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Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Jack Conan: ‘Any season where you win something can never be deemed a failure'
It's been a whirlwind week for Jack Conan and the Leinster contingent in the British & Irish Lions squad. Their URC title-winning celebrations carried on into Sunday whereupon they were packing their bags and linking up with the rest of the squad on Monday, albeit the Lions had helpfully come to Dublin for the week. Jack Conan was among the 10 Leinster players obliged to take something of a back seat before watching last night's tour warm-up against Argentina in the Aviva Stadium. This day last week, after Conan captained Leinster to a 32-7 win over the Bulls, already feels like an age ago. 'It was a bit weird in the changing room after,' reflected Conan, 'like we didn't know how to win. Lads were a bit awkward or something like that, but it was good craic. 'We went to the RDS for a bit which was good, and then just pottered into town, and everyone did their own thing.' READ MORE The debate rages as to whether Leinster's season can be deemed a success or failure, and Conan gave a balanced perspective on this conundrum. 'I think any season where you win something can never be deemed a failure. Obviously, we want to go well in both competitions, and I think if it hadn't been for the performance against Northampton, even if we had lost that game, but we performed really well, I don't think people would have said much about it. Lions Jack Conan. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho 'They're a quality side, but I think it was just the way we didn't show up that day, and had a bit of a hangover for a few weeks. Maybe we don't get the result over the last two weeks, if it wasn't for that game. Maybe it was the bit of a kick that we needed. 'The problem is when you win most of the time, it papers over cracks a little bit, so we had to have a good hard look at ourselves and it was tough for a lot of lads, for everyone in the building. But you get to win a trophy at Croke Park with all your mates, at the end of the day, I would have taken then. 'I definitely wouldn't say it was a failure, but there's definitely some more in this club and more in the lads, so hopefully there'll be a few years still ahead of us.' At least the squad also had Sunday together to continue their celebrations in their last day together as a group given departures and retirements. With age comes wisdom, and Conan was home 'early' on Sunday night ahead of hooking with the Lions. 'I felt fresh enough on Monday morning. I had to go down to Bray at 7 o'clock in the morning to get the dog,' he said. 'The afterglow went pretty quickly on Monday morning when you had to pack up for the next eight weeks of your life, and get organised and do everything else and get into camp. The anxiety was pretty high, like first day of school going in. The lads had the time together, so you feel you're behind the eight-ball a bit, so you're on catch-up.' Leinster's Jack Conan is presented with the URC trophy. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho He'd love to have been playing last night but instead was with Andrew Porter, Joe McCarthy, Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan, as well as the Bath duo of Will Stuart and Finn Russell and the Leicester pair of Ollie Chessum and Jack van Poortvliet in the UCD Bowl hosting a training session for 90 girls and boys ranging from eight to 12 years. The four primary schools nominated by the Irish provinces were Moorefields Primary School, Ballymena, Antrim (Ulster), St Columba's National School, North Strand, Dublin (Leinster), Clerihan National School, Clonmel, Tipperary (Munster) and St Brendan's National School, Eyrecourt, Galway (Connacht). Conan described last Tuesday's first proper training session as 'soul-searching stuff – we had to run out the demons.' He's been rooming with Jac Morgan. 'Great fella, nice bloke, so getting to know him. I need subtitles half the time, it's a strong Welsh accent.' Conan seemed very relaxed and happy in his new environment. The benefit of being a Lions standing to him, even if the contrast with that pandemic-afflicted tour could hardly be starker. 'Four years ago was still great. I loved it and had a great experience. In a way, you get to know the lads in such a different way because it was eight weeks of solitary confinement. You have to mix. You still have to mix now but you're getting out and about in smaller groups whereas four years ago, everyone was just kind of sitting around.' Last night's full house at the Aviva accentuated the disappointment of not playing, especially as the warm-up game against Japan four years had a restricted 16,500 attendance in Murrayfield before the tour games in South Africa were played behind closed doors. 'I can't wait to get over there,' admitted Conan ahead of their Saturday morning departure and long haul to Perth. 'Everyone says it's just a different fanfare, a different level of excitement when you get properly on tour. But you can even see it walking around town at the moment; people in jerseys, there's a pop-up shop, so many kids outside the Shelbourne. It's special and I'm looking forward to getting a proper run-out at some stage.' Four years on, Conan also has a better idea of what to expect too. 'It's going to be the biggest game of their careers when you're playing the club sides. The Western Force are going to be unbelievably up for it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those blokes to play against the Lions. 'I know they might be missing a host of international stars but they're going to be unbelievably excited, so we know we'll have to be at our best. Every time you get an opportunity to put on this jersey it's only a very short amount of time you get to wear it you've got to make the most of it yourself and leave it in a better place. 'You've got to take those opportunities and run with it, and hopefully I'll get that opportunity next Saturday.'
