, USA full back Chris Wyles's try and conversion began to expose Italy nerves that only a return a forward-based game could calm.

After running in nine tries in their previous win over Russia, Italy had hoped they could continue with a more expansive style of play against USA, but after they faced dogged tackling early on they tightened their grip on the match and rode out the storm.

“We watched Russia versus the United States and there was no dominant scrum," Italy coach Nick Mallett said. "We completely destroyed Russia’s scrum and there is no reason why we couldn’t destroy USA's.

"Clearly, we had a very dominant scrum today and it would have been ridiculous not to use the strength of our forwards."

Danced over

Fly half Luciano Orquera danced over for his first World Cup try and man of the match Martin Castrogiovanni added a third on the stroke of half-time.

Italy secured the bonus point when referee George Clancy awarded a penalty try after USA had collapsed a number of scrums on their own line midway through the second half.

It was the second time in two matches Italy have been awarded a penalty try after their scrum had been collapsed.

"We are good in the tight play, so why shouldn't we be able to use it?" prop Andrea Lo Cicero said. "Why shouldn't we be able to profit from it? Why should others profit from being weak in the scrum?"

After Mallett made his anger known at conceding three tries against Russia, the defence was much improved.

Wyles's try aside, Italy's defence was able to limit USA's attacking forays and completely nullified their flying winger Takudzwa Ngwenya, who was seen as the Eagles' main threat.

The first time he received the ball, Italy second row Quintin Geldenhuys pounced on him and the second time his opposite number Mirco Bergamasco quickly closed him down.

It was an approach that met with Mallett's approval.

"There was one occasion when their No.15 (Chris Wyles) broke through and scored," he said. "That aside, our tight forwards defence and our loose forwards were outstanding."

Showed fatigue

The Eagles began to show their fatigue from four matches in 16 days, even though coach Eddie O'Sullivan rested 14 of the starting line-up from the match with Australia last Friday.

While they weren't able to reach their stated aim of winning two matches for the first time in a Rugby World Cup, they believe they can continue to raise their level of performance.

"We need the right people coaching it and the right people running it and we'll be on the right pathway to winning two games in four years' time," Wyles said.

"We set up a strategy coming in that we'd try and get two major performances against tier-one nations and win against Russia," O'Sullivan added. "We certainly achieved our goal."

Italy now need to beat O'Sullivan's former charges, Ireland, in Dunedin on 2 October to reach the knockout stages.

They have two days less than their opponents to rest and recuperate for the match, but despite having pushed Ireland so close in their 13-11 loss in this year's Six Nations, they will have to be far more clinical than they were against USA.

"We will have to score points however we can," Mauro Bergamasco said.

"It is the chance for all 30 players to do something no one has ever done. We have five days to recover physically and mentally and be ready for this huge battle."