Pro Rugby Coach Waratahs Leinster Ireland Scotland Ulster Narbonne. TV with Virginmedia & write for the Irish Times. Dad & Long boarder. Contact
@PS_Speakers
After the game I met my daughter in town.I then got a taxi home only to find I had lost my took me back to the pub even though he knew I had no money. My wallet had been handed in, nothing taken. Thanks to those honest & generous people.Gotta love Dublin.
Heart broken at the news that Gary Halpin has died. A great athlete representing Ireland at hammer throwing & rugby. The best sense of humour & the funniest man I have ever coached. Off the field a gentleman & great family man.The world today is a lesser place. RIP Gary.
That sensational Japanese performance puts the Irish defeat into perspective. Japan did not “upset” Ireland.Japan have played consistently excellent rugby through all the pool games. We all witnessed a new world stage player emerge.
I heard a pile of bullshit this week.”A big performance,holding secret plays back, the green army, Ireland taking a step forward during the Haka.” All utter bullshit.Todays performance is what you get when you dont have attacking & D systems that for all 2019 have been poor.
Ladies & gentleman, boys & girls, today in the rugby world we are all Argentinian. Viva los Pumas. What an inspiring performance of believing in their ability to prevail against all odds. Tears from coaches players & Argentinian Australians & why not. A Sensational performance.
Well done to all those at St Mary’s, especially the great Den Hickie, for spending years fundraising to build an all weather rugby pitch at one of Dublin’s great rugby schools. Generations of students will benefit from the hard work and generosity of the St Mary’s community.
Two Samoan international rugby Tight head props & one washed up old out half in this photo. Can you pick the tight heads? Wonderful catching up with my old mates Fosi Pala’amo & my Wests rugby brother Villi Ala’alatoa. (Michaels dad) Lots of laughs memories & rugby wisdom.
At Dublin airport. Feeling very grumpy after yesterday. Typical Ryanair situation. A rude man wants to push into the boarding line up. Usually I let it go, but not today. “ Excuse me Sir. This is not a Saracens ruck. There are rules here. “ Very petty but I feel much better.
A small ticket on the bucket list done. Yesterday a group of Aussie friends walked the 20 kms to see the crater at Stromboli volcano off Sicily. Ankle and knees in bits today but it’s worth it.
18 years ago I went to this sports store in central Dublin and had a stand up argument with the manager as why he had no Leinster jerseys for sale. How times have changed.
The fires here in Australia are crazy. 42 degrees in Sydney. Entire south coast of NSW is alight. People killed. Whole towns burned. People hiding on the beach from fire storms. Staggering. Spare a thought for people who have lost love ones, houses and livelihoods.
If you can’t score try’s you can’t win the World Cup. Japan out played out thought and out passioned Ireland.Congratulations to them on a great performance. Sadly that defeat has been a long time coming. A philosophy of limited creativity in attack has consequences in big games.
Had a great catch up with Shane Horgan & Den Hickie last night. A nice lady came over and told us how disappointed she was with the Leinster defeat but she was very happy to meet three legends Denis Hickie Shane Horgan and Declan Kidney. ... no she was not joking. A very bad day.
Great afternoon of H cup rugby with Joe and Shane. Thanks to all friendly Leinster supporters who said hello and had a chat. Met the Lansdowne U 11s who had toured Lisbon. Very well mannered young men.Just a privilege to be involved with rugby in Ireland. Thanks
At Barcelona airport. Ryanair strikes again. Check in told me to take my hand luggage onto the plane. Gate says I have to pay €25. Told them what I was told at check in.... have to pay the money and claim it in Dublin in arrival... at midnight. What a shower of bastards.
Thanks to all for the great tweets. I will get back to you all . Give me a day or so. Thanks for the support. Loved and privileged to be on tv 3 to bring it to you. All credit to the Irish team.
