By Andrew Logan
August 7th 2008 @ 2:19am
The Roar Rugby Review
I could use the same lead in line that I used last week really (”What a week in Australian rugby!”), only this week isn’t nearly as much fun, or as good for rubbing in the face of all those bloody Kiwis, eh bro!
Watch episode six in the series
We were well and truly dished up by a rampant All Blacks team, although there were a couple of encouraging signs which will bode well against the Springboks.
Mat and I talk a bit about the All Blacks loss, and the lead-in to that is a little piece with former Wired World of … sorry … Wide World Of Sports legend, Mike Gibson.
I ran into Gibbo up at the Oaks while a few of us Roarers were having a drink and he did a little interview for us. Thanks Gibbo, and thanks to Roarer Sluggy for holding the camera (if it’s a bit wonky you can guess why).
Also in an effort to get back to the good old days, Mat catches up with our old mate who is back from Newcastle, Matt Burke.
That’s “Fullback Matt Burke”, not “Grand Slam Matt Burke”. There is a full interview to come next week, but we pulled out a little bit of the conversation on the ELVs for you to have a look at.
Finally, we talk a bit of club rugby and we were glad to see the result between our favourite NSW country rugby team, the Narromine Gorillas, and my old nemesis team, Orange Emus.
We won’t spoil it for you, but you can probably guess!
Lots of rugby chat and opinion on the rugby show for insiders – the Roar Rugby Review.
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(6)
Dublin Dave said | August 7th 2008 @ 5:30am | Report comment
Who the hell is that guy??????
I thought you’d be talking to the REAL Mike Gibson. You know, the legendary rugby player. Not some little bloke in a bar that you can’t hear properly anyway because of all the glass clanking and background chatter.
Sold short, lads.
Andrew Logan said | August 7th 2008 @ 9:19am | Report comment
Clearly an Irishman. Sorry DD, but if you were an Aussie you would be washing your mouth out for that bit of sacrilege. Mike “Gibbo” Gibson was the face of Australia’s most popular sporting show, Channel 9’s “Wide World Of Sports” for about 20 years. The faces around him changed, but Gibbo was ever present. If you grew up with sport in Australia - you grew up with Gibbo.
If you can arrange an interview with the OTHER Mike Gibson - we’ll happily include it in the show.
Cheers,
Loges.
Spiro Zavos said | August 7th 2008 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
Mike Gibson the rugby player was the Mike Gibson of Irish rugby: Mike Gibson, the journalist, was the Mike Gibson of Australian sports journalism. I loved the interview with Aussie Mike Gibson and found his analysis of RL and the ELVs rugby union interesting. He was also interesting on Stirling Mortlock and for the first time he has raised the issue of the end of the great player’s Wallaby career.
Great work boys.
ohtani's jacket said | August 7th 2008 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
The interview with Gibson was great. I loved the way he reacted to Andrew’s baiting.
Dublin Dave said | August 7th 2008 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
Andrew
I did once live with Elizabeth Taylor, but I’m afraid I don’t move in sufficiently exalted circles to arrange an interview with THE Mike Gibson.
Not THAT Elizabeth Taylor, obviously. A younger one.
This isn’t the first time an Australian has purloined a legendary Irish rugby player’s name. I believe about 25 years ago there was an Australian racehorse called Ollie Campbell, so called because he once kicked his owner so smartly that he thought he would name his nag after the only person in the world he reckoned could kick as hard as that.
Jockey Club rules insist that a racehorse can only be named after a living person with that person’s consent. So the owner sent a request addressed to “Ollie Campbell, Fly Half, Ireland” and got the answer within two weeks.
Is there no end to your sacrilege?
Andrew Logan said | August 7th 2008 @ 9:31pm | Report comment
DD, I’m starting to wonder whether you are Malachy McCourt operating under the Dublin Dave pseudonym? He is the only other Irishman I know of who knows Elizabeth Taylor personally.
Apropos of nothing except I know you will enjoy the story……….I was talking to a mate of mine the other day and we were remembering a story about a mutual acquaintance who has lived in New York for several years. When he had been there for only a few months, he headed down to a local bar that showed 6 Nations (maybe 5 Nations then?) rugby matches. The owner had them taped and express couriered over the Atlantic (for his own pleasure, not because anyone else actually watched them) so they were shown in the bar the day after they happened. Our mate wanted to catch a particular Ireland game which was bound to be a ripper and so he called the bar and asked the owner if the match was being played that day (a Sunday morning). The owner confirmed that it was. Our mate headed down to the bar at the appointed time and set himself up with a beer,ready for the game to start. The owner asked if he would mind if they held off until one other patron arrived who had called to say he would be in to watch. Our mate said fine….after all there was only him and the owner in the bar anyway. After a few minutes, the door swung open and the patron walked in with a small dog, ordered a beer, and sat down to watch the match….which is how our mate ended up sharing several beers and a winning Irish Test match in a New York bar one Sunday morning with the great actor and rugby man, Richard Harris.
Postscript from Wikipedia “Harris, the fifth of eight children, was born in Limerick City, Ireland, the son of Ivan and Mildred (née Harty) Harris, who owned a flour mill. He was schooled by the Jesuits at Crescent College. A talented rugby player, he was on several Munster Junior and Senior Cup teams for Crescent, and played for the well-respected Garryowen Football Club. He might have become a provincial or international-standard rugby player, but his athletic career was cut short when he contracted tuberculosis in his teens. He remained an ardent fan of Munster provincial rugby team until his death, attending many matches, and there are numerous stories of japes at rugby matches with fellow actors and rugby fans Peter O’Toole and Richard Burton.”