IT WON’T EXACTLY be dank, with the forecast promising 21C and breezy, but Noel McNamara brings out a wry smile when posed a query about what an Argentinian winter will look like.
The Grand Slam-winning Ireland U20 boss can’t shake the feeling that he’s missing out on summer with all the hemisphere hopping.
For a fast-rising coach, striking a regular seasonal rhythm isn’t always high up the list of necessities. And after presiding over a punishing U20 World Cup campaign in France last June he took up a chance to hone his talents with North Harbour in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup. There was plenty about the Six Nations campaign to warm the cockles, but McNamara surely felt a southerly chill as he took an injury-struck squad to South America this week.
“I went from winter in Ireland, to winter in New Zealand to winter in Ireland and, now winter in Argentina,” jokes the Clare man.
“It’s four in a row. I’m definitely going to get some Vitamin D tablets before I travel out.”
Whatever the weather, McNamara’s squad have continually displayed an ability to roll with punches and adjust to any challenge posed to them.
“You prepare as best as you can,” says McNamara, “I’m really clear in my own mind and the players are clear that high performance equals people’s ability to be adaptable.
“There are going to be challenges; the kick-off times, the travel, the different surface, the different refereeing interpretations and so on. It is about our ability to get the best out of ourselves, our ability to be adaptable which will be the key.”
During the Six Nations success they out-shone world champions France because they cranked the tempo up again and again while matching Les Bleus at ferocious breakdowns. Against England, they twice reeled in a double-digit deficits by pitting their pack into a battle they should not have won on paper.
One set of scrums on that pivotal opening night stood out for powerful Connacht hooker Dylan-Tierney Martin. 65 minutes in, the screw was tightening as the white pack marched forward.
“We were down at the far corner playing back up towards the Dolphin end and England kicked to the corner, mauled and took it down and they got a penalty from that,” says Tierney-Martin.
“They scrummed from there, twice, and our loosehead (Michael Milne) got a yellow card and Wych (Josh Wycherley) came back on.”
Martin Moloney was sacrificed for Wycherley’s return and down to seven forwards, it seemed inevitable that England would bully their way from 28-27 down to at least a four-point lead. But Ireland’s front row displayed an invaluable streak of nous.
“In fairness to England, they were getting a bit of a shove on us so Wych turned to me and said: ‘these boys are really fired up for this.’ I suppose we used the dark arts of the scrum. We let the shove come on and they shot the jump and we got the free kick and cleared our lines.
“Looking around there was such a sense of relief with everyone because were only one or two points ahead at that stage and it was a massive turning point for them.
“You could feel their heads drop and from that point on we felt like nothing was going to stop us.”
Opening day at the World Rugby U20 Championship and Ireland will have to build that momentum all over again. But while the absence of five key men is an undoubted blow, Tierney-Martin for one is chomping at the bit to get back into competitive action after feeling the force of the IRFU’s joined-up thinking.
After an intense Six Nations campaign, Tierney-Martin was held back from throwing himself back in to club action.
“Corinthians were battling relegation in 2B and there were times where you would feel like getting in and doing a job to help out the lads.
But it was done for my benefit so I had to understand that and take it on the chin. Thankfully the Corinthians lads went up to Belfast on the last day and won to stay up.”
“It was more loading. In my case, I had played the five games in the Six Nations so it was just about trying to keep the game load down and just get back into full fitness again.
“Because those five games so close together you lose a lot of muscle mass and stuff like that. So it’s just about getting back to that point.”
Back to a place where he and his team-mates are ready to adapt. Be it for 10.30am kick-offs – which McNamara believes they should be used to from their schools days – four-day turnarounds or the variety and strength set before them from England and Australia.
“One of the things we’ve really done throughout the course of this,” adds McNamara, “is place a large focus on ourselves. The reality is we look at what we can control.
“We look at what we can influence and we try and leave the rest for someone else to worry about.”
“This is a really exciting group to be part of and we felt that, when we came back together, we spoke to the leadership group and then the rest of the squad.
And one of the things that kept coming back was the belief that they got over the course of the last few months.
“That underpins any level of performance, so it is very important.
“It’s equally important to move on from it after taking that belief and the learnings from it. The group have done that well and we are excited.
“One of the things with a global calendar is that the opportunity to tour isn’t there that much anymore. And the opportunity to tour the southern hemisphere even less. There are guys who will go through a full professional career and they might get just one opportunity to tour the southern hemisphere.”
Plenty in this group have a bright pro future ahead, yet with England afoot there is no danger of them losing sight of the here and now.
Ireland’s World Rugby U20 Championship Pool fixtures (Irish kick-off times)
Tuesday, 4 June: England v Ireland, 19.30
Sunday 8 June: Australia v Ireland, 14.30
Wednesday 12 June: Italy v Ireland, 14.30
Gavan Casey is joined by Murray Kinsella and Sean Farrell for a review of the 2018/19 season, and cast an eye forward to next year and the Rugby World Cup in Japan.:
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You’ve fired a guy for having an opinion. How’s that exactly inclusive?