Eddie Jones said “scummy Irish.” Lets all hold him accountable to his words. Imagine if we had made a comment about his heritage? It would be wrong in every sense.The Irish XV are Champions. How dare he use such language. I am Irish Australian. I am not accepting that from Eddie.
17 000 at the Eighth Wonder of the world, Leichhardt Oval in Sydney for a schools game. Joeys 35 defeated Riverview 20. Sensational for rugby in Sydney. The traditional home of the Balmain Tigers Rugby Leagues club is quickly becoming rugbys favourite stadium in Sydney.
A great mob to work with at the Aviva yesterday. Joe played out of his skin. He is bringing out the best in us. Sitting between ROG and Shane was brilliant rugby talk and great fun. Loved it. Bring on Wales.
Great to be back with the team at the RDS today. Great Leinster win... but it was freezing cold. 48 hours ago I was swimming in the Pacific in Sydney at 30 degrees. Today 5 degrees in beautiful Dublin. Still thawing out.
Horrific game to christen the new Sydney Football Stadium.Overly technical officials mixed with ultra negative but effective tactics of the Springboks make for a terrible spectacle. Wallabies disappointingly poor in front of a full house. Fighting has been the only entertainment.
Sir, that statement exemplifies your lack of knowledge of Irish history & the violence that a hard border inflicted on generations of Irish can have a Brexit but must never be able to force Ireland to return to an imperialist past. Shame on you.
He’s been doing that for years at schoolboys level in Sydney. Champion hurdler and basketballer. The most talented 20 year old lock I have seen since John Eales. Keep an eye out for him. He is on a journey. Nick is a great person as well.
Watching the soccer 1/4 finals reminds me of something my father use to say. “Rugby is 80 mins pretending you are not hurt. Soccer is 90 min pretending you are hurt.” Great event but hate the rubbish pretending to be hurt and the terrible disrespect to officials.
Lost a wonderful mate last night. RIP The great Ken Ging. Played for Munster when they beat the Wallabies in 67 (he reminded me of this every day) Leinster team Manager & more importantly a champion man. Loved by us all & deeply missed.
In Marseille getting ready to be on the sideline for Virginmedia Heineken Cup final coverage. Beautiful day in southern France. Great venue. Great game awaits.
@AlexEtna
Go 56 sec. I was standing right there 36 hours ago. Can’t believe what I am seeing. Going out to celebrate still being here. We are hoping our great mountain guides and the people on the mountain are safe. Can’t imagine what they could do as there is no shelter. Unbelievable.
I can’t remember NZ being so completely dominated in a match like England just did to them. England were superior at every aspect of that game.Great win for rugby.
Happy Christmas to you all and to your familirs. Have a sensational day. A quick swim at Freshwater beach is a great way to start Christmas Day in old Sydney town.
Senior players week after winning Champions Cup.They still beat a Munster team with two weeks preparation. That win sends a message within the club to all the players saying we trust you and believe in for a double & history.
One of the worst examples of officiating I have seen in many years at twickenham today. Brave French were very hard done by. Several unfathomable decisions went against them.
Apologies to those I have not got back to. Have to sleep. Will try to reply to you all. Thanks so much to you all for the very respectful rugby talk. I really appreciate and enjoy the interaction. I am privileged to be part of the rugby media. Thanks for sharing it with me.
This on TV now Sunday morning at Eden on the NSW south coast. It’s 9.30 am. The smoke is that thick no sunshine and lights in. That is the beach!! I use to surf there near there. It looks like Mars. The man being interviewed just lost his house.
Great day at the Aviva in Saturday. Hospitality from the Leinster branch was sensational. Great to see old friends, great players and wonderful men. Nice to see the Cup again after two decades. An uplifting day. Thanks Leinster. The Team of 2001 really appreciated the day.
One 300 m walk on the beach with my kids near Biarritz & we collected all this plastic, netting, fishing equipment & plastic sheeting.All in 300m. We have a massive problem. On your summer holidays at the beach, please take a bag & “ take 3 for the sea.” Pick up plastic.Retweet.
