Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock break down in tears as Northern Ireland win World Cup of Darts in final leg decider
JOSH ROCK burst into tears on stage after Northern Ireland won a dramatic World Cup last leg decider.
Team partner Daryl Gurney hit double eight to wrap up an epic 10-9 win over Wales' Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton in Sunday night's final in Frankfurt.
Advertisement
1
Northern Ireland duo Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock let it all out after victory
Rock, 24, and Gurney then dropped to their knees on stage in scenes of incredible emotion as they picked up their first world titles and an £80,000 jackpot.
He said: 'When we said we are paired together we'll win it. We didn't expect to do it, but we did it.
'As a team we were fantastic. We fought hard all the way through.'
Gurney added: 'Firstly congratulations to Wales. They showed their class. Jonny and Gezzy, absolute legends of the game.
Advertisement
'Josh had the power-scoring and I just had to clean up the finishing.
'I hope I don't get a fine for this but every time I went for double five a wee bit of poo fell out!
'I was never going to miss double eight. I have never been so proud of this man and myself.'
Northern Ireland made a storming start and Wales were lucky to only be trailing 3-2 at the first break. Clayton then hit a wonderful 142 to draw it level.
Advertisement
Most read in Darts
Breaking
Exclusive
BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK
But Rock was in inspired form, hitting 180s for fun, breaking the tournament record of 20.
However, Price hit tops to break throw and Wales still hadn't missed a dart at a double. Then Rock delivered a cool tops to live the game again at the second break at 5-5.
'Stupid' - Josh Rock hits out at 'disrespectful' World Cup of Darts rival's on-stage antics
Yet again Clayton nailed the double at first attempt and then a double six put them in command at 7-5. But a double 18 and double eight from Gurney put the Irish back in front.
Advertisement
Gurney then delivered a cool double 14 and now they were just one leg from glory. But they missed four title darts and Clayton hit double 16 and it went down to a decider.
Rock then hit a crucial 171 and Gurney finished it with double eight.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Fears growing at Leinster that in-demand Jacques Nienaber is on way out
There are growing fears that Jacques Nienaber is on his way from Leinster - and that there is an announcement scheduled for the coming days. The South African, who has spent two full seasons at the Irish province, has been the subject of initially tentative enquiries from French, England clubs and South Africa Rugby, that have now gathered significant pace. These approaches stem from the fact neither Nienaber, who's signed his current deal to July 2026, nor Leinster, have released details of an extension. "Jacques has been part of two Springbok World Cup winning squads and yet is still only an assistant coach at albeit one of the best clubs in the world," says a rugby insider. "But Leinster are not, and never will be, prestigious wage payers and he could probably treble, quadruple his money at some of the bigger Top 14 clubs or at one or two English clubs, depending on their owners' whims." Moreover, the idea that Leinster have finally shaken the trophy winning monkey off their back will add to Nienaber's lustre and Jake White's ringing endorsement last Saturday of the Leinster defence won't have fallen on deaf ears. "It would be wrong of me not to say Jacques' defence was outstanding. We tried bashing their line. They kept us out just before half time and it must have been a massive boost for them. "Credit to Jacques and the defence. We were a little bit one-off instead of running with numbers, people around the ball, but that's what happens when you're under the pump against a good team. 'Just tonight you saw the added value that he does as a defence coach. He's well, well known as that and he made it difficult for us. "We scored seven points and we had scored the second most amount of points in the competition this year and last year it was the most, and the year before it was the most so it just shows that they've obviously bought in to that element of their game. "Stuart Lancaster had a philosophy that was an attack philosophy, Jacques has come in and obviously tightened the defence and now the jigsaw puzzle is coming together because you haven't moved away from attacking and your defence has become much harder to break down. "You have to give credit where credit's due. Out of the three finals, this is by far the toughest final we've had. "Make no bones about it, they've gone another level up. That was Test rugby. It's like everything is in fast forward." The feeling inside the the rugby world though is that Nienaber, if he is set on leaving, has already been approached, knows the destination but, in respect to Leinster, it has been kept in-house. "Jacques is a very conscientious individual and would not want the story at the back end of a season which was fraught with difficulties in Leinster's case, to get diverted to being about him," continues the rugby source Nienaber has previously ruled out returning to South Africa but Rassie Erasmus is keen to have his former colleague as part of the coaching staff - possibly as Head Coach - for a crack at a third successive Rugby World Cup title in 2027 with South Africa. "I don't think Jacques owes Leinster anything, he contributed very much to their success this season. "But with a potential extraordinary treble on offer with South Africa or the possibility of becoming a €1-million per season coach at a wealthy French club the question starts to come down to what he thinks if best for his career and family in the long run." The question as to whether SA Rugby could afford Nienaber is moot, they are already paying Rassie Erasmus 15m Rand (€750k) per annum. French Top 14 clubs have a budget of €7m to allocate to 'coaching staff' any way they see fit while former Munster Head Coach Johan van Graan is estimated to be earning around €600k at Bath. As White says, there would be no shortage of contenders to fill his post should it become vacant. Leinster's machine will purr along nicely and it is nothing like as simple for Bulls. 'All credit to Leo too for bringing in guys like that. Where to for the Bulls? We've got to find ways in which we can catch up because I repeat, Leinster aren't going to come back towards the field. Leinster are going to keep moving forward. 'It's a bit like a Formula One racing car, if your pit stop is three seconds and theirs is two, and you think when you get it to two you could catch them but they've probably on 1.3 by then and you're still behind. 'So credit, as I said, Jacques has added that and I'm sure Leo will find other things they need to get better at. "Our job now is to make sure that we can find ways to fast track whatever we can fast track so that we can compete because we're going to find it hard to beat teams like Croke Park and Aviva if we don't catch up the things we need to catch up.'
