Rugby – Fee Paying School Sport or Sport for All !!

Rugby has been on most people’s minds in the last few weeks thanks to the Rugby World Cup that has just finished in England last weekend with New Zealand been crowned World Champions for a 3^rd time.

 This particular event has again raised a question in this country, is rugby a game for all or is it for people that are in private education?? Take one look at the 4 School Cup competitions in Ireland, The Leinster Schools Cup is arguably the biggest of the four and this is the most likely way for players to get into the Leinster academy and therefore this will give them the supposed best route to getting into the Leinster first team or any of the other provinces first team squad’s.

The Leinster Schools Cup is a sight to behold and is a top competition and with Roscrea winning this past year, it showed that even small schools can play with the big boys even if it is only for one year. In Ireland of course, rugby is behind GAA and Soccer in terms of popularity, there is a GAA club in every parish in every corner of the Ireland, there are Soccer clubs in most parts of Ireland. Rugby for a long time has had to play second fiddle to both of these sports.

The GAA is part of Irish identity and that will never change, Soccer has also found its home in Irish sport thanks to Jack Charlton and his squads that made history by going to Euro 88, Italia 90, USA 94. His tactics may have left and a lot to be desired but the feel good factor that swept across this Island while his team made each Tournament.

Rugby has struggled to find its niche in the Irish life. Only certain people would own up to watching or playing the sport in the past because of “The Ban”. In the last 20 years with the advent of the Heineken Cup and now the European Champions Cup, it has brought Rugby to a whole new audience. In Ireland of course people now know about the 4 provinces and how many of those people are involved with their local rugby club if there is one in your local area.

The IRFU is doing what it can to bring Rugby to the places in Ireland that it hasn’t already reached. In Ireland one has to think that no matter what success comes Ireland’s way in the next few years that it will still play second best to both the GAA and Soccer and that the way it is !!!

By

Cian Mc Gibney

04/11/2015

New Zealand World Champions Again!!

New Zealand have won a 3^rd World Cup after beating Australia in Twickenham. Are they the greatest International Rugby team in history , I think they are , as they won a second consecutive World Cup. They won it on home soil in 2011 and the first question that was asked would they win it in England 4 years later.

They set course for Twickenham on October 31^st 2015 and let’s face it they never let that date out of sight. They made one or two alterations to the coaching staff with Steve Hansen taking over from Graham Henry, Hansen was Henry’s assistant during his time as the All Blacks head coach and it was a seamless transition from one to the other.

 That has to be one of the key ingredients as to why New Zealand have been the top Test nations in 2011 and now in 2015 they have cemented their dominance over the rest with only 3 defeats in the last four years, only South Africa, England and Australia have defeated New Zealand in that 4 year period which in any sport is an incredible feat.  

They have also had a core group players that have also been a constant in the squad, with Mc Caw ,  Carter , Conrad Smith and Sam Whitelock  as they key people in the period between 2011 and 2015.

New Zealand play a very quick game based on cleaver plays with also smart players to execute each play. They don’t look upon the line out and scrum as ways to restart the game, each time the opposition put the ball out of play, which ever New Zealand player has the ball , the first thing they will look to do is take a quick line out and get the game going again and look to unsettle the team they are playing.

They were very clinical throughout this World Cup , when most other International teams get a chance to attack they waist it more times than they convert the opportunity. New Zealand on the other hand take most if not every chance they create.  Looking to the future what team can stop New Zealand’s dominance of the world game in the next 4 years before Japan in 2019. Argentina will improve in the next couple of years along with the old guard of Australia , South Africa and New Zealand.

In the Northern Hemisphere of course the post-mortem has taken place with the Union’s in England  , Wales , Ireland and France looking for answers and solutions to some of the issues that cropped up. France will have a new coach for the 2016 Six Nations , Ireland will have a new defensive coach hopefully in place by the time the Six Nations rolls around. All the teams involved will want to start the new cycle with positive results and finishing positions in the 2016 Six Nations.

New Zealand will have Steve Hansen in place until 2017, when the Lions come calling.That will be the next goal for the all-conquering All Blacks , can they beat the Lions 3-0 like 2005. Hansen will have New Zealand well set for that tour.

