A whiff of Cordite

[Scott]

Let's at least wait until tomorrow's On Rugby column before sending out the search parties.

Wouldn't even send up a flare for the guy. Blandest articles that offer zero insight or analysis - reads like he runs every word by 10/12 Lansdowne Road before his editor. Useless rugby jurnalist.

[Broken Wing]

He may well have gone native but for a long time his was the first and often only rugby piece to be read in any of the Irish papers.

[Amz]

So, rather than expecting him to maintain, or at least attempt to reach a high standard, we should just stick with him because of that?

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I think he's writing for l'équipe now...oh hang on I'm reading one of his old IT columns.

[Blue not red blood]

I say that we should bring back Ned Van Horseback./
As a side issue you do know that in order to be the IT main rugby man, you have to support Arsenal.
Van Horseback`s house was called Highbury afik

[Apocrypha]

I say that we should bring back Ned Van Horseback./
As a side issue you do know that in order to be the IT main rugby man, you have to support Arsenal.
Van Horseback`s house was called Highbury afik

You do know that he died years ago, don't you?

He was a Munster fan too. Came from Cork, went to Pres...but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

[johng]

Ned Van Horseback.

You do know that he died years ago, don't you?

Really? I thought he was still going. He was still writing up to about 5 years ago. I thought he just retired.

[Blue not red blood]

I say that we should bring back Ned Van Horseback./
As a side issue you do know that in order to be the IT main rugby man, you have to support Arsenal.
Van Horseback`s house was called Highbury afik

You do know that he died years ago, don't you?

He was a Munster fan too. Came from Cork, went to Pres...but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

Nah still think he is alive and kicking

[Apocrypha]

I say that we should bring back Ned Van Horseback./
As a side issue you do know that in order to be the IT main rugby man, you have to support Arsenal.
Van Horseback`s house was called Highbury afik

You do know that he died years ago, don't you?

He was a Munster fan too. Came from Cork, went to Pres...but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

Nah still think he is alive and kicking

If true then I'm very glad to be proved wrong. He must be nigh on 100, at this stage.

Good innings ol' boy - he is/was a great fan of cricket too!

[deco]

but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for one teams 5 point victory against a mediocre team:
Sexton's boot saves Leinster's blushes
Bath 13 Leinster 18: MATCHES ARE defined by opportunities, those taken and those spurned. Leinster just about managed to get the balance right to ensure victory at the Recreation Ground yesterday but came perilously close to toppling ignominiously.

It was difficult to comprehend how they managed to edge so close to the precipice of defeat because on any other day they might have scored four tries, should have crossed for two but ended up with none. This morning’s post-match video analysis and reflection will be excruciating individually and collectively.

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for another teams 3 point victory against a mediocre team:
Munster relish the battle with usual gusto
Scarlets 14 Munster 17 : IT WAS a performance fired in the forge of traditional Munster virtues, shaped by perspiration and defined by cussedness in adversity. The aesthetics, rugby wise, of the contest won’t matter a jot to a vociferous travelling Munster contingent in a Heineken Cup record crowd for the Parc y Scarlets cathedral of 13,185.

They craved a win and they got it, albeit without quite the same anxiety as previous games in the tournament. It was far from comfortable, just a little less fraught and in some respects a continuation of a theme. Three victories, two away from home, unbeaten and proudly ensconced on top of Pool One; the bald statistics read well.

[Cianostays]

but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for one teams 5 point victory against a mediocre team:
Sexton's boot saves Leinster's blushes
Bath 13 Leinster 18: MATCHES ARE defined by opportunities, those taken and those spurned. Leinster just about managed to get the balance right to ensure victory at the Recreation Ground yesterday but came perilously close to toppling ignominiously.

It was difficult to comprehend how they managed to edge so close to the precipice of defeat because on any other day they might have scored four tries, should have crossed for two but ended up with none. This morning’s post-match video analysis and reflection will be excruciating individually and collectively.

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for another teams 3 point victory against a mediocre team:
Munster relish the battle with usual gusto
Scarlets 14 Munster 17 : IT WAS a performance fired in the forge of traditional Munster virtues, shaped by perspiration and defined by cussedness in adversity. The aesthetics, rugby wise, of the contest won’t matter a jot to a vociferous travelling Munster contingent in a Heineken Cup record crowd for the Parc y Scarlets cathedral of 13,185.

They craved a win and they got it, albeit without quite the same anxiety as previous games in the tournament. It was far from comfortable, just a little less fraught and in some respects a continuation of a theme. Three victories, two away from home, unbeaten and proudly ensconced on top of Pool One; the bald statistics read well.

I simply wouldn't bother with the way some journo's report the matches.

When you compare the 2 articles, it's pretty frustrating but hardly surprising. Taken by itself, the opening paragraph to our performance is, I believe, fair enough. I prefer to stick with the analysis from posters on here these days.

[tate]

I must admit that annoyed me a bit on Monday morning.

I rationalised like this though:

1. We did have 2 good chances of scoring tries, and 2 reasonable long shots which we didn't take. Say 12 points left behind, which would have made the score more convincing.
2. More is expected of us, in general and as defending Champs, and thus we are obviously judged to a higher standard than our Shelbyvillian neighbourinhos.

[deco]

The gas thing is...both articles are written by the same "journalist"

[LeRouxIsPHat]

I prefer to stick with the analysis from posters on here these days.

Plus one. I tend to get frustrated reading match reports and the likes because I just don't think they have the knowledge of people on here and there's nobody who offers anything particularly insightful. To be fair to the journalists it helps that there's a variety of opinions on here but even so I think the quality is a lot better...with certain people.

