Colm Keys: Ger Brennan never shys away from a challenge but he faces a more uncertain landscape than his Dublin predecessors
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Irish Times
2 minutes ago
- Irish Times
From medical theatre to the rugby arena, Linda Djougang's focus is on successful outcomes
This summer is a rugby summer for Linda Djougang. Contracted to play in the upcoming Rugby World Cup , it seems like a stark contrast that when not lining out for Ireland in the frontrow, she works as a theatre nurse in Tallaght University Hospital . Then again, specific, comprehensive care in a specialised unit could easily describe the work of a prop scrumming down to leverage angles and pressure points. For the 29-year-old, who grew up in Cameroon before moving to Rush in north Dublin as an eight-year-old, there are very real similarities between the theatre and the arena. Timing, process, encouragement, resourcefulness and maybe even triage. Administering anaesthesia is, thankfully, no longer part of the modern game. READ MORE 'Oh massively,' she says. 'I think it is so important. I always feel what I do in nursing is the same as in rugby. For me now, I have experience on the field but what I gain from nursing I can put into rugby. 'Like the team working, being sharp, the quick decisions on and off the field, being precise, quick thinking. I problem-solve and usually that's what happens on the field. 'When it comes to a penalty, what do we do next? When you play, who's going to stand up and make the decisions?' Djougang is a former track-and-field athlete. By the time she was in Trinity College, she had still barely heard of rugby. Then she signed up for tag rugby to meet people. Bang, that was it. Neve Jones and Linda Djougang celebrate Deirbhile Nic a Bháird's try during Ireland's World Cup warm-up victory against Scotland at Virgin Media Park in Cork. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho First she was a flanker, then a loosehead and now a tighthead. She travels to Franklin's Gardens, Northampton, for Ireland's first Pool C match against Japan as the most experienced player on the Irish squad with 48 caps. If Djougang lines out against Japan and then Spain, she will be the only player on the team to potentially face New Zealand in Brighton for the final pool game with 50 caps. 'I think now it is really the mentality and mindset that goes in, it's so important,' she says. 'It's really the mentality and sometimes caps don't represent . . . yeah, you have the experience, but experience is really what you face in front of you. I think last year in Vancouver it really opened our eyes, where we played the likes of New Zealand and were able to beat them. 'We had less caps then. Now we have grown and gained even more experience, and I think it just shows the players sometimes have to forget about the caps. It's more about our mindset and ability to focus on what's in front of us.' Vancouver last year was the WXV1 tournament. Launched in 2023, it consists of three tiers of nations. Djougang and her team-mates were in Tier 1 as one of the three top sides in last year's Six Nations championship. Ireland secured a sensational, last-gasp 29-27 win over world champions New Zealand in their opening match. Replacement Erin King, who is injured and not travelling to the World Cup, scored her second try of the game to level the scores in the final minute, with outhalf Dannah O'Brien kicking the decisive conversion off the upright. The scalp of the Black Ferns was transformative for the Irish team in their thinking and expectations. With the win, the dial turned sharply. 'We were the underdog going into Tier 1 in Vancouver in the WXV1,' says Djougang. Linda Djougang celebrates after Ireland's dramatic victory against New Zealand in Vancouver, Canada, last year. Photograph: Travis Prior/Inpho 'People saw that we were kind of worried going and playing against the likes of New Zealand, Canada and USA – top-tier teams. 'But we came second in Vancouver. No one thought that. I think people saw us then as underdogs, but the fact that we beat the world champions . . . we came from 10th in the world to fifth now, so I think we have lost that underdog title. 'We don't want to be underdogs. I think that we want every team to know that. Respect us because we've shown what we are capable of. We won't be going into this World Cup as underdogs.' The intensity of the group springs from a World Cup four years ago that Ireland didn't attend, a defeat to Scotland in the qualifiers sending the team spiralling into relative obscurity, or, certainly to the fringes of the first order of teams. Ten of the current squad were involved in the game. [ Rugby Ivana Kiripati: 'I am a Samoan girl, born in New Zealand, doing life in Ireland – how cool is that?' Opens in new window ] The feeling then of a World Cup taking place in New Zealand without Ireland was that something hugely important had passed them by. It makes the next few weeks even more freighted and crucially places Ireland back in the centre of the rugby world – a position where the players believe they have a right to be. 'It makes it feel extra-special, especially with the 10 of us that have been through that journey, and we know how we felt in Parma,' says Djougang speaking at the Specsavers Media Day. 'I feel that we appreciate it even more, because we know what the journey was and we know what we've been through. Sometimes, for you to really appreciate something, you have to have that. I think it's something that really connects us even more, the fact that we have now an opportunity to do something that we always wanted.' Four long years of wait and finally a summer of rugby in the World Cup arena.
Irish Times
9 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Shelbourne v Rijeka live updates: Team news, TV info and start time ahead of Europa League clash
22 minutes ago Hello and welcome to live coverage of the second leg of the Europa League third qualifying round between Shelbourne and Rijeka, it kicks off at Tolka Park at 7.45pm. Shelbourne pulled off one of the great upsets of Irish football history in Europe by beating the Croatian champions in Croatia in the first leg, a 2-1 victory thanks to a John Martin goal . The Croatians will be looking for revenge and will be highly motivated with a lot of quality, but Shels will hope for a famous night, which would get them through to the next round of qualifying but more importantly guarantee group stage football regardless in the Uefa Conference League. Unfortunately for Shels, Seán Boyd has been ruled out with a calf injury. The starting teams will follow when they're announced. You can watch the game on LOITV tonight, it's €10 to buy a stream -
Irish Daily Mirror
32 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
GAA club wish 'speedy recovery' to legend as retirement U-turn ends in injury
Kildare legend Johnny Doyle came out of retirement at the weekend to help his club's bid to avoid relegation from the senior ranks - but ended up in hospital. The evergreen 47 year old, whose steady hand guided Allenwood to Kildare and Leinster intermediate titles in late 2023, hung up his boots at the end of last season after 30 years of adult football, having first lined out for the club all the way back in 1995. But with Allenwood struggling this year and without a victory in their 11 league games, All Star forward Doyle answered an SOS and leapt to his club's aid. Doyle returned for the Kildare SFC preliminary round encounter with Clogherinkoe. However, he failed to appear for the second half after sustaining what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury which required hospital treatment. Allenwood lost the game by a point, 3-11 to 1-16, after being 13 points down at half-time in a match where a win would have secured their senior status. Doyle was part of the last Kildare side to win a Leinster SFC, back in 2000 and won an All Star in 2014, before announcing his inter-county retirement in 2014. He also holds a Kildare Senior Championship medal from 2004. Allenwood now enter the losers section of the group stages with relegation from senior football still a possibility, and Doyle unlikely to appear again this year. The club posted on 'X' to say: 'A speedy recovery to the great JD! Always there to answer the call when his club needs him.'
