I’m at the risk of inviting a copyright infringement from Joe Duffy’s New Year’s Eve show – 2018: how was it for you? but here goes.
By any objective measurement, you’d have to say that it was one of the better years on the sporting front, all things considered.
The usual cliché is that Ireland generally punches above its weight when population and resources are considered, and there are quite a few examples of it being proven, but it could also be said that it is a condescending outlook. A better assertion of the current state of events in some sports is that Ireland has gone up a weight, as it were, and is punching at the top level on merit.
That is certainly the case in rugby, where the national team enjoyed a year to remember, with a grand slam win and then the victory over New Zealand at Aviva Stadium in November.
What was most satisfying about that 16-9 win was that there was no sense of it being a smash and grab, soaking up pressure and then hitting the All Blacks with a counter-attack. It was a game Ireland never looked like losing and the fabled late All Blacks surge was never allowed to materialise.
Leinster secured a fourth European Champions Cup with victory over Racing 92 in Bilbao.
It was proof of just how strong the self-belief is in the Ireland team – no inferiority complex or a need to have a chip on the shoulder to inspire a performance, just a sense of going out to do a job and executing it brilliantly.
It is of course the nature of sportspeople and fans to look ahead to the next challenge. There is a big task ahead to maintain those levels through the coming Six Nations and the World Cup, but it’s important too to hail excellence and just appreciate the year for what it was. There can’t have been too many in Irish history to match it.
Similarly, there was almost a blasé reaction to Gary and Paul O’Donovan winning gold at the World Rowing Championships. Ireland had won three golds at the 2001 championships but this was the first in an Olympic-boat class.
So consistent have the O’Donovans been, though, that there was almost an expectation that they would win – they’re certainly not punching above their weight.
Behind the stand-up comedian routines in the interviews lies a deep determination in the brothers, matched by huge talent, and when those attributes are married together it makes for a combination that’s hard to stop.
Gary and Paul O’Donovan, World
Champions in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls.
Sanita Puspure’s gold medal at the same regatta shouldn’t be forgotten, either – to win two events gives real hope that Ireland can achieve that first rowing gold at the Olympics.
Rowing is becoming like boxing in that there is now a real conveyor belt of talent and an expectation that somebody will take up the mantle. While Katie Taylor’s excellent professional career continued with her 12th straight win earlier this month against Eva Wahlstrom, success in the amateur ranks continued with Kellie Harrington claiming a world title in November.
And, while world glory eluded the Irish women’s hockey team, who lost to the Netherlands in the World Cup final in August, getting to the decider was a huge achievement for a side given little chance at the outset.
The Irish Women’s Hockey team, World Cup finalists.
It may not necessarily have a knock-on effect in terms of participation levels, but even the recognition in terms of extra funding will give the sport a boost and hopefully go some way towards making occasions like this year the rule rather than the exception.
Soccer shakeup
Irish soccer would certainly love to be in the situation that the hockey team were, with 2018 a year to be forgotten as quickly as possible. Even so, Euro 2020 qualification isn’t beyond the remit of new manager Mick McCarthy and Stephen Kenny’s apprenticeship as U21 boss should ensure a smooth transition in a year and a half.
Mullinalaghta of Longford shocked Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin to win the Leinster club football championship.
All change in the GAA
In any case, if all else fails, we’ll always have the GAA, with no fear of us not being the best in the world at that. It was a year of change, with new group formats for the provincial hurling championships and football quarter-finals.
The hurling spoiled us with games of the highest quality and drama, the Super 8 in football not so much but it’s an idea worth sticking with.
Like the O’Donovans above, Dublin’s dominance of Gaelic football is almost written off as boring rather than being hailed for the magnitude of what it has involved.
Obviously, the Dubs benefit from greater numbers – of people and in the accounts – but that isn’t a new development and never before have they been so far ahead of the rest.
Jim Gavin may be quite taciturn, but his managerial skills can’t be denied and the strength of the panel is continually shown as, each year, players who seemed indispensable have to make way for those who prove themselves to be even better.
There wasn’t really a time during the 2018 championship when the four-in-a-row looked like being denied – but, such a situation could lead to complacency. That such complacency is never allowed to take hold in the Dublin camp is the greatest endorsement of their squad.
And, finally, if you’re sitting reading this in Ballyneety or Newcastlewest or Kilmallock and wondering if we forgot the most exciting sport of the summer, don’t worry, we were saving the best for last.
Like the Dublin footballers, the Kilkenny hurling team were imperious as they amassed 10 All-Irelands from 2002-15, but the greater democracy in the sport and the round-robin provincial championships have made for an outstanding spectacle.
As good as Limerick were en route to the All-Ireland final, the feeling was that a Galway side with the experience of last year would be just too strong, that the Shannonsiders would have to lose one to win one.
That viewpoint was given short shrift though as 45 years of hurt were put to bed, a victory made all the sweeter in how they held off the late fightback from the Tribesmen. Manager John Kiely is a true leader, a man who doesn’t feel the need to make himself heard with bombast but who instead gives the players the tools to succeed, a holistic approach which has also proven successful as principal of the Abbey in Tipperary town.
Even in the immediate aftermath of the final, he preferred to quietly bask in the glow of victory and played down his own role in post-match interviews.
It’s an attitude and an ethos which pervades the in Limerick panel, the carrying out of tasks without ego or over-celebration.
It’s why you don’t fear that over-celebrating will be an impeding factor for them in 2019. With such a young squad, they will be around for a while, but such is the strength of the rest of the top sides that there is no reason next year can’t be just as good.
