BEFORE DAVID MORAN and Tommy Walsh carved out reputations in their own right, they were just the sons of famous fathers trying to make it big.
Denis ‘Ogie’ Moran and Sean Walsh, two mainstays of the great Kerry Golden Years side, won 15 senior All-Ireland medals between them from 1975 to 1987.
The late broadcaster Weeshie Fogarty once described the bloodlines of footballing families as “the secret of Kerry”. The county have traditionally always had breeding that transcended generations, from the Ó Sés to the Spillanes, O’Keeffes, Sheehys, Fitzgeralds, Kennellys and the Lynes.
The Morans and Walshes belong in that category too.
Of course, it’s not uncommon for sons of former players to follow in their father’s footsteps on the county scene.
Of the current Dublin squad, James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey, Dean Rock, Bernard Brogan and Con O’Callaghan all had fathers who donned the county colours in the past.
That exposure might not have made the journey any easier but it made it seem more obtainable, less of a dream, more of a reality. They certainly had odds to beat and mountains to climb, but having fathers who already beat those odds and scaled the heights makes the journey a lot less daunting.
The other side of it is the expectations placed on youngsters with a famous surname. They may have inherited physical and footballing gifts, but they also had long shadows to emerge from.
“I think in Kerry if you’re any good, then you’re better than any of they were,” David Moran said in 2015. “Or if you’re not as good, then you’re way worse. You’re never just as good as.”
37 years after ‘Ogie’ and Sean saw their five-in-a-row hopes go up in smoke against Offaly, their sons have the chance to deny Dublin a similar feat this weekend. It would be a fitting symmetry for David and Tommy, who’ve both overcome plenty of battles along the way.
We chart the careers of both men, from hot-shot minors to All-Ireland champions and AFL dreams, to the injuries and doubts they suffered along the way.
EARLY DAYS (2005-08)
David Moran and Tommy Walsh grew up about half a mile apart in Tralee and were best friends as far back as they can remember. They rose through the underage ranks of Kerins O’Rahilly’s together and played on the same school team.
Eoin ‘Bomber’ Liston was close with ‘Ogie’ Moran and once said his earliest memories of young David was “how he used to raid my fridge as a four-year old.”
On the football field, Walsh and Moran were a formidable combination. Walsh played mainly at full-forward with Moran at centre-field for the school and club. They won every single county championship with Kerins O’Rahilly’s in their age group all the way up to minor level.
Off the pitch, they were inseparable. Tommy’s brother Barry John was two years younger while David’s brother Brian was two years older. “The four of us would be very tight,” recalled Moran in 2016.
Walsh played two years minor for Kerry in 2005 and 2006, while Moran was on the team for the latter season. The pair lined out in midfield for the All-Ireland final replay defeat to Roscommon in ’06. Moran grabbed two points in the drawn game at Croke Park. Walsh scored a brace in the replay but they lost by four points.
In 2007, Walsh made the U21 panel. He featured at full-forward but Kerry’s Munster campaign ended in a 1-6 to 0-6 loss to Clare. Moran received his U21 call-up the following season as Kerry won their first All-Ireland title at the grade since 1998.
They defeated Kildare by 2-12 to 0-11 in the final, with Walsh scoring a point at full-forward while Moran clipped over two from midfield.
SENIOR BREAKTHROUGHS (2008)
Walsh featured once under Jack O’Connor in the 2007 league but made three appearances in the competition in 2008. He scored two points in his only start, against Laois, before making his championship debut off the bench against Clare in Munster.
The teenager came on as a sub in the Munster final defeat to Cork and started five of Kerry’s next six games, including the All-Ireland final defeat to Tyrone where he bagged a point.
Moran made two starts during the league but the U21 success in May saw his stock rise. He managed to force his way into the reckoning under new boss Pat O’Shea by the end of the summer, arriving off the bench in the All-Ireland semi-final and final.
The pair were well able to handle the rough and tumble of Kerry training, even at a young age.
“I remember he came in first, Tommy and David Moran came in off the back of the minors,” recalls Aidan O’Mahony.
“We had a trial game inside and he (Walsh) came in full-forward. And you would always introduce some young lad to training, you would have a pull of a jersey off him a small bit.
