yes take the 1998 5 nations championship, ireland finished bottom loosing all 5 games, if my memory serves me well it was around this period as well that RTE shelved ârugby after darkâ with Mick Doyle and Edmund Van Esbeck
can you recall the team that played England in twickers in Feb 2000 and the team that played scotland 2 weeks later, the changes were emphatic from what i can remember and you are correct it ties in with the Saracens gameâŚ
the rise of the irish team was in proportion to the whole munster phenomenon,
2008 on provincial level and then 2009 on an international level is probably as good as it will ever get (im not including international friendlies or world cup wins over amateur team like Romania just because there was 80k there in subsequent years)âŚ
agreed,
the faux sympathy is disgusting and people trying to attcah themselves to this
its almost as bad as the us we them liverpool united brigade who ll be at it later
RIP to the man and anyone leaving behind a young family like that is a genuine tragedy. I am slightly embarrassed however that books of condolences have been opened around the country for this. Itâs hardly a national tragedy despite what Shane Ross said on Morning Ireland earlier.
In Eire weâre great at looking after the dead, itâs to assuage a permeating guilt we have about how we treat the living in my experience.
No foley wasnât in the 99 WC squadâŚhe had played all 48 games for shannon in the 4 in a row ail wins. Ended up playing all bar one game in Europe for munster between 95 and 06.
He wasnât a fashionable player though, certainly not back in 99. Iâd say Gatland brought Dion o Cuinnegean instead of Foley?
Iâd say if you had a look at that squad there was far more naturalised or âex patsâ in it than in last yearâs squad
I agree with you about your last sentiment. The way we carry on about tge dead is a bit bizarre sometimes. Complete forgiveness for anything they do seems to order of the day.
I had a look at the teams for the Argentina ('99) and England and Scotland (2000) games there about an hour ago.
The likes of Justin Bishop, Matt Mostyn, Dion OâCuinneagain and Andy Ward all started against Argentina. Others like Conor OâShea, Reggie Corrigan and Tom Tierney who were either past their best or not good enough also started.
All Iâve said is he wasnât a celebrity which is correct.
Thatâs not the reason why his death is hard to read about. Itâs the fact that I would be of a similar age to him and its hard to read about a guy of the same age, Iâm assuming in good health, who goes to bed all seemingly ok and he doesnât wake up again. Thatâs the shocking bit and it is hard when you hear that he has left behind a young family as well.
It just brings home how death can come at any time and yes I do feel for his family. Maybe Iâm a bit more sensitive because my own father just this weekend was showing me where he has money set aside if anything happens to him and saying that he will be calling on me to go on a few messages over the next week or so.
Iâd say gatland brought two munster scrum halves to the WC, neither of whom ever got a sniff at international or club level from the following season once stringer came on the scene. Stringer had possibly even usurped them at club level by that point
The circumstances of it are what make it such big news, ie. Foley being the current Munster coach, very much in the public eye and him being found dead in a hotel room a few hours before they were due to play in the European Cup.
If Galwey or Clohessy had died it wouldnât have been as big a news item.
Wouldnât have been as big of a surprise anyways
Foley looks after himself
Iâve heard of a few such incidents over the last year or so.
A chap who I was good friends with in school was found dead in his bed on New Yearâs Day last.
A chap from up the road at home died of a heart attack when away working in Portugal last year, he was only 39 or 40.
Another chap who used to live on my road years ago ran a barbers which my father used to go to. One day two or three years back he went in and inquired where the chap was and was told heâd keeled over and died the previous week. He was in his early 40s.
yeah
a lad i played soccer with last year from drimnagh
his mrs dropped dead last week breastfeeding the 2 month old baby, sheâs 38, heâs now raising 2 kids and runs his own delivery company,⌠no rootcause for her death.
Chlossey dying would be like Gazza dying
Bizarrely enough, about two weeks ago I had a dream I didnât register here that Neil âFranoâ Francis had died.
it was an ambition of mine to go for pints with Franno, Mick Doyle and Paul Wallace
Franno has had a rather low key start to the season @Sidney ⌠im hoping for a few belters tho as the six nations approaches and the upcoming British Lions tour ⌠he had some great stories about Doyler during the 87 world cup down there.
Lead story on every single news outlet in the country, front page of every single newspaper printed in the country today. Books of condolence opening all over the place. But was not a celeb? Donât be talking shite pal. Your hatred of rugby is blinding you here and making you post utter rubbish.
Ah hereâŚ
Ambition or did you mean nightmare.
Iâd like to go for pints with Frano, Trevor Brennan, Willie Duggan, Will Greenwood and Scott Quinnell.
The closest Iâve got to that is former Munster manager Jerry Holland who I got talking to in Murphyâs pub in Galway a couple of years back - a very sound fellow.
I did have the chance to talk to Trevor Brennan when I saw him in the toilets of a pub in Cardiff in 2008 - he was laughing away as a group of Munster supporters who were also in the toilets at the same time sang âSean South of Garryowenâ, but I didnât engage him in conversation.
I would not like to go for pints with Brian OâDriscoll, Keith Wood, Will Carling, Jeremy Guscott, Finlay Calder or Gavin Hastings.
There are very few former association football players Iâd like to go for pints with.
Keano. Like him or not, going for pubts with that mad cunt must be an experience.