Time of India
a day ago
- General
- Time of India
US experts to arrive in Sivasagar today to tackle ONGC gas leak
1 2 3 4 Dibrugarh: A specialised team of well control experts from the United States is set to arrive at the site of the ongoing gas blowout at a ONGC rig in Sivasagar on June 20, the state-run oil major announced on Thursday. The blowout, which began on June 12, has led to uncontrolled gas leakage, forcing the evacuation of nearly 350 families, who remain in relief camps as authorities struggle to contain the leak. In an official statement, ONGC's corporate communications department said, "Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) continues to make concerted efforts to control the gas discharge from Well RDS 147A in Assam. Multiple junk shot operations using different combinations of materials and pressure ranges have been undertaken." The arrival of the US team is expected to significantly bolster efforts to plug the leak. "An international team of well control experts has been mobilised from the United States of America and is expected to reach the site by the evening of June 20, to augment the response with specialised expertise," the statement added. While awaiting the foreign experts, ONGC has intensified safety protocols, including water blanketing operations to prevent fire hazards and continuous air quality monitoring. The company assured that particulate matter (PM) levels and gas concentrations remain within safe limits. Preparations for advanced well-killing techniques are underway, and non-essential equipment has been removed from the vicinity to minimise risks. An alternate access route is also being developed to ensure safer movement around the site. Local authorities and ONGC are providing aid to displaced families, with relief camps set up for those unable to return home. The district administration is closely monitoring the situation. "ONGC remains fully committed to ensuring the safety of the local community and the environment and is working in close coordination with national and international experts to resolve the situation at the earliest," the company said.
India Today
2 days ago
- Business
- India Today
ONGC well blanketed by water to avoid fire: Union Minister on gas leak in Assam
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that well control operations are underway in full swing at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) RDS 147 A site in Sivasagar, Assam, where a blowout at a crude oil well has led to a sustained gas leak for eight consecutive days that started on June to X, Puri shared that the site is being handled by a Crisis Management Team comprising experienced blowout control specialists. He also thanked Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state authorities for their prompt support in relief and evacuation Union Minister said the well is being continuously blanketed with water to prevent fire, and the released gas - 97% methane - contains no toxic substances. "Being lighter than air, the gas is dispersing upwards and not accumulating on the ground," he noted, adding that air quality near the well mouth remains within safe limits even within 50 to 100 added that the gas pressure has decreased from 2600 psi to 500 psi, and measures like junk shot operations and pumping of kill fluids are underway. If these do not prove sufficient, capping of the well may also be blowout occurred on June 12 at Well No. RDS 147 of Rig No. SKP 135 in the Rudrasagar oil field operated by SK Petro Services on behalf of ONGC. Chief Minister Himanta Sarma, who visited the site earlier this week, raised concerns over the pace of ONGC's response. In a letter to Puri, he urged for a mission-mode approach, citing public perception of "inadequate urgency" from the ongoing efforts, the well remains active and continues to leak gas. Over 330 families have been evacuated and are being supported by the state government with relief measures,' Sarma wrote, also announcing 25,000 aid per affected later said its experts are working round the clock and are consulting with an international well control agency. Additional personnel have been brought in from other centres, and part of the gas is being diverted to a nearby production Assam Pollution Control Board has confirmed that air and noise pollution levels remain within permissible limits. ONGC stated that community safety remains its top priority, with all steps being taken in line with regulatory standards.
