History

So Ireland finally did it after 111 years of trying , they finally beat New Zealand , Munster did it in 1978 , Ireland women beat New Zealand at the 2014 Women’s World Cup in France and the 20 ‘s beat them at the Junior World Championships and now the set has been completed.

They have waited so long for this win and after the near miss in 2013 there was real hope that with two games against New Zealand in Chicago and in Dublin that the hoodoo may finally be broken… Thanks to some solid defending and some real imagination in attack Ireland defeated New Zealand.

They also did it by playing New Zealand at their own game and scoring 5 tries in the process showing real composure. This win as I say has been coming for a long time and after so many defeats this victory was oh so sweet. People may have questioned Joe Schmidt’s team selection but as he and his players have shown before they were given a game plan and they went out and executed it to absolute perfection.

The game was full of quality moments and will be remembered for Robbie Henshaw’s try in the 75^th minute to put the game out of sight. Ireland played the perfect game and has so often been the case they didn’t panic when the pressure came on in the second half and the game went from 30-8 to 30-29 in a ten minute period when New Zealand pressed the accelerator and went for broke scoring tries through TJ Peranara and Ben Smith with Beauden Barrett adding the extra points.

It isn’t very often you see New Zealand on the back foot for the majority of a Test Match particularly against teams from the Northern Hemisphere with only England and now Ireland beating them over the last few years.

Andy Farrell was brought on board as the defence coach after the 2015 World Cup. His first assignment was a three Test Series down in South Africa where Ireland earned their first ever win down in South Africa. I firmly believe that the win in South Africa was a turning point and the way they defended in that opening Test set out there stall for the win last night.

Ireland will now celebrate for the next day or so and then focus will move to Canada next Saturday evening with another meeting with New Zealand and a game against Australia on the horizon. The big monkey is now off the back and finally Ireland can face the so called” Big Three” with no fear. They will gain huge confidence from the manner of the victory and who knows what can now be achieved with Joe Schmidt at the helm for another 2 years.

Joe Schmidt for his part can be so proud of the part he has played in the upturn in fortunes for Leinster and Ireland in the last couple of years. He has masterminded two Six Nations wins in 2014 and 2015, a win over Australia in November 2014, and a first win over South Africa in South Africa  in June 2016 and now to complete the set a first win over New Zealand.

New Zealand will now move onto Italy next week after losing their 18 match unbeaten run and as so often been the case New Zealand will now refocus and are well aware of the challenge that awaits them in Dublin in two weeks’ time.

 For Ireland the duck has now been broken and it was such a special moment, time now to kick on from it and use it as the lightbulb moment where Irish rugby will never again settle for second best….

Here are the 23 men that created history in Soldier Field last night ,

15 Rob Kearney

14 Andrew Trimble

13 Jared Payne

12 Robbie Henshaw

11 Simon Zebo

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Conor Murray

8 Jamie Heaslip

7 Jordi Murphy

6 CJ Stander

5 Devin Toner

4 Donnacha Ryan

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Rory Best

1 Jack Mc Grath

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16 Sean Cronin

17 Cian Healy

18 Finlay Bealham

19 Ultan Dillane

20 Josh Van Der Flier

21 Kieran Marmion

22 Joey Carbery

23 Gary Ringrose

By

Cian Mc Gibney

06/11/2016

Ireland – November Challenge

Ireland take on the All Blacks in Chicago this weekend and then they face Canada, New Zealand again and Australia. 4 tough weekend’s ahead for Joe Schmidt and his squad but after a win in South Africa back in June along with pushing them close in the two other Test’s will give the squad great confidence.

This November could be very special indeed with two chances to beat New Zealand and also a shot at defeating Australia. Ireland will want to start on the right foot and that is with a game in Chicago, New Zealand are back in a Stadium where they defeated the USA back in 2014 winning 74-6.

