Highlight video of Brian O'Driscoll emerges amidst calls for statue to be erected in his honour

Fantastic highlight video of Brian O’Driscoll’s glittering career created as some urge for statue to be erected in his honour

Brian O'Driscoll - might he become the first Irishman to captain the Lions twice?

Get ready for a hell of a lot of Brian O’Driscoll related stories doing the rounds on Irish related sporting media the next few days in particular. Ireland finish off what can only be described as a disappointing Six Nations tournament this weekend with a game against Italy, in what could conceivably be the final game in an Irish jersey for who some think is Ireland’s greatest Rugby Union player of all time, one Brian O’Driscoll.

The match has added importance with a view to the Lions tour this coming Summer. Some are taking Lions coach Warren Gatland’s presence at the Irish training camp yesterday as a sign that he will be considering O’Driscoll for the captain’s armband for the touring party. This would of course make Brian the first Irishman to captain the tourists for a second time, a massive honour. Adding fuel to the fire, it should be noted that Gatland was the coach who pushed O’Driscoll to the fore, into the Ireland side in 1999 before he had ever even played for Leinster’s full side. Perhaps it is no coincidence the Lions coach is in town.

As we were saying, there is going to be a huge volume of ‘BOD’ material the next few days, some of worthy of our time, some of it a little hysterical. One fan has gone to the lengths of creating a Facebook page urging people to demand a statue be created for O’Driscoll, for his services to Irish rugby. I will leave it up to you to decide if that’s completely bonkers or not. Someone has also gone to the bother of creating what can only be described as a magnificent highlight video of the great man’s career. If you are a fan of Brian’s at all, you need to check this video out. Find 8 minutes of your time, take the phone off the hook, put your iPad down for a while, and just enjoy what is a fitting tribute to O’Driscoll.



It feels funny saying this past tense, but, watching that video, damn he was good, right? You forget sometimes what a sensational finisher he was, back when he still had pace to burn and before a number of injuries forced him to rely more on his head and less on his legs.

To finish on a personal note, if you have lived in or around the South side of Dublin the last decade or so, you invariably have a Brian O’Driscoll story to share. He used to frequent a bookmakers near Baggot Street a few years ago, and this author met him and chatted to him about three or four times. You couldn’t chance upon a more charming, easy going and personable individual. His complete and utter lack of ego is a testament to the man’s character.

Put it this way, considering his achievements, what he has meant to Irish sports and his charming, disarming personality, if they want to put a statue up on Grafton Street for the man, you won’t hear this guy complain about it.




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Are other forces at work in the Ronan O'Gara situation?

There may be more to the omission of Ronan O'Gara from the Irish Six Nations squad than at first meets the eye.

Ronan O'Gara - Is his absence from the Irish squad down to other factors than purely form?

As Ireland have trudged through a disappointing Six Nations campaign the drama and indeed excitement has been sparse to say the least. News of Ronan O'Gara's initial benching behind Paddy Jackson and subsequent omission from the entire squad was about as dramatic as it got in recent weeks. This column has come across information that would suggest that Irish coach Declan Kidney is not being entirely up front when he says O'Gara has been dropped purely due to lack of form.

As it is, Irish rugby fans have been left extremely confused by the totally bizarre handling of the whole affair. The common consensus would appear to be that, while it is clear O'Gara is probably in his final season wearing an Irish jersey (though no doubt a man as competitive as he would argue that), Jackson and the other younger players are not ready as yet. Many would suggest Kidney would have been better off letting O'Gara take Sexton's place and finish the campaign off at number 10.

It isn't just nostalgia driving such thinking, O'Gara is still one of the greatest kickers on the planet, and Ireland's pathetic kicking from the spot, with O'Gara watching from the bench, cost them their last game (before you argue that, do the maths  Ireland's missed kicks, if successful, would have given us the win).

Instead, Irish fans have watched confused by recent events. Perhaps we can shine a little light on the situation.

This column has it on good authority from two reliable sources, one within the Irish camp, that O'Gara has been dropped from the Irish squad due to management's concerns with issues in his private life. The concerns are believed to have resulted in this current loss of form that O'Gara is experiencing. With that in mind, you could suggest Kidney is telling it straight, technically anyway, when he says O'Gara is out of the squad due to form.

To suggest however, as he has to the press, that the omission of one of the most important players in contemporary Irish rugby history is purely due to lack of form would appear to be misleading.

As for O'Gara himself, our sources indicate that the problems that have surfaced in his private dealings are of a nature that could conceivably affect form. The details of the issues, however, are clearly of a private nature, a matter for O'Gara alone, and delving into the ins and outs of it is not our business.

