Keith Wood on Ryan Confidential on RTE1 now

madds

Keith Wood on Ryan Confidential on RTE1 now

Amz

He is the walrus, goo goo kachoo!

Much as I like Keith Wood I hate Gerry Ryan more.

zAbbo

There's something very very fake about Keith Woods

philstar

keith wood...irish legend..my hole!!:rolleyes:

what did he ever acheive, as an irish player/captain....sweet FA

he was captain when they failed to reach QFs in 99 losing to Argentina in Lens, and again in 03 when they were thrashed by the french.

no triple crowns, no championships

i always taught he was over-rated

Amz

So are capital letters and correct spelling it seems.

zAbbo

Well you could argue he was the best hooker in the business during his prime, in 03 he probably shouldn't have played, he was crocked, but fair play to him.

I was referring to his personality, there's just something about him, I think Trevor Brennan referred to it in his book as well

columok

keith wood...irish legend..my hole!!

what did he ever acheive, as an irish player/captain....sweet FA

he was captain when they failed to reach QFs in 99 losing to Argentina in Lens, and again in 03 when they were thrashed by the french.

no triple crowns, no championships

i always taught he was over-rated

So a player (one out of fiteen) can only have some worth if the entire team (fiteen) and management (fifty?) achieves something? Keith Wood was a great Irish player, a fantastic leader and a wonderfully dynamic hooker.

Sniipe

ah some of you guys are being to harsh on Keith Woods. He was one of the best players on the team in his hay day, very committed and an inspiration to many young players.

MikeHoncho

philstar wrote: »

keith wood...irish legend..my hole!!:rolleyes:

what did he ever acheive, as an irish player/captain....sweet FA

he was captain when they failed to reach QFs in 99 losing to Argentina in Lens, and again in 03 when they were thrashed by the french.

no triple crowns, no championships

i always taught he was over-rated

So I presume you started watching rugby in the last 2 years then. Anyone who watched rugby during the period Kieth played for Ireland would know that he IS a legend. One of if not the greatest Irish captains of all time. The man was a fookin machine he played with total disregard for his own body and led by example. This was the type of man you would want leading you out onto the pitch. I'd take him in a second over the pre madonas that showed up to the world cup.

Hrududu

Gerry Ryan is an awful tw@t. Did you hear the way he was pushing him about his father? "Was he a terrible drunk?" "Did he embarass you?" "Were you shamed by him?"

marco_polo

philstar wrote: »

keith wood...irish legend..my hole!!:rolleyes:

what did he ever acheive, as an irish player/captain....sweet FA

he was captain when they failed to reach QFs in 99 losing to Argentina in Lens, and again in 03 when they were thrashed by the french.

no triple crowns, no championships

i always taught he was over-rated

No need to read any of your posts in this forum again, if you think Mr Wood is over rated thenI must conclude that you know sweet FA about rugby.

Keith was one of the finest players ever to grace an Ireland shirt. End of.

zabbo wrote: »

Well you could argue he was the best hooker in the business during his prime, in 03 he probably shouldn't have played, he was crocked, but fair play to him.

I was referring to his personality, there's just something about him, I think Trevor Brennan referred to it in his book as well

I though he came across as quite a nice and sincere bloke, then again I coud be biased given he is a fellow clareman. . What was it Brennan alluded to in his book?

ThomasH

Keith Wood was the "Sean Fitzpatrick" of Ireland.

Snickers Man

Wood would be in my All Time Greatest Irish XV, defining All Time as "Players I have actually seen play in my lifetime"

And there were some good hookers over those years as well.

Ken Kennedy
Ciaran Fitzgerald
Steve Smith
John Cantrell
Pa Whelan (a bollox as a manager but a good player)

So he played during the 90s when the team as a whole was rubbish. But he had his few moments as well.
eg Beating France in Paris 2000
Depriving England of the Grand Slam 2003
Coming really close to beating Australia in the World Cup 2003

And loads of magic moments.

ThomasH

Originally Posted by Snickers Man

Wood would be in my All Time Greatest Irish XV, defining All Time as "Players I have actually seen play in my lifetime"

And there were some good hookers over those years as well.

Ken Kennedy
Ciaran Fitzgerald
Steve Smith
John Cantrell
Pa Whelan (a bollox as a manager but a good player)

So he played during the 90s when the team as a whole was rubbish. But he had his few moments as well.
eg Beating France in Paris 2000
Depriving England of the Grand Slam 2003
Coming really close to beating Australia in the World Cup 2003

And loads of magic moments.

Like this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzC4RLKuC_A

bugler

He was a great player. And how people can get his name wrong is beyond me.

patmac

philstar wrote: »

keith wood...irish legend..my hole!!:rolleyes:

what did he ever acheive, as an irish player/captain....sweet FA

he was captain when they failed to reach QFs in 99 losing to Argentina in Lens, and again in 03 when they were thrashed by the french.

no triple crowns, no championships

i always taught he was over-rated

Great to see soccer converts coming over to the rugby forum, but I'd probably learn a bit about the game before posting here first. (It's the only explanation I can think of for the above comment).

Keith Wood never gave anything less than 100% for Ireland, we would have performed much better this year if he was around.

Imhof Tank

Not only was Keith Wood one of the greatest ever to wear the green jersey, he was also one of the greatest Lions – arguably their greatest hooker ever – he is grudgingly respected if not revered in SA for his performances there in 1997, and those guys don’t exactly throw around the plaudits.