Ireland have a chance at immortality in becoming the first Irish men’s side to defeat New Zealand. This particular fixture is littered with hard luck stories from an Irish perspective. It’s time those stories changed and Joe Schmidt has proven he can prepare a team to face big challenges. Although people will point at the Argentina game at the 2015 World Cup as a major mishap in the Joe Schmidt reign.

November 2013 will be a major motivating factor over the next few weeks, Ireland can use Canada as a game to give some new talent the chance to shine. Guys like Joey Carbery and Gary Ringrose will get an early chance to show the world what they have shown in the blue of Leinster during the early weeks of the Pro 12 campaign.

Focus will be firmly on Chicago this weekend with the other Tests against Canada, New Zealand and Australia on the back burner until next Monday. Ireland beat Australia in 2014 and will feel they can do something similar in a few weeks’ time.

 Australia for their part will need to start showing some real quality to stand any hope of winning any of their Test matches during this November. Michael Cheika knows the quality he processes in his squad and I feel we will begin to see the start of a new era for Australia. That starts with a game against Wales who for their part will want to reset the clock after a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand.

Ireland as I already stated have a shot at immortality and with Joe Schmidt on board until after the 2019 World Cup Ireland can begin the preparations toward that tournament. First up its New Zealand and time to lay the biggest ghost of Irish rugby to bed. 

Can Ireland cope with the intensity with which Steve Hansen’s men will play the game. The time is now to end this famine and beat a team that look unbeatable but as is always the case its 15vs 15. They almost did it back in 2013, I am extremely hopeful that either in 2 days’ time or on November 19^th Ireland will beat New Zealand.  Immortality awaits, go out and grasp it boys……

By

Cian Mc Gibney

03/11/2016

Schmidt Commits

Joe Schmidt has committed to Ireland until after the 2019 World Cup in Japan. His original deal runs until June 2017 and his commitment to Ireland has to be commended as I am sure they were plenty of offers for his services all over Europe and south of the equator also.

He is the most successful Irish coach of all time that has masterminded two Six Nations wins in 2014 and 2015, beating South Africa on home soil for the first time. His next big mission as Ireland coach will be to try and topple the mighty All Blacks who are currently on an 18 Test winning streak that has seen them beat all before them with consummate ease.

Joe Schmidt has been cleaver in his recruitment to replace Les Kiss bringing in Andy Farrell whose work with the Irish defence can easily be seen and was such a key element in defeating South Africa in the opening Test back in June.

The big question for the immediate future will be can his help his team come up with a gameplan cute enough to out fox The All Blacks in either Chicago or Dublin because uniquely Ireland get two shots at taking down the All Blacks and while they still await their maiden victory over New Zealand they have two chances so I am sure Schmidt and his coaching team have a game plan to expose whatever weakness New Zealand may have.

Easier said than done I realise but this hoodoo has to end at some stage and I am sure the players in the Ireland squad that faced New Zealand back in 2013 know what that sickening feeling at full time felt like and will be hell bent on securing a much needed win to end well over 100 years of hard ship.

Steve Hansen for his part since that narrow win in 2013 has masterminded another World Cup win and a few Rugby Championships to boot. He has also coached his players to reach another level of intensity and the quality of the players in New Zealand has not shown any signing of slowing down not to mind stopping, everyone asked the question who will replace Carter and Mc Caw??

They have been replaced by guys who are hungry to keep up the tradition and even surpass what Mc Caw and Carter achieved in the New Zealand shirt both men are double World Cup winners and have lead the All Blacks to even greater heights than even most people in New Zealand could have imagined.

Ireland will have two shots at immortality in Irish rugby terms by beating an New Zealand team in either Chicago or Dublin , they have the players of that there is no doubt and now they have the man to lead them for another couple of years.

The time is now to topple the mighty All Blacks and here is the team I feel could do just that…….