Instead, as fans of both the great number 10 and of Irish Rugby in general, we are left hoping that O'Gara can overcome the odds and find a way to finish his remarkable Irish career in style. His story-arc, the narrative of his Irish career, would hopefully demand such a Hollywood finish.

Perhaps something along the lines of being picked to play in Ireland's finalé against Italy and providing some of the masterful kicking we have seen down the years, ending in an Irish win.

O'Gara wins the Grand Slam for Ireland v Wales 2009

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Section of Irish rugby fans an embarrassment during loss to England

Ireland were pretty much knocked flat on their face on Sunday by a powerful (if stupefyingly boring tactically) English team. Perhaps worse yet, the legend of great Irish fans support took a serious body blow, inflicted by none other than our own.  One of Irish rugby’s most endearing features, and indeed one of its proudest traditions, was the veritable silence afforded the kicker, even opposition kickers, during play. Sadly, English outhalf Owen Farrel was subjected to boos, whistles and cat calls on almost every one of his six kicks on Sunday.

It was ugly.

Let’s face it. We supporters of Irish sports and Irish Rugby would be the first to cry foul if Ronan O’Gara or Johnny Sexton were booed by English fans while lining up a kick at Twickenham. For years foreign teams, players, commentators and pundits alike commended Ireland and its fans for the respectful way they treated the opposition and its kickers during games. Indeed, many thought that the strict, almost shocking, silence that continues to greet kickers at Munster’s home games is in fact intimidating for the opposition.

You could argue therefore that this silence maintained during kicks was actually part  of Ireland’s home field advantage, an advantage that would appear to be all but gone (Ireland has won a pathetic six out of its last twelve home matches).

One more point before we get on to the demise of Ireland’s home field advantage. Apart from the booing of the kicker, the pathetic booing  of the English fans singing was pure bottom of the barrel stuff. Full disclosure, as a passionate Irish fan, I have been known to mock the single most inappropriate fan base anthem, ‘Swing Low’ on many occasion (Seriously England, a slave song?! From the most colonialist country of all time?!). However I would rather listen to a thousand English fans bellowing ‘Swing Low’ than a handful of ignorant Irish fans booing same. Furthermore, Irish fans and journalists alike were up in arms earlier in the season when a stupid English team official insisted on playing loud rock music at the Saracens against Munster game, whenever the travelling visitors tried to sing.

We can no longer complain about incidents like that, if we are going to behave in exactly the same manner as a sports supporting nation.

Back to the overall dissipation of Ireland’s home advantage. The atmosphere at Sunday’s game was about as good as at a football friendly between Ireland and Kazakhstan. Apart from the classless behaviour of a large portion of the fans, the noise levels of actual support were pathetic, and there was a constant stream of ‘supporters’ leaving their seats to attack the concession stands, or whatever it is people do when they are not caring about what’s going on in the action on field.

What exactly is leading to this apathetic, boorish, ugly behaviour, coupled with a noticeable reduction in the actual support levels of the Irish rugby fans in Dublin? Is it the high ticket prices? That aspect can’t be ignored. Tickets start at around 50 euros and march upwards towards 100 euros if you want to have anything approaching a decent seat. In this day and age, during this stifling recession, that is ridiculously expensive.

Sorry if this offends, but the fact of the matter is, the people that can actually afford the tickets would appear, on the evidence before us, to be bringing down the lofty standards of Irish rugby support.

Sadly, Irish rugby might be laying in a bed of its own making. Take a look at the Boston Red Sox for what can happen to a passionate crowd. For decades, prior to 2004, Red Sox fans were known as among the most passionate, knowledgeable and supportive of all fans in not only US baseball, but all US sports. Red Sox playoff games in the late nineties and early 2000s were nothing short of sensational events. The home playoff opener in 1999 was one of the most exciting, enjoyable events I have ever seen on TV, and Red  Sox fans still remember nostalgically the incredible support that poured forth from the stands and bleachers that day. Fast forward to now, and the home support at Red Sox games is effectively gone. In fact, it is worse, it has a tangible negative effect on the home team, as Red Sox fans have taken to booing their team,  something unheard of in the nineties.

What happened? Simple, the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, this success bringing with it a truckload of fair weather fans and wildly over priced tickets.

In the summer of ’99 I sat right behind home plate watching Pedro Martinez pitch for Boston and my seat cost $28. Today that same seat would cost around $200, if you could get it, all the best seats at Fenway have been bought out for the next five to ten years by corporations, businesses and ticket re-sellers.

Success on the field has led to the pricing out of the average fan in Boston.

This would appear to be exactly what is happening to Irish Rugby. Success for Ireland and Leinster in the last five years in particular is leading to increased ticket prices which in turn is leading to a new, rich and basically apathetic crowd at the games. This has the adverse effect of eroding Ireland’s previously enjoyed home field advantage.