Richie Mc Caw has yet to announce his intentions with regard to retirement and my gut is telling me that Mr Mc Caw will be around in 2017 to lead them into battle against The Lions…

By

Cian Mc Gibney

03/11/2015

World Cup Final Preview

So New Zealand will face Australia next Saturday at 4pm. It will be a second straight final appearance for New Zealand while it is a first final in 12 years for Australia, a lot of water has gone under the bridge for both teams since Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to seal a World Cup win for England.

New Zealand are unbeaten in this World Cup and will go into this weekend’s final as favourites after their wins over France and South Africa in the knock out phase of the competition. They have proven they can win playing ugly and also they can go up through the gears as and when required.

 The spine of the team is very experienced and has players in each position that are probably the very best in the world. Players like Mc Caw, Read, Carter along with newer players like Aaron Smith, Ben Smith have really got the x factor and will be crucial to the outcome of the final.

They have the correct balance between players that will do the dirty work along with the players that will unlock defences. Although some of the performances in this World Cup have been far from perfect they have still been streets ahead of the opposition. Steve Hansen will need the whole team to function and if there is one area where South Africa targeted and had good success that was the scrum with Joe Moody replacing Wyatt Crockett who was ruled out through injury. Hansen will hope he will have Crockett back even though Crockett isn’t a strong scrumager  he has more experience than Moody and that will be needed in the final.

 The All Blacks have been lucky in this tournament and have not suffered many injuries with only Tony Woodcock and Liam Messam as real casualties , Woodcock was replaced by Joe Moody and Liam Messam wasn’t replaced but with Victor Vito and Jerome Kaino in the squad already Hansen resisted the temptation to bring in a like for like replacement and has kept Messam in reserve with Vito and Kaino the preferred pairing.

The All Blacks will also want to want to become the first team to defend the World Cup. With Mc Caw at the helm ably assisted by Read , Carter and Nonu. Mc Caw of course has been playing on the edge and sometimes over the edge and will do so again on Saturday.

Australia will fancy their chances of upsetting New Zealand and after winning this year’s Rugby Championship they know what it takes to get passed this particular New Zealand side. After nailing his colours to the mast by leaving  Nic White at home and selecting Will Genia and Bernard Foley as his preferred choice at 9 and 10. Quade Cooper was selected in the squad alongside Kurtley Beale , two men that 12 months ago were on their last legs with Australia and now have completed a remarkable comeback that will culminate in a World Cup final appearance for one if not both of those men.

Australia have of course got a strong scrum that has been transformed in the last 2 years with Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu either side of captain Stephen Moore and they have anchored a scrum that was a weakness 2 years ago when The Lions went down under but it has been turned around with Cheika bringing in Mario Ledesma to try and sort the scrum out.

 Since Cheika took over Australia have made steady progress that has seen them win The Rugby Championship and now they are 80 minutes away from being World Champions. It has been a dramatic 12 months under Michael Cheika , who delivered a first Heineken Cup to Leinster in 2009 , he won a Super Rugby title in 2014 with the NSW Waratahs and now is one game away from completing the set.

Whoever wins on Saturday will win the World Cup for the 3^rd time, New Zealand winning in 1987 and 2011 and Australia winning in 1991 and 1999. New Zealand won both on home soil with Australia winning away from home.

I feel Australia will push New Zealand all the way but New Zealand will come through in the finish and win a 3^rd World Cup.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

26/10/2015

Referees are Human Too

In the immediate aftermath of the Rugby World Cup quarter finals on Sunday, South African referee Craig Joubert was in the spot light for awarding a penalty to Australia that proved to be the winning score and since that moment he has been vilified by ex-Scotland players, fans and World Rugby to some extent as they claim he was wrong to award that penalty to Australia.

Having spoken to referees in the past, they only have a split second to make a decision and they have to live with it until they get to see a replay of the game or it is brought to their attention by the referee’s accessor.

Referees do not have the luxury of 5 or 6 TV replays to help them with most decisions, yes in Rugby League and Union this is now different and you can call upon the Television Match Official to help you in certain instances but not for a penalty call like the one witnessed on Sunday.

If you call in the TMO to help with decisions like the one on Sunday in open play then every decision is up for discussion and you will have captains calling on referees to use the TMO more and more often and in that case you might as well do away with the on field referee and just let the TMO referee the game.