15 Jared Payne

14 Tommy Bowe

13 Garry Ringrose

12 Robbie Henshaw

11 Cian Kelleher

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Conor Murray

8 CJ Stander

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Sean O Brien

5 Ultan Dillane

4 Ian Henderson

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Rory Best

1 Jack Mc Grath

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16 Sean Cronin

17 Dave Kilcoyne

18 John Ryan

19 Donnacha Ryan

20 Jamie Heaslip

21 Kieran Marmion

22 Paddy Jackson

23 Craig Gilroy

By

Cian Mc Gibney

25/10/2016

Pride

I found myself in Thomond Park on Saturday last for Munster vs Glasgow in round 2 of The Champions Cup. It was also a chance for the whole of Munster to say goodbye to Anthony Foley in the perfect way. They were comfortable 38-17 winners with a performance that “Axel” would have been proud of.

The performance was full of pride , passion , hunger and desire , it also had three key ingredients that have been missing and they were Boot , Bite and Bollock. Munster were led from the front by skipper Peter O Mahony , CJ Stander and Tyler Bleyendaal who is now beginning to show the quality that Rob Penney saw in him to sign him on a three year deal while in charge at Munster.

The day was littered with tributes to “Axel” with supporters spelling out his nickname just before kick-off while the MRSC Supporters Club Choir along with Sinead O Brien belted out There is an Isle , The Fields Of Athenry and Stand Up and Fight before kick-off arrived.

Munster started the game at a frantic pace and Glasgow couldn’t live with the pace at which Munster were doing everything. They were the first to each break down and the scrum was rock solid with John Ryan putting his hand up for national selection with such a composed performance. He had huge help from Niall Scannell and Dave Kilcoyne. Donnacha Ryan rediscovered the old spark and hard edge that saw him stand out at times alongside Paul O Connell and other second row partners.

This was a day when the new Munster under Rassie Erasmus met the old Munster that Anthony Foley helped create. The performance on Saturday both on the field and in the stands was something very special and I just hope last Saturday is the lightbulb moment for all involved with Munster and the manner of the win can galvanise Munster for the rest of the year starting next weekend against Ulster.

The crowd on Saturday can be extremely proud of the part they played and as Gregor Townsend eluded to afterward it felt like they were playing 16 men with the passion and sometimes anger with which the support got behind Munster.

Let’s hope that any team that plays Munster in the coming months gets the same reception in Thomond Park and in Irish Independent Park and Munster can rediscover the fire and passion that made them so successful throughout the noughties.

To see the players and Anthony’s two boys Tony and Dan come together for a special rendition of Stand Up and Fight in the middle of the field was very special and I think it also sealed the reconnection between pitch and stand and long may it continue into the future….. God Bless and Sleep well Axel…

By

Cian Mc Gibney

24/10/2016

Hi All ,

Just a short note of thanks to everybody from myself to say how eternally grateful I am for all the love and support in the past few weeks since my life changed forever. I know I put this message into a couple of posts but I just feel one final message of thanks in warranted.

Since the 10^th of September , myself , Dad and Fionn have had so much support  from all angles both from home and abroad and for that we are so thankful and grateful. I hope we have done my Mom proud over the past few weeks. We are doing all we can to get on with life as best we can.

I have to thank a number of people who I won’t name on this page because I would only embarrass them and I don’t want to do that. They know who they are and I can only say from the bottom of my heart thank you all so much , I’ll never be able to say thank you enough or truly be able to pay you all back for the love , care and support you have all shown me.

To my 4 Guardian Angels , who I again won’t name but they again know who they are , Thank You All so much for being there over the last few  years when I needed to be picked up from off the canvass and given a kick in the right direction.

I am beginning to return to normal , whatever normal is after a blow like that , I am back writing and recording interviews with hopefully some big names over the coming months.

To Mom , I’ll do what I can to make you proud throughout my life , knowing the way you were you’ll be looking after me no matter where I end up. That’s enough soppy talk from me , Simply Thank You everyone for everything.

Mom’s months mind is this Monday at half 7 in Tarbert.

PS , I’ll replace all the coffee I have drank in certain places in the near future I promise……

Cian