‘Very fittingly, Horgan scored after that overhead catch from ROG’s cross-field kick. It was befitting of the occasion and the setting.’
So says former Ireland fullback Girvan Dempsey, about Shane Horgan’s memorable 2007 try against England, in The New Breed.
Horgan had played club GAA in Meath and, with the English in town to play at Croke Park, Eddie O’Sullivan had a trick up his sleeve.
Draw the defence in and let Ronan O’Gara do his cross-kicking magic.
At the home of GAA, it worked a treat. England were slayed and, it seems, we have been using the tactic ever since.
Most recently, and famously, it did for England in this year’s Six Nations.
Robbie Henshaw claimed a high ball, held off Alex Goode and touch down to score.
Sky Sports, BBC and various other media outlets [us included] lauded Henshaw’s GAA skills and harked back to stories of him playing football for Marists U16s.
We caught up with Shane Horgan, who will on commentary duty for Sky’s coverage of England vs. Ireland* this weekend, and asked him if our GAA leanings are over-egged.
He said, ‘Rugby players now have a wide skill-set but Irish players, I find, often have an advantage because they have played different sports.
‘Whether that is Gaelic football, basketball or handball, that allows you to develop skills and work on areas such as movement.
‘Many players in world rugby grow up playing the one sport but Irish guys take part in a wide spread of sports.
‘You can see with the current team – in players like Robbie and Rob Kearney – that their GAA background has really added to their game.’
*Sky Sports shows live rugby every month of the year including England v Ireland this Saturday at 2.30pm.