The concentration levels needed now to be a top official are incredible, be that in Gaelic Games, Football or Rugby. If a referee makes an incorrect decision he or she will be dealt with in the correct manner after the final whistle has been blown.

Referees are human as well and need to be treated as such, they are not robots that will when programmed obey commands that will make sure they do not make the same error a second time. This author has been non too kind to certain referees in the past but ever since I spoke to a few referees I have gained a better understanding of what it takes to be a referee.

Put yourself in their shoes for a second and try and make a clear decision when you have players , mentors and supporters on you back to get every call right. Yes there are some bad referees in all codes but most of the officials in every sport are of a decent standard and would not be in that position if they were not capable of doing the job well.

I realise that in the heat of battle that it is not easy for any player or coach to keep his or her head when things are going against you the first person you will look to put the blame on outside of yourself and the team is the referee.

In the GAA for example the abuse that referees suffer is toxic, all of the men or women in black are amateur and are doing it for a love of the sport. Yet when a game is in full flow and even before a game has started the referee will have something said to him or her. Look at it from there point of view why should they give up a week night or a Saturday or Sunday just so they can be abused and insulted from the start.

People have a tendency to lose the run of themselves at sports events where in everyday life they wouldn’t say a word against anyone. I realise you are entitled to follow your team and support them how you like. But before the start of the next game that you are at, take a quick look at the man or woman in the middle and realise they have a family too and they are human beings like everyone else.

If referees were not there no matter what the sport, no games would take place.  So appreciate and respect them these people because after all without referees they would be no sport.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

21/10/2015

Ireland WRC 2015 Review

So Ireland will not be in the last 4 of the year’s Rugby World Cup after a 43-20 defeat to Argentina. Ireland will now need to go back a review what has gone wrong in this World Cup. A week in sport is a long time , given the fact that France were beaten and then they were completely dismantled by a very determined and clinical New Zealand side that is coming to the boil at the correct time and they look well placed to become the 1^st side to defend the World Cup.

Back to Ireland they will look back on yesterday’s game with regrets but to give Argentina great credit, from the opening whistle they set about pulling Ireland around the field and stretching the Irish defence. There scrum was a real weapon and was a major help in helping Argentina to another World Cup victory over Ireland.

Ireland will want to forget the opening 20 minutes that saw them concede 2 tries and almost concede a third only for a TMO intervention that saw it ruled out for a player being in front of the kicker. Argentina had shown throughout this World Cup and in the last few Rugby Championships that they have wanted to move away from the 10 man game that has served them so well in the recent past and helped the secure 3^rd place in France in 2007.

Ireland have a few choices to make in the aftermath of that defeat to Argentina, they will need to make a choice between sticking to the game plan that has delivered 2 Six Nations titles in recent years. The game plan that has been used since 2013 is based around a strong scrum, strong line out and a number of “power plays” the coin an NFL phrase. We have also seen Ireland go from a team that could use the line out maul as a real strength to it becoming a weakness and a place that other teams attacked and were also able to defend against.

Keith Earls in particular came into his own in this World Cup but that happened on the wing and again yesterday he was shown up on a number of occasions. Jared Payne was really missed in both games in defence and also in attack.

 Henshaw and Payne were a really strong combination before the World Cup and they also showed glimpses before Jared Payne was injured and replaced by Keith Earls. Ireland did miss Payne’s calming influence outside Madigan.  Darren Cave got a look in before the World Cup against Wales in Cardiff and showed real composure playing inside Earls in the 1^st warm up game.

Ireland will want to review what happened in this World Cup and why the main aim of a Rugby World Cup Semi Final was not achieved. Although the injuries sustained by Paul O Connell , Jonathan Sexton , Peter O Mahony and the suspension  of Sean O Brien were contributing factors in Ireland’s defeat, It is yet another disappointing campaign that promised so much and delivered another memorable performance with that victory over France but yet again that elusive Semi Final appearance will not happen and we will now have to wait until 2019 in Japan to put that right.

Argentina have 2 Semi Final appearances in World Cups and Ireland have never advanced beyond the Quarter Final stage , that is a sobering thought for anybody associated with the IRFU. Here’s hoping that from the 2016 Six Nations onwards that Ireland can regain lost ground steming from that Argentina defeat.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

19/10/2015