Indo Sport podcast: Bits & Bobs Scottie's Tiger comparisons Lions Tour is as we feared
Conor McKeon is fresh back from Portrush as he joins Joe and Will for a Monday Bits & Bobs with Scottie Scheffler's Open win and the Lions tour to the fore. The team debate why Scottie Scheffler fails to stir the emotion, despite the legendary form he is in, as Conor brings us the scenery from his performance on the Antrim coast.
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Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Lions v Wallabies head-to-heads: Jamison Gibson-Park v Nic White
Jamison Gibson-Park Position: Scrumhalf Age: 33 Height: 5ft 9in READ MORE Weight: 80kg (12st 8lbs) Lions Tests: 2 Points: 0 Why he's so important: There's always a rush to nominate the Lions players of a series and while Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry would be front-runners, few would dispute that the Leinster and Ireland scrumhalf should be among the challengers. Not that he would care one iota. He's never been interested in the spotlight. He just gets on with playing the game, something he does brilliantly. He's made a big impact on this tour, from his stellar box-kicking to his general play. Take, for example, that number of times in the Test series that his decisions, vision, pass or ability to process information in a nanosecond has led to tries or key gains. Gibson-Park and his halfback partner Finn Russell have been the attacking bellwethers in driving the Lions team around the pitch. While his pack have provided a superb launch pad, Gibson-Park's innate footballing nous has maximised the impact of that good work. Taking into consideration how well England scrumhalf Alex Mitchell played in some of the non-Test games serves to emphasise just how good Gibson-Park has been in the marquee matches. Trivia: He grew up on the Great Barrier Island, a 4½-hour ferry crossing from Auckland. His mother Tara's family origins can be traced to Armagh. Nic White Australia's Nic White, Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Position: Scrumhalf Age: 35 Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 80kg (12st 8lbs) Caps: 72 Points: 46 Why he's so important: Have you heard the one about the chippy, chirpy scrumhalf? White embodies that rugby caricature on a pitch. Joe Schmidt's decision to replace last week's try scorer Jake Gordon, who had improved significantly on his first Test performance, has seen White come from outside the squad, leapfrogging Tate McDermott, who is once again on the bench. The one-time Montpellier and Exeter Chiefs scrumhalf has already declared that he will retire from international rugby after this game. He was a try scorer against the Lions when captaining the western Force in the opening match of the tour. White will bring a presence to the nine shirt, a fast pass, a good kicking game and a combative streak that will engage his opponents verbally and physically. His experience and his ability to mix up the game and take some of the decision-making from outhalf Tom Lynagh's hands are important tools but only if the pack provides him with the quality of possession from which he can build. Trivia: Three years ago, he clocked the fastest pass (72km/h) in a speed-gun competition set up by Rugby World, edging out former All Blacks scrumhalf Aaron Smith, France's Antoine Dupont and Springbok Faf de Klerk, in that order. White's fifth and final attempt was a reverse flick that claimed the record.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Lions ace was married to daughter of TV royalty and is now DJ and music producer
History is at stake for the British and Irish Lions as they face Australia on Saturday, but legions of rugby stars haven't been so fortunate. One such individual is James Haskell, who was part of the 2017 Lions squad that controversially drew their series in New Zealand. Andy Farrell's team have already clinched victory by taking a 2-0 lead Down Under, with aspirations to become the first Lions team to sweep a three-game series in Oz since 1904. The tour culminates with a thrilling third Test at Stadium Australia in Sydney, where anticipation remains high despite the series' inevitable outcome. Even though six years have passed since his retirement, former England flanker Haskell will be joining the celebrations in Sydney. In fact, he'll be partially in charge of post-match proceedings as he continues to excel in his new career. This comes after Haskell, known on stage by his surname, announced he'll be DJing in the city centre following the conclusion of Saturday's finale. And there might just be a few familiar 110kg figures on the dance floor once the on-pitch action cools down. Haskell, who featured on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here following his retirement in 2019, transitioned into music shortly after hanging up his boots. Unlike his brief career in mixed martial arts, his stint on the decks has endured so far. The 40-year-old has been tracking the Lions through the Bush during this summer's tour, eight years since he made the journey himself. And the budding club performer seems to be in demand. The ex-Northampton Saints and Wasps star was formerly wed to fitness and lifestyle blogger Chloe Madeley. And it's hardly surprising Madeley has built her own media career considering her mum and dad are the legendary ITV pair, Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The two began their romance in 2014 and tied the knot four years down the line. They had a daughter, Bodhi, in August 2022, but revealed their separation the following year. Both have spoken about their dedication to co-parenting their little girl in a positive environment following their break up. Yet Haskell has acknowledged his alcohol consumption played a role in their marriage ending after Chloe branded the time before their divorce as "incredibly scary." Haskell was married to Chloe Madeley for five years (Image: Neil Mockford) "If I put more time into my marriage than I did Guinness, then I wouldn't be divorced now," Haskell told MailOnline earlier this year. "It's one of those things in life where some things don't work out, but I have so much love for my daughter and Chloe. It's teamwork." Years before he even encountered Madeley, Haskell also enjoyed a blind date with BBC host Helen Skelton back in 2010. And from all reports, their short-lived fling went rather smoothly. "I'd like to," she told The Guardian when asked if she'd fancy a second date at the time. "He's fit, he made me laugh and it was good banter. We kissed. I think if we were both in the same country for more than five minutes, we'd go out and have a laugh. But he's off to Australia and I'm off to Singapore. Maybe we'll rendezvous in Terminal 5." Haskell earned 77 caps for his country (Image: David Rogers - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images) Alongside his DJ career, Haskell has also launched Blackeye Gin with podcast colleagues Mike Tindall and Alex Payne. He additionally works as an after-dinner speaker and has penned several autobiographical and educational books documenting his experiences and professional journey. Haskell travelled to New Zealand for the 2017 Lions tour as cover for former Saracens ace Billy Vunipola. He featured four times during that campaign but couldn't secure a Test appearance for the select squad. Nevertheless, he's compensating for missed opportunities by supplying the musical backdrop to a triumphant tour this time round. And he'll wrap up his own sightseeing adventure Down Under in spectacular style following Saturday's Sydney showdown.
RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Aussies claim moral victory amid summer of disrespect
If the Kerry footballers thought they were disrespected, they should see what the members of Australia's beleaguered rugby union community have had to contend with this summer. British and Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje rushed to their opponents' defence last week. "We know we are not playing a pub team," Itoje told the press pack ahead of the second Test last weekend. As a montage-friendly war cry, it wasn't exactly up there with "This is your Everest, boys." Otherwise, Itoje has also busied himself by quoting from passages of the New Testament, in the midst of a tour which has, for most of it, not been terribly biblical. The Wallabies rescued their honour in last weekend's second Test with a stirring performance which came agonisingly close to resulting in a famous victory. It would have been an especially sweet win given the narrative that has taken hold. To paraphrase Dalo, they have listened to many jibes. They were told to stick to the rugby league, and the Aussie Rules, and the cricket. And even the day-time soaps. Well, in Sydney and Brisbane at least, a small strata of them love their rugby union as well. The sport's struggles in Australia have been widely documented, even before the lurid disaster that was the 2023 World Cup. Stuart Barnes has noted that rugby in Australia is associated with the empire and the private school network - although the latter would hardly make it an outlier in the rugby world. Its popularity is dwarfed by the league code in the rugby heartlands to the east of the ' Barassi Line ', while Aussie Rules has a lock on Melbourne. Before the Australians' rousing moral victory in the second Test, all the talk was of how this could well be the last time the Lions would condescend to give them a game. Or at least privilege them with their own three-Test series. This looming sense that the Wallabies are on notice has formed much of the background noise to this tour, to the chagrin of Matt Williams and co. That if the Aussies don't get their house in order, the Lions would, for the sake of their own hardly invulnerable brand, be forced to cut them from the roster. Thereafter, it would return to the old dispensation, where they simply alternated between touring South Africa and New Zealand. Or perhaps, an experimental fixture against France. Maybe they'd arrange a game against the Wallabies during the erstwhile New Zealand tour, in between their matches against the Blues and Crusaders. But no guarantees, etc. The need for the opposition to be up to scratch is especially acute when it comes to Lions tours, because very few people care deeply about the outcome. For most casual followers, the Lions, if it's about anything, is about spectacle and novelty and the prospect of a grand one-off contest between elite players. There's a vanishing small sliver of the population whose morning, let alone their summer, is going to be soured because the Lions lost a Test match. In most cases, enthusiasm levels are heavily reliant on your own nation's contingent claiming a decent wedge of spots on the Test team. Hence the extreme levels of apathy being reported in Wales, a far cry from the 1970s or indeed 12 years ago. The Irish are very much to this tour what the Welsh were to 2013, with our coach calling the shots and usually coming down on the side of the boys he knows best. We've had the obligatory social media content of the English and the Scottish lads trying hurling. Given the Irish-dominated make-up of the Test team, perhaps it should have been our boys reaching out on this occasion. Maybe some clips of Hugo Keenan and Jack Conan trying Morris Dancing or singing Bread of Heaven. It wasn't always so. Up to the mid-1960s, the Lions would often include a game or two against Australia in tours where matches against New Zealand were the centrepiece. In three Antipodean tours of the 1950s and 60s, the Lions won six from six Test matches against Australia and won one of their 12 matches against New Zealand. The current roster commenced in 1989, in the dying days of the amateur era, following Australia's ascension to the front rank of international rugby. By then, Ireland was in the early stages of a very long rugby recession which would drag on more or less until the dawn of the millennium. The impact of Irish players in the '89 series was negligible. Brendan Mullin was selected for the first Test, which the Lions lost badly and was dropped for the next. Under some pressure, Ian McGeechan placed his faith in a brutish pack of English forwards who would go on to dominate the Five Nations in the coming years, the likes of Mike Teague, Wade Dooley, Paul Ackford and Dean Richards. The Lions went on to grind out a win in a particularly thuggish game, which left the rugby scribes back home more scandalised than chuffed. Jeremy Guscott did rustle up the match-winning try with an ingenious grubber kick. After the score, the cameras zoomed in on a jubilant travelling fan in a Terry Butcher-era Rangers jersey, with Union Jacks hoisted in celebration behind. The scene almost serves to underline that this was a triumph that had little to do with Irish rugby one way or the other. There were no Irish involved the following week either, when the Lions sealed a 2-1 series win after David Campese threw an exotically dangerous reverse pass to a team-mate in his own in-goal area, which was fumbled, allowing Ieuan Evans to score an opportunistic try. The Wallabies, still fresh from the glow of their second World Cup win in 1999 and in the midst of a rare period of Tri-Nations dominance, came from behind to win the 2001 series, which was played in the midst of the Foot and Mouth panic when Ireland still had three games left in the Six Nations. The tour is best remembered for a spectacular Brian O'Driscoll try in first Test, Ronan O'Gara getting his head punched off in a wild frenzied assault from Duncan McRae, and an increasingly haggard Graham Henry making himself an enemy of a couple of mouthy English players - Austin Healey and Matt Dawson, specifically. The 2013 victory was another which was deemed little cause for celebration on this side of the water, following the shock omission of Brian O'Driscoll for the third Test. This time around, at least, it's primarily an Irish rugby triumph although there aren't many parties dragging long into the night.
