Roar Rookie
Joined May 2020
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Currently a contributor of interviews/articles to ExtraTime.ie (a website dedicated to all aspects of Irish football) and looking to branch out into other sports.
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There are speculative reasons why someone who arguably played his best club rugby for a star-studded London Wasps side never received a full Ireland…
A late starter in rugby union and unaware of available steps to carve out an international career outside the country of his birth, it's…
Perhaps the best endorsement of former players making the leap to become referees is that the novelty of a former rugby union player refereeing…
On the periphery of making a shot-putting breakthrough in his native Australia, Tom Court took up rugby union relatively late, overcoming substantial hurdles to…
Thanks bigbaz! I’m glad someone read it, as I thought it might get lost amongst all the excitement of the Wallabies’ achievement last night.
'We had a life experience, as well as the rugby': Peter Bracken reflects on his life in rugby
Sounds like a pretty good mix to me.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Probably right, mzilikazi! I’m guilty of making a statement in the comments section without checking facts.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Tom Court is another one who found it difficult to get a contract with an Australian state side and went to Europe for more opportunities.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Thanks, jeznez! He certainly was. His defensive play and direct running cannot be underestimated.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
That’s correct, fiwiboy7042, but I have heard of County Bondi, so anything is possible.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Ha, ha, Just Nuisance! To be fair, it’s pretty widespread (not just South Africans). It would take a good search to find a country with a 100% born-and-bred rugby squad.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Thanks, Muzzo! I’m pretty sure BO’D would say exactly the same thing about Maggs, as their partnership worked so well on so many levels.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
There has to be, but I’m not sure if the IRFU have similar programmes worldwide or just in the UK at this time.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Thanks, mzilikazi! It seems every country goes down that route now, but it’s also important to get in players who actually want to represent a particular nation for the right reasons.
Kevin Maggs on the search for new Irish rugby stars
Australia’s loss was definitely Ireland’s gain. How Tom got to where he ended up sure is a story with telling.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
Apparently, they didn’t play rugby at Tom’s high school, which would have been another factor in his late introduction.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
Even though it didn’t feature in the finished interview, Tom also mentioned that he was probably one of the last international players to cover both positions, as it’s almost exclusively one or the other in the modern game.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
Thank you all for the positive feedback. I was a little apprehensive, as it’s the first interview I’ve done outside of football. By Tom’s own admission, he’s not known nearly as well here as he is in Ireland, but taking up such a technical sport like rugby relatively late in life and going on to achieve so much on the other side of the world is certainly commendable.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
Tom certainly has taken an unorthodox route given how late he took up the sport.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
Thanks for the kind words. He’s back in Brisbane and working at the University of Queensland.
Sheer bloody-mindedness: Tom Court's rugby rise
To be fair, it is a specialist position. As Peter mentioned in the interview, with that rule change for scrums there’s less danger, so amateur clubs do the best they can with their resources.
'We had a life experience, as well as the rugby': Peter Bracken reflects on his life in rugby