Movember Irish Rugby

Movember and Sons is open in Ireland for 2012.

Irish men prepare for the month when Moustache is King and Knowledge is Power.

The Irish Movember campaign is back for its 5^th and biggest year yet. Irish men prepare to celebrate the month where ‘moustache is king’ and ‘knowledge is power’ by offering up their upper lip as a billboard for men’s health.

Irish Mo Bros simply register at Movember.com, start the month clean shaven then have the remainder of the month to become purveyors of knowledge and fine moustaches, all to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. All the money raised in Ireland goes directly to the Irish Cancer Society’s initiative, Action Prostate Cancer.

Movember is not just for the boys. Girls can get in on the action by taking on the role as a Mo Sista for the month and encouraging the men in their life to grow the Mo. Remember, behind every great Mo Bro is an even greater Mo Sista.

Last year 15,500 Mo Bros and Sistas raised over €1.7 million for men’s health in Ireland with over 854,000 Mo Bros and Sistas raising €92.4 million worldwide.

Amongst some of the men joining Irish Mo Bros on their quest for facial hair doMOnation are Irish rugby international players, Jamie Heaslip, Tom Court, Conor Murray and Cian Healy.

Speaking about Movember Jamie Heaslip said, “I’ve been doing Movember since 2007. I grew handlebars and it looked absolutely disgusting and I got a load of abuse from my family and friends, but it was worth it to get people talking about men’s health and awareness around it.”

Key Movember facts:

· Once registered at movember.com each Mo Bro must begin his hairy journey on the 1st of Movember with a smooth, clean shaven face.

· The moustache is Movember’s ribbon; it’s the vehicle men use to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer initiatives.

· At the end of the month, Mo Bros and Mo Sistas celebrate their mighty Movember journey by throwing their own Movember parties or attending one of the famous Gala Partés held in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Sligo and around the world.

· Over 2,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ireland each year.

· 1 in 8 Irish men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.

· Movember’s Global Action Plan (GAP) aims to accelerate prostate cancer outcomes by bringing together the best researchers from around the world. GAP facilitates a new and unprecedented level of global research collaboration, not previously seen within the prostate cancer community.

Movember Ireland country manager Neil Rooney said, ‘Knowledge is most certainly power and over the last five years we’ve seen the number of Mo Bros, and Mos grow exponentially. As well as raising much needed funds for the Irish Cancer Society’s initiative, Action Prostate Cancer, Movember continues to create talk around the issue of Men’s Health. As a result of talk comes action and men are becoming more and more aware of their own health, in turn leading to early detection.”

Movember.com

Perfect start for Ulster

As Ulster resume their assault on the #RaboPRO12, Kristian Ross has a look at their season so far.

So now it begins. After the best possible start to the season, now everyone really is starting to pay attention to Ulster Rugby.

Currently it's 5 wins from a possible 5, and sitting pretty at the top of the PRO12 as well as Pool 2 in the Heineken Cup with a 100% record. It's been tough, the loss of Nevin Spence hit every player, fan and staff member of Ulster hard. The rugby community came out in full voice, the support was tremendous, the tributes fantastic.

Not only are Ulster playing some brilliant rugby building on last season, but their paying tribute to Nevin with every hard earned win. I'm sure that he'd be proud.

Three players for me, have stood out. First of all Nick Williams. One of the newest Ulster players, Nick has joined and became the person that so many love to see at Ravenhill on a Friday night. A human battering ram, he doesn't need tricky or deft footwork to elude defences... He merely plows right through them.

A man who does use the twinkletoes effect is Jared Payne (pic). Payne is electric at the moment, he seems to be involved in everything, running lines, getting tries here and there and coming back from his injury with the look of a man determined.

And then comes Paddy Jackson. What can we say about the young man. Will first of all, he's mega cool under pressure. Nailing so many kicks for Ulster from the tee this season as well as some incredible boots for territory, he's looked magical, a real future star, a man with the potential to go on, to become the next Jonathan Sexton or Ronan O'Gara.