@Nathan Mawhinney: He should have just said ‘sodomites’ instead and saved everyone the trouble.
toxic rating: 4.4/10
@Nathan Mawhinney: Nathan, you’ve commented on every single Israel Folau article the past week. Same rhetoric today and it’ll be the same tomorrow. We know how you feel. Move on.
@Mike: you are incorrect sir, commented on many but not all. Thankfully there isn’t a restriction.
@Nathan Mawhinney: nah they’ve fired him for posting his discriminatory opinions all over social media after multiple warnings. Genuine question Nathan, if an athlete came out and tweeted that black people are going to hell, would you be defending him then?
@Laura Walsh: to make it more applicable to myself and he was to say white men were going to hell I’d think he was crazy. Why get triggered especially if you don’t believe in hell? He’s never screamed these words at anyone, he posted them on social media.
@Nathan Mawhinney: he was sacked for a breach of conduct but you know that already. You just like playing this up as a freedom of speech/ snow flake issue, which you know it isn’t, to get your reaction.
He’s not been arrested. His tweet/ post are still up. His freedom to speak his mind has not been impeded.
He’s been sacked because his comments do not reflect the views of his employers and he had specifically agreed to follow their line in order to receive a new contract.
Then again you know all of that.
@Nathan Mawhinney: why is religion an acceptable excuse to publicly make a negative statement about an entire group of people based on their sexual orientation? This waffle some people are spouting about him trying to save people is missing the point, he is tarring homosexuality as a negative thing no matter what way you look at it. This helps forms the foundation of negativity towards gay people that we are working so hard to get rid of. We as a society decide what is acceptable as we have done/continue to do for sexism, racism etc. This is no different, hiding behind religion is only an excuse to stick your head in the sand and avoid addressing the real issue here. Discuss the point on its merits, not what book it was written in a long time ago.
@Nathan Mawhinney: Not exactly, almost a year ago to the day, he posted something very similar to the post he was recently fired for, on that occasion he was warned. He subsequently went on to sign a new contract just 2 months ago, you can be damn sure there were stipulations attached to the most recent deal in light of his previous comments. He was under no obligation whatsoever to sign that deal if he wasn’t comfortable doing so. He could have easily retired there and then and gone on to preach whatever he wants. Stop making him out to be some kind of victim here, he was well aware of what would happen, and did it anyway, his views are completely at odds with ARU policies and those of ARU sponsors too, they had no option but to fire him.
@George Can’t-Stand-Ya: I never labeled anyone a snowflake, completely understand where people are coming from especially if he signed a contract about this stuff. Just think the world now attacks people for the words they say, even if they aren’t harming anyone.
@Nathan Mawhinney: Any clown/troll can post racist comments online. But if you represent in sports a country where homosexuality is legally accepted, then you have a massive responsibility and duty to conduct yourself in a way that will never cause any pain or possibly even suicidal thoughts in members of the public. If he wants to make endless childish hateful neanderthal remarks then there are countries he can move that not too many people desire to live in where this type of carry-on is accepted.
@Nathan Mawhinney: give it up. Now you’re just willfully ignorant and that’s far worse than just being dumb.
@Nathan Mawhinney: how could the sport be inclusive if we allowed players to discriminate against people based on sexual orientation? By your logic it was wrong to ban South Africa during the apartheid era
@Sean Mannion: so he shouldn’t take up employment if his religious beliefs don’t correspond with those of the company he is looking to join? Hiw does that work for Muslim people working for western companies?
@Rudiger McMonihan: Folau is not and has not discriminated against anyone, he’s on record as saying he is not homophobic and went as far as to be on the cover of a magazine promoting a gay rugby tournament. What he did was re-state what is written in the scriptures of his religion in an effort to save the so called sinners. He has gay family members who he equally wants to save.
@Dino Baggio: he publicly admitted thst he and his god see gay people as lesser. He/his faith picks and chooses what they want to believe from the Bible even though they believe it’s without error.
@Dave O Keeffe: where did he say he and his god see gay people as “lesser” ? He said all sinners must repent or burn in hell which is pretty much how all religions see sinners. Unless these views are made illegal he should be allowed air then in public without fear of persecution.
I think politics and religion should be kept out fo sport… but if Israel falou can’t express his religious beliefs equally we shouldn’t be subjected to lectures on equality, diversity and political correctness.. including from the42!
@Padjo Mulk: agreed
@Padj
Lets jut get to the sacking of this employee of the Austrian RFU ::
Last year he signed a contract saying he will not do the same thing again but recently he broke that contract and he was fired .
SIMPLE
@Padjo Mulk: You’re completely missing the point Padjo. You have to abide by the laws of the country you live in even if your beliefs don’t agree with them. I suggest that if he wants to live in a country where people hate gays then he should move to Bangladesh or Pakistan.
@Padjo Mulk: but he can. Just as equally as his employers can show how they feel by not paying him anymore.
@Frantic Pigeon: I hope people who are similarly intolerant to people’s religious beliefs are subject to the same punishment…but I doubt it.
