Ireland Vs Italy

Ireland take on Italy this weekend in the second game of this year’s Six Nations Championship. Ireland won in dramatic fashion last Saturday thanks to a last gasp Jonathan Sexton drop goal. This win keeps alive the hopes of a Championship win for the first time since 2015.

Ireland will need to improve in certain aspects of their game plan if they are to beat Italy this weekend and beyond in this campaign. Ireland created a few try scoring chances early in the game against France in the first half. They failed to take any of the chances that they created and this particular aspect of Irish play is a source of concern.

Yes Ireland win a large percentage of the games they play by tight margins and they don’t score too many tries and this will come back at them at some point in the future. Joe Schmidt is a man that always seems to have a plan and in most cases it works although in the 2015 World Cup Quarter Final the best laid plans were left in ribbons when several key players were ruled out through injury and Argentina ran riot in the opening 20 minutes and the game was gone. They came back into that game in the 2^nd half but alas that was too late.

Getting back to the game coming up this weekend , Ireland will know they need to make improvements and they will need to do more than just maul and use the line out as an attacking weapon. They will need to use their half backs to try and launch certain plays to see can they cross the whitewash.

The man with the plan Joe Schmidt will know the majority of the 80 minutes last weekend wasn’t good enough and you can be sure that they will try to correct all the wrongs from the French game. Looking to the positives from the game , James Ryan in particular stepped up and was counted along with Peter O Mahony and a number of other players who will hope to continue that good form on Saturday afternoon.

Ireland play a very structured game and have become very clever playing this game since Joe Schmidt came onboard in 2013. Joe Schmidt has been commended for turning Leinster into the best attacking club side in world rugby and you can be sure that his well stocked play book will be seen over the coming weeks, Ireland may need to stick to playing the structured game they have become so adept at playing but they will need to call upon his play book in this Championship to beat the other sides.

Let’s hope that Ireland will find the right mix between the hard edge and soft hands. So its time now to see can Ireland get the Italian job done.

By

Cian Mc Gibney

07/02/2018

My XV to face France in the 6 Nations

Here is the XV I would select to take on France in the Stade De France on the opening weekend of this year’s 6 Nations. It is an interesting squad that Joe Schmidt has assembled with Sean Cronin being recalled along with Fergus Mc Fadden.

The squad has been chosen to play in the opening two rounds with other players who are currently unavailable due to injury will be considered later in the campaign. As expected Simon Zebo misses out due to his move to France from next season.

Fergus Mc Fadden has benefitted from the injury suffered by Adam Byrne with his recall. Players like Craig Gilroy can count themselves unlucky not to get the call up with injury ruling him out of contention.

Connacht man Matt Healy is extremely unlucky not to get the call up for the opening two rounds but Matt Healy could still play his way into the plans of Joe Schmidt.  

Jordan Larmour has earned his first senior call up after progressing through the Irish set up and his performances have been really impressive this year with Leinster and in turn Joe Schmidt has seen fit to give him a call up and now it is time for Jordan to make the most of the opportunity that has presented itself to him.

It is time for Ireland to get back to the good times of the winning Championships after the won the 2014 and 2015 Championships.

England have dominated the last two campaigns only being defeated on one occasion last season in the final game of the Championship where England were going for the Grand Slam and also trying to continue an unbeaten run but Ireland halted that run with a terrific win and since that time England have continued winning games under Eddie Jones as they continue their quest to win the 2019 World Cup.

The XV I would select to face France is :

15 Jordan Larmour

14 Keith Earls

13 Robbie Henshaw

12 Rory Scannell

11 Jacob Stockdale

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Conor Murray

8 Jack Conan

7 Josh Van Der Flier

6 Peter O Mahony

5 James Ryan

4 Iain Henderson

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Rory Best

1 Dave Kilcoyne

–

16 Sean Cronin

17 Jack Mc Grath

18 John Ryan

19 Ultan Dillane

20 CJ Stander

21 Luke Mc Grath

22 Joey Carbery

23 Andrew Conway

By

Cian Mc Gibney

17/01/2018

Swanky – 2017 Pool Final – Paddy Moriarty Vs Neilus Flynn

So as 2018 begins and the memories of Christmas and New Year 2017 begin to fade as the majority of people begin to normal life. I wanted to put together a few words or the Pool Final that took place last Saturday night where Paddy Moriarty took on Neilus Flynn for the right to be called the 2017 Swanky Pool Champion and also take home a share of the €1000 prize money that was on offer.

