Search Results for 'Joe Schmidt'

The Six Nations is underway and by their own admissions things are not going according to plan for the Irish team. In 2018 they were riding high after becoming the Grand Slam winners so sitting in third place is not entirely cutting it. Freetips.com looks at their game so far.

Well I’m only coming together now after a very packed weekend. On Saturday, I had been invited to speak at the 30th Colmcille Winter School. The man in charge of it, Martin Egan, had emailed me in early December asking would I speak, and I agreed long before I knew the date of the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis which was also last Saturday. Anyway, I had given my confirmation that I would be there, so of course I couldn’t break that.

We might call last weekend’s rugby a success, but I call it a qualified success, and I’ll explain that as I go on. Firstly, the women played a magnificent game and triumphed over Scotland. Likewise, the under 20 team had a significant win in their joust with Scotland. So now we come to the big one last Saturday, Ireland versus Scotland. I settled myself down to look at it, turned off my telephone and my email and decided I would wallow in what I hoped would be a victory.

Well I have to start with rugby. I think Joe Schmidt when he was interviewed after the match was fully correct when he said, “it’s a reality check for all of us,” and by that he meant the team and himself as head coach. How true that was. Somehow we, the public, and I expect the team also, felt that we were poised to defeat England. We didn’t at all take into account that England under Jones were bound for revenge, and they got it.

I hope you are wrapped up well and fit for the rigours of the late January cold spell which we are having. As I write this column, it appears that this Thursday and Friday will be the crunch days when there could well be accumulated snow. All we can do is prepare ourselves, expect the worst and be glad if it doesn’t turn out as severe as has been forecast.

There is no rest for Connacht Rugby in their bid to achieve Champions Cup rugby this season. Still in the hunt in two competitions, they now return to Bordeaux where they became the first Irish team to win on French soil.

There is no rest for Connacht Rugby in their bid to achieve Champions Cup rugby this season. Still in the hunt in two competitions, they now return to Bordeaux where they became the first Irish team to win on French soil.

After Connacht's important victory over Perpignan last Saturday, coach Andy Friend instructed his players to savour the moment because next up was a massive challenge against the champions of Europe and the PRO14 title holders.

I will begin this column by noting and paying respect to the late US president George Bush who died recently. I have not any particular memories about him but I have always felt that he was a most honourable person, and that seems to be the general opinion now upon his passing. I noted at his funeral home that his faithful dog who he has had for years was keeping watch on the rug outside, and I thought well, the late president must have had very admirable human traits. May he rest in peace.

Well it’s been a busy week again, but to begin this column this week I’m going to start on a gentler note.