That's my pick. But there's so many more. Everyone has dug in and proved that Ulster aren't just the gutsy team that made the Heineken Cup final last year. They're proper competitors. Proper challenges.... Here for the long run.

I'm Kristian. 18. And my mind is filled with rugby shaped thoughts. Supporting Ulster Rugby, Newcastle Falcons and of course the mighty Ireland. Tommy Bowe is the MAN !!!! SUFTUM.

Lions Selector Panel–2nd Round (IRE)

It’s one of the hottest debate topics egg-chasing has to offer.

Given we live in something of a green goldfish bowl on these Irish shores, there’s no harm getting input from elsewhere. And so we have the HarpinOnRugby Lions Selector Panel, made up of one fan from each nation, with even the Irish panellist based abroad.

And it is that very same Irish panellist Mark Jackson who gives us his latest selection today.

With the season well under way and the Heino 2 games in , players are putting their hands up for selection with some others being sent to stand in the corner for lacklustre early season performances. Not too many changes to earlier selections but enough form players to include to make sure that they are being recognised for endeavours on the pitch . With people coming back from injury and others getting injured its a tricky time of year for selectors so just before the Autumn Internationals here’s the First Class Selection along with their Economy Class counterparts

First Class (Test XV)

15. Leigh Halfpenny ( steady rather than spectacular injuries to Kearney and Foden make him the standout selection)

14. Tommy Bowe ( Class personified in his brief appearances back from injury still best all round wing for me )

13. Brian O'Driscoll ( Try vs Munster rolled back the years but a position well up for grabs)

12. Jonathan Davies ( Jamie Roberts still not fully fit so Davies has done enough to keep the 12 shirt , just )

11. George North ( Poor showing vs Leinster but still enough early season form for test berth)

10. Jonathan Sexton ( Not firing on all cylinders but all round game still gets him the pivot )

9. Danny Care ( Phillips indiscretions aside , Care is buzzing bringing backs and forwards into play well for his club)

8. Jamie Heaslip ( Has upped his workrate and has been one of Leinster’s better performers so far )

7. Justin Tipuric ( Bit of a bolter but has been impressive for a good Ospreys resurgence , before last Sunday obv)

6. Stephen Ferris ( Even if Lydiate was fit , Fez would be my 6 , wrap him in cotton wool , he is a game changer)

5. Paul O' Connell ( Showed more in 60 mins vs Edinburgh than most other 2nds rows do in a season . Still the yardstick for locks in this part of the world)

4. Courtney Lawes ( A defensive beast with subtle skills , improving all the time )

3. Dan Cole ( Excellent season so far , offer more round the park than Adam Jones or Mike Ross especially in defence where he is turning over ball every game )

2. Richardt Strauss ( Now he is officially eligible he goes straight into the Test XV , great ball carrier good in tight and excellent at turning over ball on the ground )

1. Joe Marler ( With Healy and Jenkins not showing enough Marler's improved tight play allied with his loose skills get him the nod )

Economy Class

15. Stuart Hogg  14. Alex Cuthbert  13. Jonathan Joseph  12. Manu Tuilagi  11. Tim Visser  10 . Dan Biggar  9. Mike Phillips   8. Dave Denton  7. Sam Warburton  6. Ryan Jones   5. Ian Evans   4. Richie Gray  3. Adam Jones  2. Dylan Hartley  1. Cian Healy

Thats my two cents for the season so far , as always great to get feedback on the selections and see others thoughts , till next month rugby people .

Mark

Mark Jackson (@markusjacksonus) is an Irishman living in London, a lover of this game we call Rugby along with Gaelic Football and NFL (All Hail The New York Giants), having played it for fun and money in many countries around the globe, am now earning a crust coaching, hopefully inspiring and passing along some knowledge gained to the next generation of players.

We take the four panellists’ selections and put them together to form the HoR Composite Lions XV.  Mark’s choices this week have really shaken up the pack – follow this link to take a look.

Next week, we go back to our English panellist Rich Church-Keen.