A whiff of Cordite

[bails]

When will we see it in the air again.

Any decent memories of moments when there was a whiff of cordite in the air ?
Share them with us.

[bails]

Toulouse May 2010 Heineken Semi Final, despite the rain the atmosphere was crackling and there was a whiff of cordite in the air .

[Hornet]

Toulouse May 2010 Heineken Semi Final, despite the rain the atmosphere was crackling and there was a whiff of cordite in the air .

That was more the whiff of damp Corduroy than Cordite! There was some rain that day!

[kendalgerty]

My favourite of Gerry's stock phrases, as you can guess. You'd have to think at half time in the Leinster dressing room in the HEC final, the whiff of cordite was deep and pungent.

Double headers in the HEC are usually good for getting the whiff of cordite wafting through the nostrils, especially if one side feels they've some scores to settle in the retuen leg... so maybe this month we'll get the sweet sweet scent...

[bails]

That's a good call above.
In the Heineken final, with the whiff of cordite around, Leinster certainly could not afford anyone to be 'hors de combat'.

Anymore 'Gerryisms' out there, share them with us !

[[Jackass]]

The morning dew had hardly settled on the grass when Joe Schmidt rose from bed this morning, the fresh coffee and squeezed orange juice hardly a sufficient preperation for what was to follow. 20 odd years in rugby had gone quickly, but the man from the land famous for kiwi's was galvanized by the prospect for what lay ahead.

One can only imagine the various thoughts running through his head as he removed his slippers, perched on his bedside, and finalised the operation of dressing himself, like a well tuned engine, the pistons of his arms were smooth and silent as the shoes and socks went on.

One wouldn't want to have been the driver in front of Joe as he hastedly made his way to HQ, presumably living up to reputation built, by running stylishly late, he sleaked through the door to the media room, where all were present.

Unfurling a piece of scrappy paper, it was reminicent of the days of Jack Charlton, scrawling on the back of ciggarette packages, a sudden clearing of the throat, and it was time to rock and role:

"The Leinster team for this Saturdays game is as follows..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, just my take on my biggest pet pieve - the stupid weekend papers where they have a one page spread (25% of which is a picture of an silhouette headshot of Joe wearing a cap in a field) where they write absolute sh*te to fill up the spaces to give a tiny bit of rugby information.

[baaba maal]

Not sure about the psychic ebb and flow of this thread

[Hippo]

Not sure about the psychic ebb and flow of this thread

Agreed. It needs the human wrecking ball that is Sean O'Brien.

[Blue not red blood]

Not verbatim but,
And with a 6pm saturday kick off on the Saturday before Christnas, SHOULD MAKE IT CONDUISIVE FOR A LIVELY ATHMOSPHERE. s

[suisse]

For Ireland to operate in World Cup cycles, we need a competitive Autumnal series from the brains-trust and coaching ticket but Declan Kidney, as is his wont, stayed largely quiet on the issue. But whilst Ireland remain a work in progress, Ye Gods, it's about finding a suitable French phrase to complete the sentence.

We have never known times like this.

I'm sure the topic of journo speak has been covered many times before.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Ye Gods, it's about finding a suitable French phrase to complete the sentence.

Open up your copy of Derek Trotters "French Phrases for Beginners."

Monge tout is always a good one.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

One suspects that Leinster will be better prepared for an early onslaught this time and won't allow themselves to be rolled over and have their bellies tickled, particularly with the return of some bloke called Brian in midfield. Even with Cian Healy ruled hors de combats you get the sense that Leinster have the smell of revenge in their nostrils and will take some stopping today. Leinster by ten.

[sid]

Gah, every time I read one of his articles I have a bunch of his phrases in my head thinking "I must use that one next time it comes up on LF". Then I forget them all

[suisse]

For all that, I'd still read Thornley over the 21st Century's biggest spoofer, Hugo Farrelly. There was a time when GT was the go-to-guy for decent analysis in this country, but the way he plays ball with the management and refuses to be critical in any way must be compromising his impartiality as a journalist.

This is not fiction. This is the type of stuff Hugh Farrelly fills the paper with it. Someone who writes this cr@p obviously doesn't have a rugby brain. He fills his paper articles with drivel all the time because he can't make the number of words; the article below is 670 words, yet nearly 150, at the beginning, are complete waffle and horsehit.

In case you doubt me, here is a link: http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/s ... 78625.html

PICK a number between six and 10. Take away five and multiply the result by three. Take that number and square it. Add the digits together (ie 144, 1+4+4 = 9), then subtract four, multiply by two and subtract six.

Correspond the number you are left with to a letter of the alphabet (1=A, 2=B etc) and choose a country starting with that letter. Now, take the second letter from that country and pick an animal whose name starts with that letter.

Take the fourth letter from your animal and think of a colour starting with that letter.

Did you end up with a pink elephant from Denmark? Thought so.

An example of an exercise where, no matter how circuitous your route, you arrive at the same eventuality and one that can be applied to the Ireland rugby team under the current system

Well done to the Che Guevara of Irish sports journalism

[kendalgerty]

On his last appearance on Off the Ball, Gerry tried to make the case that Ireland's back play was good at the world cup, and the lack of a new backs coach was nothing to worry about.

[Edna Kenny]

Gerry rarely ever mentions BOD by name any more, usually referring to him as "the great one" or "you know who". Talismanic is another favourite. I still rate GT as the best.

[rathgarblue]

His odd habit of mentioning anything that links a team back to Ireland:
"Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins are playing Michael Cheika’s Stade Français while Michael Bradley's Edinburgh are up against an Ed O'Donoghue inspired Wasps." (EOD one is stretching it a little)

[Cianostays]

This thread is lacking a certain joie de vivre. As a result I shall have to cry off this topic.

[johng]

His odd habit of mentioning anything that links a team back to Ireland:
"Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins are playing Michael Cheika’s Stade Français while Michael Bradley's Edinburgh are up against an Ed O'Donoghue inspired Wasps." (EOD one is stretching it a little)

Nothing odd about that.

The Brits have been at it for years. Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon anybody?

[gfo]

Gerry rarely ever mentions BOD by name any more, usually referring to him as "the great one" or "you know who". Talismanic is another favourite. I still rate GT as the best.

"I was talking to Fester and Fester said that when Fester played, Fester loved getting in rucks. Fester said hookers like Fester don't get in rucks as much."

You know his nickname. WE GET IT