DIARMUID CONNOLLY HAS paid a glowing tribute to the late Dave Billings for the influence he had on the 2014 Allstar’s career.
Billings passed away suddenly on Tuesday night and Connolly is extremely thankful for the role that his St Vincent’s club mate played.
“(He was) an absolutely massive influence on me. He brought me into the Dublin setup when Pillar Caffrey was the manager. I was only 18 years of age.
“He gave me great guidance in the game, on and off the field. Obviously, a Vincent’s man – like myself – very saddened to hear he had passed. I only really got to know him in that setup when I was 18.
“I was little bit naïve coming into a setup where there are media obligations and all this sort of stuff.
“And he directed me in the right path. He was a really good coach. He was a massive influence for me. He was an exceptional man.”
Connolly revealed that he last spoke to Billings last weekend and would have played for years at club level with his sons.
“I would know his sons; Cathal and Neil very well. I played hurling and football with them all the way up with the club.
“I was actually only speaking to him (Dave) on Saturday. I met him on Collins’ Avenue, cycling on his bike.
“You can see by the amount of tweets and media stuff, even talking to people around here today, you can see the amount of people he actually influenced. Not just in GAA, but in other parts of life as well.
“He always had a smile on his face. He always had a bit of humor to what he was doing. He’ll be missed.
“I haven’t been up in Vincent’s since he passed but the funeral is on Saturday morning and I’m sure it will be a massive funeral. It’s awfully sad on the family. It’s a sad time.”
The only reason they won the six nations last year is because Scotland and ourselves played the majority of the game with 14 or less men and they were awarded the most dubious of tries against England with the water carriers and medical staff still on the pitch.
@Peter Dunne: Definitely got a good bit more than a slice of luck, but at the same time you make your own too at times and can only play whats infront of you. Players like LRZ, L.Williams, J Tips, AWJ, Wyn Jones, Faletau, Navidi etc were incredible through out for them.
Wales we’re poor really. Fiji we’re unlucky, played well. Rees-Zammit’s try should not have been given, he was clearly not in control of the ball on (attempted) touchdown.
@Teddy O’Brien: In fairness as Berry said, all they look for is separation with the ball and there was none. I partly agree with you tho as the ball rolled up from his palm to wrist, but that’s still contact I guess… Still he probably deserved it for the effort alone. The speed he has is freakishly good.
@Teddy O’Brien: The 2000s called, they want their laws back. There doesn’t need to be control.
@Ultan Corcoran: baloucane faster?
Hopefully the new Super Rugby team can help Fiji progress. The talent is there for them to be a real powerhouse, just need funding to build a genuine international set up!
@TheCraftyCulchie: 5 teams – Us, Scotland, France, Argentina and Fiji have had a man red carded against Wales in the last 9 months
@Jonny Walls: Could it be a tactic? To orchestrate situations where an opposition player has a high risk of fouling. Theoretically, it could be easy enough to do.
@SomeGuy: that would be handy! Hard to do I’d say!
Sau is clearly a bit of an id iot, has a recent history of nasty tackles. Tried to take the head off Connacht’s Niall Murray with a late hit in Touch last season at the Sportsground which unbelievably didn’t even get a yellow card…
https://twitter.com/RonanB/status/1371104555405094913?t=xQVRjAV_64IB7bRwVkdLiw&s=19
Ehhh …….. did wales play a large part of that game against 13? You’d expect them to win. Unlucky fiji but discipline is an issue