KATIE TAYLOR HAS received worldwide acclaim following her stunning Gold medal triumph yesterday.
Reporting from Bray, the New York Times described Taylor as the “epitome of the strong-willed Irish lass”.
The paper’s reporter, Barry Bearak, also wrote: “For the Irish, Katie Taylor is more than a great athlete sprung from the native soil; people speak of her as if she has sprung from themselves, for she seems everyone’s sister, their daughter, their friend.”
The Los Angeles Times examined what Taylor’s victory might mean in a historical context, with Bill Dwyre writing:
“History told us of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, then of Fanny Blankers-Koen. Legends grew around Dawn Fraser and Olga Connolly; also Joan Benoit and now Kim Rhode.
“They are Olympic women. Hear them roar.
“Someday, given what took place at a boxing arena in the far reaches of the London Olympics on Monday afternoon, the name Katie Taylor may be on the list.”
The Guardian were similarly generous in their praise, with Zoe Williams noting that “Taylor is a giant of Irish boxing – Irish, European, World and now Olympic champion – a showman and a folk heroine”.
The crowd at the fight were also saluted, with Williams writing that “there wasn’t a soul in the stadium who wasn’t Irish” and adding:
“I have new respect for this boxing crowd, who contained their disappointment far better than the equestrian bunch did last week. Obviously there was disappointment in the air, especially when Ochigava pulled into the lead in the second round; but it was more like an involuntary huff, the air going out of the room. Certainly, there was nothing like a groan and we never even got close to a boo.”
The Arab Times referred to Taylor’s performance as “cagey,” but said her victory capped a “scintillating career,” noting that the crowd was “desperate” for her to secure victory.
The Australian newspaper, The Age, described Taylor’s fans as “ludicrously impassioned”.
The paper also explained the significance of Taylor’s influence on women’s boxing, saying she “has emerged as the perfect face to take the sport to the next level”.
Metro France called the atmosphere during the fight “touching,” adding that it was “probably one of the most grandiose atmospheres of these games”.
It also focused heavily on her footballing talents, speculating as to whether she may end up moving to Arsenal.
Taz.de looked at what Taylor’s victory means for Ireland in general, suggesting that “the whole city [of Dublin] seems on its feet,” in addition to other parts of the country.It adds that Taylor’s performance brought significant cheer to the country, following the financial crisis, the “lousy” weather and “disaster” of a performance from the Irish football team at the Euros.
The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, perhaps partially as a sort of apology for their recent faux pas, offered the highest praise of all:
“Taylor is just getting started. She will go on to become the greatest woman boxer of all time.”
Hear, hear.
I’m not a huge fan of the tap penalty, would lineout and maul not yield greater returns?
@brian o’leary: no guarantee you’ll win the lineout, that the other team won’t sack the maul etc. Tap penalty is the safest option to guarantee possession
@Niall Boyle: correct, but I wonder if there’s any stats available comparing the success rate of the two options?
@brian o’leary: scrum for me all day in that situation. Huge scrummaging machine pushes opposition pack backwards, secures another penalty, play of 8 around the house or 9 to the backline through one or two power phases..a thing of beauty…
@Stuart: ireland got a try from a 5 metre scrum, and two from lineout mauls v italy. We’re not converting from rucks inside 5m as much as we used to, getting held up a lot?
@brian o’leary: I’m still very in the fence about the held up law. It may because it feels like Ireland and Leinster get done by it a lot, which is maybe just my own perception, but it feels way too heavily weighted towards the defence. The attack could put together 5 or 6 great pieces of play to get themselves there and then one guy just needs to do one action to get his body under it and it undoes all of the hard attacking work and sticks you 30/40m back. That feels bad every time.
@Stuart: ireland have a poor record with ref’s and scrum penalties. If the opposition tighthead took a chainsaw to our frontrow the ref would give a penalty against porter for bleeding
Easterby’s best shot at being a 6n’s head coach permanently is with Wales. I think the IRFU will have noticed that the team has got progressively worse over the course of the championship under his watch. Is it all down to Easterby being there instead of Faz, possibly not but as an audition it definitely didn’t go well.
@Michael Corkery: maybe they’ll notice that being without their head coach for a period might not be the best idea, and will say no the next time?
@brian o’leary: Agreed. I think IRFU were wrong to sanction AF going off on Lions jolly at this time when Ireland were going for the 3 championships in a row and building towards WC….he is head coach and this is where he should be…end of. Coaching team need to look at their selection management over the entire 6n campaign.
@Dolores Scully: If the IRFU refused to sanction Farrell coaching the Lions, im pretty sure it wouldnt go down too well with Farrell.
@Jonny Miller: when will they get another chance to do 3 in a row?
Farrell should stay on his holidays if he is not committed.
@Jonny Miller:our coach could be told pre contract that its not an option?
I’m not sure why lions coach need to miss the six nations, he going to be familiar with all the players anyway, and stats can do the rest?
@brian o’leary: at the same time, in terms of succession planning, they got a look at the next man in potentially mid RWC cycle. They should have brought someone like Felix Jones in to concentrate on defense and basically have Easterby do the exact same role as Farrell but he kept his defensive role (which as a result of his attention being elsewhere fell well below the usual standard). For example if Easterby had left, wasn’t replaced and Farrell had to cover defense in his absence. Would we have seen similar regression?
@Dolores Scully: I don’t understand why AF didn’t coach the Irish side during the 6nts ..sat in the stands ? The lions squad are not even together yet…surely the lions gig is at mostly a part time gig at the moment with the administrational/planning stuff?
@Dolores Scully: Building towards a world cup. Same story every year
@Dolores Scully: rubbish there’s November series 25 &26, six nations 26 & 27 and a summer tour in 26 for Andy Farrell to be assessing options before the world cup.
@Oran Burns: maybe our best ever coach and you don’t think he’s committed?
@mark sheehan: well if you want to look at it like that the WC is a 4-year cycle and surely not getting past the quarter final should mean that building/ planning should start straight away. Also, as previously stated here, the 6n is worth a hell of a lot financially to the IRFU…needed to build the squad. And no, as head coach, the team should be front and centre…or is it another case of Sexton’s ” we lost but we won” rubbish.