I’m at the risk of inviting a copyright infringement from Joe Duffy’s New Year’s Eve show – 2018: how was it for you? but here goes.
By any objective measurement, you’d have to say that it was one of the better years on the sporting front, all things considered.
The usual cliché is that Ireland generally punches above its weight when population and resources are considered, and there are quite a few examples of it being proven, but it could also be said that it is a condescending outlook. A better assertion of the current state of events in some sports is that Ireland has gone up a weight, as it were, and is punching at the top level on merit.
That is certainly the case in rugby, where the national team enjoyed a year to remember, with a grand slam win and then the victory over New Zealand at Aviva Stadium in November.
What was most satisfying about that 16-9 win was that there was no sense of it being a smash and grab, soaking up pressure and then hitting the All Blacks with a counter-attack. It was a game Ireland never looked like losing and the fabled late All Blacks surge was never allowed to materialise.
Leinster secured a fourth European Champions Cup with victory over Racing 92 in Bilbao.
It was proof of just how strong the self-belief is in the Ireland team – no inferiority complex or a need to have a chip on the shoulder to inspire a performance, just a sense of going out to do a job and executing it brilliantly.
It is of course the nature of sportspeople and fans to look ahead to the next challenge. There is a big task ahead to maintain those levels through the coming Six Nations and the World Cup, but it’s important too to hail excellence and just appreciate the year for what it was. There can’t have been too many in Irish history to match it.
Similarly, there was almost a blasé reaction to Gary and Paul O’Donovan winning gold at the World Rowing Championships. Ireland had won three golds at the 2001 championships but this was the first in an Olympic-boat class.
So consistent have the O’Donovans been, though, that there was almost an expectation that they would win – they’re certainly not punching above their weight.
Behind the stand-up comedian routines in the interviews lies a deep determination in the brothers, matched by huge talent, and when those attributes are married together it makes for a combination that’s hard to stop.
Gary and Paul O’Donovan, World
Champions in the Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls.
Sanita Puspure’s gold medal at the same regatta shouldn’t be forgotten, either – to win two events gives real hope that Ireland can achieve that first rowing gold at the Olympics.
Rowing is becoming like boxing in that there is now a real conveyor belt of talent and an expectation that somebody will take up the mantle. While Katie Taylor’s excellent professional career continued with her 12th straight win earlier this month against Eva Wahlstrom, success in the amateur ranks continued with Kellie Harrington claiming a world title in November.
And, while world glory eluded the Irish women’s hockey team, who lost to the Netherlands in the World Cup final in August, getting to the decider was a huge achievement for a side given little chance at the outset.
The Irish Women’s Hockey team, World Cup finalists.
It may not necessarily have a knock-on effect in terms of participation levels, but even the recognition in terms of extra funding will give the sport a boost and hopefully go some way towards making occasions like this year the rule rather than the exception.
Soccer shakeup
Irish soccer would certainly love to be in the situation that the hockey team were, with 2018 a year to be forgotten as quickly as possible. Even so, Euro 2020 qualification isn’t beyond the remit of new manager Mick McCarthy and Stephen Kenny’s apprenticeship as U21 boss should ensure a smooth transition in a year and a half.
Mullinalaghta of Longford shocked Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin to win the Leinster club football championship.
All change in the GAA
In any case, if all else fails, we’ll always have the GAA, with no fear of us not being the best in the world at that. It was a year of change, with new group formats for the provincial hurling championships and football quarter-finals.
The hurling spoiled us with games of the highest quality and drama, the Super 8 in football not so much but it’s an idea worth sticking with.
Like the O’Donovans above, Dublin’s dominance of Gaelic football is almost written off as boring rather than being hailed for the magnitude of what it has involved.
Obviously, the Dubs benefit from greater numbers – of people and in the accounts – but that isn’t a new development and never before have they been so far ahead of the rest.
Jim Gavin may be quite taciturn, but his managerial skills can’t be denied and the strength of the panel is continually shown as, each year, players who seemed indispensable have to make way for those who prove themselves to be even better.
There wasn’t really a time during the 2018 championship when the four-in-a-row looked like being denied – but, such a situation could lead to complacency. That such complacency is never allowed to take hold in the Dublin camp is the greatest endorsement of their squad.
And, finally, if you’re sitting reading this in Ballyneety or Newcastlewest or Kilmallock and wondering if we forgot the most exciting sport of the summer, don’t worry, we were saving the best for last.
Like the Dublin footballers, the Kilkenny hurling team were imperious as they amassed 10 All-Irelands from 2002-15, but the greater democracy in the sport and the round-robin provincial championships have made for an outstanding spectacle.
As good as Limerick were en route to the All-Ireland final, the feeling was that a Galway side with the experience of last year would be just too strong, that the Shannonsiders would have to lose one to win one.
That viewpoint was given short shrift though as 45 years of hurt were put to bed, a victory made all the sweeter in how they held off the late fightback from the Tribesmen. Manager John Kiely is a true leader, a man who doesn’t feel the need to make himself heard with bombast but who instead gives the players the tools to succeed, a holistic approach which has also proven successful as principal of the Abbey in Tipperary town.
Even in the immediate aftermath of the final, he preferred to quietly bask in the glow of victory and played down his own role in post-match interviews.
It’s an attitude and an ethos which pervades the in Limerick panel, the carrying out of tasks without ego or over-celebration.
It’s why you don’t fear that over-celebrating will be an impeding factor for them in 2019. With such a young squad, they will be around for a while, but such is the strength of the rest of the top sides that there is no reason next year can’t be just as good.
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