Two men that have worn the green jersey with pride and, between them, played for three provinces and in three countries.
Tomás O'Leary and Mike McCarthy joined us in studio for the latest episode of
The Hard Yards rugby podcast and looked ahead to the 2018 Six Nations championship. The former Ireland internationals also looked back on an exciting weekend of Champions Cup and tackled one of rugby's most annoying trends.
Recent years have seen an increase of players, who are not team captains, questioning refereeing decisions, appealing on-pitch calls and seeking opposition players to be yellow- or red-carded.
"It's always been there," said O'Leary [
from 40:00 below]. "At the highest levels, with the finest margins, you're trying to get an edge for your team. Senior players, and those that have an ability to influence referees, do it. Some are better than others, and do it with more subtlety."
In Toulon's recent Champions Cup game against Scarlets, referee Wayne Barnes made a point of telling card-seeking Kiwi centre Ma'a Nonu, "You come ask for a yellow card, you get one!"
That seemed to do the trick.
https://youtu.be/qpnV3wmA9yQ
It was a stance backed by fellow referee Nigel Owens and one that we may yet see in the Six Nations. Still, it may take actual yellows to be flashed to cut out this sort of appealing and bellyaching.
https://twitter.com/patmccarry/status/956447172635086848
Here's what else was covered on the show...
EPISODE 47 - RUNNING ORDER
1.20 - What happens when you retire from rugby?
2.00 - Dancing with the Stars
3.40 - Going back playing GAA
5.00 - Returning to hurling
6.30 - Ruck inspectors
7.10 - Dangers of stats - chasing them
11.30 - Challenge of keeping players happy
13.20 - The solution to the Ulster Fly-half dilemma
15.00 - Preparation from Irish teams is superior
18.00 - Twickenham nightmares
21.00 - Ireland's hopes for the Six Nations
29.30 - Mike's knock knock jokes
30.30 - Tadhg Beirne
34.00 - Mike on retirement
36.00 - Ulster in the Challenge Cup
