Champions Cup – Changes Ahead ??

Cian McGibneyRugby

Champions Cup – Changes Ahead

The Champions Cup is entering round 6 where only Saracens of England are assured of a quarter final spot. This of course is big news for the Gallagher Premiership because it may only supply one team to the last 8 although Exeter Chiefs may join them with the right result in Thomond Park next Saturday evening.

We may be about to enter another quarter final phase with only small numbers of Premiership teams namely Saracens and maybe just maybe Exeter Chiefs. The Heineken Cup was changed back in 2014 to see the apparent dominance of one country ended, both the RFU and FFR spoke about forming a breakaway competition and gave the Pro12/14 sides an opportunity to stay with the Heineken Cup and the Pro 12/14 sides decided after a number of discussions with relevant parties that moving to the new competition that is the Heineken Champions Cup from 2015 onward.

Saracens won two titles in 2016 and 2017 after Toulon had won 3 titles on the spin from 2014 to 2016. Some people in the English media are beginning to question how the English sides cannot compete, citing how tough the Premiership is on a weekly basis…

This was talk very similar to what happened back in 2015 when the competition changed to 20 teams. This change may not happen but if Leinster were to go on a win two in a row, mark my words to murmurs will turn into talk and we may see ERPC change the goal posts again. This has happened before and may just happen once more if Leinster do the double.

The Irish sides have done very well this year with all 3 sides in contention for the quarter finals with Munster facing Exeter Chiefs, Ulster heading for Leicester Tigers and Leinster going to Coventry to face Wasps.

Munster need to win to get a quarter final berth and could have a home quarter final if Montpellier defeat Edinburgh on Friday night in Murrayfield. First job’s first, Munster need to beat Exeter and then worry about a quarter final.

For Leinster and Ulster the story is slightly more straight forward, with wins needed to secure passage to the last 8. Both sides will be away from home but have won away this year to fill themselves with confidence heading to round 6.

European rugby still has the thrills and spills it had as the Heineken Cup , in its new guise as the Heineken Champions Cup the same drama can be expected so have the calculators at the ready because round 6 promises to baffle, frustrate and excite in equal measure….

Roll on the weekend starting on Friday night at 7.45pm.

 

 

 

 

Munster vs Leinster Leadership

Cian McGibneyRugby

In the last week since Leinster faced Munster at Thomond Park last Saturday and the leadership of Jonathan Sexton was called into question by several people after some of his actions during his 60 minutes on the field.

During a first half that saw two yellow cards and a red card along with a few unsavoury scenes, people have asked about Sexton in his position as Leinster captain. He struggled to keep his team in check in the opening half despite being asked by match referee Frank Murphy to speak to his side about their behaviour.

Leinster went to Limerick with a distinct game plan to unsettle Munster upfront and then if that worked they would have used the ball to better effect than they did because when they did move the ball at pace they seemed to cause Munster problems in defence.

Back to the leadership of Jonathan Sexton, many people were angered by his behaviour and also his interactions with match referee Frank Murphy were questioned. Jonathan Sexton was given the captaincy of Leinster last summer after Isa Nacewa retired and when that decision was announced nobody batted an eyelid but this past weekend finally saw people speak up about his behaviour.

Jonathan Sexton is a talented rugby player and can captain a side and will continue in his role with Leinster despite the criticism he received after the game last weekend. What has made Jonathan Sexton a great player is that hard edge that he has, like Roy Keane or Peter Canavan but last weekend this hard edge went slightly awry and this lead to a longer than usual opening 40 minutes that almost lasted 60 minutes after all the stoppages.

The issues surrounding the sending off of James Lowe who saw red for taking Andrew Conway in the air have been dealt with as Lowe has received a two week suspension. World Rugby still need to work with all unions and clubs to continue to keep the sport up to date with the rules around the tackle area.

