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The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Mayo's road back towards top starts with honest appraisal of where they are
IN FOOTBALL'S LAND of the cursed, the only sense of law and order is in the legislation sponsored by Murphy. You know the one, 'anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.' They certainly know it in Mayo, where football folk long acclimatised to the concept of misfortune are now in danger of drowning in the stuff. A quick recap of the last couple of weeks: they lost a Connacht final to Galway which they could, and possibly should, have won, which was compounded by a shock home defeat to Cavan in the opening round of the All-Ireland series. Even when they were not playing, another unexpected result went against them last weekend when Donegal lost to Tyrone, ensuring that when they meet the Ulster Champions in their final round match, Jim McGuinness will not facilitate them with weakened and distracted opposition of the kind that allowed them to avoid relegation and claim an unlikely place in the League final back in March. On top of that, their manager Kevin McStay announced this week he has to step back because of health concerns. Kevin McStay: Stepping back for health reasons. Andrew Paton / INPHO Andrew Paton / INPHO / INPHO That news was confirmed at an emergency board meeting attended by the GAA's top brass which revealed that the board is €7.8 million in debt. In most other counties, such a sequence of events occurring over a generation, would frame a weighty tome entitled the 'the dark years', whereas in Mayo, such is their level of exhausted immunity to an ill wind gusting, that it is just about newsworthy enough to make it into the Tourmakeady weekly local notes in the Mayo News. And they are not done yet; they head to Omagh this Saturday evening, a destination that has more the feel of ruination about it than redemption. Advertisement Perhaps the darkest hour is before the dawn but that lie has been peddled so often, they could be forgiven for thinking if that is truly the case then by some warp in the equator, they are permanently inhabiting a Faroe Islands winter rather than a Foxford summer. The temptation is to suggest that there is no point wondering where it all went wrong when it hasn't gone right in 74 years, but that's simply not true. They can lay claim to producing one of the great teams of the modern age, and those who will argue they were not worthy of that acclamation need to know that trophies don't necessarily validate greatness alone; your eyes and pulse can take that measure too. But from there to here, they have not just gone back, they have pretty much fallen off a cliff edge. This weekend serves as a powerful reminder as to when that happened, too. Of all the mischievous tricks played on them, the cruellest was when in finally beating Dublin in that 2021 semi-final, it opened the door for the most winnable of finals against a Tyrone team who had ambushed Kerry. The potent sense that it was a game that would bend to fate rather than form has rarely if ever been as intoxicating to Mayo's public, and when the penny dropped that in sport there is only a scoreboard to be balanced and not a heavenly ledger, the fall-out was toxic. That was four years ago, but things have never been the same since. What made Mayo the team they were – apart from a hybrid defence as good as ever seen – was a sense of unity all the more remarkable given that players and supporters shared more pain than joy on the biggest days, but tolerance has its limits. The toxicity in the aftermath of that final revealed the fracturing of a bond. The result against Cavan this month was not the only surprise, the fact that little over 7,000 was in Castlebar to witness it was another. There was a time – and we still remember the clutch cramp from a traffic jam outside Ballindine on the way to Tuam on a miserable January afternoon not that many years ago – when they could get that many for an FBD game. If you want to take a measure of the Mayo mood, the excellent Mayo GAA Blog is the place to go for passionate commentary, but in the aftermath of the Cavan defeat the civility that was its hallmark was undermined. 