Rory Proves (Again) That Sport Belongs to All Of Us
Rory McIlroy has spent his career answering questions that have nothing to do with golf. Which flag. Which anthem. Which side. And yet here he is. Again. The best in the world.
Sport
The Sporting Weekend: The Women’s Rugby World Cup
Whilst the English Premier League football continues this weekend… the Women’s Rugby World Cup also kicks off. The Women’s World Cup is being held in England with record crowds expected and Twickenham which will host the final and holds 82,000 already sold out. England’s Women, the very hot favourites, last lost a game in the 2021 World Cup Final (played in 2022 because of Covid) to New Zealand. England have also won the 6 Nations for the last 7 years. …
The Sporting Weekend: The Premier League Returns.
Whilst some of us may trace all of our little island’s problems and disagreements back to our perfidious neighbour – that same neighbour has provided us with something that we can all disagree about amicably – the English Premier League. …and whilst our constitutional allegiance and our county or province of origin may determine whether we fancy Rugger or GAA or the League of Ireland or the Irish League or Celtic or Rangers – the good old Premier League gloriously …
Na leoin Éireannacha (The Irish Lions) to win by 20
As a reluctant and begrudging, Lions fan, I felt my reluctance and begrudgery giving way when 15 Irish players were included in the original Lions squad of 38. That number is now up to 17 with the addition of two more Irish players, Tom Clarkson & Jamie Osborne. (For evidence of that begrudgery see here). Thursday’s team announcement saw a record 8 Irish Players (a majority) starting in the 1st test on Saturday morning. Kick off is at 11 o clock …
Rory McIlroy: Love, beauty, trust and love all wrapped up in one hectic, thrilling and desperate game of golf
There’s two things I love about golf. One is the sheer beauty and multigenerational memories of the greats playing the Masters course in Atlanta, Georgia. The other is the boundless courage, natural decency and outrageous genius of Rory McIlroy. As a teenager I once struggled on the same course as Rory on the side of the Holywood hills overlooking the Belfast Lough, but in contrast to his, his dad’s and his grandad Jimmy’s, my key talent consisted of losing balls …
Beware the Clickbait: Navigating a Media Landscape of Manufactured Hype…
I’ve expressed before on Slugger my concerns about our indigenous media’s insatiable appetite for political instability to fill its programmes or pages. This dates back to 1994 when those in authority failed to make any meaningful effort to adapt to the coming post Troubles lifestyle here. So ever since then we’ve had numerous efforts from withing the media to destabilise the fragile DUP/SF partnership. Sometimes its just snide use of terms like “Chuckle Brothers” or “Marlene” but on other times …
Where stands Irish rugby?
So where stands Irish rugby after the conclusion of the pool stages of the Champions Cup and before the start of the 6 Nations? Leinster qualified second out of 16 qualifiers with a home draw all the way to the Semi-final and with the final at Spurs ground in Tottenham anyway. Munster must face their nemesis, Northampton, away, having just lost to them at Thomond Park. But such is their strength in adversity, I wouldn’t bet against them progressing further, their …
“Those who sing Zombie this week after Ireland’s match against Scotland know their history…”
I was at Trent Bridge week last Saturday to watch Ireland complete the only one of their three match ODI Cricket series. It was a blissful catchup with old mates (English and Irish) over a long day of that weird mix of generosity and competition. It was a particular pleasure to watch fellow Holywoodian Mark Adair in action for one of three island wide sports teams that comfortably straddle a border and sectarian divide that other codes (and the island’s …
Women’s World Cup 2023 starts today…
The Women’s World Cup 2023 is hosted by Australia and New Zealand. I confess I am not really into sports so I will not be watching it, but I am curious how many football fans will be tuning in. Women’s football has grown in popularity over the past decade, but it still seems overshadowed by the male game. Is is sexism or is the male game more exciting to watch? I thought this video was excellent at challenging perceptions: No …
‘It’s about life and death’: Frampton vs Kielty
As the finale event of the Docs Ireland film festival, boxing legend Carl Frampton and comedian/presenter Patrick Kielty had a one-to-one conversation with an audience of over a hundred at the Cineworld complex, interspersed with clips from their documentary films and interviews with others on the topics of Northern Ireland’s contentious past and outlooks for the future. The first clip was from Frampton’s “Men in Crisis”, where his interviewee Ryan (22:54) discusses his emotions in dealing with the suicide of …
Ireland 2023 Rugby World Cup Squad selected…
