THREE SEASONS AFTER he found himself shunted down the Munster pecking order, Peter Stringer is chasing his third major European trophy with Bath.
The 36-year-old scrum-half has been selected ahead of Micky Young for Bath’s Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final with Wasps at Adams Park this Sunday. Stringer starts in the half back pairing with talented England out-half George Ford.
Stringer has been with Bath since moving, on loan, in January 2013. His impressive form earned him a one-year deal last summer and, in March, he signed an additional one-year deal. Previous stints at Saracens and Newcastle followed the promotion of Conor Murray to first-choice Munster scrum-half.
Top 14-bound fullback Nick Abendanon gets the 15 jersey while Matt Banahan is named on the left wing for Bath. Gavin Henson must content himself with a place on the replacements’ bench. Wasps’ team features notables such as Tom Varndell, James Haskell and Joe Launchbury. The two teams will fight it out for a spot in next month’s final at Cardiff Arms Park. The tournament winner will claim the title won by Leinster last season.
The other semi-final features Northampton Saints, who failed to advance from Leinster’s Heineken Cup pool in January, and Harlequins. Conor O’Shea, Quins’ director of rugby, says his side are excited at the prospect of claiming their fourth Challenge Cup.
“We battled really hard, finished second in our pool in the Heineken Cup,” said O’Shea. “We did the double over Racing Métro, had two Titanic matches with Clermont, went to Scarlets and to Stade [Francais] and won. We’re doing it the hard way.
“The boys are loving getting out on the pitch and really playing for each other. There is a real buzz building. It’s a huge task to go to Franklin’s Gardens and win.”
*Saints host Harlequins at 8pm this evening while Bath visit Wasps for a 1pm kick-off on Sunday.
Great read.
Fair play Curtis, always a great player, a great ambassador and very articulate.
Great article
Great read, didn’t realise how though his childhood was with his mother’s passing so young. Great determination to bring up his siblings and make an impact across the water.
An inspiring story, hopefully he gets a chance to coach in England in the future
Great read. He makes a good point about number of BAME managers versus number of BAME players… The former should be much higher.
Interesting guy,i hope his coaching career brings success.
I remember Curtis when he worked in a newsagents in Talbot street Dublin 1
Very nice guy
Great article and wishing Curtis the best of luck going forward
A great guy and a very enjoyable read. Best of luck Curtis!
Great read.
Great article. Let’s not shy away from our shortcomings as a country, no one should be victim to this sort of abuse. Welcome the diverse next generation of Ireland
A Boro legend
Curtis is a legend. Racism is a cancer destroying society.
Who gives a fuvk if you slate brown white back who cares your Irish x
@BriP75: stupid comment. Evidently some people cared enough about his skin colour to racially abuse the man growing up. That sort of ignorant attitude is the reason why racism still exists in society. Educate yourself…