Have it on very good authority that old Sydney town is going off tonight. Pubs in Manly, Balmain & the Rocks full of Irish and green.Accents from all counties are present.The Sydney Irish diaspora are loving it.Hope you all have a great weekend in my home town. Gotta love Sydney.
Great half of rugby for Ireland. Best they have played since November 2018. Enjoyed it. Referee is also helping Ireland’s cause. Last few pens against England have been more than harsh.
Let’s hope we start to see more creative ideas from our coaches. Enjoy this weeks thoughts.
Matt Williams: Increasing evidence of a stifling conformity in rugby coaching
I am now the Proud owner of a signed 1989 Balmain Tigers jersey. I won it at auction with all proceeds going to the Red Cross bushfires disaster fund. Thanks to Steve Russo
@russos1991
for the donation of a loved jersey. I will look after it.
That appears to be a South Sydney Rabbitohs Rugby League fan wearing their jersey at the Capital riots. (Note the black rabbit logo on his chest) Should be easy enough for the FBI to identify. Unbelievable! Thankfully no sightings of Balmain Tigers jerseys have been reported.
Don’t get to see Leinster live much these days. Really enjoyed the atmosphere and the support the teams gets. Also great to catch up with so many old friends and a wonderful Leinster performance.Thanks
Dublin airport sitting on my expensive Ryanair flight. Trying to get home before Spain shuts down.We board knowing we are not supposed to be closer than 2 meters & then tell us there is a 2.5 hour delay. Sitting on a plane on the tarmac for 2.5 hours.Fucking muppets.
Thanks Peter. I don’t say “we or us” intentionally. It just comes out.Having coached Leinster Ulster Ireland A & assisted the Nation team, as well as having an Irish passport and worked in Irish rugby on and off for 20 years saying“we” & “us” reflects my feelings and belief.
Not a great performance at all from key players, however good to get back on track next week, have to say love the coverage from
@MattRCNM
especially dropping in “us” and “we” in reference to
@IrishRugby
. Let’s dust off and front up with our usual intensity to
@Scotlandteam
This is a monumental achievement for Irish rugby that many people over several generations have worked, lobbied & fought for. Congratulations to Anthony Eddie & the Men’s Irish 7s team. Sensational achievement & brilliant for Irish ☘️ rugby.
Dropped into the Natural History Museum yesterday and saw one of my favourite quotes of all time. Charlie Ds advice to rugby teams. Adapt or perish. Who will adapt the best in 6 N 2018?
All that is wrong with rugby officiating and how many out moded laws we have in our game is on display in Cardiff tonight. Disappointing for the players and supporters. Ruined the game.
Nice to back home in Steak and Kidney (Sydney). The coat hanger seems to be doing ok with out me. Got the Rivercat into town on a beautiful winters day. Tigers playing tomorrow night. Wallabies on Saturday. Can‘t say I am confident of winning either. All just like old times.
Sorry!!You are the Leinster media manager. Give me a break mate! Has the club come to this? Monitoring ex coaches comments for political correctness put out to the community?You work for the best club in Europe. It’s my club as well. Back off. I will say what I want.
@MattRCNM
I have. And I’ve no issue with the majority of what you said re. prep time. Munster had two week build up & a free weekend, Leinster didn’t and the challenges last week were significant. But four days drinking wasn’t one of them.
NZ forwards using footwork before contact. Running support lines and off loading. Not one Irish forward does this. Almost none of the backs as well. Watch how the Irish forwards run into the tackler.
Great game at Sandy Park. Plenty of fight in the blue jersey today. Quality rugby. Ross Byrne off the bench. Conversion, try assist pass and pen goal. Brilliant.
@Murray_Kinsella
This is Unacceptable on any level. I totally disagree with Billies support of Izzy but no person ever should come on to the pitch. That is outrageous and the individual should be banned from rugby grounds for a considerable period.