“He gave me a belt of an elbow and I was saying to myself we are not dealing with no young lad here. He was a different calibre of player.”
In his autobiography, Colm Cooper recalled an incident prior to the quarter-final, when Moran accidentally caught veteran and rival for his position Darragh Ó Sé during a training drill.
“Anyway, whatever way he caught Darragh, the big fella wasn’t having it,” wrote Cooper.
“So he hit David a right clip and, I don’t know, it just seemed bang out of order. I suppose the feeling would have been ‘Fuck it Darragh, if you’re going to clip someone, don’t do it to a young fella!”
“He’d have had big time for David, but maybe this was partly his way of putting down a marker too to the new midfielder. Only one big buck in this town.”
ALL-IRELAND & AFL DREAMS (2008-09)
Following the conclusion of the All-Ireland SFC, Moran and Walsh went straight back into club duty. The Strand Road side reached the Kerry SFC final and their two young stars were offered trials by AFL club St Kilda. The county final went to a replay, meaning the pair were forced to turn down the offer.
The deadline for international recruits had passed by that stage ruling out the chance for them to sign for the 2009 season, but Walsh took up the Melbourne club’s offer to fly out following the replay defeat to Mid Kerry. Walsh had taken a year out from his studies in IT Tralee, but Moran had to skip the trip due to his Christmas exams in the University of Limerick.
In 2009, Walsh reached new heights as part of a ‘Twin Towers’ full-forward line alongside Kieran Donaghy with Colm Cooper playing off them. He kicked four points in the All-Ireland final win over Cork, two off either boot, on the way to claiming Young Footballer of the Year.
“I played with Tommy in 2009 before he left and he was just outstanding,” remembers Tomas Ó Sé.
“He kicked four from play in the 2009 final and we thought we had another Gooch – we had another Gooch – and then he went off to Australia.”
Aidan O’Mahony adds: “He had a massive year in 2009, he kicked four points in the All-Ireland final against Cork. Massive loss to us at that time when he went off to Australia.
“It was the start of players going off. For us that time, he was something different to what we had. We tried the Twin Towers in 2008 with himself and Donaghy inside. He was a beautiful kicker of the ball. But he was so strong, Jesus Christ! He was an animal of a player.”
Things were trickier for Moran, who couldn’t break the midfield partnership of Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Scanlon, while Tadhg Kennelly took up a deep half-forward role. His four championship appearances that summer were all off the bench. That winter, both Walsh and Moran headed Down Under to train with St Kilda. Moran returned, Walsh stayed put.
“It would have been nice, to be a professional athlete for a while,” said Moran last year. “But I wasn’t offered a contract. So that was that.
“I would have liked to have had a shot at it. I have mixed emotions on it. I have no regrets, which is a big thing. I went over and gave it everything I had. I came up short. I came home. I got on with my career. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night wishing I did or didn’t go.”
DIVERGING PATHS (2010-13)
Walsh took time to adapt to the oval ball and was largely employed as a defender during his first campaign in Australia with St Kilda’s second team. After Darragh Ó Sé’s Kerry retirement, Moran’s path to the starting team was blocked by Mike Quirke, Anthony Maher and Scanlon.
Following two seasons playing in the VFL (the AFL’s reserve league), Walsh requested and received a trade to the Sydney Swans in October 2011. ”I feel like I’m ready,” the 23-year-old said. “We won’t know for sure until I actually play, but I do feel ready. I don’t mind where I play. I just want to play.”
He took the number 17 jersey from the recently retired Kennelly, who he’d be living with for a spell after his move to Sydney.
Meanwhile back in Kerry, Moran was enduring a hellish period of his career. He tore his cruciate in his left knee for the first time against Monaghan in the 2011 league and 10 months later suffered the exact same injury while training with his club.
He sat out two summers in succession and didn’t kick a ball in championship for Kerry between July 2010 and August 2013. Shortly after he completed his second ACL rehab he suffered a shoulder injury that derailed his 2013 league campaign.
Then that May during a challenge match against Laois, Moran suffered a tore retina inside his right eye after a freak accident.
