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MY TOP 4 IRFU PLAYERS FROM EACH PROVINCE

Credit: joe.ie 

Finally, we’re onto the province that makes up the basis of the Irish team, my home province, the most talented province. Shall I go on?

 There are many players that are worthy to be noted here; Johnny Sexton, our fabulous Wexford beast Tadhg Furlong alongside an oldie but a goodie Brian O’Driscoll but instead we are ONCE AGAIN back on the International stage again for Leinster with our newly capped, national treasure… JAMES LOWE! Literally the most smiley person to ever live.

Born in New Zealand and of Maori descent, Lowe started playing rugby in high school. He played rugby for a local club for 5 years, as well as playing with the All Blacks on an international level for 3 years before moving to Ireland and signing with Leinster in 2017. He gave up playing with the All Blacks to care for his mother who had a serious stroke, which has left her unable to walk.

He recently qualified for the Irish national team after 3 years residency in the country. He is proud of his Maori roots but has openly stated how much he loves playing for the province, saying ‘Shit man, I love this team.’ He recently signed another 3-year contract with the province. He plays as a wing and has scored 33 tries for the province in the space of 4 years!  He is a fan favourite for the club. Its fair to say that we’re incredibly lucky to have our hands on a former All Black, who is unbelievably proud to be Irish! 

The winger got very emotional during his first international match on the 13th of November 2020. He was clearly holding back tears during the anthems and told the media how much he missed his family being there, as they always pushed him to pursue his rugby career in Ireland! Awww! He then went on to score a try in his first international match!

I have gotten the chance to watch him live in 2 different Leinster vs Munster matches in the 2018-2019 Champions Cup and Pro14 respectively. I watched him get unfairly red carded and disqualified for 4 weeks, which infuriated the entire population of Leinster!   A few months after that, we were in the RDS in Dublin watching Leinster vs Munster again and as the squad was doing the warmups and practice kicks...I got walloped by one of the balls he kicked and expected a rugby ball shaped bruise on my body!  It’s my biggest claim to fame! :)

This ends my series on my top 4 favourite players in each province  *cries in rugby* 

Go raibh míle maith agat! 

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MY TOP 4 IRFU PLAYERS FROM EACH PROVINCE

Credit: Getty Images

We cannot go into this week without mentioning Rory Best. C’mon, great captain, very level-headed on the pitch. I actually got the chance to go to both his and Joe Schmidt’s last match on home soil before they headed to the Rugby World Cup… and I’ll be honest… I cried.

We’re finally staying on home soil with this player, he is NOT an international *sigh* We get the best internationals. BUT he is an absolutely magnificent player with fantastic speed… Yep- you guessed it, it is OF COURSE, Jacob Stockdale.

We’re going to IGNORE the shambles of a performance that oul butterfingers Stockdale provided us with against France.. IT WAS VERY RAINY!  All jokes aside, he is an amazing player with intense pride for his province and his country. His celebrations after numerous tries have provided us with pictures that narrate the intensity of his pride for Ireland, as he grabs the crest on his jersey or kneels to the ground.

2018 was a massive year for the entire squad, they won the Six Nations, Grand Slam and Triple Crown, we bet England at home in Twickenham Stadium on St. Patricks Day, a momentous occasion for the squad and Stockdale, who had scored 7 tries in 4 games, a new record in the Six Nations Championship. In that same year, they bet the All Blacks on Irish soil for the first time ever!

It’s fair to say that Stockdale has an amazing repertoire. He played some amazing games at the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019, however the losing game against the All-Blacks was an all time low for both him and rugby fans. We all make mistakes, we are human, but telling a normally amazing rugby player to ‘go kill himself’ over Twitter, was where fans hit their all time low. He has off days on the pitch, it’s only natural to not be at 100% every game.

Despite this, he is the most driven player and pushes himself every time, the speed he has is like that of a superhuman.

And last...and by NO MEANS LEAST... 

We have Leinster up next!!!

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MY TOP 4 IRFU PLAYERS FROM EACH PROVINCE

Picture Cred: the42.ie 

This week we’re off to Connacht!

I need to start by saying, honourable mention to the great Bundee Aki, I think we all know he’s one of the greatest players to come out of the province. Like Stander last week, Aki is a man to belt out the anthems like there’s nobody watching. We’re proud to call him Irish and to have our hands on such a talented player.

HOWEVER, my choice for favourite Connacht player is Australian-born (are we seeing a trend here of my favourites being international? You bet your ass we are, just wait until Leinster!) Finlay Belham. (pictured below)

Picture Cred: connachtrugby.ie

Belham grew up in Canberra and has played rugby basically all his life. He decided to move to Ireland in 2010 after being rejected by an academy team in Australia. He began playing in Ulster, where his grandmother was from, but was eventually offered a place in the Connacht academy. He plays as a prop as well as either a tighthead or loosehead depending on the situation.

He made his Irish international debut on the U20s team in the 2011 World Cup and has since moved up the ranks. From his 100 Connacht caps, he then got his first Ireland cap in 2016 with the senior team and by the 2019 World Cup had 9 caps for the country. He is generally put on as a replacement and has replaced the likes of Cian Healy and Tadhg Furlong.

He is an underrated player but at only 26 years of age, he has many years left in him. He has a fighting spirit in him and has been lucky to not have suffered as many injuries as his prop counterparts. His most notable injury was a fractured ankle in a Connacht match in early 2020, which caused the ref to immediately stop the match. He has made a great recovery and is currently on our Autumn Nations squad.

 Next week we will travel to Ulster, leaving the LEGENDARY LEINSTER (can you tell I’m a Leinster fan? Is it too obvious?!) until last.

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MY TOP 4 IRFU PLAYERS FROM EACH PROVINCE

Credit: Getty Images

It is a well-known fact that there are 4 provinces in Ireland: Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht. Irish rugby unites us. It is one of the few sports where we cross the border to play as one. As a result, the IRFU has found many talented players from across the country, North and South of the border, as well as from all corners of the globe.

This is a very important factor as my favourite player from the Munster team, is none other than the South African native and proud Irishman, CJ Stander (pictured above). The Munster and Ireland flanker/Number 8 has just been nominated for the 2020 Six Nations Player of the Tournament. He started playing for Munster back in 2012 on a 2-year contract after being told he was ‘too small’ for the South African international team. He later qualified for the Irish team through a 3-year residency in Ireland.   He has won many a Man of the Match awards for Munster and Ireland alike.

As is with most rugby players, Stander has faced many injuries, the most notable one has to be the double cheek and eye socket fracture he sustained during the Six Nations opening match against England in 2019. He was ruled out for 4 weeks. However, it must be said that he CLEARLY doesn’t have the pain threshold of a normal human being as he recalled being run over by his dad’s truck on the family farm when he was 6, saying that it was worse than the rugby injury. He had also broken his nose 6 times between December and February of 2019! 6 TIMES!

CJ Stander is a proud Irishman, I like to believe that the South African management is kicking themselves for rejecting him all those years ago for being ‘too small’. He is a truly inspirational player and his abilities on the pitch are phenomenal. He stands proud for province and country and belts out Amhrán na bhFiann and Ireland’s Call, louder than any of the rest! (excluding Peter O’Mahony, who belts out every note!) For these reasons, it is undeniable that Stander is a special asset in both the Munster and Irish team.

 Next week we have....

CONNACHT!