@Padjo Mulk: @Brysonpieters: He’s entitled to his chosen beliefs, that’s all they are, but he’s not entitled to dish out out hateful bullshit against minorities of people who have no control of an aspect of their being, such as their sexual orientation or skin colour. That kinda shite legitimises discrimination
We are constantly being told that Rugby is “inclusive”. Well it wasn’t when I was regularly mocked for being a Christian and was never selected again for my club U20s team after I spoke to the coach about him using the name of Jesus as a swear word. It isn’t inclusive when Stuart Barnes is happy to put these “inclusive” words in print: “Always loathed the way those Islanders formed a circle post-match their praises to what I regard as a fabrication.’” His article in The Times goes a lot further. So please, stop telling us rugby is inclusive. It isn’t.
@AndrewHeather Lytle: I’ll take “shit that never happened” for 400 please Alex.
@Frantic Pigeon: What do you have difficulty believing? You don’t think that a young Christian was given a hard time in a rugby team? You don’t think that a young Christian would care enough about the name of Jesus to ask his coach to stop using it as a swear word? You don’t think that a coach could hold a grudge against a player? Or perhaps you don’t believe that Stuart Barnes could come out with racist anti-Christian abuse. Simon and Garfunkel were right: A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
@AndrewHeather Lytle: Christians are not a race.
@John Ezekiel W. Minnock: Indeed not. When I said “racist” I was referring to Barnes’ comment about the “islanders”.
It’s hilarious how many people are defending a man who was fired for braking a contract that he agreed to after multiple warnings.
He broke his own rules by lying when he agreed to that contract. He also claims to be against coveting money, yet negotiated the highest paid contract in Australia. Another thing he argues is that people must be humble, yet he has his own flippin name tattood on his chest, which is perhaps the most prideful and arrogant thing someone can do.
He’s simply a hypocrite that uses religion as an excuse to discriminate against gay people.
@Rudiger McMonihan: He isn’t being fired for practicing religion. There are plenty of very religious people playing the sport. He’s being fired for spreading hatred against a minority group, that are already discriminated against by others. Rugby fans can’t claim to tolerate different races, genders and sexualities and then allow our highest profile athletes to spread hatred against them. The ARU are just firing a bully who has been given numerous opportunities to stop.
@Rudiger McMonihan: Spot on in all regards.
@Rudiger McMonihan: Nail on the head. There are several examples of very religious men who have represented Ireland at rugby and possibly share Folau’s views but have not felt the need to pontificate about it in public. That’s the key difference.
@Rudiger McMonihan: he didn’t spread any hatred, he simply restated the beliefs of his religion in public in an effort to save sinners. It is an act of almost ultimate love, not quite laying down his life to save sinners but sacrificing his career.
@Dino Baggio: there is an obvious parallel between Folau and the god whose faith he follows
Properly sick and tired of this story now. Just fire him and be done with it. Jeez.
Moral of the story is that if you’re a gay man who has cheated in the past and enjoys a pint then the chances are you and Izzy won’t be besties. In a dressing room with 22 men this won’t win you friends and as someone who would both very well paid and a senior squad member he should have considered this before logging into his Instagram.
“And out come the wolves”
If we don’t agree with free speach for those we despise, we dont agree with it all
Mr C
Bullshit Gordan Darcy how does a player with religious beliefs fit in to a dressing room if he has to keep these beliefs lets say in the closet# inclusitivity my arse# sounds more like Communism
@Brysonpieters: so he should keep it himself. Can’t imagine a team on earth that would benefit from a guy telling everyone they are all going to hell. As for communist, I’m pretty sure Falou has more in common with Stalin being as he used to send homosexuals to the gulag. Communism’s answer to hell.
@Patrick W-Healy: Dont think you know what Communism is u clown
@Brysonpieters: this should be good lol. Explain how penalising people telling others they are going to hell is communist. I suppose rte should allow Isis to broadcast their recruitment videos after the news so as not to discriminate against their religious beliefs.
@Brysonpieters: sounds like communism if you have no clue what communism is.
@Brysonpieters: You clearly don’t know what communism or inclusivity are. He’s entitled to his chosen beliefs, that’s all they are, but he’s not entitled to dish out out hateful bullshit against minorities of people who have no control of an aspect of their being, such as their sexual orientation or skin colour
Darcy is a clown.
Let’s be inclusive but exclude those guys because I don’t agree with them.
Muppet.
If Rory McIlroy came out on twitter today saying he’s joined a new religion where they have sex with dead bodies and that everyone should do it as it’s really good fun then he’d be in big trouble…. Why? Because he would be recommending something that is illegal. In the same way promoting racial hatred is illegal in Ireland and Australia.
This has nothing to do with free speech people. This is breaking the law. Free speech is when you share an opinion on twitter that is not breaking the law such as ‘Donald Trump is such an annoying man-baby. I wish Clinton had won the election’
Go and live in countries where it’s legal to insult gay people if you feel a need to do this.
@Stanley Baggins: if he did something illegal why has he not been arrested and charged?
Ah Folau, what a lunatic, they even dregged up Auld Darcy on the first day of his new job guiding tours at the Aviva.
@thesaltyurchin:
A classic thesaltyurchin post !!!
Anyone see his Instagram post?