“I remember turning around to Aidan O’Mahony, asking him was my eye open or closed, because I couldn’t see anything out of it,” Moran said in 2015. “He just looked at me, and asked, ‘What are you on about?’
“And the retina is not like a bone, which you know will mend. This was fluid, which is totally different. With the cruciate, it was almost easier, because you have to do the rehab, anyway, to get yourself right, for the rest of your life, whether that’s going for a jog, or whatever. With the eye, it was killing me, not knowing how it would react to the treatment. Thankfully it all came well in the end.”
There were initial concerns about his ability to regain full vision in his eye, let alone return to the field. He underwent a laser procedure in Cork University Hospital and the eye was mended in time for him to appear as a sub in the quarter-final against Cavan and semi-final defeat to Dublin.
The same month Moran suffered his eye injury, Walsh made his AFL debut for the Swans against Melbourne. It was one of just five senior appearances he’d make for the club. In June, he suffered a devastating hamstring injury, tearing the muscle off the bone during the AFL round 10 clash against Essendon.
COMEBACK TRAIL (2014)
After a 12-month absence, Walsh made his comeback for Sydney’s reserve side but the injury took its toll and he failed to force his way back into the senior team.
“When things are going well, you’re on top of the world but because it’s not just a sport you’re playing, but your profession, there are lows,” Walsh remarked.
During that summer, Walsh and a few Kerry natives based in Sydney would gather to take inthe county’s championship games on TV together in the one house.
They watched as Moran enjoyed a coming-of-age campaign.
He benefited from a sustained run in the team during the 2014 league before a knee issue slowed down his progress. An injury to Byran Sheehan paved the way for Moran to start in the epic drawn All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo. In the replay, he logged 47 possessions, more than twice any Mayo player, and was now firmly Kerry’s key man in the middle third.
Kerry powered to victory in the final against Donegal and Moran finally had his All-Ireland medal as a starter. His emotional embrace with his parents after the final spoke volumes of the journey he travelled.
“I suppose there was a lot of pressure on him coming in and his own background and everything,” says Ó Sé. “But over the course of the years and to come back from two cruciates and to be the leader he is, he has great character in him.”
RETURN HOME (2015-18)
Walsh announced his decision to come home from the AFL at the end of the 2014 season, describing his Oz adventure as “the best thing I ever did”. He was 27 when he returned to the Kerry set-up in 2015 under Eamonn Fitzmaurice but struggled for game-time.
Mikey Sheehy – a selector under Fitzmaurice – admitted earlier this year that Kerry may have rushed back too soon.
“I was very anxious to get back with Kerry and they were very anxious for me to come in,” Walsh said last year on the GAA Hour podcast. “Looking back I probably would have done things a bit differently, and I’d say the management would as well. I just didn’t get the run after that.”
After he was an unused substitute in the 2016 league final, he opted to drop off the panel.
“When he was in with us and it didn’t quite work out…he was so professional, he was so courteous,” recalled Fitzmaurice on the Irish Examiner podcast recently. “There was no sour grapes or throwing the toys out of the cot.
“But I do remember when he was finishing up after the league final and he went back to the club, he said to me, ‘Look, I don’t feel that my Kerry story is over.
“And I said, ‘I agree with you, I don’t think it’s over either.”
And so it transpired.
Moran and Kerry were beaten in the 2015 All-Ireland final, before falling in the semi-final to Dublin (2016) and Mayo (2017), while they exited at the Super 8s stage last summer.
A NEW DAWN (2019)
Walsh rehabilitated his mind and body and slowly rebuilt his form back where it all began – on Strand Road with Kerins O’Rahilly’s.
“He was terrorising us in the club games for years when he wasn’t inside in Kerry, so I’m happy he’s actually back inside with Kerry,” laughs O’Mahony.
“It wouldn’t have been easy for him to come back after the Aussie Rules. I think a lot of players if they had that injury they wouldn’t have come back after it. It was a frightening injury.
“He came back and when he left the panel that time, definitely I could say even if it was myself you’d say, ‘Look, I’ll throw my lot in with the club now and that’s it.’ He was asked back in again by Peter Keane. He’s made a massive difference this year.”