The Argentinian hooker in an interview during this tournament cited Fitzpatrick and Wood as the two players who effectively changed how hooker is played in the modern era. Until these two came along, players in their position could never handle and score tries with any regularity. Now hookers are expected to show around the pitch, score and take care of the technical work as well – all because of Fitzpatrick and Wood.

daveirl

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besty

daveirl wrote: »

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Ah come on, you wouldn't begrudge such an exuberant front rower the odd pop at a drop goal would you? I've been partial myself.

Great player and an inspiration on the pitch. I'll never forget Jim Telfer accusing him of "hiding" on the Lions Tour in 97 when he missed his tackle at the fringe of a ruck from which the Springboks scored (At least I think it was a test game)?!

philstar

marco_polo wrote: »

No need to read any of your posts in this forum again, if you think Mr Wood is over rated thenI must conclude that you know sweet FA about rugby.

will you ever get off your high horse

i'm expressing an opinion, and i'm entitled to it.

toomevara

Oh lordy lord, how quickly we forget! Keith Wood was often the diamond embedded firmly in the otherwise steaming turd of many an Irish team, a great, great player by anyones standards, and one for whom, unfortunately, professional rugby came about five years too late.

Always way more than the sum of his parts as was any Irish team on which he played. Totally inspirational with huge charisma and presence. This country poduces few genuinely world class payers but he's definitely one..

I'm always a great believer in differences of opinion and perspective, but how any Irish rugby fan can say that Keith Wood was not a great, well lets just say that lots of fair weather flyers have been attracted of late...

philstar

people must looking back with rose tinted glasses,

not saying he was a bad player, but over-rated

saw him play a few times in landsdowne road, and he was nothing special to be honest.

marco_polo

philstar wrote: »

will you ever get off your high horse

i'm expressing an opinion, and i'm entitled to it.

Of course you are as I am entitled to disagree.

Perhaps you could elaborate on why in your opinion he was overated? Also if you could use examples other than randomly selected defeats of a relatively poor Irish team to highlight your answer that would be great.

philstar wrote:

people must looking back with rose tinted glasses,

not saying he was a bad player, but over-rated

saw him play a few times in landsdowne road, and he was nothing special to be honest.

So a player who was widely accepted to be the best hooker in the world at his peak was "nothing special". Ok so.

toomevara

philstar wrote: »

saw him play a few times in landsdowne road, and he was nothing special to be honest.

Though I do wear glasses, they aint rose tinted (bit on the bloody thick side tho). Last time I saw Mr. K. Wood play in the flesh for Ireland was 2001 at Landsdowne V the English when he scored that winning try off the end of a lineout. I can tell you that day he was very, very special indeed....There are many other matches which spring to mind whether for Harlequins, Munster or Ireland where he was by some margin the best forward on the field, and often the best player...

heggie

stop saying Woods, its WOOD.

EdgarAllenPoo

Who would have been a better captain for Ireland in the 2007 RWC?

Keith Wood would would Keith Wood.


Sorry I couldn't resist.

redmca

I agree with the previous speakers who believe KW was head and shoulders the best hooker this country has produced. Like many Irish in the past (McBride, Gibson, Slattery), his finest moments were playng for the Lions.

As a captain, I can't imagine our performaces in this World Cup would have been this bad if he had been leading the team.

In addition, and maybe the most important, despite his total aggression in playing the game he was never involved in any serious agro with opponents. I can't recall him perpetrating any foul play, can anyone?
A true role model for young players

siochain

man is a legand, fact.

dunser

Keith Wood is a legend. No Player today in the Irish Team can touch him in terms of Leaderhsip, Honesty & commitment & Ability

philstar

dunser wrote: »

Keith Wood is a legend. No Player today in the Irish Team can touch him in terms of Leaderhsip, Honesty & commitment & Ability

john hayes can

nacho libre

philstar wrote: »

john hayes can

Agreed.

tHE vAGGABOND

not in terms of Leadership and Ability - sorry, I disagree. What ever the bull is, he is not a leader. Indeed its a problem in the current Irish team, in that we dont have very many leaders at all.

Woodie was up there with the very best 2 or 3 hookers [and captains] in the world for most of his career. I dont think even the most rabid Munster fan would put the Bull up with the best tight heads in the world?

The fact is [IMHO] that Hayes would not get into any of the 4 RWC semi-finalists teams [and indeed would not get onto any of their benches either IMHO]..

..For most of his career, I think Wood would have been selected by any nation in the world [bar 1 or 2, here or there]


Honesty & commitment - maybe indeed

toomevara

nacho libre wrote: »

Agreed.

Hayes a 'ligind' and no doubt, buckets of heart, commitment etc.. but he doesnt have anything like the leadership ability or intangible X factor which Wood had in spades.

nacho libre

yeah, he wouldn't be the among best players in his position or a charismatic leader of men. I should have stated his passion, commitment and honesty, which seemed to be missing in a lot of Irish players at this RWC, is why i was comparing with Keith Wood. As you both said there the comparison ends, though. Wood would have been good in the dressing room after the Namibia game and he'd have challenged EOS if he was unhappy with what he was doing during the RWC.

daveirl

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nacho libre

daveirl wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

because he probably thought EOS appointment would bring more success. i can't obviously know for sure but with the way thing were going at this RWC, Wood, if he felt the coach deserved criticism, seems like the type of guy who would not be shy in airing it, no matter who it was. I mean afterall he let Martin Johnson know he was not fond of him, when they were both on the BBC for the Six Nations, a few year ago.