Referee’s Need To Be Human Too In the last 24 hours we have seen Luke Fitzgerald come out to criticise Nigel Owens refereeing style and he has questioned the way Owens deals with certain match situations. He cited a situation in a game last October where Owens made a comment toward Cian Healy where he said to him “That rule changed three years ago “ Referees are entitled to do what they see fit during a game as long as it is within the laws and spirit of sport. Nigel Owens has made a good career out of refereeing and he has been in charge of multiple major Finals including Heineken Cup/ Champions Cup Finals alongside the 2015 World Cup Final between New Zealand and Australia. Fitzgerald ‘s main point is he feels that Owens is going into dangerous territory with some of his remarks over the last few months. Most players seem to enjoy his on-field commentary and also he is extremely clear in his messages to all the players on the pitch. Rugby may be a professional business since 1995 but it has not lost some of the old amateur ethos and that includes the respect in which a referee is held although that has come under some scrutiny over the last season or so since the Television Match Official or TMO to you and me has been given more powers. Nearly every decision close to the try line is now up for debate. I still feel that the referee should take more responsibility for some of the on-field calls and also the assistant referees need to be clearer and more direct in helping the referee to make some of the tight calls. Nigel Owens has done a terrific job since his first international appointment in Osaka Japan , where Ireland took on Japan in 2005. What he has done is mix his personality with his professional job and this mix is still a great fit and he is still by far the best referee in both the North and South of the equator. Angus Gardener of Australia is really starting to rise up the ranks. For me , Nigel Owens can continue to make remarks pertaining to each game as along as it doesn’t come in the way of his job as a referee. He has done a great job and long may that continue into the future…. By Cian Mc Gibney 11/04/2017

Ireland Squad for Tour of USA and Japan

Here is the squad I would select to tour the USA and Japan this June.

Forwards : James Cronin , Peter Dooley , Dave Kilcoyne , Denis Buckley

Hookers : James Tracy , Niall Scannell , Dave Heffernan

Tight Head Prop : John Ryan , Oisin Heffernan , Finlay Bealham , Brian Scott

Second Row : Quinn Roux , Billy Holland , Mick Kearney , Donnacha Ryan

Back Row : Dan Leavy , Tommy O Donnell , Sean O Brien , Jack O Donoghue , Josh Van Der Flier , Jack Conan.

Backs :

Scrum Halves : Kieran Marmion , Luke Mc Grath , John Cooney

Out Half : Ross Byrne , Paddy Jackson

Centre : Rory Scannell , Noel Reid , Rory O Loughlin , Luke Marshall

Wingers : Craig Gilroy , Ronan O Mahony , Matt Healy , Andrew Conway

Full Back : Jared Payne , Tiernan O Halloran.

There is the squad I would pick to tour this summer. It is the ideal chance for Joe Schmidt and his coaching staff to look at other players who could stake a claim for a long term inclusion in upcoming Ireland squad's.

Schmidt will be joined during this tour by a number of young coaches who will get first-hand experience with the National side. Ronan O Gara , Felix Jones and Girvan Dempsey will take part in different phases of this tour.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

10/04/2017

Lions Squad 2017

Props : Jack Mc Grath , Mako Vunipola , Tadgh Furlong , Dan Cole

Hooker : Rory Best , Ross Ford , Ken Owens

Second Row :  Jonny Gray , Joe Launchbury , Devin Toner , Alun Wyn Jones

Back Row : CJ Stander , Sean O Brien , Justin Tipuric , Maro Itoje , Billy Vunipola , Sam Warbuton , Toby Faletau – 18 Forwards

Scrum Half : Conor Murray , Rhys Webb , Ben Youngs

Out Half : Jonathan Sexton , Dan Biggar

Centre : Robbie Henshaw , Jonathan Davies , Owen Farrell , Jonathan Joseph

Wingers : Keith Earls , Jack Nowell , Anthony Watson , George North

Full Back : Stuart Hogg , Leigh Halfpenny , Simon Zebo – 16 Backs

34 Player Lions Squad….

Here is my attempt at trying to select a Lions squad to face New Zealand in June. I know I have left a few players out but I think I have struck a good balance so I’d be interested to hear from people about the squad make up.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

04/04/2017

2017 Team of the Championship

As the 2017 Championship has finished I have selected my team of the Championship after all of the games and with England being crowed champions although Ireland denied them the Grand Slam by beating them 13-9 in the Aviva Stadium in the final game of the Championship.

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Keith Earls

13 Jonathan Joseph

12 Owen Farrell

11 George North

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Conor Murray

8 CJ Stander

7 Justin Tipuric

6 Maro Itoje

5 Jonny Gray

4 Joe Launchbury

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Rory Best

1 Jack Mc Grath

 

There is my team of the Championship and I hope it opens up a debate for everyone else to see who they would put in and take out.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

20/03/2017

Ireland Vs England Preview

Ireland take on England at the Aviva Stadium this weekend but before the main course , there are three other Ireland vs England clashes that take place today in Donnybrook and over in the RDS where the Ireland Legends face there English counterparts.

Tonight the Under 20s will try and deny England a Grand Slam the first of three games where the Grand Slam will be on offer unfortunately for Ireland they can only win it in one of the three games this weekend in Donnybrook where Paula Fitzpatrick and her charges will face an England side brimming with confidence.

Ireland haven’t played well in this Championship but have still managed to grind out some big results and set themselves up for a tilt at glory. Players like Kim Flood and Mairead Coyne have stepped up to fill the big shoes left behind by the injury to Niamh Briggs. Tom Tierney has worked on trying to develop the player depth within the senior team with a World Cup to happen later in the year in UCD and Belfast.

Tonight is a massive chance for this side to join the team of 2013 in winning a Grand Slam, no better way for them to do it than by beating England. England for their part are 4 from 4 in this Championship and will come to Dublin hell bent on denying Ireland the perfect way to end this Championship.

All roads lead to Donnybrook this evening and by the sounds of it there will nearly be a sell-out crowd to see the 20s and women take on England. With a good start Ireland make just sneak tonight’s game and get the weekend off to the right start.

Looking to tomorrow at 5pm, Ireland have made a number of big changes to the 23 that played Wales, Kieran Marmion come in to play alongside Jonathan Sexton, Iain Henderson partners Donnacha Ryan in the second row and the positional switch everyone wanted to see has happened where Rob Kearney has been ruled out with a knee injury and Jared Payne comes in for his first cap at full back having won all the rest of his caps at outside centre.

The loss of Conor Murray will have an impact on the way Ireland will play tomorrow and some of the changes to the starting 15 suggest that Schmidt will send his charges out to try and play around England and use directness at certain points during the game.

The hope from an Irish point of view is that all the harsh lessons of the defeats to Scotland and Wales can be learned from and that the much famed line out drive can rediscover the form they showed a few seasons ago under the guidance of John Plumtree. If this particular aspect of their play can fire tomorrow then Ireland may just have found a way to get past the juggernaut that is this England team.

Eddie Jones for his part has played the part of court jester this week to try and take the pressure off his side and the expectations that his team will complete a second straight Grand Slam is coming into view and I am sure there are certain nerves attached with that and if there is nothing Irish people like doing it’s spoiling a party and there is no better party to spoil than an English one.

They are 18 from 18 and are well on the way to setting new World record of 19 straight Test victories  , here’s hoping for the weekend that’s in it that Ireland find a way to stop England and finish the campaign on a high !!

By

Cian Mc Gibney

17/03/2017