The call came from rookie boss Keane last winter and after showing signs of class during the league, he had to bide his time until he had a major impact off the bench in the All-Ireland semi-final comeback win over Tyrone.
“For Tommy to come back, especially with the injury outside, and to rebuild his confidence again, it’s a huge achievement for himself personally,” says Ó Sé.
“He’s buzzing like. I think he has an attitude where he’s like, there’s not much else that can go wrong. He’s had his lows like. He’s throwing everything at it and it’s gone brilliantly for him.”
O’Mahony is in agreement and feels Walsh could have a similar impact to Seamus Darby in that famous final of 1982 when Ogie Moran and Sean Walsh watched the Drive for Five dashed with a late goal.
“And now he is 31, and he is still effective and he has come back from that horrific injury,” continues O’Mahony. “I definitely think we would have won more if we had Tommy Walsh back then.
“Wouldn’t it be unreal? Tommy Walsh, the Seamus Darby and his father and all playing (in 82). It’d make a great headline.
“That gives us hope below in Kerry that these young players have come through and there’s a mixture. When you’re talking about the older lads you’re talking about David Moran, who’s having a majestic year for Kerry and you’d hope he’d have another one in the All-Ireland final as well.”
So a decade on from their last time they shared the field in an All-Ireland final, Moran and Walsh are central figures for Kerry once again.
And their legendary fathers will be in the crowd on Sunday, hoping to see their now-famous sons deliver the big prize. After all the ups and downs they’ve encountered on their respective journeys, this would be the sweetest one of them all.
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Hopefully TV3 will show us the start of this one!
@Murph: Yeh that was shocking by tv3. They’re living up to their reputation. Enjoying watching Scotland get their arses handed to them. Really hope this scenario doesn’t happen to Ireland tho.
@Murph: watch on BBC FFS
@M.G Lochlain: was going to get a 2nd aerial to get tv3 ( im in the north) for £120. Sound like i its a waste of money? Still not looking forward to itv coverage….
@Murph: how many times did they have to mention Ireland Got Talent being on! And hat the hell was that awful mashup at the end of today’s highlights mixed with the Ireland got talent clips!
#notmycaptain
@Ísla Carabine: of course he isn’t you aren’t on the pitch playing
@Ísla Carabine: #innocentuntilprovenguilty. #youmoron.
@Ísla Carabine: I’d like to have a friend like him of i was ever on trial regardless of guilt (which is yet to be determined)
@Dave O Keeffe: that’s fair, it’s extremely difficult for the family and friends of an alleged perpetrator to get their heads around something like this. But, if he is standing by him, do it quietly, he is Ireland’s captain and should under no circumstances be making this worse for the alleged victim. Talking to Matt Cooper yesterday he said this whole thing has driven them on with anger. What kind of message does that give to people who have been raped or abused?!
@Ísla Carabine: but if he tells you hes innocent, and as the leader of ulster rugby, by not being there for support it, then it would come across as he did not believe/support him. If it was any (most) other crimes it would not be an issue. But still i understand the other point of view too, very difficult situation all round.
@Ísla Carabine: look they were stupid for going and should have known it would blow up like this. But it’s done now so let’s move on and actually enjoy the competition and not let this shite over shadow It!
@Sam Harms: some things are more important than a game of rugby and this is one of them. Saying let’s move on is diminishing what’s going on. Those texts alone showed a terrible attitude towards women not something that should be tolerated or endorsed. IRFU and UR are handling this very badly the no comment does them no favours makes it look like there is more to the 3 players going because them going personally is not a legal issue and could just state that if it were the case but now it looks like intimidation and trying to sway opinion. The girl said she was resistant to come forward because she was scared it would be her going up against UR and then they turn up the next day the day she testifies. Yes innocent until proven guilty but that doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion on what RB, IH and CG did. Terrible decision was made here.
@Gaz o’keeffe: it’s a legal matter, they aren’t allowed to make a comment!
