I settled down for an evening's sport watching in a spirit of great hope and some trepidation. I watched Ireland v New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup on the TV, and Lucy Charles-Barclay at the World Ironman Championship in Kona, Hawaii simultaneously on my phone. Both Ireland and Lucy were trying to finally breakthrough their sporting road blocks. Ireland have never got past the quarter-final of a World Cup.
Now, as world ranked number one and with iconic captain Johnny Sexton approaching retirement, there would never be a better time to get that particular monkey off their back. Lucy Charles-Barclay, on the other hand, has finished second at the World Ironman Championship 4 times in a row. The final always takes place at the triathlon mecca of Kona, Hawaii. It's brutal 3.8 km swim,180 km bike and 42 km run in incredible heat and humidity is the holy grail for swim-bike-runners.
I've followed her journey for years on Youtube and know how desperate she has been to finally win the race on her 5th attempt, especialy as she has reached 30 years old.
To have a monkey on the back must be so, so annoying for professional sports people. Probably the most famous one is Rory McIlroy's inability to win the U.S. Masters. He has literally won everything in the sport except it. The other 3 majors were completed some years ago, he has also won the Ryder Cup home and away, the Race to Dubai, the big money Fed-Ex Cup twice, the "5th Major" the Players' Champonship, you name it Rors has won it. Yet every April he faces the same questions from the press: "Is this your year?" and "do you think you'll ever win it?" and "what are you going to do differently this time?". You have to feel for the lad.
Man City finally got their monkey off their back last May by winning the Champions League. Every year Pep faced the same questions as Rory.
It didn't matter that City have won multiple leagues and cups, it was as if not winning the UCL would somehow invalidate Pep's success.
McIlroy has tried so many things in the past years. Starting training early, starting training late, sports physcologists, taking a low profile, a high profile and even taking a break just before it starts.
The temptation to get obsessive must be a so mentally challenging. Pep went too far in the UCL final against Chelsea, overthinking the whole game and starting with Fernandinho on the bench. Chelsea couldn't believe their luck and beat City in the final. What a relief for all involved at City that we got past Inter last season.
Back to Saturday evening, and Ireland just couldn't get over the line.
In a epic match, showcasing all that is good about high level rugby test matches, the All-Blacks edged a quarter-final classic 28-24. They had very cleverly identified a weak spot in the Irish defence and several times dinked a short ball over the defensive line and took full advantage of the lack of cover. They also dominated the line out in the first half, putting Ireland on the back foot. You can never right off the All-Blacks and Ireland just couldn't get going. The galling thing about it is that they would have faced a poor Argentina in the semi-final, so a final appearance was all but nailed on and the perfect platform for Johnny Sexton to retire from. I was gutted for him as was every Irishman and woman and rugby fans the world over, I guess.
As for Lucy Charles-Barclay, she led the race from start to finish.
First out of the water, first off the bike and first over the line in a new Kona course record. At least one monkey got removed!
Now, as world ranked number one and with iconic captain Johnny Sexton approaching retirement, there would never be a better time to get that particular monkey off their back. Lucy Charles-Barclay, on the other hand, has finished second at the World Ironman Championship 4 times in a row. The final always takes place at the triathlon mecca of Kona, Hawaii. It's brutal 3.8 km swim,180 km bike and 42 km run in incredible heat and humidity is the holy grail for swim-bike-runners.
I've followed her journey for years on Youtube and know how desperate she has been to finally win the race on her 5th attempt, especialy as she has reached 30 years old.
To have a monkey on the back must be so, so annoying for professional sports people. Probably the most famous one is Rory McIlroy's inability to win the U.S. Masters. He has literally won everything in the sport except it. The other 3 majors were completed some years ago, he has also won the Ryder Cup home and away, the Race to Dubai, the big money Fed-Ex Cup twice, the "5th Major" the Players' Champonship, you name it Rors has won it. Yet every April he faces the same questions from the press: "Is this your year?" and "do you think you'll ever win it?" and "what are you going to do differently this time?". You have to feel for the lad.
Man City finally got their monkey off their back last May by winning the Champions League. Every year Pep faced the same questions as Rory.
It didn't matter that City have won multiple leagues and cups, it was as if not winning the UCL would somehow invalidate Pep's success.
McIlroy has tried so many things in the past years. Starting training early, starting training late, sports physcologists, taking a low profile, a high profile and even taking a break just before it starts.
The temptation to get obsessive must be a so mentally challenging. Pep went too far in the UCL final against Chelsea, overthinking the whole game and starting with Fernandinho on the bench. Chelsea couldn't believe their luck and beat City in the final. What a relief for all involved at City that we got past Inter last season.
Back to Saturday evening, and Ireland just couldn't get over the line.
In a epic match, showcasing all that is good about high level rugby test matches, the All-Blacks edged a quarter-final classic 28-24. They had very cleverly identified a weak spot in the Irish defence and several times dinked a short ball over the defensive line and took full advantage of the lack of cover. They also dominated the line out in the first half, putting Ireland on the back foot. You can never right off the All-Blacks and Ireland just couldn't get going. The galling thing about it is that they would have faced a poor Argentina in the semi-final, so a final appearance was all but nailed on and the perfect platform for Johnny Sexton to retire from. I was gutted for him as was every Irishman and woman and rugby fans the world over, I guess.
As for Lucy Charles-Barclay, she led the race from start to finish.
First out of the water, first off the bike and first over the line in a new Kona course record. At least one monkey got removed!
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| Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports |
Irish rugby team are a bit # Spursy Delusions of grandeur , always fall short when it really matters . Six nations is a second rate tournament .
ReplyDeleteI got up bloody early on Sunday to watch the game with my Ireland top on and our boys in green can hold their heads high. Never normally watch Rugby but that was a brilliant game to watch. Both teams gave everything. No shame in losing to NZ.
ReplyDeleteAll three of their games were brilliant to watch.
ReplyDeleteI hope England get spanked at the weekend and we have an All-Blacks v SA final
ReplyDelete