Katie Taylor’s Ireland Forgotten Hero

Katie Taylor claimed her 6^{th European crown last week. Back in 2012 she was the pride of Ireland with her gold medal win over Sophia Ochegava. But her win in the past week was greeted with very little fan fare and although her win has been covered in the media it doesn’t seem to have had the same impact as her win in 2012.}

She and her father have had an interesting journey since London 2012, they have battled with the IABA over new contracts for both Zaur Antia and Peter Taylor. Also Katie has flirted with the idea of turning professional before deciding to stay amateur for Rio 2016 to defend her Olympic crown.

Has the appetite for amateur boxing died down since her win and can the lost ground be made up in time for Rio 2016. The National Amateur Boxing championships take place every year and although the finals are covered the ordinary fan doesn’t seem to have an interest in the outcome. I think with better marketing the Championships could be a highlight of the sporting year with the GAA championships.

Back to Katie, she is one of Ireland’s greatest female athletes right up there with Sonia O Sullivan and Catharina Mc Kiernan and I just hope that the Irish Public get out to support her before she hangs up her gloves. Brian O Driscoll has had a full year of good byes before he went into the sunset. Let’s hope Katie gets the same treatment before she retires. I urge anyone who can to go and see her box before Rio 2016.

Katie Taylor is one of Ireland’s greatest, lets just hope she doesn’t become a forgotten hero….

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

08-06-2014.

The French Clubs, Money bags!!

The French clubs have ruled the money in the game for the past 15 years or so. It started with Toulouse and their partnership with Peugeot and has gone from strength to strength with the advent of the professional game. Clermont Auvergne are backed by the Michelin family and Michelin tyre company. Clermont of course have been rebranded from Clermonferrand to  Clermont Auvergne, this has been done to make the most out of the commercial side of the game.While this is not a bad thing it does nothing for a game that has done well to stay true to it amateur values for as long as it has.

How long more will the IRFU have control of the Provinces if something isn’t done to at least control the spending power of the French clubs in France by the French Rugby Federation. They have said that their hands are tied and that while the clubs are in private ownership the owners can do as they please.

 Toulon owner Mourad Boudjjelal  has stated quite openly that he is not in the business of keeping the French rugby team going but his only concern is Toulon. That is great to hear if you are a Toulon supporter but not if you are a French rugby supporter. In Ireland at the moment they have it down to a fine art keeping the provinces going and having success at International level. They don’t just keep it going they compete at both domestic and european level. The biggest question facing European rugby at the moment is, will the French just get stronger and leave the rest a long way behind or can all the other nations get back onto a level playing field.

Money does speak all languages and for that reason it is not surprising to see the SRU taking money from BT Sport in exchange for the renaming of Murrayfield as BT Murrayfield. The IRFU has done this in the past also renaming Lansdowne Road as The Aviva Stadium. Now while a cash injection like that isn’t the worst thing in the world in my opinion you are going down a slippery slope to a point where the IRFU will have no choice but to let private investment in just to keep the Provinces going.

 I am not against that idea fair from it , I just feel that the player pool in this country is so small that we need to cultivate from within our academy’s and the cheque book should only be used sparingly to bring in a top quality recruit like Elsom or Howlett as both Leinster and Munster did to help them in their quest for European glory.

 Ulster have done the same with both Pienaar and Muller being brought in. Connacht have brought Bundee Aki in for the next three years to add to ex Chiefs skipper Craig Clarke so they are now doing what all the other teams have done for years and bringing in that extra bit of quality to supplement their home grown talent. They along with the other three Provinces seem in my opinion to have struck the right balance to give home grown talent the opportunity to flourish.

Having watched the Ireland and French under 20s earlier today , it was interesting to hear that many of the French players are with sides in Pro 2. Whereas Ireland ‘s players are with AIL clubs along with their provincial commitments , I would much rather be a Irish player than a French player because the Irish player will have a better chance of making it than the French because there route to the first would be blocked by Foreign recruits.

So in this instance , I am not saying that outside investment would be a bad thing but it would still need the IRFU to control the contract situation.

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

02/06/2014.

Pro 12 Final

Here is my Pro 12 final preview it sees Leinster take on Glasgow at the RDS on Saturday at 6.30.

Leinster will go into the game as slight favourites because the game is at home and that they are defending champions. It will see Leo Cullen and Brian O Driscoll wear the Blue of Leinster for the final time. Leo Cullen will move upstairs to become the new forwards coach and Brian will take a well earned break from the game. This aside, it is a final chance for this season at least for both teams to put a piece of silverware in the trophy cabinet.

