“Robbie Brady and Callum O’Dowda reporting for duty makes this Ireland camp feel like Stephen Kenny went shopping during the transfer window.” So says Gavin Cummiskey as the build-up to this weekend’s international window ramps up a notch. Ahead of Saturday’s Nations League clash with Scotland, O’Dowda speaks about his sparkling return to form with Cardiff while Brady is adamant that he never let the fact he spent stages of this summer without a club affect him mentally in his quest to regain the form that saw him regarded as one of Ireland’s most precious talents: “It has been difficult. The last six to 12 months [Kenny] has left it to me. I wasn’t playing enough football to put myself in contention and I knew that myself.”
The return of the URC last weekend sees Gerry Thornley’s Tuesday column return to these pages. However, instead of focusing on the mixed bag of results for the provinces, the untimely passing of Welsh commentator Eddie Butler is what dominates, Thornley highlighting his own experiences with the former international in his tribute: “It is as the iconic voice of rugby on BBC, eclipsing even the great Bill McLaren, that he will be best remembered and loved. For as well as being intelligent, erudite and articulate, he was blessed with a ridiculously lyrical voice. Whenever the BBC put together a rugby montage with Eddie’s mellifluous voiceovers they were compelling viewing. He could have made reading the telephone directory absorbing.” In more current, province-related news, Andrew Goodman has spoken about his decision to leave the Crusaders and coach at Leinster 12 years after first arriving in Dublin as a player.
In rowing, racing together again as if they’d never been apart, the Irish women’s four crew of Aifric Keogh, Emily Hegarty, Eimear Lambe and Fiona Murtagh - which won Olympic bronze in Tokyo last summer - reunited to win their heat on day two of the Rowing World Championships in Račice, Czech Republic. Zoe Hyde and Sanita Puspure were also first home in their heat of the women’s double sculls, not long after in the lightweight women’s double sculls, Margaret Cremen and Aoife Casey, also landed a win, progressing straight into the A/B semi-finals. The Irish men’s four came second in their heat to also progress at the championships.
Championships are not won in September (any more...), but it’s hard to ignore the surge of energy coming out of the Dublin camp following the news that Paul Mannion and Jack McCaffrey will return to the panel. Seán Moran points out that the Dubs lost to Kerry in this year’s championship by a solitary point even while missing star forward Con O’Callaghan. With the return of those two and the Cuala man’s return to fitness, it is difficult to see that margin holding firm.