Cillian Langan took on Brendan Cregan for 3^rd place with both men putting in a good display of tactical Pool play where Cillian took a 1-0 lead before Brendan found a way back to level it up a 1 frame each before Cillian went on to take the game of 3 frames 2-1.

It was then on to the main event where two veterans of this now long running Tournament took centre stage. After an extremely cagey opening where both men tried to go pot for pot, it was Neilus Flynn who stole into a 2-0 lead.

Neilus is a man who plays an extremely meticulous game some may even say it is it is frustrating to watch and having spoken to a few people that have played Neilus previously in past Tournaments and all told me that he is an extremely hard opponent  to play and to figure out.

He plays every shot over in his mind several times before he takes a shot and this can unnerve even the strongest opponent. The man he faced on Saturday night is Paddy Moriarty, a man of many talents. He looks after one of the local GAA underage teams and is loved by his players, the players parents and his family and many friends.

It was fair to say he had huge support on Saturday evening and this support was crucial in helping Paddy taking the crucial third frame where had Neilus won that 3^rd frame , it would have been very difficult for Paddy to make a meaningful comeback but roared on by a vocal crowd Paddy found a way back and came roaring back into to the game to then go from 2-1 down to 3-2 up and although Neilus won another frame Paddy took over and kept his cool to win the game 5-3.

There was a great crowd at this game and all over Christmas and the New Year Tarbert has been a hive of activity. Culminating in the usual high jinks on New Year’s Eve that yet again drew a large crowd to the Square in Tarbert. The beating out of the Old Year and welcoming of the New Year took place topped off by the return of a small firework display after it was suspended for 2016.

From this author all the very best to you and yours in 2018 and beyond….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

02/01/2018  

Rugby – Test Match Or Not ??

Last week, there was a debate opened around why International rugby games are called “Test Matches “instead of Friendlies. This particular debate set me thinking about the reasoning behind calling an International rugby game a Test match.

The reason for calling it a Test match is fairly straightforward, it is a game against the best players from another country and this in turn means it is a test of character, also a test of your ability as a player and also a test of your mental strength. There it is in very simple plain language, the reason why an International rugby match is called a Test match.

It is very interesting that people will get caught up in the aesthetics of the makeup of a professional sport. Yes rugby has a long road to travel to be as inclusive as other sports in Ireland. People still feel rugby is elitist from the schools game even right down to the club game because some clubs in Ireland could be considered as elitist as the school system.

This particular issue is being addressed by the IRFU who are in the process of bringing rugby to the masses like the GAA, the FAI and other sporting organisations. Ireland is a very small country and we do well to compete is all the sports we do ,maybe we could do more and be better in some sport but we do punch above out weight in certain sports.

Rugby is still a minority sport across the World but World Rugby is like the IRFU being proactive in bringing the game to the whole World. It may never fully regain the ground that Football will have in the World order but that is fine too. You cannot win every battle you try and take on.

The reason for rugby to be targeted about the naming of games is hilarious really given that in other sports you have the very same jargon in other sports , it’s just the language used in each sport.  In GAA you always hear people on about the “ Pride of the Parish “ Doing it for the Jersey” and so on… So why people find it hard to stomach the rugby jargon is beyond belief , yes it can get annoying when you hear certain phrases like , “ ruck time” , “ getting to the emotional pitch of a game “ and so on but let’s face it all sports have language we can’t stand or maybe it is just because we don’t actually understand the meaning of each phrase..

Whatever the reason, all sports should be able to exist in harmony in this country and yes you will continue to have the band wagon support in every sport but what is actually wrong with that?? Yes it can be annoying as hell in some cases but those people will always be there and they will be there into the future…

Time now to get behind the sport you follow and support your chosen team or athlete because all these men and women deserve our continued support. We have enough strife in this country and across the World let’s not start turning on any one individual sport let’s get behind all competitors in this country and watch them continue to punch above there weight….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

04/12/2017

Ireland World Cup Hopes Intact

So the Ireland Women’s side took on Holland away from home last night and claimed a famous 0-0 draw. Holland won the European Championships last summer so Ireland knew they were going to be under severe pressure throughout last night’s fixture and this was the case because after two early chances for Ireland, Holland took full control of this game and laid siege to the Irish goal for the rest of the game.

