Lifting the lid on Jim McGuinness's incognito spell that helped Louth club make huge breakthrough
The request to drive back to Louth from Clare for club training wasn't what Craig Lynch wanted to hear when he got the call during a short holiday break in 2020. Naomh Máirtín were having a session on Tuesday and he was told that he needed to be there. But he was in west Clare for a few days with his wife availing of an easing of Covid restrictions. The club remained insistent that he return a day early to Monasterboice.
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Irish Examiner
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Tom Curry: Lions players need to take 'personal responsibility' for performances
Like a frustrated parent feeling let down by their errant offspring, Andy Farrell came over all disappointed dad following a clunky British & Irish Lions defeat to a far more fluid Argentina at Aviva Stadium. But what about the kids? The head coach did not pull any punches in his withering analysis of the 2025 squad's opening performance on Friday night, highlighting the Pumas' edge in terms of fight at the contact area, decrying a lack of respect for the ball in attack and bemoaning a misfiring line-out. Those criticisms were reflected in the anger and deflation expressed immediately after the 28-24 defeat by Tom Curry and Fin Smith but were followed by an understanding that such emotions needed to be left behind in Dublin before the touring party flew to Australia the following morning. Farrell presides over a large Lions family, 91-strong including the 38-player playing squad, which boarded three separate flights to reach Western Australia, the first group arriving just after midday Irish time on Sunday. And while every scientific precaution was taken en route to Perth to avoid the perils of jet lag, it was down to the 37 travelling players – Blair Kinghorn will join the group following Toulouse's ongoing French Top 14 title bid – to get over their pre-tour setback and hit the ground running to produce the necessary response against the Western Force at Optus Stadium this Saturday morning. Starting blindside flanker Curry, a veteran of the 2021 'Covid' tour to South Africa, admitted he was 'pissed off' over the missed opportunity against the Pumas on what was otherwise a wonderful spectacle in front of a sell-out 51,700 crowd which turned the Aviva red. Yet the England back-rower added: 'The beauty of this is we've got a week. There is no point dwelling on it or crying about it. We've just got to take it on the chin and move on. 'I won't watch the game back tonight. I want to make the most of the last few hours we've got here with my parents and my girlfriend. I want to spend time with them and not talk too much code. I'll probably download it for the flight to be honest. 'It's either that or The Office. I'll probably watch The Office!' Like Farrell, Curry refused to accept the mitigation of unfamiliarity with squad-mates drawn from four nations. 'We were (good) in spots, that is the best bit. But you have got to respect the ball a lot more. The best is we were there, we were supporting each other. The cohesion is definitely there, slash building. There are things to work on but the foundations are definitely there. 'We need to own the big moments and take personal responsibility out of this game, we can talk about coming together as a team or partnerships but we have got to nip that in the bud straight away. 'I have been on these things before and you can wait until Monday before you say this stuff. But you can get to the sixth week and still make the same excuse. Six weeks is not a long time so we can't make that excuse the whole way through. We nipped that in the bud straight away. 'That is not a reason and we need to take personal responsibility for our own performances and how excited we get on the ball. That is the really annoying thing because on the flip side it's really exciting because we do have our hands on the ball and are in great spots. But come on, we need to take personal responsibility when we have it.' Fly-half Smith, who will battle with Finn Russell and Marcus Smith for the Test number 10 jersey across the five tour matches which still lie between the Lions and the series opener against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19, admitted he was 'gutted, pretty deflated' but felt he could use those feelings as motivation. 'I'm sure it's not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing,' the Northampton Saints and England playmaker said. 'The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible. 'Faz has already said that – no moping about, no sulking. We need to get back on the horse straight away and have conversations that are going to make us better. That's definitely the aim.'
Irish Independent
5 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Lifting the lid on Jim McGuinness's incognito spell that helped Louth club make huge breakthrough
The request to drive back to Louth from Clare for club training wasn't what Craig Lynch wanted to hear when he got the call during a short holiday break in 2020. Naomh Máirtín were having a session on Tuesday and he was told that he needed to be there. But he was in west Clare for a few days with his wife availing of an easing of Covid restrictions. The club remained insistent that he return a day early to Monasterboice.
Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Finn Russell gives details of first meeting with Johnny Sexton in Lions camp
Finn Russell has revealed that he buried the hatchet with Johnny Sexton with the help of Andy Farrell as the old foes join forces on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Sexton has previously been critical of Russell, labelling him 'flashy' and a 'media darling', while adding he would choose Owen Farrell over him against the Wallabies because the former England captain is a 'Test match animal'. And in his autobiography, the Ireland great confessed that it 'kills me to this day' that he was overlooked in favour of Russell for the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa. Now the former fly-half rivals are working together to plot the downfall of Australia, with Sexton acting as the Lions kicking skills coach and Russell in pole position to take the playmaking duties in the Test series. When they first linked up after the players involved in the Gallagher Premiership and United Rugby Championship finals arrived into camp earlier this week, any acrimony quickly faded. 'It's just been bit of a craic. It was never a thing. When we came in, we had a laugh straight away and Andy kind of put it to bed so that was good,' Scotland international Russell said. 'Not that it was ever going to be an issue, I don't believe. We're all here with the same goal, which is to win the series. 'I've only been here a few days but it's been good working with Johnny. I'm happy to bounce questions off him and chat to him about what he's seeing. 'With the numbers we've had, he's had to jump in sometimes so it's been quite funny being on the same training side as him. 'It's good to have a guy with his experience here. I can chat to him and bounce things off him as and when I need. 'All the coaches seem open to conversations and chats. It's a good environment to be in.' Australia will be Russell's third expedition with the Lions, with all three set to be very different experiences. In 2017 in New Zealand he was part of the controversial 'Geography Six', a group of Scotland and Wales players who were called into Warren Gatland's squad not on merit but because of their close proximity while on summer tours. Four years later he travelled to South Africa where all matches were played behind closed doors due to the pandemic, denying the Lions their famed 'sea of red' support. The Bath ringmaster started the third Test against the Springbocks. 'New Zealand was still amazing because it was my first time being called up to the Lions,' Russell said. 'We weren't there for the whole tour, but to have gone to New Zealand and played was really cool for me. 'And then in 2021 it was special going the whole time, even though it was Covid. We couldn't have family and friends or fans at the game, but it was still amazing in a different way. 'In terms of the boys, we probably got to know each other a little bit better because it was just us in the hotel and whatnot. I'm looking forward to what this one's going to be like.'
