Cian McGibney
Cian McGibney has worked in Community Radio for the last 5 years as part of a sports team as a Rugby Correspondant.
Semi – Final Review
So it is Toulon and Saracens into the Heineken Cup final on May 24th after the weekend’s semi final action in London and Marseilles. Saracens did a clinical and ruthless job on Clermont Auvergne at Twickenham winning 46-6 with tries from Owen Farrell and Chris Ashton along with a try from Chris Wyles. Also a solid kicking display from Alex Goode helped Sarries on their way.
Jaques Burger was Saracens key man on this occasion making 27 tackles and stopping every Clermont attack at source. This is down to the defensive system put in place by Paul Gustard called the “ Wolfpack” defence.
Coach Mark Mc Call can now plan for a European final with his captain Steve Borthwick and off the back of such a dominate display in a semi final winning the game in record fashion. Can Sarries now put in another huge shift and win a first Heineken Cup title , only time will tell !!
2nd Semi Final
Toulon are through to their 2nd final in a row after a 24 -16 win over Munster and are on course to win a Heineken Cup , Top 14 double. With the help of Jonny Wilkinson ‘s boot and some poor Munster discipline, Toulon went into a 15-9 lead in reply Ian Keatley added 3 penalties for Munster. Just before half time Delon Armitage kicked a huge penalty to put Toulon 18-9 up at the break. This was the first nail in the Munster coffin.
After the break Munster did come out with renewed vigour and scored a try through Simon Zebo and a conversion from Ian Keatley after Steffon Armitage had a try chalked off for a foot on touch. Munster were on the front foot for the next ten minutes but when Keith Earls was sin binned for tackling a player without the ball , Wilkinson kicked another penalty to stretch the Toulon lead to 21-16.
Munster then got one final chance in the 71st minute when they won a penalty and kicked for the corner and won the line out but their maul was sacked and with that went Munster ‘s last chance , Wilkinson Kicked a late penalty to put Toulon 24-16 up and into their 2nd straight final. Who would bet against Toulon making it two from two in Europe certainly not this writer….
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My Love Affair with Rugby
My love affair with the oval ball started 18 years ago or so when I travelled to watch Listowel and also going to watch the AIL. People look me when Munster play and think I am daft as a brush with the way I am when they play whether they win, lose or draw. I am quite an emotional person and rugby seems to trigger those emotions time and again.
In the last few years it has happened more and more when my younger brother has been involved with Garryowen, Munster or this year Crescent. Like most rugby supporters I feel like I have a duty toward the team I am following to get behind them in whatever way possible.
For those that remember me in my teenage years while supporting these teams I can now admit that I went overboard at times but with the passage of time and a few life lessons learned I have grown up and some may even say it isn’t bad sitting near me for a game. With my attention now drawn to the journalism world and my growing ambitions to become a sports journalist I just felt it was time to put my feeling down on paper.
Rugby has given me more pleasure that I could have ever imagined a few years back. Getting to watch Fionn develop as a rugby player has been such a journey that has taken in Ravenhill , Dooradoyle and of course Thomond Park. He has pulled on the sky blue of Garryowen , the green and gold of Listowel and the red of Munster and maybe one day the green of Ireland.
The last two years have thought me so much about the game I love. From a personal point of view I would like to thank my parents for bringing me to all those games , I would also like to thank Munster and Ireland for giving me some of the greatest moments of my now nearly 24 years on this earth. A Huge thank you too to Fionn for going as far as he has. I think it may now be time for this author to start achieving and making dreams of my own. One final note , What you achieved this year Fionn has given me back the hunger to fight for my dream , Thank You For That…
By Cian Mc Gibney.
24/04/2014.
My Munster team to face Toulon
15F.Jones
14 G.Van Den Heever
13 C.Laulala
12 J.Downey
11 K.Earls
10 I.Keatley
9 C.Murray
8 J.Coughlan
7 T.O’Donnell
6 CJ.Stander
5 P.O Connell
4 D.Foley
3 BJ.Botha
2 D.Casey
1 D.Kilcoyne
Reps
16Q.Mc Donald
17 J.Cronin
18 J.Ryan
19 D.O Callaghan
20 S.Dougall
21 G.Hurley
22 A.Conway
23 S.Zebo.
Now I will pick the team I think Rob Penney will pick !!
15 F.Jones
14 G.Van Den Heever
13 K.Earls
12 J.Downey
11 S.Zebo
10 I.Keatley
9 C.Murray
8 J.Coughlan
7 T.O Donnell
6 CJ Stander
5 P.O Connell
4 D.Foley
3 BJ.Botha
2 D.Varley
1 D.Kilcoyne
Reps
16 D.Casey
17 J.Cronin
18 J.Ryan
19 D.O Callaghan
20 B.Holland
21 D.Williams
22 D.Hurley
23 C.Laulala.
My Ireland Squad to Tour Argentina
Forwards
Jack Mc Grath, James Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Martin Moore, Declan Fitzpatrick, Dave Foley , Devin Toner , Mike Mc Carthy, Dan Touhy. Stephen Ferris , Rhys Ruddock , Tommy O Donnell , Robin Copeland , James Coughlan , Chris Henry , Jordi Murphy , Sean Cronin , Rob Herring , Ricardt Strauss.
Backs
Eoin Redden , Kieran Marmion , Paul Marshall , Ian Keatley , Ian Madigan , JJ Hanrahan , Simon Zebo , Craig Gilroy , Andrew Trimble , Fergus Mc Fadden , Luke Marshall , James Downey , Robbie Henshaw , Darren Cave , Felix Jones , Dave Kearney.
My Ireland squad to face Argentina in two tests in June.