This game will be remembered for the heroic display from all 11 players who defended with real intent and aggression, this was led from the front by Amber Barrett and then Leanne Kiernan took over up front and worked extremely hard to try and close the Dutch down. The Dutch for their part are a side full of quality and you could see last night why they are European Champions.

From an Irish perspective , Colin Bell who took over from Sue Ronan set his side up to stifle the Dutch attack from front to back and they did this very well and although the Dutch had loads of possession and made the Irish team work hard to win the ball back.

Again last night , we saw an Irish side struggle to keep the ball and even in that case they still managed to create two really top notch chances that fell to Amber Barrett in the 1^st half but the Dutch defence worked back to snuff out the 1^st chance and then Barrett saw her 2^nd chance sail over the bar. 

This Irish team was missing a number of key players like Aine O Gorman and Stephanie Roche, both players were ruled out through injury. Katie Mc Cabe who plays her club football with Arsenal but is currently on loan at Glasgow City was captain last night and she worked her socks off last night and really got stuck in. She is extremely similar to her brother Gary who has played with Shamrock Rovers and a few more clubs in the League of Ireland. Her passion was infectious and it helped galvanise the side at some tough moments last night.

The likes of Marie Hourihan who plays her football with Manchester City , Diane Caldwell and Louise Quinn worked well as the two centre backs with full backs Sophie Perry and Karen Duggan working in unison to help repel the Dutch who were creating chances at will. This result is huge in the context of the hopes of getting to the 2019 Women’s World Cup. They now sit on 8 points three behind Holland who lead the way on 11.

Ireland have three home fixtures to look forward to next year where they face Holland , Norway and Slovakia in Tallaght. The other very noticeable thing from the game last night was the fact that 12,000 supporters made their way to the game. One wonders that after last night’s result will we see more people show up to the three home games in Tallaght.

Streaming had a huge impact on last night’s game because host broadcaster Eir Sport decided to stream the game on Facebook live , this of course means more people will get to see the game even if they don’t have the channel. This particular avenue will be used more and more into the future as Social Media gains momentum and this will challenge the established peaking order in terms of coverage.

Last night was a huge moment for this campaign and they can now plan for the three games in 2018. Well done to Colin Bell and his charges for securing a precious away point…

By

Cian Mc Gibney

29/11/2017

Drawing Board Required – Where Do the FAI Go Now

So Ireland failed in their quest to get to Russia 2018 but instead of going after the players or management which he has been done enough since the result on Tuesday evening. They were comfortably defeated 5-1 by a Danish side who like Ireland are very workmanlike but unlike Ireland they have a number of players willing to keep possession and try and play their way out of trouble.  

This defeat will sting for the next 12 months at least and with no tournament to look forward to other than a number of friendly’s that will be played next March and some  teams will come to Dublin looking for a game in preparation for the finals in Russia.

The FAI again like after the 6-1 defeat to Germany in 2012 will need to do a lot of soul searching to try and find a solution to all the problems facing the national side and this is not just who will replace members of the playing squad who may retire in the coming months. 

They need to solve an identity crisis that is happening on a regular basis and that is mainly what way do we want our national teams to play and I mean underage sides up to the senior national team. Are we a nation with an abundance of naturally talented footballers , I doubt it but and player who shows the required talent should be singled out at the earliest possible stage and put into a programme to develop his or her skills.

This particular idea would not be a easy thing to implement as the FAI and supporters want instant results but if you want to be successful in any walk of life not just sport it will take time and effort, Germany and Spain are two prime examples of countries who cleared the decks and started with a clean slate and rebuild their structures from the ground up.

The first thing you are told when you try and offer a solution is that our population is too small, we are competing with Rugby, GAA and so forth but so are all the other sports played in Ireland. It is just the way it is and it will not change is the foreseeable future because all those aforementioned sports are going nowhere and you will still be competing for the small pool of talent that exists in this country.

The FAI needs to like the IRFU just look at it structures from top to bottom and also who are in the positions of power within the FAI and ask is it time to change and try and bring in a new generation of people to run the game in Ireland. We have a generation of newly retired players, get them on board to help try and change the attitudes with the game in Ireland.