'Yesterday was one of the most difficult days for ages,' wrote John Guinnane, founder of the blog, under his hardly needing to be explained nom de plume of 'Willie Joe'. Of course, the reason that Mayo are no longer the team they were is not because some of their supporters have forgotten their manners, but it is because in so doing they refuse to see their team for what they are now rather than what they were. The team of 2021 was a shadow of the team that lost that epic final of 2017, and the team of 2025 is a paler silhouette of the team of '21. Lee Keegan celebrates a goal into the Hill 16 end during the 2017 All-Ireland final. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO That is not to say that they could not be better. Few teams have adapted as poorly to the rhythm of a transformed game. Set that tape at its easiest to measure point, and Mayo have scored just 16 two-pointers in 12 games, and just three in four championship games. True, Kerry have not feasted on the edge of the 40 arc either, choosing instead to play a high tempo attacking game to exploit the spaces beyond it, hitting 27 goals in the process. Mayo have managed just 10. Perhaps they could be better, but the fact is that Mayo are now a team on the fringes of the leading pack, far from menacingly snapping at the front like they used to. They simply don't have that kind of talent. Quick question: is there a single player that would make the best 15 in the land? Ryan O'Donoghue? Really? In a game where you have the Clifford brothers, King Con, Oisin Conaty, Darragh Canavan, Michael Murphy, Michael Bannigan and Sam Mulroy. Truly? The only thing that can go wrong now for Mayo is demanding their team of today be judged by the standards of their team of yesterday. If they can pull the brakes on doing that, their tomorrow might come quicker. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Irish Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Leinster may be semi-final specialists, but getting any further is often a coin toss
Is there a sudden outbreak of Leinster 'big-game fatigue' out there? Let's pause for a moment and put this weekend's Champions Cup semi-finals into context. It actually is an achievement to be one of the last quartet in any competition. Leinster and Toulouse are specialists at reaching this stage in the Champions Cup. Everyone else should be so lucky. To start with the bleedin' obvious, only four teams out of the 24 which started out this season have managed the feat. As the URC, Top 14 and Premiership pauses, the other 20 would happily swap places with those hogging the stage this weekend. Of course, reaching a final belongs to an even more exclusive club. Take Leinster. In the 30 years of what is now the Champions Cup, their encounter with Northampton on Saturday will be their 16th semi-final. If you stop and think about it, that truly is exceptional. Unsurprisingly, the only club to have reached more semi-finals are Toulouse. Against Bordeaux Bègles on Sunday, they will be playing their 17th semi-final. By contrast, Northampton are playing in their fifth and Bordeaux Bègles just their second. READ MORE What might be a little more surprising is that even for the two highest achievers in the history of the tournament, there are no guarantees for Leinster and Toulouse when it comes to this stage of the tournament. Of Leinster's 15 semi-finals to date, they have won eight and lost seven. For their part, Toulouse have also endured their fair share of disappointment at this stage, winning eight and losing eight of their previous 16. So, if there is a small element of big-game fatigue among Leinster fans, perhaps understandably, like all of us they have short memories. Admittedly it's 30 years ago since Leinster reached their first semi-final way back in the inaugural European Cup in 1995-96 when they, as well as Munster and Ulster, were among a dozen teams drawn from France, Wales, Italy and Romania. Furthermore, all Leinster had to do was beat Milan away and Pontypridd at home to reach the last four. Almost despite themselves. Niall Woods was a member of the Leinster squad that reached the province's first European Cup semi-final 30 years ago. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho Niall Woods was Leinster's left winger in the province's competition debut in Milan on November 1st, 1995, when the attendance was recorded as 1,200. 'The game kicked off at 2.30 on a Wednesday afternoon, and it was a mudbath. Diego Dominguez was playing,' recalls Woods of the normally prolific Argentinian-born Italian outhalf. 