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ANDY FARRELL SLAMS IRELAND’S LACK OF FIGHT IN 36-14 FRANCE DEFEAT

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell admitted his team lacked the "intent" needed to compete in their 36-14 Six Nations loss to France.

Andy Farrell Slams Ireland’s Lack Of Fight In 36-14 France Defeat
Andy Farrell Is Right To Be Blunt About Ireland's Missing Spark

Andy Farrell didn’t sugarcoat it. France came out flying, sharp as ever, and it left him wondering if his Ireland team had enough fight in them at all. The Ireland head coach admitted France played at a “different level” for big stretches during their 36-14 bonus-point win in Paris.

Ireland showed up short-handed, and honestly, the way they got outclassed will have people worried. Louis Bielle-Biarrey picked up right where he left off last season—he bagged two tries, while Matthieu Jalibert and Charles Ollivon also crossed over. Ireland managed a late burst, with Nick Timoney and Michael Milne grabbing consolation tries, both converted by Sam Prendergast. But France wasn’t fazed. Theo Attissogbe finished things off, and Thomas Ramos kept the scoreboard ticking with a penalty and four conversions.

Farrell looked deflated when he spoke to Virgin Media after the game. “France were playing a different game to us in the first half,” he said. “You make your own luck, and they did that—no complaints. We tried to work something from scraps and high balls, but that’s rugby. You’ve got to show some fight and intent, and we didn’t. That’s tough to take.”

Ireland hadn’t been back to the Stade de France since their gutting World Cup exit to New Zealand. The rain didn’t help things—slippery ball, missed tackles everywhere. Farrell wasn’t happy. “It’s about intent,” he said. “Yeah, it was wet, but you still need to get through tackles and earn the right to offload. France wasn’t taking risks. They just kept winning contact, and that’s how they got their offloads away. Congrats to them. They deserved it.”

Ireland did wake up a bit after halftime, but by then, the damage was done. Farrell saw some positives in the second half, but he admitted the real issue was attitude, not just personnel. “It’s not rocket science. Go forward, dig in, and fight for every inch. We got a couple of tries from that, but we needed more. Every point matters in this tournament.”

Captain Caelan Doris didn’t hold back either. “Definitely not the start we wanted,” he said. “We made it too hard for ourselves in the first half—just didn’t have enough bite. France showed real class, but we weren’t good enough. We let them play their game. Poor collisions; kick-chase wasn’t there.”

On those 19 missed tackles in the first half? Doris shook his head. “It wasn’t just the missed tackles. We let them offload way too much. We’d talked about needing dominant tackles because they’re so dangerous when they get their hands free. And we just let them do it.”

Doris tried to find a silver lining. “The bench made an impact, and we showed some fight in the second half, but we can’t be a team that spends the whole game chasing. That’s on us—too passive, not connected, not physical enough. We let France play, and they took full advantage.”

Inside the dressing room, Farrell told the team to come back with real opinions and solutions. “We’re not starting from scratch. There are lessons to learn and some good stuff in the prep. We need to really dig in, figure this out, and react next week.”

HAMMER DROPPED: DILLON BROOKS SUSPENDED BY NBA AFTER HITTING 16TH TECHNICAL FOUL LIMIT

Dillon Brooks hits the 16-technical foul limit! Discover the cost of his suspension and how it affects the Phoenix Suns' season.

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Dillon Brooks is the "bad guy" the NBA needs

Dillon Brooks just picked up a one-game suspension from the NBA; his 16th technical foul of the season finally caught up with him. If you’ve followed Brooks at all, this probably doesn’t surprise you. The guy’s known for playing right up to the edge, stirring things up on the court, and, honestly, not backing down from anyone. This latest tech happened in the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder, after a run-in with referee James Williams. That was all the NBA needed to drop the hammer.