We are now in a situation where you will lose a number of players to retirement and the scramble will happen to see who will replace these departing players. Another issue facing the FAI is the fact that only 5 of the current Under 21 crop in Noel King’s care were born in the Republic Of Ireland and with all the consternation in recent times over the inclusion of Bundee Aki in the Ireland team to face South Africa last weekend, can you imagine the outcry this week from people if the Ireland side to face Fiji only had 5 players born in Ireland.

There would be utter condemnation of the structures that the IRFU in place. Getting back to the issues facing the Republic Of Ireland, It really is time that the FAI sat down with all the stake holders and people who love the game in this country and try and come up with a clear 10 year plan to try and bring the game in this country back to something of its former glory.

The League Of Ireland is the perfect breathing ground for a new generation of players to be born , yes England would be the preferred destination for most players but you cannot forget about the work being put in by coaches all over Ireland to try and change attitudes but the FAI need to be the ones to lead the call for change so that results like Tuesday night are going to become a distant memory , always remember long time gain for short term pain….. The good times were had before and no doubt those good days will return very soon…

By

Cian Mc Gibney

16/11/2017 

Ireland Team Named – Aki Included

So the Ireland team to play South Africa has been announced with Bundee Aki included in the 23 for the first time. His inclusion in the 38 man squad for these games has come in for criticism with a number of ex players voicing their concerns about how the regulations make it easy for certain “project players” as they have been called to get called up to their adopted nations national squads.

Rory Scannell has missed out on an opportunity to get more caps this November although injury could intervene and he may yet get the chance to add another few caps to his collection. Aki has abided by the rules set down by World Rugby and will now earn his first cap a special moment for any player against South Africa this Saturday at 5.30pm in the Aviva Stadium.

This particular rule has angered everyone as everyone has an opinion whether it is in favour or not in favour of this rule. Now World Rugby have acted in the face of mounting criticism and extended the residency rules from 3 to 5 years. This move will now all but end the idea of any player going to another country and playing for that National side.

Many people have an opinion on this particular aspect of rugby and yes it is flawed and you can be sure it does anger players whether they would like to admit it or not. A small number have come forward and been honest enough to admit there true feelings on the subject in the aftermath of their careers.

You can be sure that Bundee Aki will give his all on Saturday for the green shirt and the subject of his nationality will be the focus of many questions in the aftermath of Saturday’s test match. Many teams now have a number of players who were born outside the country they choose to represent. Quade Cooper was born New Zealand but plays for Australia, in Ireland over the years we have had many players who were capped that were not born in this country and although they may have had a grandparent or parent born in Ireland , they were not born in Ireland and the “ Granny Rule “ was used to great effect by the Irish football team over the years and nobody once complained  about Tony Cascarino , Ray Houghton or Mick Mc Carthy playing for Ireland.

Jonathan Walters a player that many supporters will identify with wasn’t born in Ireland yet he has been taken into the hearts and minds of every Irish football supporter. He wasn’t born in Ireland but people ignore that fact because he plays with his heart in his sleeve for Ireland.

The point I am trying to make is can people please wait until after Saturday to make a judgement on the inclusion of Aki in the Irish side to face South Africa. Yes this rule has its flaws but the IRFU for all its faults did nothing wrong and abided by the rules by letting Joe Schmidt select Bundee Aki in the squad….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

09/11/2017

My Ireland XV to face South Africa on November 11^th at 5.30pm would be:

15 Joey Carbery

14 Andrew Conway

13 Robbie Henshaw

12 Stuart Mc Closkey

11 Keith Earls

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Conor Murray

8 Jack Conan

7 Sean O Brien

6 Peter O Mahony

5 James Ryan

4 Iain Henderson

3 Tadgh Furlong

2 Rory Best

1 Dave Kilcoyne

–

16 James Tracy

17 Jack Mc Grath

18 John Ryan

19 Devin Toner

20 CJ Stander

21 Kieran Marmion

22 Bundee Aki

23 Jacob Stockdale

I will now select my 11 to take on Denmark the same evening in Copenhagen in the 1^st leg of the World Cup Play off…

Goalkeeper : Darren Randolph

Back 4 :  Cyrus Christie , Shane Duffy , Ciaran Clarke , Stephen Ward

Midfield :  James Mc Clean , Wes Hoolahan , Jeff Hendrick , Robbie Brady

Front Men :  Sean Maguire , Daryl Murphy

On what will be a big day of sport I have tried to guess the two teams that Joe Schmidt and Martin O Neill will send out on different missions to see can they get the desired result….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

02/11/2017

Katie Taylor – World Champion

So Katie Taylor has reached the pinnacle of her sport in the professional ranks by winning her first World Title after a win in the Principality Stadium on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s World Title defence.