@Gaz o’keeffe: also i agree with you those texts were disgusting and even if they are innocent I hope they never play for Ireland or Ulster again. I don’t think Best and Henderson should have been there at all but it’s done now and it can’t be taken back. Personally I don’t think Best should be captain for other reason but this whole social media hashtagging stuff is ridiculous
@Sam Harms: them turning up to sit in the public gallery in a personal capacity is not a legal issue at all. They could have simply stated they were there in a personal capacity and leave it at that. They’re actions spoke loud and clear to a lot so it doesn’t look good to then try and hide behind no comment and saying its a legal issue when it’s not. It’s only a legal issue if there is more to then them simply going in a personal capacity.
@Sam Harms: you’re entitled to your opinion but the hashtag resonates hugely with people. The poor girl has huge backing.
@Ísla Carabine: but best and Henderson aren’t the ones accused of anything so there shouldn’t be a hashtag saying he shouldn’t be captain. If they were the ones accused of raping someone then it would be different but the fact is they didn’t actually do anything. And how do we know they didn’t just go to hear the girls side of things?
@Dave O Keeffe: spoken like a typical rugby male
@Patrick Corrigan: thats a dumb comment. He could give more support privately than in court. That was out of order.
@Ísla Carabine: Just so you know Best has actually clarified why he was there. He has said that he is down as a character witness and wanted to hear both sides of the story himself
Everyone watch on BBC just try and get RTÉ back
@Ollie Watson: that… not how it works. RTE are at fault.
@Pete Slattery ✊: I don’t think they are, apparent TV3 aren’t making money and are even making a loss. Do you think it would be acceptable for RTE to make a loss?
Can someone tell me the point of going for a drop goal when there’s a penalty advantage in front of the posts. The penalty is going to be scored so there’s no advantage in a drop goal. Why not just throw a wild pass instead?
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Because they probably wouldn’t have scored a try and advantage would be over
@Thomas O’ Donnell: Johnny likes drop goals it seems…
@Thomas O’ Donnell: because even with the advantage, given, it can be lost just as easily. Jonathan wanted to end the game on his terms and just go for it. If he felt that he wouldn’t be able to make that goal, he would have gone for a safer decision. also the game was in injury time
James Ryan looks the part and Keith Earls owns that 14 jersey. Earls seems to be getting faster with age.
As per usual Kearney runs the ball goes to ground and turns it over.
@Declan Byrne: But you’ll say nothing about the fact that he’s having a great game and the ball was robbed from us that lead to Kearney having to cover. Nah, that’s not the “popular” thing to say is it.
@Declan Byrne: Kearney’s having a stormer.
@Declan Byrne: I agree, he does run the ball back and “hold on” hence giving a penalty away alot of the time. Yeh playing well other than that
@Jonny Cantwell: What has Kearney done well enlighten me thanks. Playing well against a poor France team ?
@Declan Byrne: Covering his position brilliantly and stopped a certain French try, he’s showing great pace when he gets the ball and is running some great lines. He’s also linking well with the back line in general creating moves. So yeah, some would say he’s having a great game indeed. You’re welcome.
@Declan Byrne: if it was a poor France team we would be winning by a lot more than 6 points
@Sam Harms: Well Ireland not been allowed to playing well . Very tactical Joe wants to get out of Paris with a win at all costs not like last year screwing up on day one .
@Jonny Cantwell: Don’t forget the knock forward in his great game to day.
@Declan Byrne: Yeah you’re right there mate, a knock on…shameful stuff from him.
@Jonny Cantwell: I am been hard on Kearney because I expect more from him.
@Jonny Cantwell: Kearney was a liability as teddys try showed. He was turned over twice. Good in the air but that’s not enough at this level. Especially when there is so much competition for full back.
@Anthony Davoren: liability? Very solid in defence (and I’m not his biggest fan) not the only one to miss a tackle in that phase. Shocking we fell asleep so easily especially against France in France, there is a reason the stats are the way they are all¯\_(ツ)_/¯
for you naysayers of Kearney, he is excellent, having started his rugby career at a very young age, he does have his bad moments but he is an asset to the team. Also he’s a Cooley Boy so I am biased towards him..
Where is the gender equality in tv3 panel for the game?
@The Debater: will you ever rev up and fućk off
BBC just introduced Bill O’Connell as a panel expert.
Looks a lot like Paul O’Connell to me!