Can Glasgow first time finalists come to the RDS and win they played at the the RDS last season in the semi-final and were unlucky to lose. They have been the form team in the Pro 12 this season and have been hell bent on winning this trophy since they won in Thomond Park back in March. I think that win gave them the confidence that they could break the bridesmaid tag off and go one step further and win the big one.

A Glasgow win would be good for Scottish rugby and also the Pro 12 that has seen Irish teams dominate since its inception back in 2001. Scottish rugby is at a low ebb at the moment this may begin to change with a Glasgow win this Saturday.

Can Gregor Townsend fire his Glasgow team up to succeed where other Scottish have failed and pick up a big win that might just see Scottish rugby begin to turn a corner. With a new coach at the helm in Scotland Vern Cotter, he will also want to see can Glasgow put in a strong showing.

So it is going to be a close final this weekend with the two best sides facing each other in the final. I back Leinster to win this one but only just.

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

27/05/2014.

Summer Tour Squad – Missed Chance??

Is the selection for Ireland’s summer tour of Argentina a missed chance by Joe Schmidt and his coaching team ? Could he have left more of the big stars at home on this occasion and gone with some alternative options like Madigan or Keatley in place of Sexton, Dave Foley on place of Paul O Connell would have been two changes I would have made.

As we know Argentina will not be at full strength for this test series due to player commitments elsewhere , an argument for another day , but back to the squad they will select from home based players. I am not saying that this would be a bad squad but it will be weakened without their European based players. For this reason I would have selected 20 or 25 new players backboned by 5 senior players with over 20 caps just to keep a balance.

 I am not trying to devalue the tour in anyway but we know what 95% of the squad is capable of and with the World Cup less than 18 months away we still need to blood more young blood into the side. In the out half department in particular both Ian Madigan and Ian Keatley can feel aggrieved at not being included in the main squad. Has Madigan paid for being behind Gopperth for the big games this year??

After the Lions tour in 2013 which saw three of this touring party take part in the test series against Australia, which does mean whatever way you look at it that these three men have played in essence 12 months of test intensity rugby for club and country. Sexton in particular could have done with a break after his first full season in the Top 14 in France.

It is a full a squad as you can have without some of the other big names that have been left out D’arcy , Bowe in the backs along with messers O Brien and O Donnell in the forwards. Maybe a lack of game time has cost O Brien his place in the squad ? So to sum up in my humble opinion I just feel on this occasion that this squad selection leaves more question than answers ahead of 2015….

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

20-05-2014.

Rob Penney Era

The Rob Penney era has come to an end after a 16-15 loss to Glasgow , who have made it through to a first final after 3 appearances in the semi finals. After two years as Munster head coach Penney will leave empty handed. The Penney era has seen the introduction of a number of young players after the retirement of some of Munster‘s  key men over the past 10 years , losing O Gara and Howlett to retirement didn’t help in his second season. But with the introduction of Hanrahan , Conway , John Ryan and Dave Foley , it shows that the talent is in Munster if it is given the chance.

Munster adopted a more open expansive style throughout Penney’s time at the helm of Munster. This did not sit well with the Munster supporters who felt that they were going away from the style that has served them so well for so many years. That aggressive forward orientated game mixed with some flashes of brilliance from the backs. The biggest problem that Penney had in his two years was that Munster seemed to be stuck between the two, to play the open game or to play a far tighter game that would suffocate the life out of the opposition. Only on the odd occasion did this come together for them against Harlequins and Toulouse.

With Foley about to take over for two years, can we expect to see Munster return to a far more familiar style or will he try to do the same as Penney and marry the two styles. The other big question will be who will take on the backs coaching job to replace Simon Mannix who will leave for Pau at the end of the season. The early favourite was Eddie O Sullivan even though Munster denied he had been offered an interview. He has since been installed as the Head coach at Biarritz, what odds on Brian O Driscoll getting the backs coaching job there, watch this space!!

Ex Cork Con boss Brian Walsh has now been installed as favourite to take on the job, if that did happen they would be the only all Irish coaching team. Highlights of the Penney era would be the win at The Stoop over Harlequins, the win over Gloucester at Kingsholm and the win against Toulouse on Thomond Park.

These were the stand out moments of Rob Penney’s two years at Munster, also three semi-finals in two years is not to be sneezed at although they never broke through to make an elusive final with this group.

So after three season without a trophy , the pressure is on Mr Foley and his band of merry men to break that sequence and bring a trophy back to Munster for the first time since 2011. Over to you Axel!!

By

Cian Mc Gibney.

19-05-2014.