1. #GILROY Pat Gilroy confirmed his departure as Dublin boss last night, in the wake of the side’s disappointing All-Ireland semi-final loss to Mayo.
Following the announcement, the former Dubs star said: “It has been a challenging four years for me balancing my role with Dublin along with family and work commitments and I have decided not to continue for a further term.”
Stay tuned, as we’ll be bringing you all the latest reaction, opinion and developments on this news throughout the day on TheScore.ie.
2. #PARALYMPICS There was yet more success for Team Ireland yesterday, as Mark Rohan, among others, picked up a medal.
And there’s even prospects of more medal glory today, with Jason Smyth – who has already won gold for Ireland at these Games – among those in action.
3. #OSCAR PISTORIUS The South African athlete won his heat last night. However, as usual with the South African athlete, there is no shortage of controversy surrounding him at the moment.
Ahead of the men’s 100m T44 final in which he competes tonight, there was a statement refuting Pistorius’ allegation that the fact that Brazil’s Alan Oliveira was using longer blades against him represented an unfair advantage.
The statement from the IPC said: “We met with coaches of the relevant athletes in the Village yesterday – I have to say there was quite a look of shock on the coaches’ faces when we put this to them.
“We will look at the measurements from the call room today, but we won’t continue investigating unless the South Africans come to us with evidence.”
4. #WORLD RANKINGS Ahead of their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan, Ireland remained in 26th position, as the world rankings were announced yesterday.
Meanwhile, doubts remain over the fitness of Sunderland’s James McClean, with the winger currently unable to train due to illness, meaning he is likely to miss the Kazakhstan qualifier.
5. #US OPEN Novak Djokovic has made the quarter-finals, after his opponent Stanislas Wawrinka was forced to retire in the third set yesterday.
The Serb had led 6-4 6-1 3-1 before Wawrinka’s withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer endured a shock loss against Czech Tomas Berdych, ultimately losing 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, ending his dream of of becoming the first man in 87 years to win six US Opens.
Excellent article Murray. It’s the passing that’s concerning. A basic skill, you would assume at this level it certainly ought to be dealt with in training as regards timing. It can’t be perfect in training & poor in matches. So where are the standards vs Joe time when was non negotiable. Jamie O is young but a poor passer when moving and evident since his Leinster debut. We rarely pass in front of each other, almost always static in receiving, and when there is a 1st phase move, it gets stuck in midfield on contact. Bar Hugo try v Italy, very little innovation, attempts to do so. Extremely low risk rugby SA aside, since RWC. And while we love Hugo, nothing in attack from returned kicks. Little evidence Andrew Goodman was the right choice. You can swap the above comments for Leinster too.
@Mark Kearney: agree and add the waning of our ‘power game’ – that’s another point of difference for France and England and why they both ‘destroyed’ Wales and we didn’t.
@Mark Kearney: good point. Lancaster was really hot on passing accuracy and that meant the majority of players coming into Ireland camp under him were on top of their skills. Connacht also playing attacking style since Lam. New Munster/Ulster coaches also emphasize ball handling. I think the change in style at Leinster is really having a big impact on IRL attack. Leinster players concentrate on chasing kicks and being aggressive in défense. Leinster’s attack has been really poor these last 2 seasons but their brilliant defense means they still win. Cc LRO game was case in point. Irelands last 2 6n’s were also built on solid defense btw. People like to praise the IRL attack but it’s our defence was the foundation of our attack. We conceded more tries this 6n’s than in the last 2 combined.
The key statistic is professional playing numbers. In Ireland, we have 180, France, and England have very many more. It’s probably 8 to 10 times more, especially in France. Long-term strategy is surely to have a fifth team probably off the island.
@D Farrell: agree, but we have what we have. We have to revert to having a point of difference, back to most of Joe’s time in Lein & Ireland, was passing. That you can do with existing structure, if you first accept there is an issue. I don’t think we do, and poor standards are accepted across the provinces. That’s on the coaches, and players wanting to improve.
@D Farrell: Wishful thinking, I fear. The revenue to support a 5th team does not exist. Frankly I doubt whether we have the revenue to support four. Especially if the growth of Women’s pro rugby is already acting like an additional province in terms of its financial impact
I haven’t gone back to check but I imagine what has been said (by both fans and media) about this Ireland team/players/coaches is nothing compared to what the French will have had to put up with when we did them last season. They didn’t go through a massive clean out, and I don’t think we need to either. The other provinces other than Leinster do need to pull their socks up though.
It’s no coincidence our attack faltered when Andy Farrell was away. I think it’s forgotten that he is heavily involved in Irelands innovative attack plays and his absence definitely affected this. Also it’s worth mentioning Catt started very poorly with Ireland and became instrumental in our brilliant attack over the last few years. Maybe Goodman needs time to bed in also
Being third in what many considered a two horse race can’t be considered a success .
However it reflects the approach of the Irish management based on defence . Both Irish wings selection and reputations based on their performance on a catch and kick game .
But teams have stopped kicking deep as blocking in front of the catcher is penalized and the objective is to ensure the ball is behind the defending pack . Thus the reason to pick paceless wings no longer exists .
As previously noted 9 of the 23 are over 30 whose best games are behind them .
I considered that this was last 6 nations for more than PoM Murray and Healy and the preference for Leinster Blue was undeserved by several players .
@SAMUEL T McGLADERY: Who do you think should have been picked on the wings instead of Hansen and Lowe?