Perhaps it will take a few years in the wilderness for the real fans to be allowed back in.

In the meantime, if you care at all, and if you are at an Ireland game where a ‘fan’ boos the kicker, please do your country a favour and chastise them for it.

That is, if anyone cares anymore.

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Irish soccer legend Damien Duff visits Irish troops in the Lebanon

Some professional athletes talk a big game. Others put their money where their mouth is.

While we go about our normal lives, worrying about paying the bills, what we are going to have for dinner and what’s on TV later, there are currently over 330 Irish soldiers serving in the Lebanon as part of the strong UN remit in that country, keeping the peace in a time of great stress for the region. It is an incredibly dangerous task, and tragically, 47 Irish soldiers have died defending the peace in South Lebanon. All the while the fear remains that the problems in neighbouring Syria could explode across the border. It is a tense time to be a UN peace keeper based in the region.

This brings us to Damien Duff, or ‘The Duffer’

The veteran Irish soccer star could have stayed at home, licking his wounds after the disastrous Irish European Championships campaign. He could have zipped off somewhere hot and sunny and hit the golf links, or collapsed by the pool. Instead, The Duffer chose to make a difficult, dangerous trip to Beirut, and subsequently on to the Lebanon. He has gone to help lift the spirits of the Irish force there, and will no doubt offer them stories from his Irish team and Premiership exploits in his colourful, successful career. Duff also paid his respects the memory of the 47 Irish men who died in the name of peace.

It is a fantastic, unselfish gesture from a clearly level headed and thoughtful man. The 33 year old Irish star will spend three days with the Battalion, and apart from meeting and spending time with the troops, he is also scheduled to visit a local orphanage.

Professional sports can be a depressing entity at time. Having to listen to the likes of morons like Dwight Howard procrastinate as to what team he wants to pay him millions of dollars to play basketball next season, while holding the NBA loving city of Orlando to hostage, is very unappealing. The same goes for Carlos Lee, the bloated Houston Astros slugger with his similarly bloated $100 million contract. We really need to read endless stories about what team he refuses to be traded to, seriously?

Modern professional sports can be an ugly creature. Thankfully there are still characters as strong and honourable as Damien Duff. His heart warming decision to visit his countrymen in the Lebanon is an example to us all.

It also makes your heart burst with pride to be Irish.

Hopefully Duff and the boys in green enjoy his visit to the utmost.

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Irish fans sing The Fields of Athenry, Spain v Ireland Euro 2012: VIDEO

So tonight Ireland's Euro 2012 effectively came to an end. Sure we still have to play Italy, and who would bet against the Irish playing out of their skins and causing a huge upset, this team has a lot of pride and will want to go out on a high, not just for themselves but for their loyal fans too. Tonight however they ran up against possibly the greatest team in the world in the Spanish, and the result was a predictable 0-4 trashing.

Bizarrely, what most will remember from the match will be the absolutely incredible display of support the magnificent travelling Irish fans showed, as the clock ticked down first to 90 minutes and then through the last three minutes of added time. With the match dying out, the masses of Irish fans ripped out a six minute long, stirring rendition of 'The fields of Athenry'. Several TV shows (I hear German, Dutch and even Spanish) deliberately didn't speak over the singing to allow their viewers experience it properly.

There are going to be plenty of cynics who try and bring this wonderful little moment down, but just ignore them. Crank up the volume, sit back and enjoy the 6 minutes video from German TV below. This is just a wonderfully unusual moment in sports, a moment of goodwill, kindness, passion and loyalty.

Enjoy it for what it is. Support, in the truest sense of the word. No Nazi banners, no bananas thrown on the pitch, no angry, hateful chants. Just pride and passion, displayed in a dignified, moving way by literally thousands of Irish who refused to let the score get in the way of their support for their boys.

We live in what can be a nasty, brutish world, it is heart warming every now and then to find an oasis of goodwill and humanity.  Low lie, the fields of Athenry..

Update - Friday15th June
The morning after

So UEFA have forced YouTube to take the original video in all its brilliance down. Congratulations to UEFA for trying to stop people enjoying a wonderful sporting moment. Brilliant minds at work in there obviously. Fear not. We have trawled the web and come up with the below alternatives.

This is a simple, short one with excellent audio.




Another short, grainy one that nonetheless has superb audio. Notice this is well after the match has finished and the Irish are still singing!


Finally, a top notch video and audio rendition, however I am not confident UEFA won't swoop on this one also.



There we go. Big Brother can go take a hike. We will make sure a working video of the amazing Irish supporters stays up on this come hell or high water! Enjoy.


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