I know nobody takes Hook seriously anyway but I would genuinely wonder if he could name a first choice Ulster or Connacht 15 and I'm sure that he hasn't a clue about any of the young players coming through in any of the provinces. I know he's not exactly representative of the entire media but that kind of thing (and admittedly I'm just working off an assumption) makes me lose faith in the media and when you compare his nonsensical ramblings to ceemec's analysis or Hugonaut's stat attacks then there really is no comparison at all.

[Cianostays]

I prefer to stick with the analysis from posters on here these days.

Plus one. I tend to get frustrated reading match reports and the likes because I just don't think they have the knowledge of people on here and there's nobody who offers anything particularly insightful. To be fair to the journalists it helps that there's a variety of opinions on here but even so I think the quality is a lot better...with certain people.

I know nobody takes Hook seriously anyway but I would genuinely wonder if he could name a first choice Ulster or Connacht 15 and I'm sure that he hasn't a clue about any of the young players coming through in any of the provinces. I know he's not exactly representative of the entire media but that kind of thing (and admittedly I'm just working off an assumption) makes me lose faith in the media and when you compare his nonsensical ramblings to ceemec's analysis or Hugonaut's stat attacks then there really is no comparison at all.

Ah but these posters lack the utterly random french phrases or the ludicrous similies that mark out a true Irish rugby journalist

[ronk]

but then all rugby writers and the entire Irish media favour Munster, right?

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for one teams 5 point victory against a mediocre team:
Sexton's boot saves Leinster's blushes
Bath 13 Leinster 18: MATCHES ARE defined by opportunities, those taken and those spurned. Leinster just about managed to get the balance right to ensure victory at the Recreation Ground yesterday but came perilously close to toppling ignominiously.

It was difficult to comprehend how they managed to edge so close to the precipice of defeat because on any other day they might have scored four tries, should have crossed for two but ended up with none. This morning’s post-match video analysis and reflection will be excruciating individually and collectively.

Irish Times headline & opening paragraph for another teams 3 point victory against a mediocre team:
Munster relish the battle with usual gusto
Scarlets 14 Munster 17 : IT WAS a performance fired in the forge of traditional Munster virtues, shaped by perspiration and defined by cussedness in adversity. The aesthetics, rugby wise, of the contest won’t matter a jot to a vociferous travelling Munster contingent in a Heineken Cup record crowd for the Parc y Scarlets cathedral of 13,185.

They craved a win and they got it, albeit without quite the same anxiety as previous games in the tournament. It was far from comfortable, just a little less fraught and in some respects a continuation of a theme. Three victories, two away from home, unbeaten and proudly ensconced on top of Pool One; the bald statistics read well.

I simply wouldn't bother with the way some journo's report the matches.

When you compare the 2 articles, it's pretty frustrating but hardly surprising. Taken by itself, the opening paragraph to our performance is, I believe, fair enough. I prefer to stick with the analysis from posters on here these days.

Actually looking at those paragraphs makes it seem to me that it's a case of tailoring to the audiences. Both are verbose, the Leinster message is about expecting standards in performance and going off the video room to iron out the creases. The message to Munster fans is one of the result being everything and the quality of rugby being trivial. It was a win, not quite so last gasp, the end.

From that point of view, maybe it's harsh on Munster. They took their try well and weren't exactly bereft of ideas.

[tate]

GT back in the saddle this morning. Must have been on his holliers, as LeRoux (?) guessed.

[suisse]

He may well have gone native but for a long time his was the first and often only rugby piece to be read in any of the Irish papers.

Sadly, that is irrelevant now. I agree, there was a point when rugby coverage started and ended with Thornley - or Lord Gezza as his fans called him here - but since the wheels came off the Grand Slam coached team, GT has been hovering over junk status ever since. The failure to read the game and the situation like we know he can is brutal, and his professionalism must be called into question. Where is the GT who snapped down the airwaves when pondering why Reddan wasn't being selected in the 2007 RWC? He was a passionate journalist then; now he merely plays ball. The lack of constructive criticism is unnerving. He has also started to use words like "maybe" and "possibly" in articles not to offend too many people, even when his point should be preceded by "clearly" or "abso-f%~king-lutely."

GT has gone soft in his old age. He words are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. He's still better than Farrelly.....(don't take it as some consolation Gerry)

[fourthirtythree]

He may well have gone native but for a long time his was the first and often only rugby piece to be read in any of the Irish papers.

Sadly, that is irrelevant now. I agree, there was a point when rugby coverage started and ended with Thornley - or Lord Gezza as his fans called him here - but since the wheels came off the Grand Slam coached team, GT has been hovering over junk status ever since. The failure to read the game and the situation like we know he can is brutal, and his professionalism must be called into question. Where is the GT who snapped down the airwaves when pondering why Reddan wasn't being selected in the 2007 RWC? He was a passionate journalist then; now he merely plays ball. The lack of constructive criticism is unnerving. He has also started to use words like "maybe" and "possibly" in articles not to offend too many people, even when his point should be preceded by "clearly" or "abso-f%~king-lutely."

GT has gone soft in his old age. He words are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. He's still better than Farrelly.....(don't take it as some consolation Gerry)

Kidney. The Munster media management machine has continued on to Ireland. I mean fair play to Kidney, he says nothing, and he makes sure nobody else says anything either.

[kendalgerty]

GT's back alright, and back to what he does best, bemoaning the penalty count for losing Irish teams. His assertion that Connacht are the 'Italians of Europe' is a bit glib, to say the least.