Jonathan Sexton will need to look at the way he conducts himself and may need to be calmer when dealing with match officials into the future. Frank Murphy did a good job in what was his toughest assignment to date. He has only a small number of Pro 14 games under his belt but has been honing his craft in the All Ireland League over the last few seasons since hanging up his boots after spells with Munster, Connacht and Leicester Tigers in England where he played alongside current Leinster coach Leo Cullen.

Frank Murphy like Jonathan Sexton will be better for the experience last weekend, it was good to see this fixture come to life again after a few games where neither team was at full strength due to the IRFU’s long running player welfare system where Irish players game time in managed to get the maximum from each player during the International windows that will this year include a World Cup later in 2019. This weekend will be a another chance for players to stake a claim for Irish squad inclusion before Europe begins next weekend.

2019 6 Nations Squad

Cian McGibneyRugby

My Ireland Squad for the 2019 Six Nations

Forwards : James Cronin , Jack Mc Grath , Cian Healy , Dave Kilcoyne.

Sean Cronin, Niall Scannell , Shane Delahunt , Rory Best.

Tadgh Furlong, John Ryan , Andrew Porter , Conor Carey.

Tadgh Beirne , James Ryan , Devin Toner , James Cannon.

CJ Stander , Peter O Mahony , Jack Conan , Dan Leavy , Josh Van Der Flier , Jordi Murphy.

 

Backs : Conor Murray , John Cooney , Luke Mc Grath.

Jonathan Sexton, Ross Byrne, Joey Carbery , Jack Carty.

Keith Earls, Matt Healy, Jacob Stockdale , Andrew Conway.

Will Addison, Bundee Aki , Garry Ringrose , Rory O Loughlin.

Mike Haley , Rob Kearney.

Here is the squad I would select for the upcoming 6 Nations. Injuries will have an impact between here and the first round on the opening weekend of the 6 Nations.

Christmas and New Year

Cian McGibneyLife

So it’s that time of the year again, it’s hard to think I was writing a similar piece this time last year. Where has that 12 months gone? Time to spend some quality time with family and friends again, in some cases it will be the first time families will be together since last Christmas.

There a numerous reasons for that, work, strained relationships, living in different countries etc. I am not a massive fan of this time of year as I will openly and often admit but I will put on the shop face and try and take some of the advice I freely pass on to others.

Seeing people arriving home to spend time with family is great and it is great to meet up with people you may not meet for another 12 months. It defiantly brings some sort of a buzz to the place which keeps going from now till early January.

Spare a thought also for people who struggle at this time of year and may not have the family or friends to help them through the next few days. This time of the year can also make old wounds seem fresh and the fact that a loved one is no longer around or cannot be at home for Christmas but with the right approach those tough moments will pass and you can try and enjoy this time of year.

To people who have their loved one at home already, enjoy the next few days, to those who are awaiting loved ones to arrive home to the doorstep I hope the wait isn’t too long.

To those who have welcomed new family members be they sons in law, daughters in law, kids or grand kids congratulations.

To those who have lost loved ones in the run up to Christmas my sympathies or are mourning a loved one at this time of the year. Keep the head up and the chest out.

To all from this author, Happy Christmas and enjoy the coming days and whatever the next few days has to offer…..

Sexton Extends His Stay

Cian McGibneyRugby

Jonathan Sexton has agreed a new central contract with the IRFU and Leinster to continue to play his rugby with Leinster and Ireland until 2021. He will be 34 next year and will hope to go to a third World Cup in late 2019 in Japan.

Since he came back from France after his two years with Racing 92, he has commanded Leinster and Ireland to great effect. He took the captaincy of Leinster this year from the now retired Isa Nacewa.

He was a vital cog last season when Leinster won the double beating Racing 92 in the Champions Cup Final in Bilbao Spain and then was at out half in Dublin when Leinster won the Pro 14 against Scarlets.

Since his debut in 2009 for Ireland against Fiji, he has gone from strength to strength and has been capped 78 times scoring over 700 Test Points. His partnership with Conor Murray has been a hugely important in the recent success of Ireland under Joe Schmidt.