'He actually kicked two out of eight. It was filthy, as in the fighting, the gouging, the works. Obviously, I didn't see any of that, nor was I anywhere near it.' [ Rugby analysis: Leinster attack looking more and more comfortable in chaos Opens in new window ] [ Matt Williams: Leinster can get past Northampton if they have planned for a new and improved opponent Opens in new window ] Despite Dominguez losing his radar, Leinster were losing the game late on. 'I got the ball on the 10-yard line, at outhalf from a ruck in the middle of the field. I stepped a fella and was just gone. These were the days when if you broke the first line, then you just had to round the fullback and we won by three points,' says Woods of Leinster's 24-21 victory. I remember getting a cheque, I think for £175 to play because you were technically allowed to be paid at that stage — Niall Woods 'The reason I remember is that 'Munch' (aka Shane Byrne) was asked in an interview for the best try he ever saw and he said that one. I read it and laughed and said 'fair play Munch'. We were in [Blackrock] school together, so maybe that's why.' Five weeks later, on a Wednesday night under lights, in what was also the first season of professionalism, Leinster beat Pontypridd 23-22 in Lansdowne Road to top their 'group' and earn a home semi-final. 'I remember getting a cheque, I think for £175 to play because you were technically allowed to be paid at that stage,' says Woods. Leinster's Victor Costello breaks through the Cardiff defence during the European Cup semi-final on December 30, 1995. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Leinster's first of 16 semi-finals was against Cardiff in Lansdowne Road on December 30th, 1995. 'Conor [O'Shea] was with London Irish and Conor came home on standby in case I failed the fitness test. I failed the fitness test, I'd say at 11 o'clock. It was a horrendous day, blowing a gale and freezing, so I was quite happy. It wasn't a day for me,' recalls Woods with a self-mocking chuckle. The attendance was 7,350. 'Which was big in those days,' he stresses. 'You'd get 2-4,000 max in those days in Donnybrook. It was decent, put it that way, although we played Australia in 1992 and there was probably 20,000 people there; they had won the World Cup in 1991 and they were fully loaded.' A European Cup semi-final was unchartered and underappreciated territory. He added: 'It was totally unknown. It was something a bit different, playing someone from a different country in a game that meant something as opposed to a friendly. We played against New South Wales that season and I think we played eight games. Up to that point we played four games a year. 'Cardiff were the most stacked team of the Welsh at that stage. They were the equivalent of Leinster now. As a spectacle, the game wasn't great. The wind was horrific. Mary Robinson was President and they didn't bring her out on to the pitch because it was so windy.' Leinster were beaten 23-14 and nobody was really complaining. Leinster fans cheer on their team during the 2005-06 Heineken Cup campaign. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho 'I don't remember being overly bothered that we lost. We did all right because we got to the semis, even if we only won two matches to get there. It was enjoyable and it was a bit different.' Toulouse beat Cardiff at Cardiff Arms Park in the final a week later, with 21,800 in attendance, to give the European Cup lift-off. Whether it was over-confidence or not I don't know — Niall Woods It was seven years later when Leinster reached the semi-finals, meeting Perpignan at Lansdowne Road in April 2003. As evidenced by the 37,800 attendance, expectations were altogether higher. Woods had retired in 2001 after a playing career with Trinity, Blackrock, Leinster, Ireland, London Irish and Harlequins. He then worked for the English Players' Union before coming home in January 2003 to set up the Irish Rugby Players' Union (IRUPA). But in Leinster's biggest game of the 2002-03 season, their season ended with an anticlimactic 21-14 defeat. 'They didn't perform on the day at all,' says Woods. 'Whether it was over-confidence or not I don't know. They never got going. It was hugely disappointing.' The pivotal matches in Leinster's history were the Heineken Cup semi-finals against Munster in 2006 at Lansdowne Road and 2009 in Croke Park. Technically, the first was a 'home' semi-final, though it was awash in red and felt like an away match. The second was an 'away' tie that was more akin to a neutral-venue fixture given the even split between blue and red in a record-setting attendance of 82,208. 