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Daryl Gurney makes disgusting admission after winning World Cup of Darts for Northern Ireland in dramatic finale
DARYL GURNEY made a gross revelation after winning the World Cup of Darts. Northern Ireland Germany , with Gurney and his team-mate Josh Rock delighted with the win. Advertisement 3 Daryl Gurney made a shock admission after the World Cup final Credit: Getty 3 Gurney and team-mate Josh Rock were in tears after their win Credit: Getty 3 Northern Ireland beat Wales 10-9 in a tense thriller Credit: Getty The pair were put through the emotional wringer after missing five match darts . The match against Wales went down to the final leg as Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton refused to accept defeat. And Gurney, who missed four of those match darts before sealing the win by hitting double eight, revealed nerves almost got the better of him. He told Sky Sports: 'Firstly congratulations to Wales . They showed their class. Jonny and Gezzy, absolute legends of the game. Advertisement READ MORE IN DARTS 'Josh had the power-scoring and I just had to clean up the finishing. 'I hope I don't get a fine for this but every time I went for double five a wee bit of poo fell out! 'I was never going to miss double eight. I have never been so proud of this man and myself.' Gurney and Rock Advertisement Most read in Darts BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS They will collect an £80,000 jackpot and Rock felt the win was never in doubt. He said: 'When we said we are paired together we'll win it. We didn't expect to do it, but we did it. 'Stupid' - Josh Rock hits out at 'disrespectful' World Cup of Darts rival's on-stage antics 'As a team we were fantastic. We fought hard all the way through.' Advertisement
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Man City ready to take huge loss on Jack Grealish with Napoli deciding between him and Man Utd exile Garnacho
NAPOLI have £45million to spend on Jack Grealish or Alejandro Garnacho — but they will not take both. The Italian champs laid down the law to Manchester rivals 6 Jack Grealish is set to leave Man City this summer Credit: Getty 6 Alejandro Garnacho is like to depart Old Trafford Credit: Getty United want £70m for Garnacho but are yet to receive an offer for the 20-year-old However, City will be prepared to accept a fee of around £45m for Grealish, 29, who Pep Guardiola axed SunSport understands Napoli would love to reunite Grealish with City legend Kevin De Bruyne, who signed a two-year deal on Thursday to end a trophy-laden ten years at the Etihad. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL Grealish, who became England's first £100m player when he signed from However, it is unlikely City would receive a £45m offer from a Premier League club — meaning a loan would be his only option to stay in England. Prem sides would also be unlikely to pay Grealish's £230,000-a-week wages in full. Most read in Football BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK 6 Antonio Conte guided Napoli to the Serie A title Credit: Getty Guardiola snubbed him in key games at the end of the season, including for the 1-0 FA Cup final defeat to The City boss preferred to hand 19-year-old Claudio Echeverri his debut and leave Grealish on the bench as his side desperately chased a leveller in the closing stages at Wembley. Jack Grealish has gone from eye-catching showman and heartthrob to miserable bench warmer - and I know who's to blame It cost Grealish a place in Tuchel's squad for England's recent 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Andorra and 3-1 friendly defeat to Garnacho would prefer to stay in the Premier League but United's £70m price tag has put off suitors. The Argentine winger was left out of Ruben Amorim's starting line-up for the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham and only went on as a late substitute. Boss Amorim then told Garnacho to find a new club this summer. 6 6 Meanwhile, Inter are interested in taking the 22-year-old to the San Siro on loan next season, with a view to a permanent deal in 2026. United would prefer the cash now as they look to give the manager extra funds to make changes. Former Atalanta forward Hojlund scored just four Prem goals last season — ten in all competitions — and looked short of confidence by the end. Yet his stock remains high in Italy and Inter are looking to take him back to Serie A — although they are reluctant to stump up United's £38m asking price. 6