Although I’m a big fan of Nigel …. my god some shocking calls tonight
KIA, knee injury assessment
Come on Ireland !
Trying to watch the end of the Scotland on the three player and they keep showing a GUINNESS ad on repeat.
Anyone else having problems
Being back RTE
@matt doyle: In fairness the RTE player is not any better.
Good luck too the boy’s in Green, go out and win with Pride and Ireland.
That’s why sexton got picked while he was away. Pure class
Whether you think Best is a brave captain to go support his teammates in a time of need or whether you think he’s a r@pist-supporting gowl – he still shouldn’t have gone to the trial and made the focus of the six nations about his personal actions off the field.
It shows his head is focused on something other than leading his county. And that alone is unforgivable.
@Abbie Cranky: County????? Clown.
@Abbie Cranky: Iain Henderson shouldn’t have gone either. yet people seem to forget that he was there too…
Either way this trial goes, Paddy Jackson’s promising career for Ireland is over. personally i feel that he was completely and utterly moronically stupid, and hope he gets jail time for his actions.
Love ya Johnny
Ah keith wood hinted at it during the week, Nigel Owens has the plot lost ..
James Ryan is playing really well considering his experience. Looks like he’s gonna be a top class player.
Sexton you god
fair dues Sexton.
@Minom Pnnomm: genius kick to earls as were going nowehere. if it hadn’t come off he would be murdered. small margins. Ireland poor today in poor conditions. not 1 line-break for Ireland?
Nigel Owens is having a shocker some terrible decisions
@Kenneth O Brien: not he is not, Ireland are making mistake after mistake.
@Kenneth O Brien: apparently taking player out in air without ball is ok in his book. The fact it went to tmo showed others didnt agree but ultimately what he says goes. Officiated correctly its an Ireland penalty at least and should be no where near the French try. Also the French #5 was a penalty machine and he took no further sanction
Sweet jesus!!
Feel sorry for jvf, missed last year’s six nations due to injury
Ehh… Ireland have the players and the form; whats going on? Playing attritional rugby against France not working– France are terrible AND in a really bad spot atm. Questions needs to be asked of Schmidt tactics
As much as im happy to be ahead… It is a boring enough match… But then again if Ireland come through can’t complain. Result counts. Come on Ireland
@Maurice Mulcahy: A win is important but the truth of the matter is that this is an awful game.
They build proper men in Ireland. Spuds will beat baguettes any day :-)
Ireland win! Celebratory spitroasts all round!
@DaisyChainsaw: go back to your play dough.
Nigel oxens is having a shocker!
Kicking to much ball away and the kicking has been poor so far.
The bad side is that the French are well up for this game, the good side is that we’re managing everything brilliantly; defence, kicking, glimpses of magic in attack. So far so good.
#ismycaptain
Come on Ireland!!
We have really had little nothing past the French 22. All the possession in the world is useless if we look this toothless going forward. Same old story
Yes Sexton!!
Rob Kearney having the game of his life, super stuff
@Tony Yeboah TP: that changed
JOHNNY SPOTY
In no way a Kearney hater but jaysus will you run at space instead of contact all the time.. also Henshaw is having a mare his passing is terrible he’s not even drawing the man to release the winger outside he shouldn’t be near the 13 jersey…12 all day long.
We need to get away from this one out runner crap when we get to the opposing teams 22 it’s ffffing killing our attacking game the ball is so slow.
Henderson having a brilliant game
Christ almighty…. That was exciting but being honest very lucky to win that had one realistic chance to get a try got nowhere… France had three chances got one… Brian Moore was said on BBC based on second half Ireland have stolen this… sport is unfair… But that’s the way it goes…
Tbh I bloody Delighted its only third time in my lifetime I’ve seen them win in Paris… But lads ye need to.improve
@Maurice Mulcahy: no we havent. Look at the penalty count etc. Individual brilliance on both sides. No surprise a former English hooker is worried about Paddy’s Day
Healy first try 45/1.
Kearney useless. Teddy.
@Minom Pnnomm: always good for a crucial missed tackle.
I’m not well after that. Seriously though, Sexton more than made up for his earlier miss. What a score, what a man and to the whole team who kept going. Fantastic :)
Sexton you’re a god
Talking all week about how much they are going to win by in a place they hardly ever win???????