'In 2006, 'Rog' dummies and scores under the sticks and in '09 Drico intercepts Rog's pass to score. They were the two defining moments,' says Woods with reference to Ronan O'Gara and Brian O'Driscoll. Ronan O'Gara scores a try for Munster in their Heineken Cup semi-final victory against Leinster in 2006. Photograph: Inpho/Getty Images 'The difference in colour was stark. In '06 it was so red, when the Leinster supporters weren't as strong as they are now, whereas in '09 it was even.' Leinster had reached a point of no return. The 25-6 win led to a breakthrough triumph three weeks later against Leicester in Murrayfield. 'It had started with the quarter-final in 'Quins, the bloodgate game and that [6-5] win gave them belief. Even the final in Edinburgh was a poor enough game against Leicester, but it would always be scrappy against them. But they managed to do it. 'In the semi, Leinster were notably better on the day. The [2009] Grand Slam probably helped. There was better quality throughout the Leinster team than there had been three years earlier, especially with Isa [Nacewa] and Rocky [Elsom] there.' Leinster have reached another 10 semi-finals since that day, winning seven of them, and the key has been earning home semi-finals through their performances in the pool stages. Leinster have won all six ensuing semi-finals at home, whereas they have won only one of four away from home. Leinster lost away to Toulouse as reigning champions in the 2010 semi-finals, when Johnny Sexton was injured, but have beaten Toulouse in four of the subsequent six semi-finals at home. There was defeat to Toulon in 2015 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, when Jimmy Gopperth's drop-goal attempt to win the game was narrowly wide before Leinster were beaten in extra-time. They lost a last-four tie against Clermont in Lyon in 2017 and lost behind closed doors in La Rochelle four years ago. Viewed in that context, Leinster's 19-15 win over a brilliant Clermont side [Julien Bonnaire, Morgan Parra, Wesley Fofana, Aurélien Rougerie and co] in Bordeaux in 2012 has arguably been their finest semi-final victory of all so far. Cian Healy scores a try in Leinster's famous Heineken Cup semi-final win against Clermot in Bordeaux in 2012. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho 'That was the inside pass to Rob Kearney and Cian Healy's finish,' says Woods – who stepped down as the IRUPA CEO in January 2011 to set up what is now the Navy Blue sports agency – of the famous Joe Schmidt strike play. There was also the end-game stand on their own line, Gordon D'Arcy's tackle on Fofana to dislodge the ball before he grounded it and Seán O'Brien hanging on for dear life in the jackal to earn the final turnover penalty. 'I'd say that was their best ever semi-final win, considering who it was against and it was away from home,' says Woods, and to put that victory in context it was only the second semi-final win in France by an Irish or UK side – Munster having achieved the first in 2000 against Toulouse, also in Bordeaux. Reaching semi-finals should never be taken for granted, albeit as Woods says: 'Leinster do have the majority of the Irish team and their budget is massive, above the French clubs as well as the English clubs now. But if Leinster are in any way off, the Saints have enough firepower to do damage.' Indeed, as history shows us, nor do semi-finals, even at home, come with any guarantees. 'Go back to '03, against Perpignan. They should have beaten Perpignan. They should never have lost that.' Leinster's semi-final record: Played 15, Won 8, Lost 7 1995-96: Leinster 14 Cardiff 23 (Lansdowne Road) 2002-03: Leinster 14 Perpignan 21 (Lansdowne Road) 2005-06: Leinster 6 Munster 30 (Lansdowne Road) 2008-09: Munster 6 Leinster 25 (Croke Park) 2009-10: Toulouse 26 Leinster 16 (Le Stadium, Toulouse) 2010-11: Leinster 32 Toulouse 23 (Aviva Stadium) 2011-12: Clermont 15 Leinster 19 (Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux) 2014-15: Toulon 25 Leinster 20 aet (Stade Velodrome, Marseille) 2016-17: Clermont 27 Leinster 22 (Matmut de Gerland, Lyon) 2017-18: Leinster 38 Scarlets 16 (Aviva Stadium) 2018-19: Leinster 30 Toulouse 12 (Aviva Stadium) 2020-21: La Rochelle 32 Leinster 23 (Stade Deflandre, La Rochelle) 2021-22: Leinster 40 Toulouse 17 (Aviva Stadium) 2022-23: Leinster 41 Toulouse 22 (Aviva Stadium) 2023-24: Leinster 20 Northampton 17 (Croke Park)
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
If hurling is so good, why is it so small?