Andy Farrell has announced his 42 man training squad for the world cup, and true to form, has not been afraid to make some hard choices. The dominant theme is one of loyalty to the players who have enabled Ireland win a Grand Slam and maintain their place at the top of the world rankings. I had expected Munster’s outstanding form in recent weeks to have more of an impact, but in the event some of Munster’s outstanding performers – …
Rugby: Leinster’s demise and Munster’s hope…
Leinster have been hailed by many as the world’s best club rugby team for some time now, an assessment which failed to take account of their failure to win a European Cup for 5 years, which is half a professional rugby player’s average lifetime. True, they were beaten by a last minute try in the final in Marseilles last year, and La Rochelle were again twice within the width of a post of losing this year. Munster also required a …
Ireland 2023 Rugby World Cup Squad…
So based on recent form and past experience, who are the players in contention to make Andy Farrell’s world cup extended training squad and, more importantly, the final 33 man squad itself? My favourites for the 33 Man squad are listed in bold. Players likely to make the extended training squad are listed in ordinary type face. Possibilities on the fringes are listed in italics. Players who have dropped out of contention due to injury, movement abroad, selectorial preference or …
United Rugby Championship Semi-Finals preview…
The achievement of all four Irish provinces qualifying for next season’s European Cup and making the knock-out stages of the URC is not to be underestimated. That three should also make the Semi-finals of the URC is an extraordinary achievement. South Africa supply the sole interloper in the Champions Stormers, who take on Connacht in Cape town. Glasgow are in the Challenge Cup final but for every other club in the URC, the season is already over. It is an …
European Cup Rugby Review – the sharp end of the season approaches…
The last few weeks since Ireland’s historic fourth grand slam have showcased both the strengths and weaknesses of Irish Rugby. Leinster seem to march inexorably on to either or both the European Cup and URC titles, although nothing can ever be taken for granted in sport. However, Ulster, Munster and Connacht have all been eliminated from their European Cup competitions and the latter two may struggle to qualify for the European Cup top tier competition next season. It was no …
What’s Next, After the Slam?
As the immediate emotions die down and the dust settles on Ireland’s great Six Nations Grand Slam, it becomes possible – nay essential – too take a more nuanced and balanced view of what transpired, and more importantly, on what must come next. Firstly, we have to acknowledge the flaws in our own performances, if we are to perform even better in the future. We performed brilliantly against Wales and blew them away for about 30 minutes. After that we …
An anatomy of the success of Irish Rugby: “Spread out, but stick together…”
Sam McBride’s opening paragraph on Sunday captures something that is both puzzling and miraculous about Ireland’s commanding win over England (forty fifty years after England came to Dublin in the teeth of the worst days of the Troubles): The most remarkable aspect of another thrilling and historic Irish rugby success yesterday was not that an island of seven million people has produced the best team in the world, but that the team represents a country which doesn’t exist. [Emphasis added] …
A Grand Slam for Ireland?
A Grand Slam in the 5 or 6 Nations rugby Championship has only been won 41 times in the 97 years it has been contested with England (13), Wales (12), France (10) leading the way and with Scotland and Ireland on 3 apiece some way behind. Ireland won it in 1948 (Ravenhill), 2009 (Cardiff) and 2018 (Twickenham) and it is an honour previously achieved only by some vintage Irish teams led by legendary players such Jackie Kyle, Brian O’Driscoll, and …
New GAA President Jarlath Burns is an impressive and visionary man…
I am going to stray into the unfamiliar territory of the Gaelic Athletic Association for this post. As a sports-mad half-Irish boy growing up in London, my games were football (soccer in Ireland) and rugby (although I was occasionally seen on the touchline at the GAA’s London ground at New Eltham). At the risk of being controversial, I would describe Gaelic football and hurling in Northern Ireland as objectively sectarian pastimes, since few if any Protestants play them and the …
Rugby Six Nations Review: Round 1
Although none of the results came as a shock, the glorious unpredictability of the 6 Nations was underlined by three away victories in the opening round. Italy came close to shocking France in Rome, which would have been only the fourth time they have beaten France in 47 matches since the sides first met in a fully recognised international in 1937. Scotland beat England for the third time in a row for the first time in over 50 years and …