for ireland- not a chance- they havent won a 6 nation with him playing & were crap in the world cup
fool .
With regards to bandages question, fair enough he has on occasion struggled when questions were asked but to call him a bottler is shite. He’s kicked penalties all his life under huge pressure. Just because he has underperformed on occasions (name one Irish player who performed on 07 WC btw) doesnt make him a shite player. He’s no Carter, but he’s no Dan Parks either.
On many’s an occasion though MBB. A great player no doubt though.
With regards O Gara, he has had some poor games alright but I wouldn’t say he has bottled a lot of games, I cannot think of any match where he has been behind a dominant pack and received quality ball and just failed to perform, granted he was fairly shite on the world cup and the 2005 lions tour but very few players came out of either of them with their reputation in tact…If you were to look at any of Ireland wins against the big teams i.e. (Ireland) beating England twice in Twickenham in 2004 and 2006 and the wins over Australia and South Africa in the Autumn series(2006?) he was superb in these matches…One of the few occasions when he really did bottle it was the 2000 Heineken Cup final against Northhampton but he lacked experience, he has had a good few indiiferent and poor enough performances and I also think it doesn’t help that he has no competition in the Irish set up to keep him on his toes and also take a bit of pressure off him when he is having a poor day…
For all his talk of bottling he has nailed loads of high pressure kickes when he had to, like the penalty inside his own half to beat Leicester in Welford road back in 2006 or the convertion against England in 2006 or the last minute drop goals against Wales in 2004…
No doubt he is a superb player. But he has played poorly in several high profile games. Dont have time to go into it now really but he has, for all of his career, played behind one of the best/dominant packs in Europe, both for Ireland and Munster.
The day the pack doesnt perform is the No 10 worst nightmare, but thats the day he earns his corn.
He has been the best No 10, consistency wise, for the last decade in Europe. A few players have come and gone and had purple patches (Wilkinson, Jones, Dominguez) over the years but no one has maintained the level of performance like he has. That doesnt mean he is infallible. As you said Puke Nothampton in 2000 & for me the day of the yellow ball in Dunedin are the two that really stick out in my mind.
He is very easily rattled as well, and seems to be getting even worse in that regard. If you watch Munster over the years he is the catlayst for an awful lot of argumetns, every little barney going he is involved. He often goes in throws a dig and legs it to let the big boys sort it out (disclaimer: I have often done this myself!)
Still and all, he is top drawer and for all his faults, as a Munster fan, I have no complaints. he has been a loyal servant and dug Munster out of more holes than any other player.
The Argentina match in Croker is another example of him getting involved with un-necessary shite Dan. Didnt see RTE that day but apparently Hook tore him to shreds for all the mouthing etc he was doing instead of concentrating on the game.
Yea you’re right there. He has serious previous with the Argentina boys, and its patently obvious to see every game in which he plays against them. Saying that, he’s not the only Irish player who has, just the most visible.
Croker likely to stay open for rugby and soccer
GAA president Nickey Brennan yesterday hinted that Croke Park may remain available for rugby and soccer internationals after Lansdowne Road reopens in 2010, writes MARTIN BREHENY.
“I don’t want to prejudge anything but it’s fair to say that the arrangement (with the IRFU and FAI) has gone extremely well from a logistical and sporting point of view,” he said. “We’re very happy with how things have gone.”
Reacting to yesterday’s revelation in the Irish Independent that Clare will be putting a motion before Congress in April calling for a retention of the current position, which allows rugby and soccer to be played in Croke Park, he said he had been expecting such a move.
“As the person sitting in the chair who will have to steer motions at Congress, I’m obviously not getting into any particular one, but I always expected that something like this would find its way onto the agenda. It will be debated in the same way as everything else,” he said.
“We are happy to see motions coming from whatever sources in the GAA. Let people make their arguments on the floor of Congress.”
The GAA changed its rule on the use of Croke Park in 2005 but stipulated that the ban on other sports would be re-imposed once Lansdowne Road reopens in 2010.
However, Clare will propose that the current position be maintained, thereby allowing Croke Park to remain available for rent in certain circumstances.
International activity yields €1.35m per game in rent money for the GAA.
If Croke Park remains open for business, it will present the IRFU and FAI with a major dilemma as the new Lansdowne Road will have a capacity of 50,000, compared with Croker’s 82,500.
Apart from the financial logic of playing at the bigger stadium, the IRFU and FAI would face severe criticism from the public if they opted to stage their major attractions at a stadium with a capacity which is 32,500 less than Croke Park.
[quote=“myboyblue”]Croker likely to stay open for rugby and soccer
GAA president Nickey Brennan yesterday hinted that Croke Park may remain available for rugby and soccer internationals after Lansdowne Road reopens in 2010, writes MARTIN BREHENY.