Without those two key cogs one has to wonder where Ireland would be after the defeat at the 2015 World Cup to Argentina. Since then he and Murray have just gotten better and better and have transferred there good form to the red jersey of the British and Irish Lions in 2017 Series against New Zealand that was shared after a draw in the third Test.

Like the other men that the IRFU have recently tied down to new deals, it is important that Leinster look toward to future and they are doing that well with men like Ciaran Frawley , Ross Byrne and Ross’s younger brother Harry who has been capped at A level by Leinster. They seem to be planning for the post Sexton era which is now on the horizon even though he has committed to new deal until the end of 2021.

When Sexton hasn’t been around Leinster have shared around the out half duties with Joey Carbery and Ross Byrne in the past few years but now that Carbery is settled in Munster, Leinster have promoted Ciaran Frawley to understudy Sexton and Ross Byrne with Harry Byrne biding his time in the AIL and at A level with Leinster.

This type of planning is needed as we will now need to slowly see the next generation beginning to come through in all four provinces to put more pressure on the established players across the four teams.

The IRFU has done very well over the last few months to tie down some many key men to new deals across the provinces but that work will continue and also the work at academy, club, school, and the exile programme will need to continue which has provided players like Kieran Marmion and Kieran Treadwell along with home grown talent like Larmour, Carbery, Stockdale and Tom Farrell.

The system the IRFU adopted all those years ago is working at the moment and will need to continue to evolve to keep up with the demands of the modern game….

 

Jack Byrne – Rover Returns

Cian McGibneySoccer

The name Jack Byrne won’t mean much to many but he has today signed a deal with Shamrock Rovers to come home from the Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock after a short spell with them following on from spells with Oldham , Blackburn Rovers , Cambuur in Holland and of course his time with Manchester City.

He has also a number of caps at Under 21 level with Ireland and has spent time with the senior squad. But things just haven’t worked out for Jack in recent times so one feels the decision to come home and spend a season with Shamrock Rovers isn’t the worst move. It will bring much needed media coverage to the League of Ireland, will strengthen the Rovers squad that will next year hope to challenge champions Dundalk for the title.

It is shot in the arm for a league that is crying out for more investment and better facilities for certain clubs. Also a full season where one team or another doesn’t get into financial difficulty would not hurt either. The prize money on offer to the winner of the league is very poor and will really need to be looked at in the next few months before the new season kicks off next March.

While most people will immediately say the league is poor and I wouldn’t go and  watch the teams involved , let’s just give the league a chance and hopefully the move from Jack Byrne to come home and start again at the age of 22 is a shrewd move on his part. While at home he can try and stamp his authority on a side for more than a few games and see can he put all this promise to good use !!

With Mick Mc Carthy now in charge of the National side to be followed by Stephen Kenny, the league needs to put its best foot forward while Mick is in charge to make it next to impossible for him to ignore the league like the last two men who were in charge of the National side.

Could Jack Byrne be in a position if he puts his head down to get into the senior national side with consistent performances for Rovers and be the first League Of Ireland based player since Glen Crowe to get capped at senior level.

Time now for Jack Byrne and more like him to step up and make the League Of  Ireland great again…..

 

Kelly Harrington – World Champion

Cian McGibneyMMA / Boxing

Ireland has a new boxing World Champion in amateur Kelly Harrington who recently was crowned World Champion in India at 60kgs defeating Sudaporn Seesondae of Thailand. This win has been a long time coming for the hard working Dubliner who holds down a day job while still dreaming of Olympic glory at Tokyo 2020.

This victory just goes to show what hard work and dedication can do for you, she has served her apprenticeship and now the fact that she is a World Champion means she will be a marked woman at future Championships be they National, European or World level.

Having won Silver two years ago, Harrington was hoping to go one better which she did and then some. Her plan will be now to focus on the European Championships next June and then hopefully Olympic qualification after that, although the International Olympic Committee has stopped all planning for Tokyo 2020 at the moment while they conclude a number of investigations into the current AIBA President.

