A FAMILIAR FACE ensured that Ireland got their summer tour off to a disappointing start as Felipe Contepomi kicked a late penalty to give the Barbarians a 29-28 victory in Kingsholm.
Second-half tries from Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy looked to have given Declan Kidney’s experimental line-up the edge in a tight encounter before the former Leinster legend stepped up at the death to snatch it away.
Captained by Munster and Ireland veteran Mick O’Driscoll on what looks likely to be his final appearance before retirement, the Baa-Baas started stronger and took the lead in the 11th minute when Paul Sackey sent Iain Balshaw over in the corner.
Contepomi kicked the first of his three conversions to open up a 7-0 lead but Ireland responded instantly through Gilroy, sweeping turnover ball out to the Ulster winger to finish before skipper Ronan O’Gara added the extras.
It took just three minutes to South African lock Anton van Zyl to reestablish the Baa-Baas’ lead when he crashed over the line following some excellent pressure, but Ireland kept the ball in hand and were rewarded when Keith Earls — playing in an unfamiliar full-back role — crossed to score in the 25th minute.
O’Gara’s conversion gave Ireland a 14-12 lead but the defence was caught napping five minutes later when a quick tap penalty allowed Sackey to skip free and touch down under the posts, Contepomi converting to send the Baa-Baas in 19-14 ahead at the break.
Excellent set-play from a lineout was rewarded early in the second half when Zebo scored a converted try to put Ireland two points back in front, but it wasn’t long before the pendulum of a back-and-forth tryfest swung back towards the Barbarians as former England skipper Mike Tindall scored to leave the game poised at 26-21 entering the final quarter.
Gilroy’s second try of the evening in the 64th minute and another O’Gara conversion looked to have given Ireland a confidence-boosting win before they head out for their three summer tests against the All-Blacks.
But with just two minutes remaining, referee Jerome Garces pinged the Irish for an infraction. Most of the 11, 654 in attendance expected the Baa-Baas to follow their tradition of not kicking penalties at goal but Contepomi had other ideas, signalling for the posts to nail a late winner.
Barbarians: Heymans; Sackey, Tindall, Traille, Balshaw; Contepomi, Lawson; Jones, August, Afoa; O’Driscoll (c), van Zyl; Gorgodze, Louw, Lakafia. Replacements: de Malmanche, Tialata, Taele-Pavihi, Qera, Rees, Donald, Nacewa.
Ireland: Earls; Gilroy, Cave, Wallace, Zebo; O’Gara, Murray; Wilkinson, Sherry, Fitzpatrick; Tuohy, Ryan; Muldoon, Henry, O’Mahony. Replacements: Best, Loughney, O’Callaghan, Coughlan, Marshall, Spence, Trimble.
I love Balotelli
He logs onto Twitter
Posts 3 words
Logs off
Causes massive chaos
Doesn’t give a f*ck
The man keeps on giving, he’s got a weird charm about him. Pity about the usual racist shit. He’s right though, if he was white and saying or doing the same things he wouldn’t be subject to the same abuse
Dirt bags! Racism in this day and age should be punished with a hefty prison stint! Some ppl just take footy far too serious
United fans are such a great bunch of lads
I do not agree with the racist abuse he got. It is a total disgrace. I do not agree with his comment on twitter. He should be more professional. He is a a rival football player and really should not post a comment like that.
If I was a utd fan I would be disgusted by the racist comments, Mario may have tweeted but no need for the backlash….
Mario Balotelli is in no position to laugh at United. West Ham 3-1 Liverpool.
This is your Palace….
I’m a Man U fan and this is beyond shameful. However Every club has nasty idiots like these in their fan base, the problem is they are also the loudest… It’s disgusting what was said to Mario and they should be dealt with by the law and also if they are ManU fans then ManU should put out an apology also. Aside to that, famous people need to be more careful when using twitter also… In fact I’ve always said sports people should not even be on twitter, a lot of sports people are too dumb and twitter is too open and unregulated for disaster not to strike!!
The @craigsainsbury account isn’t even an actual person, it’s a morbid parody of those ‘ITK’ accounts and is paired with @agentdidier who’s similar – both can be very shockingly racist it’s just that only now it’s been give wide scale attention
Just thought it’d be good to get some info that reporters probably wouldn’t know
I would guess most of these guys are not in England and also well hidden. That’s why they are ‘brave’ enough to make the comments. Not real fans.
Do the offending tweeters feel the same way about the bl$&k ni$&er c$
Where is the rest of my comment?
Looks bad for you there Graham. Probably should post the rest there mate
Keyboard warrior here. Your a repulsive human being!
Dylan, that was the first line, my comment was what these guys on twitter said, I had to use the same language to make my point, is that the people who do this quickly forget the same race/ethnicity/creed play on the teams they support….. I do not know what happened to the rest of the comment. I have asked for it to remove because clearly I look like a total pr$&k. I apologize strongly to anyone offended. I deserve anything that comes my way, but if the rest of the comment was there you would see what I was getting at.
Eoin, I apologize….
I didn’t think you were a racist anyway mate. My comments have been removed for using the word p*ss so if yours isn’t then the moderation here is f*cked.
The score. Can Graham’s original comment be removed? It was clearly a mistake.
I did report my own comment, clearly it looks terrible. If ever there was a bad time for comment to get messed up, that was it! Thanks anyways. I feel terrible the way it turned out, and the fact they have left it hanging there…… It does not even make sense as it is.
Thanks Adrian.
We forgive you, Graham.
Good man Sean.
The slate is wiped clean Graham. Regular posters will know ur an honourable guy.
Pretty cr**** of the journal to leave it up. Making Graham.look bad. Do the right thing journal and delete it
I owe you guys a beer! Next time I am back in Ireland, will be in the Ball Alley in Lucan! You guys are real footie fans! Ynwa!!
Justice for Graham Kavanagh, true Arsenal legend if ever there was one to behold
The mighty Alan Sunderland! Best Sunderland ever!
I’d like an apology too please!
You should apologise for being a ‘pool fan first!
Can you leave my pint behind the bar in Courtneys. I’m to lazy to walk to the Ball Alley.
Apologies to you too Michael. I apologise for being a Pool fan, but christ, cannot be worse than being a Man U fan right now
Sure Brian…. Will pass by on the way to the chipper down by Kennys.
No one should ever apologise for being a pool fan or a man u fan, but just like religion it shouldn’t be shoved in people’s faces nor should ” banter ” result in racist remarks.