This is the time of the year when hurling is placed on an altar for worship. Even the agnostic are curious. It is like when Wimbledon is on telly, or The Masters, or the Six Nations, or the World Cup – any World Cup. Everyone's eye is drawn to something shiny. So, the Munster championship was launched to a symphony, the Leinster championship was launched to the sound of brass, and for the next while people will pay attention. The Clare-Cork game on the opening weekend attracted a peak viewership of 388,000 on RTÉ, and a staggering audience share of 42 per cent. For a bank holiday weekend, those numbers were far beyond the norm. But it won't last long. In the Liam MacCarthy Cup 27 matches are stuffed into eight weeks, and then there will be just seven games for the rest of the season. Two of those will be mismatches in the preliminary quarter-finals, and five of them will be played on Saturdays. Ask the Leinster Council about the attractiveness of Saturday matches. And then what? If we have convinced ourselves that this is a Golden Age for the game, what good will come of it beyond a few blissful weeks of spectacular matches and feverish coverage? Does it make anybody want to play in places where nobody ever really wanted to play before? READ MORE 'Complacency is a disease which is more lethal in hurling than in any sport,' wrote Liam Sheedy as chairman of the Hurling 2020 committee, 10 years ago. Wrapped up in that complacency is a streak of self-regard. As a community, hurling people have always felt superior. They like and admire other games but can't see one that compares with hurling. They're right, of course. But sometimes that can be a blinding condition. If hurling is so good, why is it so small? When hurling was booming in the late 1990s what was the dividend for the game apart from the excitement that coursed through the championship? Did it break down any of the GAA's local discrimination? No? Offaly and Galway in action on Saturday. Photograph: Andrew Paton/Inpho People who are immersed in the game are fiercely protective of it. Paudie Butler was appointed national director of hurling 20 years ago and excelled in the role for five years. His engagement with hurlers, or aspiring hurlers, in every corner of the island had a pastoral quality. 'I want every child to have the chance to hurl because they're Irish,' he said to journalist Kieran Shannon in 2015. 'I have this belief our game is a treasure like the Ardagh Chalice or the language. It's ancient and something unique to ourselves.' Nobody ever disputes the claim that hurling is a national treasure, whether it has safe harbour in your club or not. It is an easy thing to believe. Hurling never wants for flattery or lip service. In 2018 Unesco accepted hurling on to its Representative List of The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and there is a similar list curated by the State. In a long entry on the website, written for the uninitiated, one line has a particular resonance. 'As custodians of hurling, the GAA believes that the best way to preserve the viability of hurling is to ensure that it is played as extensively as possible.' This has been the circular, intractable problem. All gains in areas where the game had no traditional home have been small and against the tide of entrenched local preference. In those places the game has always depended on the energy and endurance of people who often feel isolated and under-resourced. The majesty of the game that half the country has just watched on television never seems to make a difference. While social media lights up with paeans to the spectacle, these people are deadlocked at the bottom of a hill. Martin Fogarty was the national hurling development manager from 2016 to 2021, at which time the position was discontinued. Like Butler, he pounded the roads, offering support and looking for solutions. When Jarlath Burns established a new Hurling Development Committee [HDC], Fogarty agreed to come on board. The GAA's hew head of hurling, Willie Maher. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho From years of hands-on engagement he had an unparalleled knowledge of the clubs in the northern half of the country, from Mayo to Louth, who were trying to nurture the game. When the HDC considered doing a roadshow Fogarty produced a list of 102 clubs, divided them into four regions, and picked a venue that was no more than an hour's drive for everybody invited to attend. He presented a draft itinerary for the meeting, which included 'a motivational speech' by Brian Cody, and an opportunity for every club to outline their challenges to a listening ear. That kind of outreach, though, has obvious limits, and Fogarty was conscious of that too. These clubs have been subject to scoping exercises many times before. During his time as the national hurling development manager, Fogarty was adamant about the need for greater funding. He was certain that the only route to progress was with targeted resourcing of clubs who had a sincere desire to grow the game. By the time he resigned from the HDC last December he saw no evidence of this. In his 1,600-word resignation letter, seen by the Irish News, he accused the HDC of 'going around in circles'. How long has the GAA being going around in circles on this issue? Decades. Willie Maher started as GAA's new head of hurling at the beginning of the month. Unlike Butler and Fogarty, his role will be less 'operational' he said in an interview with John Harrington on and more 'strategic'. 'It's been a listening exercise [so far] and will be for the foreseeable future as regards finding out what's going on and then drilling down into counties. So, what operational plan do you have? Where does hurling fit into that operational plan? How do we hold county boards and county games managers to account in terms of what we've agreed to do from a hurling development perspective? Is it being done or not?' Is it being done or not? The answer to that question has damned the GAA for generations. At least Maher is talking about accountability. That would be a good start.
