PLANET RUGBY:HOW IMPORTANT are kickers then? As if we didn't know. Shane Geraghty kicked 21 of Northampton's 31 points in their win over Munster on Saturday.
Ian Humphreys kicked 16 points in Ulster's 26-12 win against Bath in Ravenhill on Friday night, while Ryan Lamb and fullback Peter Hewat scored all (two kicks each) of London Irish's 12 points in their win over Leinster in the RDS on Friday night. So of the 69 points scored by the three winning teams involving Irish clubs 49 of those points came from the boot of the kickers and just 20 points from tries.
Taking it on the chin
WE ARE a broad church and invite all opinion. So we thank a former player from New Zealand for his offerings last week.
“Enough is enough you no talent tossers. I am sick to death of your articles over the last few years bagging me and my time in Munster. It seems to me your lack of reporting talent is reflected in the fact that in all your criticism of my time with Munster you have failed to speak with the then doctor and realise I sustained a serious ankle injury eight weeks into my time there . . . It seems the fact your country like all the European nations, bar maybe France, are so lacking in talent that you all have to rely heavily on overseas (esp NZ) talent to bolster your ranks . . . And when things don’t quite work out all you can do is write bullsh** articles about people . . . If I had the money I would hop a plane and come and kick your teeth in personally . . . So maybe it’s about time to leave it alone at your piece of sh** newspaper and realise that only losers sit at a desk and criticise people they don’t know.”
Ulster work on virtual training
IN THE old days we used sit around naked in the forest and hold hands. But that’s so last generation. Now it’s more high tech and Ulster Rugby have been working with researchers in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University on a range of virtual training scenarios to test expert players’ perceptual skills.
“Immersing players in an interactive virtual reality provides an exciting new way of exploring and understanding human behaviour,” said Dr Cathy Craig, who has worked with top goalkeepers on perceptions of curved free-kicks. “By presenting stereoscopic images in a head-mounted display and tracking head movements, the user’s viewpoint is automatically updated giving a 360 degree virtual experience . . . the user becomes totally absorbed in their virtual environment encouraging them to interact as they would in the real world.”
Sounds like they get to play with their X Box, but apparently it could make them better decision makers.
Players making bigger impact
IN BELFAST they were asking questions about the changing physiology of players over the years. Rugby, they say, used to be a game for all shapes and sizes. So they took a look at the 1910 British and Irish Lions squad, which toured South Africa and particularly picked out Welsh lock Harry Jarman. The secondrow stood at 6ft and weighed 13st 12 lbs. Consider lock, Ed O’Donoghue, who was part of Ulster’s Heineken Cup tie winning team on Friday night. He is 6ft 6ins and weighs 17st 6lbs.
Even when Jarman is compared to Ulster centre Darren Cave, who was also part of the Ulster win over Bath, he doesn’t match up. Cave is 6ft tall and weighs in at 14st 12lbs, which seems to emphasise that rugby’s character has fundamentally changed.
They say that Jonah Lomu, the 6ft 5ins and 18st 3lbs marauder changed the face of the game in 1995 and that more recently Bath winger Matt Banahan, who is 6ft 7ins and 18st 4lbs, is a latter day Lomu. The conclusion? Well, centres and wingers are now auxiliary flankers too.
Blackrock to mark 150 years
ONLY IN Blackrock do they know what a sesquicentennial actually means. That’s 150 years to you and me. In that famous school an upcoming launch to celebrate the sesquicentennial will include former luminaries, which in their lexicon goes Luke Fitz (Gerald), Leo (Cullen), Drico (Brian O’Driscoll), Slatts (Fergus Slattery), Brenny (Mullin) and Hugo (McNeil). Twenty teams from Ireland and England are expected for a tournament (shortened matches) to be staged in the school on October 24th-25th to celebrate the sesquicentennial.
On Friday 23rd there is also a gathering in Killiney Castle for everyone who has ever played with a ’Rock SCT, where the best ever teams will be announced. Bet the 1873 side doesn’t get a look in.
