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Mary Hannigan: Bundee Aki promises there’s more to come after picking up rugby writers’ award

Nichola Fryday has no regrets about retirement; Andrew Porter ready for his close-up; and Beckenbauer’s time with New York Cosmos

Bundee Aki at the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland Awards, Guinness Storehouse, Dublin, on Wednesday. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Thu Jan 11 2024 - 10:43

This time last year, as Gerry Thornley notes, Bundee Aki wasn’t even in Connacht’s matchday squad for their Champions Cup games, but 12 months on and there he was collecting the Guinness Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year award, becoming the first man from the province to be so honoured since Eric Elwood a whole three decades ago.

While Aki promised there is a lot more still to come from him in both the Connacht and Irish shirts, the focus from now on for the women’s player of the year will solely be on club rugby, Nichola Fryday having announced her retirement from the international game back in July. She has no regrets either about that decision, as David Gorman heard her say, the Tullamore native enjoying her free time in a considerably less busy schedule.

Andrew Porter, though, doesn’t quite know what to do with his free time when he’s off duty. He will feature soon in a Netflix series of documentaries focussing on the Six Nations, having had one of their crews follow him around for two days. He’s not sure if his contribution will be all that exhilarating. “I brought them to the gym for four hours and I brought them to walk the dog. Jesus, you’re in for some viewing.”

In Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy writes about that foggy Glen v Kilmacud Crokes encounter in Newry, while Gordon Manning takes a look at the findings of the research commissioned by Lidl in to attitudes towards women’s sport.

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Dave Hannigan, meanwhile, reflects on Franz Beckenbauer’s time with New York Cosmos, during which he led them to three titles in four years. “Given everything else he achieved, his four seasons with the Cosmos are often relegated to the footnotes. But, here, he left an indelible mark too.”

In golf, Philip Reid heard Rory McIlroy talk about his hopes for 2024, both on a personal level and for the sport as a whole. Included in his schedule is, of course, an Olympic trip to Paris, and joining him in the Irish team will be 19-year-old sailor Eve McMahon who secured her qualification at this week’s ILCA6 World Championships in Argentina. David Branigan fills us in on that achievement.

Back home, Ian O’Riordan was at the Pendulum Summit in Dublin to hear from Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof, aka The Iceman. Among his 21 world records are “the longest ice bath (1 hour, 52 minutes and 42 seconds), and running to 23,600 feet altitude at Mount Everest, wearing nothing but shorts and shoes”. It’s not the same way we all go.

TV Watch: Rory McIlroy and Tom McKibben kick-start their 2024 at the Dubai Invitational which is already under way today (Sky Sports Golf, 7.30am-12.30pm), while Séamus Power will be in action at the Sony Open in Hawaii (Sky Sports Golf, 5pm-midnight). And it’s day two at cycling’s European Track Championships (Eurosport 2, 5.30pm-9.15pm).