Here’s hoping those investigations will be concluded successfully and all our amateur boxers can go back to planning for Tokyo 2020. Kelly is a hard working and dedicated individual who has committed to winning Olympic Gold since the first day she picked up a pair of boxing gloves.

Her victory in New Delhi is another step forward on that long winding road to glory. It is a road that has had several bumps along the way along with several major highs that include World Gold, European Bronze, and World Silver from two years ago.

Kelly Harrington, World Champion has a lovely ring to it and you can be certain Kelly will do everything to make it to the 2020 Olympics and then make her dream of Olympic Gold a reality…..

Euro 2020 Draw

Cian McGibneySoccer

Euro 2020 Draw

So the great and the good of European Football all arrived in the Convention Centre Dublin for the draw for qualifying for Euro 2020 with both Northern Ireland and the Republic Of Ireland in Pot 3 where they could have been drawn with some of Europe’s best sides. Both teams will have differing feelings in the aftermath of the draw where Northern Ireland were paired with Holland, Estonia, Germany and Belarus. A group of death for Michael O Neill’s men but a challenge he is looking forward to none the less.

For Mick Mc Carthy whose second coming as the Republic Of Ireland manager was confirmed earlier this week after Martin O Neill and Roy Keane were relieved of their duties will be pleased as it looked as if Ireland would be drawn alongside Germany and Holland but as only two host nations can be in the same group so the Republic of Ireland were moved from one Group to another and Northern Ireland were put into the group with Holland and Germany.

Mick Mc Carthy will be thankful that his side were removed from that group and they are in a group with Switzerland, Denmark, Georgia and Gibraltar. All those sides are familiar opponents to Ireland over the last few qualifying campaigns.

Given the results throughout 2018, this campaign which begins next March will give Mick Mc Carthy the chance to see can he revive the faltering fortunes of the national side. It has been a tough 12 months for the team and let’s hope that the change in management will see and upturn in fortunes and with Stephen Kenny in charge at Under 21 level, let’s hope to see more co operation and more young players step up to senior level from Under 21 level.

We will have to wait and see how the group will pan out from March 2019 and see can Ireland make Euro 2020 when Dublin will host 4 games in the Aviva Stadium. The slate is clean now and all players will have to impress Mc Carthy and Terry Connor in club colours before next March.

Grief and Me

Cian McGibneyLife

Grief and Me

Spurred on by an article I read last night on grief, I will try and explain how grief has affected me in the last few years. I have to admit first off the worst instance of grief hit me was in the days following my grandfather’s death in 2014, I never experienced anything like the feelings I had following his death.

Losing my grandfather affected me to such an extent I almost ended my life around a month after he passed away. People are great in moments when you need them but pre 2014, I would never have opened my mouth about things that bothered me, a shock for those who know me but yes Cian Mc Gibney was stuck for words. Sadly 2014 wasn’t to be the last time I’d be stuck for words.

Anger, frustration and the feeling of being constantly tormented were just some of the feelings I felt, and the little voice in the back of my head telling me I could have done more although I was there every step of the way through his battle with Alzheimer’s. I did all I could but it took a few years for me to realise that particular fact.

For people who haven’t experienced any significant loss in life and for those who have I know what you are going through, to those who haven’t lost somebody treasure those moments with the one’s you love because as I can testify it can all change so suddenly and you may not get the chance to say what you need to say. What I am trying to say is grief has affected me more than I will ever let on, the veil of fun and humour has returned but I know now how to control how I use the veil.

2 years on and I still find myself wondering what the hell happened that evening in September 2016  and what can I do to move beyond it which I am doing in a very measured way. I know I seem to be very distant and cold at times when things are tough but that is just the way I approach those situations. I need time to think and evaluate what occurred and that why I may seem distant and cold on occasion.

Humour has been a saving grace for me a few times but for those people who I snapped at or who I may have given the cold shoulder to in the months following Mam’s death , I sincerely apologise. I am not like that usually but in those tough moments I need my own head space and then slowly I will come around and begin a healing process. I am still in the middle of the sea of grief at this moment in time and will be for another while yet.