 Just over a year after Katie Taylor introduced herself to the World with an impressive win in her opening contest, she is a World Champion. Like every time she has gone into the ring, nothing broke her focus, not even the fact her opponent had missed the weight two different times which meant Taylor was the only one  that could have won that World title last night.

This brave Bray lady has done so much for her sport at amateur level and now in the professional game. She is the poster girl for the sport of boxing and although some people still cannot stomach the idea of a woman boxing or being involved in a physical sport, you cannot but be moved by this lady, her courage, honesty and desire along with her deep faith that has kept her in good stead for the challenges she has faced over the years.

She has of course received the congratulations of the nation from An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and President Michael D Higgins. She had ploughed a lonely furrow over the last 12 months slogging it out in different places and arenas along with the long hard hours of training that has led to this moment of glory in the Principality Stadium Cardiff.

 It may not have been a home venue in the conventional sense but in sport Ireland have achieved some historic moments in that city in recent years, winning a Grand Slam in 2009 and most recently making sure of a World Cup Playoff spot by beating Wales 1-0 in the nearby Cardiff City Stadium.  So the Welsh capital has been kind to Ireland.

So we now have the very distinct possibility of a homecoming bout sometime next year for Katie Taylor, her manager is Brian Peters and you can be sure he and promoter Eddie Hearn have a plan in mind for a homecoming fight in Dublin.

Given her pulling power it will be interesting to see where any possible fight would take place, The 3 Arena could be the ideal venue but I am sure they will explore every avenue to get the best venue for boxers, supporters and anyone else that may want to see a World title fight involving Ireland’s golden girl.

It was great to see Katie enjoying her victory with her family. Her Mom made her way into the ring and joined in the celebrations. Huge congratulations Katie on another fine victory, you again have highlighted women’s sport and how important it is. Onward to your next challenge now….

By

Cian Mc Gibney

29/10/2017 

I have been asked to write a short piece about my battle with suicide and depression. I have struggled over the years with a battle that has been fought mostly in my head. I have always felt not good enough to be on this earth.

Three times I have contemplated suicide and on one occasion I was very close to following through on the promise of actually going through with my suicide plan. Only for my Mom figuring out there was something wrong with me and asking a relative to call me to see could he find out what was wrong with me.

I went to my grandparents home that evening and wrote 10 letters saying goodbye to groups of people. I sat there watching the Ireland women’s rugby team play England and contemplated life because only a few weeks earlier I lost my grandfather.

I felt totally useless as I sat there thinking about my next move which I thought was to throw myself off the pier down in Tarbert Island. Then the phone rang in my grandparent’s kitchen and it was a cousin of mine who claimed to be looking for my uncle but I found that very strange as my grandfather had just passed away and when you need to contact my uncle you call his mobile and not the home phone.

This call proved to be the call that saved my life because had that call not happened I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this piece.  I have battled with the demons in my head over the last 14 years and continue this battle on a daily basis.

Since September 2016 life has been very different that was when my Mam passed away and it took me the best part of 6 months to get my head straight to try and comprehend what had happened. In January of this year I started counselling and after 7 months of counselling I felt strong enough to step away from counselling and see how I could get on coping on my own.

Yes I have the support of my family but I still struggle on a daily basis with what happened on that faithful evening in September. The battle in my head has returned and has come back with vengeance but thankfully after 7 months of counselling I have the coping skills to recognise the signs of when things are getting tough and I know when to take a step back.

My reason for writing this short piece is to tell people that even when times are tough it is ok to stand up and say things are not ok. I spent far too long trying to deal with issues however big or small on my own and that particular way of doing things nearly cost me my life. Thankfully things have improved for me and I am on the way back…

When you see someone that may look like they are in need of help reach out to them and ask them how they are , the chance to talk and get it off their chest may just be the release valve that person needed…

 Always remember It is ok not to be ok…..

Cian Mc Gibney