“I don’t want to prejudge anything but it’s fair to say that the arrangement (with the IRFU and FAI) has gone extremely well from a logistical and sporting point of view,” he said. “We’re very happy with how things have gone.”
Reacting to yesterday’s revelation in the Irish Independent that Clare will be putting a motion before Congress in April calling for a retention of the current position, which allows rugby and soccer to be played in Croke Park, he said he had been expecting such a move.
“As the person sitting in the chair who will have to steer motions at Congress, I’m obviously not getting into any particular one, but I always expected that something like this would find its way onto the agenda. It will be debated in the same way as everything else,” he said.
“We are happy to see motions coming from whatever sources in the GAA. Let people make their arguments on the floor of Congress.”
The GAA changed its rule on the use of Croke Park in 2005 but stipulated that the ban on other sports would be re-imposed once Lansdowne Road reopens in 2010.
However, Clare will propose that the current position be maintained, thereby allowing Croke Park to remain available for rent in certain circumstances.
International activity yields 1.35m per game in rent money for the GAA.
If Croke Park remains open for business, it will present the IRFU and FAI with a major dilemma as the new Lansdowne Road will have a capacity of 50,000, compared with Croker’s 82,500.
Apart from the financial logic of playing at the bigger stadium, the IRFU and FAI would face severe criticism from the public if they opted to stage their major attractions at a stadium with a capacity which is 32,500 less than Croke Park.[/quote]
This makes sense from a GAA perspective, once the doors were open it was always going to make it difficult to close them again, there wouldn’t be too many matches that the FAI would need croker for, but the IRFU would fill it for any 6 Nations game bar Italy. Interesting times ahead.
Money talks I guess.
Take the fuckers money.
We’ve already swallowed the soup, t’was lovely too, so more please.
Wouldnt gamble on that MI in current climate.
I know my mates from Cork would be looking at 130 euro before you have a bite or a drink to come to a 6n game. Fellas who previosuly went to all 3 games will be picking and choosing now that money is tight.
interesting to see how many English fans come over for the game this year, currency gone against them and corporate struggling big time
i cant see the IRFU wanting to play at Croke park- it would be easier just to raise tickets prices a few euros to cover the difference of the extra capacity less rent & surely the team would prefer to play in their own ground
as for football they will croker for the bulgaria & Italy game but I cant see the FAI wanting to play in a stadium not suited for football when they dont have to
[quote=“dancarter”]Wouldnt gamble on that MI in current climate.
I know my mates from Cork would be looking at 130 euro before you have a bite or a drink to come to a 6n game. Fellas who previosuly went to all 3 games will be picking and choosing now that money is tight.
interesting to see how many English fans come over for the game this year, currency gone against them and corporate struggling big time[/quote]
But in the case of Rugby, the fact that Ireland have 2-3 competative home games in a year should mean that demand should always be high, it was always hard to get tickets for France or England even in tough times, no?
[quote=“north county corncrake”]i cant see the IRFU wanting to play at Croke park- it would be easier just to raise tickets prices a few euros to cover the difference of the extra capacity less rent & surely the team would prefer to play in their own ground
as for football they will croker for the bulgaria & Italy game but I cant see the FAI wanting to play in a stadium not suited for football when they dont have to[/quote]
Supply and Demand NCC, now that the GAA did the decent thing and let them use Croke Park, imagine the howls of derision from callers to Liveline that 30,000 are deprived from seeing a game live because they won’t move it to Croker
The country’s fucked, people wont be able to afford to ring Liveline, it’ll be grand.
Fair play to CLG for this gesture to keep it open, but it shouldnt really be an issue I’d say.
ya they only play them every second year though.
UK is fooked as well and it will cost them about 30/40% more than the last time they were over. The french just dont travel.
At the Ire/NZ game there was about 5 empty corporate boxes (lights not even on) in the davin. About 3 times that for the Arg game.
Twil come back but I think 55k will be plenty for the most part.
Croker would be used for the biggest games, and probably HEC final/Semi finals maybe
[quote=“myboyblue”]The country’s fucked, people wont be able to afford to ring Liveline, it’ll be grand.
Fair play to CLG for this gesture to keep it open, but it shouldnt really be an issue I’d say.[/quote]
I am pleased its happened buyt not sure its a gesture. Im sure it is a hard nosed commercial decision.
Don’t think they’ll ever have the need to use Croker again for either sport. Have they managed to sell out a single football game there? Even the All Blacks game this autumn didnt sell out - how would it at 85 for a stand ticket. Can never remember prices being above e50 for Landsdowne but it was usually more popular due to more standing room = more cheaper tickets.
I’ve seen 4 international Rugby matches and 3 international soccer matches in Croker and its not suited to either sport. Its a grand gesture from the GAA but I can’t see it being used.