India Gazette
7 days ago
- Business
- India Gazette
ONGC takes control of Rudrasagar Well in Assam to control gas blowout
New Delhi [India], June 14 (ANI): Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has taken operational control of Well RDS 147 in its Rudrasagar field in Sivasagar, Assam, to control gas blowout, the state-owned energy PSU said on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, gushes of gas were seen erupting from the Well RDS-147 of the ONGC's Rudrasagar field. The ONGC started working on the safety protocol soon after the detection. A team reached the venue and started the restoration work. 'As of 16:00 hrs, a team led by the Director (Technical & Field Services) has taken over operational control of Well RDS#147,' the ONGC said in an official release. 'All necessary fluids and equipment have been mobilised to the site. A comprehensive well control plan has been formulated, and pumping operations commenced following the successful installation and testing of essential connections,' the PSU added in the release. 'A team from ONGC Assam Asset and the district administration is actively engaging with local residents who were evacuated from nearby areas as a precautionary safety measure. All necessary arrangements are being made to ensure their welfare and well-being,' ONGC added in the release. Maharatna ONGC is the largest crude oil and natural gas Company in India, contributing around 71 per cent to Indian domestic production. Crude oil is the raw material used by downstream companies like IOC, BPCL, HPCL and MRPL (Last two are subsidiaries of ONGC) to produce petroleum products like Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene, Naphtha, and Cooking Gas LPG. (ANI)
Irish Examiner
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ireland almost leave you wanting more as shadow boxing nears end
What's rare isn't always wonderful but Friday night's friendly stalemate with Senegal in Ballsbridge, the Republic of Ireland men's senior team's first game against African opposition in just over 15 years, almost left you wanting more. The Republic had played Celtic and a Tuscan XI since June of 2010. There had been seven meetings with Georgia, six with Gibraltar and Denmark. Even three games against the mighty Oman in the space of just six years. This kind of challenge was overdue. It was Algeria who provided the opposition back in 2010, at the RDS of all places. Current Ireland assistant manager John O'Shea started at the back. Robbie Keane and Damien Duff have walked the same path to the dugout. Others, Kenny Cunningham and Kevin Doyle, are spending some of their retirement in the TV and radio studios. So, lots of water under the bridge, then, as Heimir Hallgrimsson's lads went about this end-of-season box-ticker down by the banks of the Dodder. Novelty factor wasn't the only attraction to Senegal. This was a side ranked inside the world's top 20 and replete with a rake of players who were plying their trade in the Premier League, or had in the past, and a supporting cadre from leagues around Europe and the Middle East. The pity was that the likes of Idrissa Gueye of Everton, Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson, and Ismaila Sarr, who was so central to Crystal Palace's FA Cup win last month, all started on the bench. Probably with an eye on their game against England in Nottingham next Tuesday. Still, that spelled opportunity. Hallgrimsson had framed the terms of this engagement neatly on Thursday when admitting he would have little issue with losing here and in Luxembourg on Tuesday if it meant two wins from their opening two World Cup games in September. It was hard to argue, but even ghost games like this can, in theory, serve a value in and of themselves and not just because a win here would have made it the first time that the Boys in Green had won three on the trot since 2016. That was a hat-trick of World Cup qualifiers, no less, starting with Georgia in Dublin, continuing on through to a 3-1 against Moldova in Chisenau, and ending with a 1-0 victory over Austria in Vienna courtesy of Harry Arter. Repeat that in the autumn and Ireland will have accounted for Hungary in Dublin and sacked the citadels of Armenia and Portugal. Hey, a nation can dream, and Hallgrimsson hasn't been in town long enough to pick up the Irish art of self-effacement. 'Our broader ambition is to not only qualify for the World Cup next summer, but also to be fully prepared to compete against diverse styles of play from teams around the globe when we get there. 'Facing a talented Senegalese side provides us with an excellent opportunity to test ourselves against a different type of opposition and to continue developing,' the Ireland boss wrote in his match programme notes. The game itself? Surprisingly good. Hallgrimsson has Ireland playing to a type. His type. They were aggressive without the ball and disciplined and regimented as a collective at the back. And they can be good to watch at times, too. Maybe we can dare to have our cake and eat it. Take out a red pen to the starting teamsheet here and you were left with maybe five players – Caoimhin Kelleher, Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea, Matt Doherty and Robbie Brady – who would likely start come the serious stuff in the autumn. With Finn Azaz, Josh Cullen and Mikey Johnston given the week off, it was Kasey McAteer, goal and all, who made the most of the doors this opened. And Caoimhin Kelleher showed why the £12.5, rising to £18m, Brentford paid for him this week is a steal. Senegal were better after the break, more direct, and that created problems for Ireland. Even Kelleher couldn't deny them forever, Ismail Sarr squeezing in a rebound after Cork's finest kept another one out with an outstretched foot. We even had the sight of two teams losing the rag in the dying moments in a more or less meaningless summer friendly. And the good news is that all this shadow boxing is almost over. Finally. It's two years since Stephen Kenny's Ireland lost 2-1 to Greece in the Agia Sophia Stadium – despite a nine-day acclimatization camp in Turkey – and the team's Euro 2024 qualifying hopes went south with six group games still to play. This was Ireland's 20th game since then. That's a whole lot of filler: academic qualifiers, Nations League placeholders and friendly make-dos. Only one more to go, against Luxembourg on Tuesday, before Hungary come to Dublin in September. Win or lose in four days' time, we're coming to the end of this two-year cruise.