The league released a pretty standard statement: “Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 16th technical foul of the 2025-26 season,” signed off by James Jones, who runs basketball ops for the Suns. Because of the suspension, Brooks will lose a chunk of change, $121,403, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

After the game, Brooks sounded tired of the whole thing. “I had a ref tell me that I play the victim, so I ain’t talking no more about that,” he told reporters. “Yeah. He said I’m playing victim all the time. And when I don’t play victim, I’m the bad guy.” When pressed, Brooks didn’t hold back. “If you’re going to be consistently bad, then be consistently bad throughout the whole game. Don’t try to fix it during the game. Don’t try to even out foul calls or whatever it may be. If you’re going to be bad, be bad the whole game.”

The NBA isn’t budging on this one. Brooks will sit out the Suns’ first game after the All-Star break. Hitting 16 technicals in a season triggers an automatic one-game suspension. And it doesn’t stop there; every two more technicals means another game on the bench, no pay.

Brooks is actually having a career year in Phoenix, averaging 21.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, shooting 44.1% from the field, 34.3% from three, and 85.6% from the line. But now, with this suspension hanging over him, he’ll have to rein it in if he wants to stay on the court.

This season’s been wild with NBA suspensions, not just Brooks. The massive brawl between the Pistons and Hornets stands out. Four players got tossed and then suspended: Isaiah Stewart (aka Beef Stew) and Jalen Duren for Detroit, and Miles Bridges and Moussa Diabate for Charlotte. Stewart got seven games for charging off the bench and into the fight. Duren, who just made his first All-Star team, got two games but will still play in the All-Star Game. Bridges and Diabate each got four games for “fighting and escalating the altercation”, per the league.

And that’s not all. Jaxson Hayes of the Lakers got suspended for a game after shoving a mascot. Yes, really. He apologised but still had to sit. Rudy Gobert picked up a one-game ban for racking up too many flagrant fouls. Dennis Schroder, back when he was with Sacramento, drew a three-game suspension for a post-game incident with Luka Donci, who he reportedly tried to take a swing at in the arena tunnel. Jose Alvarado and Mark Williams both got two games for fighting earlier in the year.

Then there’s Paul George, who got hit with a whopping 25-game suspension for violating the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. That’s the longest one in recent memory.

As for who’s next in the technical foul race, Luka Doncic has 13, Stewart has 12, and Draymond Green sits at 11. If any of them hit 16, expect a similar one-game vacation from the league.

MVG MASTERCLASS: MICHAEL VAN GERWEN KNOCKS OUT LUKE LITTLER TO REACH ANTWERP FINAL TODAY

Michael van Gerwen is back! Read how he defeated Luke Littler in Antwerp to secure his second straight Premier League final.

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Michael van Gerwen secures back-to-back Premier League finals in 2026.

Michael van Gerwen is looking like his old self again. He just knocked Luke Littler out of night two at Premier League Darts and did it in style.

Littler, who’s only 19, picked up his first win of the Premier League season on Thursday; he edged out his long-time rival Luke Humphries in a wild match in Antwerp. But that run didn’t last. In the semi-finals, he ran straight into a fired-up Van Gerwen.

Last year was rough for Van Gerwen, no way around it. But now? He’s come roaring back. He won the opening night in Newcastle and just added Littler’s name to his growing list of big wins.

Fans loved it. “That was a quality performance from Van Gerwen! “Back-to-back finals for MVG,” someone posted online. Another said, “If this version of Van Gerwen is here to stay, darts are going to be in a better place by the end of 2026!” The excitement kept rolling—"Darts is always better when MVG plays like this,” one fan wrote. And then: “He is so back. This is his year!” Someone else just put it simply: “MVG is so back, and you love to see it!”

Even on Sky Sports, Dan Dawson couldn’t help himself: “Michael van Gerwen is in back-to-back finals to start this year’s Premier League. The Green Machine sees off The Nuke.”

Littler’s stuck at just two points from the first two weeks, while Van Gerwen could walk away with two weekly wins already.

Now Van Gerwen waits to see if he’ll face Johnny Clayton or Gerwyn Price in the final in Belgium. Both Welshmen got there by beating Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen.

Littler, on the other hand, really needs a deep run next Thursday in Glasgow to get his campaign back on track. Two points in two weeks just isn’t enough.

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