Tag: Aviva Stadium
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A fine line between opportunity and risk
Ireland… 33 Italy… 17 Challenge matches, Test matches, friendlies, warm ups, whatever you want. Do they carry any value? Observers of a certain vintage would be of the view they’re not worth the grass they get played on. An easy conclusion to arrive at if using the 1988 case of Meath and Kildare as a…
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They do it however they have to
Leinster… 53 Leicester Tigers… 24 When the Dublin football team were in peak unbeatable mode under Jim Gavin, the manager repeatedly spoke about everyone in the camp ‘trusting the processes’. Watch their matches during that era and you can see it playing out. There was one signal in particular – where the player in possesion…
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Fergusons were always a good engine for getting things done
Rep. Of Ireland…3 Latvia…2 Anyone of an agricultural persuasion is no doubt retorting to the above headline that Harry Ferguson’s ground breaking invention of the most famous piece of agricultural machinery ever made was in fact powered by the equally iconic Perkins engine. On the football landscape at the moment, both in the Premier League…
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World’s best show just why they are
Ireland… 29 England… 16 The phrase ‘Impressionable kids’ is one you often hear in use. Then there’s the fact that it’s said first impressions are lasting ones. Now read on… Andy Farrell’s grandkids obviously copped on fairly quick that his team was better than that of their dad – England fly half Owen. Hence their…
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J. Lowe calls the tune as Ireland make big statement
Ireland… 32 France… 19 There are few more satisfying things in sport than earning a statement victory with the cordite of controversy left wafting in the air. Now read on… That’s exactly where Ireland found themselves on Saturday evening following their second win from as many outings in this season’s Guinness Six Nations Championship. With…
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Progress can mean different things to different people
In the overall annals of GAA history, one wonders where the Centenary Cup resides. For Meath however, it was without doubt the spring board for the greatest era in the county’s football history. Fast forward to the present day and Westmeath will be hoping that last year’s Tailteann Cup success will similarly set them on…
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Reserve Tanks do little to enhance their status
Ireland… 35 Fiji… 17 Anybody with the slightest knowledge about rugby for the four decades this writer has been on the go – at the very least – will surely know of the efficiency of those from the Pacific island of Fiji in the 7s format of the game. Therefore, you’d have thought that a…
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Impressive variety but staple diet needs freshening up
Ireland…19 South Africa…16 How much store do you place on the Autumn Internationals? A passive observer would probably deem them no more than puffed up friendlies. The aficionado, though, sees them as the laying foundations and building something as the nuts and bolts of the day job kicks off for International players. My own view…
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Parrott chimes into Kenny’s uplifting chorus
Rep. Of Ireland… 1 Lithuania… 0 Sometimes things happen in life which, with the fullness of time, emerge as a clear sign of what was to come in its wake. For example, having spent two hours on a soccer pitch in Wales practising it the week before, it was as if Sean Boylan and Meath…
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In Kenny I am beginning to trust
Rep. Of Ireland… 2 Belgium… 2 It’s probably a fairly safe wager that when Jack Charlton was appointed manager of the Irish soccer team, his was a selection very much from the left of field. Firstly because the big Geordie hadn’t much of a managerial profile at the time. Moreover, the Irish job wasn’t exactly…