Tag: Rugby
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Rowntree’s shock departure leaves a sour taste
A deceased Irish rugby legend once said to yours truly in a tent at the Punchestown Festival “Rugby, my friend, is a game for thugs played by gentlemen, whereas soccer is a game for gentlemen played by roughens”. Whether you agree with the actual nuts and bolts of his views or not is immaterial. At…
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From Minor to Major
Ben Johnson’s now disgraced victory notwitstanding, the only proper memory of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 probably stems from the basketball. Yes, the fascination had taken hold back then. By ’92 in Barcelona, the Dream Team were a huge takeaway from the games for me, but there was also Michael Carruth and Wayne McCullough in…
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Robin Cunningham – A Personal Tribute
It is with complete shock, disbelief and a broken heart that I have just learned of the passing of Robin Cunningham. One of the kindest, most caring, patient, compassionate people I was ever blessed to meet. A consummate professional in the most difficult line of business there is. Following the death of his dad Rory…
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The troops may change but the ethos remains the same
France… 17 Ireland… 38 Not all that long ago, while longingly looking at clubs like Kilmacud Crokes and Kilcoo and Ballygunnar and bemoaning the fact that one’s own entity are not at a similar plateau. “Culture” explained a friend of mine with experience of playing and coaching in both GAA. “With them, it’s an in-built…
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Big Pete’s procrastination threatens to ruin the time of his life
Some people cannot equate the situation whereby a person can be an animal lover and still enjoy hunting and/or fishing. Yet for a huge number of people – including some very close to home – the two facts co-exist without so much as a whim. On foot of same, I ended up being in a…
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Casualties likely to be Cullen’s main concern
Leinster… 43 Stade Francais… 7 Just how far does Leinster’s strength in depth actually run? Is a question I’m sure many of their adversaries have long pondered. Well, unfortunately for Leo Cullen et al, they might be getting a bit closer to finding out. Certainly at fly half anyway. Obviously, the retirement of Johnny Sexton…
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Boylan Talks Sport Brain Fitness Test – No. 29
Sure it wouldn’t be the Christmas if I didn’t put some bit of a test of all your sporting knowledge.
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Plenty of problems but a shortage of solutions
Sport never loses its ability to amaze. No matter how much of it you look at. In fact, maybe the more of it you observe, the more confusing it becomes. How else to explain Manchester United holding Liverpool to a draw? At a time when the form of the two sides was about as polarised…
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Pursuit of ‘keeper trio underlines the competition
Never is, I think, one of those trick words put into the English language that none of us like using but not doing so is quite literally impossible. To put a degree of context on the rest of what will appear, many moons ago, it would have been said in this corner that there were…
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What was once a fortress now has swinging saloon doors
MUNSTER… 17 BEYONNE… 17 If there were any positives, let’s get them out of the way first. Which, you suspect, is exactly what Graham Rowntree will be doing when the debrief begins. If he hasn’t got the paint stripper out already. So here goes. Even though it was the French side who put the first…