Archive News
Parks pays his way as ConnachtÕs young guns thrive
Date Published: 13-Dec-2012
THERE’S a hackneyed old sports cliché that refers to a team’s ideal blend of youth and experience. Just where the balance should fall, however, is often the conundrum that defies those charged with the task of selecting the personnel to do duty. Too much or too little of either ingredient can leave a side fatally compromised.
Whether by accident or design, Connacht came up with the perfect amalgam on Friday when an infusion of the exuberance of youth combined with the wisdom and cunning of some of the older generation contrived to produce the shock of the Heineken Cup season and one of the most glorious occasions in the history of rugby in the province.
And, lest the word has not gone out, there was not the slightest element of a fluke about the defeat of once-mighty Biarritz. This was no slugfest in the wind and rain like when Connacht outbattled Harlequins last season, rather it was a clinical demolition in dry conditions of a team with vastly more resources through superior skills and a commendable gameplan.
In fact, it was the visitors who were flattered through their proximity at the finish courtesy of a dubious Harinordoquy try at the death, some less than competent refereeing, and the intervention of the half-time whistle at a stage when Connacht pressure had forced a five-metre scrum.
There’s no denying Connacht’s investment in youth from the start of the season, but with a plethora of injuries to some stalwart players even the most optimistic among us could never have envisaged this outcome, particularly with the hardcore of the pack missing, players of the proven calibre of Nathan White, Michael Swift, John Muldoon and George Naupuo were all out.
Equally, we could never have foreseen the profound impact of their replacements as Michael Kearney, Andrew Browne and Eoin McKeon, and young hooker Jason Harris Wright, proceeded to reveal levels of ability only previously hinted at to assist Connacht assume a crucial dominance up front, and not just in the set piece but also in the loose through the added mobility introduced to the equation by this livewire quartet.
Although not exactly rookies, none had accumulated any extended gametime in the provincial shirt, so the scale of their performances was astounding against battle-hardened big earners from the South of France who could not match the passion or the obduracy of Connacht’s young tyros.
And with props Brett Wilkinson and Ronan Loughney equally having a great deal to prove, having gone from Ireland summer tourists to Connacht bench warmers in the space of a few months, it all manifested itself in a ferocious hunger that left the visitors gasping for air whether the forward contest was in the tight or around the field.
All that was required then was astute leadership and it came in abundance from Mike McCarthy, whose ball-playing skills are a considerable asset for a second row, and Willy Faloon, who has brought an admirable work ethic down from Ulster. His loss for Friday’s return game with a fractured eye socket is enormous and leaves Connacht’s back row options even more depleted. McCarthy’s departure to Leinster at the end of the season is hugely disappointing but entirely understandable from the player’s own point of view in terms of security and ambitions.
What it all amounted to was a marked supremacy in the scrum with each of the props imposing themselves on their vaunted opposite numbers, an exemplary lineout where McCarthy called the shots with impressive shrewdness, and a dogged competitiveness at the breakdown, all ensuring some quality ball for an equally-youthful backline.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
SLIGO 0-9
GALWAY 1-4
FRANK FARRAGHER IN ENNISCRONE
GALWAY’S first serious examination of the 2013 season rather disturbingly ended with a rating well below the 40% pass mark at the idyllic, if rather Siberian, seaside setting of Enniscrone on Sunday last.
The defeat cost Galway a place in the FBD League Final against Leitrim and also put a fair dent on their confidence shield for the bigger tests that lie ahead in February.
There was no fluke element in this success by an understrength Sligo side and by the time Leitrim referee, Frank Flynn, sounded the final whistle, there wasn’t a perished soul in the crowd of about 500 who could question the justice of the outcome.
It is only pre-season and last Sunday’s blast of dry polar winds did remind everyone that this is far from summer football, but make no mistake about it, the match did lay down some very worrying markers for Galway following a couple of victories over below par third level college teams.
Galway did start the game quite positively, leading by four points at the end of a first quarter when they missed as much more, but when Sligo stepped up the tempo of the game in the 10 minutes before half-time, the maroon resistance crumbled with frightening rapidity.
Some of the statistics of the match make for grim perusal. Over the course of the hour, Galway only scored two points from play and they went through a 52 minute period of the match, without raising a white flag – admittedly a late rally did bring them close to a draw but that would have been very rough justice on Sligo.
Sligo were backable at 9/4 coming into this match, the odds being stretched with the ‘missing list’ on Kevin Walsh’s team sheet – Adrian Marren, Stephen Coen, Tony Taylor, Ross Donovan, David Kelly, David Maye, Johnny Davey and Eamon O’Hara, were all marked absent for a variety of reasons.
Walsh has his Sligo side well schooled in the high intensity, close quarters type of football, and the harder Galway tried to go through the short game channels, the more the home side bottled them up.
Galway badly needed to find some variety in their attacking strategy and maybe there is a lot to be said for the traditional Meath style of giving long, quick ball to a full forward line with a big target man on the edge of the square – given Paul Conroy’s prowess close to goal last season, maybe it is time to ‘settle’ on a few basics.
Defensively, Galway were reasonably solid with Gary Sice at centre back probably their best player – he was one of the few men in maroon to deliver decent long ball deep into the attacking zone – while Finian Hanley, Conor Costello and Gary O’Donnell also kept things tight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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