Grief doesn’t move on after the 1st year even though, some people say in that uniquely Irish way of putting things is that “time is a great healer” etc… Yes this is true but it doesn’t mean that on the stroke of the end of the 1st year that the bag will come out and you can suddenly box off your feelings.

I have had to face up to the daily routine of on occasion re living those fatal final moments and yes in time they have begun to fade away and lessen but they will never fully leave me. And that in essence is grief, it will begin to fade but never fully leave your mind.

I do treasure the good days but I also beat myself up about the days that weren’t as good as they could have been but that is the way life works , if it was all a bed of roses it would be fairly boring. I have changed as a person in the last two years, it might not seem like to most people but I have changed beyond all recognition and for the better I hope.

Stress, anger and frustration now comes and goes very quickly because I am able to spot those subtle changes in mood and combat the feelings that may begin to surface. I am a stronger person for the losses I have had to bear in the last couple of years.

I genuinely though after Mam died, I’d end up in a heap and struggling to manage even the smallest task but from somewhere deep inside I found the strength to kick on and move on with life. Life is very different now but again life doesn’t stand still for anyone and everyone will face the tough days but it really is how you bounce back and recover that will define you in life………

Joe Schmidt Departs Post 2019 World Cup

Cian McGibneyRugby

Schmidt Departs Post World Cup 2019

Joe Schmidt has confirmed he will leave his position as Ireland Head Coach after Irish involvement at the 2019 World Cup ends. He has been head coach since 2013 after a successful spell in charge of Leinster having replaced current Australia head coach Michael Cheika in 2010.

He will be succeeded by his current defence coach Andy Farrell who will take over as Head coach from late 2019 until his new deal which he signed last season ends in 2021.

Before that Schmidt was brought to Europe by Vern Cotter as Clermont Auvergne attack coach from 2007 to 2010. He has overhauled how the general public views rugby in his time as Ireland head coach. His professionalism and appetite for work and trying to achieve goals has been a sight to behold.

Now that he has made his position crystal clear will mean that Ireland can fully focus on the challenge at hand of defending the 6 Nations title and trying to better their recent results at World Cup’s.

All the questions about whether he will stay or go will now cease and he can enjoy a few days off before the job will begin again of trying to plot a successful conclusion to his time in Ireland. He has been an incredible addition to Irish rugby over the past 8 years firstly with Leinster and latterly with Ireland.

Yes the 2015 World Cup didn’t go to plan but he has done well in correcting that failure in building squad depth and delivering a Grand Slam, a Series win in Australia, defeating New Zealand twice in 3 years after 28 unsuccessful attempts until November 2016. He has achieved way and above what would have been expected when he was given the job in 2013.

He will be succeeded by Andy Farrell who has been his defence coach since 2016, this will be a first Head Coach role for Farrell who has been an assistant coach with England and the British and Irish Lions. Who Farrell will have in his coaching team will be very interesting due to the fact that Greg Feek will also leave his role as Ireland’s scrum coach after the 2019 World Cup.

He was replaced in the scrum coach’s job with Leinster by John Fogarty who Ireland may look to move into the job that will soon be vacated by Feek. We have less than 12 months to get used to the idea that Joe Schmidt will leave Ireland after the 2019 World Cup.

Also will there be a play for a man like Ronan O Gara who will have completed his 2nd year with the Crusaders to form part of the new look Irish coaching team, Simon Easterby who also signed the same length of extension as Farrell last year. He will most likely be retained by Farrell. Only time will tell though.

These are interesting times for the IRFU, Farrell has a period of time to learn a few more bits and pieces from the master and then it will be Andy Farrell in charge post World Cup. Joe Schmidt will now plan for his final few months in charge and see what will happen when the 6 Nations kicks off in early 2019.

He has a job to do so you can be sure we won’t have repeat of all that went with the retirement of Brian O Driscoll in 2014 when every last moment was documented and marked. Here’s hoping that 2019 will be a year to remember for all the right reasons….