Ireland are brutal
No sign of the Irish anthem today?
@Enda Reynolds: they don’t play the anthem at away matches, they use Ireland’s Call.
Its a win but God was it awful. Its Martin O’Neill soccer on a rugby field
unefffing believable!!!!!
Onya CJ
Just goes to show what you can achieve with a real leader in charge. Sexton drove that last game drive – in Owens ear questioning his terrible late decision making too.
Rory Best is not, and never has been, a true leader. Everything changed when Sexton took the lead
@Karlavaro: i never rated best as captain and the handbags during the first half kinda cemented that feeling for me. The captain should be the last person getting involved in that kind of stuff
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! Gwan ya good thing!
Brilliant by Murray
Whether you think Best is a brave captain to go support his teammates in a time of need or whether you think he’s a rapist-supporting shite – he still shouldn’t have gone to the trial and made the focus of the six nations about his personal actions off the field.
It shows his head is focused on something other than leading his county. And that alone is unforgivable.
@Abbie Cranky: Cranky Troll. Good bye
@Bluepoolroad: excellent contribution. Rush me to the burns unit.
@Bluepoolroad: well spoken Blue.
@Abbie Cranky: “burns unit”, Love it. Thanks.
C’mon Sexton you need to get those
@William Finnegan: just about made up for it! 6 nations would have been dead. thankfully the frog missed that easy enough kick also.
Jesus Christ what a finish !
No sign of a totally dominating Ireland so far. France dull but reasonably competent.
Feel sorry for jvf, missed last year’s six nations die to injury
Leinster are having a bad day against the French boys.
@Maid Marian: That’s odd because last time I checked Stander, Aki, stockdale, Earls, Murray, Henderson,POM, Best, and Ryan all play with other provinces.
Kearney unfortunately is no threat going forward constantly turned over. We’re far too reliant on kick chase. Switched off in defence for try very unprofessional they had taken quick throws earlier and players were far too slow trying to stop thar. Schmidt needs to show more adventure in his selections and tactics. That was a hard game to watch with such talented players. Got out of jail this time
Super kick but out of jail there.
What’s the point of tv3 not having HD coverage after spending all that money on six nations coverage what a bunch of idiots. Sport is one place you really notice it.
@ed w: TV3RD RATE
McFadden to the rescue! lol!
Bit nervous about this game. I have cribbed and I have cribbed that Joe Schmidt has not picked on form but bar Rob Kearney at fullback this is the first time Joe has actually picked on form. So I am nervous to see if form will provide a really good performance. Here’s hoping
@Brian Jones: Kearney is in fine form over the last few months
That Teddy bear is class, Ireland could do with someone like him.
The French are coming in from the side more times than a burglar.
terrible non-call by NO, but this loss will be totally Ireland’s fault. For such an experienced team, atrocious play in the 2nd half. More dignity if they stayed in the locker room.
@jindublin: all is forgiven!!!! BUT I hope they don’t keep playing like this for the next 4 matches or I will need blood pressure meds!
@jindublin: bad conditions but ireland playing by numbers which the French negated by line speed. Schmidt needs to vary things a bit.
brute force but brute force is whats needed
@Brian Jones: that’s the general idea of the game alright. Ireland lucky against a poor poor French outfit.
Painful to watch (on the BBC by the way) but thank god for small mercies, not a sight or sound of that odious George Hook.
@Joseph Dempsey: Then dont watch. Crucial 20’ ahead.
Sexton won’t sleep after that missed kicked
@Fred McHugh: Well he’ll sleep like a baby now!
@Fred McHugh: you sure
@William Finnegan: hell yeah he will
CTE Sexton does it again ! Colon you boys in green
The ad is just repeating for me too… it better be fixed before the game
Cricfree or stream to watch
Good start
Come on France
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Ceiling in the pub well and truly destroyed!!!
What’s the story with furlongs bind?? Very odd the way his bind is behind Best not around his waist
30 second ad break. Cue people losing their shit !!
Hopefully the lads were watching the Welsh game. Arrogance will f**k us over here against the French. We are not suited to the favourite tag.