Girvan Dempsey confirms his retirement

chupacabra

Girve the swerve has today confirmed that he will retire from rugby at the end of the season. He has been such a servant to irish rugby over the years and i wish him all the best in wherever life takes him.

Here is one of my more memorable moments from his great career:

Podge_irl

Hopefully he'll give us a couple more swerves for old times sake in the final (hopefully) three games.

anonymous_joe

/sadface

toomevara

Fantastic player, understated, no-nonsense, solid as a rock...everything you want in a 15, good luck to him.

Eoin

toomevara wrote: »

Fantastic player, understated, no-nonsense, solid as a rock...everything you want in a 15, good luck to him.

Couldn't agree with you more.A player with a lot of pace, but it's disguised by superb positioning. It might be coincidence, but I think since around the time Cheika took over in Leinster, Dempsey seemed to back himself a bit more and make a lot more yards than he is given credit for.

toomevara

toomevara wrote: »

Fantastic player, understated, no-nonsense, solid as a rock...everything you want in a 15, good luck to him.

Pretty much sums up the lad to a tee!

Didn't understand the term mistake

BBDBB

a terrific servant to club and country

all the best to him for the future

PhatPiggins

eoin wrote: »

Couldn't agree with you more.A player with a lot of pace, but it's disguised by superb positioning. It might be coincidence, but I think since around the time Cheika took over in Leinster, Dempsey seemed to back himself a bit more and make a lot more yards than he is given credit for.

+1 I always had him down as a solid no nonsense 15 but he had/has an eye for the angles and the pace to exploit them.

I can still remember when he made his Irish debut

durkadurka

Excellent career for club and country for the girvanator.

bamboozle

durkadurka wrote: »

Excellent career for club and country for the girvanator.

excellant positioning, excellant hands, great all round game, if only he wasnt from the gick!

LF1

What always amazed me about Dempsey was how slight he was yet never missed any tackles.
I always wondered if the likes of Ronan O'Gara, Geordan Murphy and Shaun Berne ever felt ashamed, here was a player smaller than them that never missed tackles nor made a cowardly half arsed speed bump esque attempt at one. He commited his body everytime. I think that knock he took to his neck was probably the final nail for him. As he was coming off I knew it would be his last season, just had a feeling.

A brave player that will be missed.

ozt9vdujny3srf

.o>

Dave_The_Sheep

That's disappointing news alright. A very good player who was unfortunate to be in behind Kearney for the last year or two, and Nacewa for Leinster, as well as injuries.

Rock solid at full back, popped up with some very important tries over the years, never someone you could remember a massive mistake from in any game. Superb reading of the game, leading to great positioning and a deceptive counterattacking style that disguised that he was actually quite effective going forward, something not many give him credit for (overshadowed by Murphy there I feel). 82 caps for Ireland, not bad going at all.

thomond2006

Great player for Leinster and Ireland.

phog

Was a great player and will be missed, I thought he should have got the call-up as fullback for Ireland when Kearney withdrew injured during the 6Ns.

_blank_

LF1 wrote: »

What always amazed me about Dempsey was how slight he was yet never missed any tackles.
I always wondered if the likes of Ronan O'Gara, Geordan Murphy and Shaun Berne ever felt ashamed, here was a player smaller than them that never missed tackles nor made a cowardly half arsed speed bump esque attempt at one. He commited his body everytime. I think that knock he took to his neck was probably the final nail for him. As he was coming off I knew it would be his last season, just had a feeling.

A brave player that will be missed.

Nothing to do with ANY other player.

Keep this thread to a discussion to Girvan Dempsey, not as a sideswipe at other players.

Any more of this, and we'll be dishing out cards and/or bans

Do not discuss this post an further on this thread either

Thanks

The Mods

Pride Fighter

I'll always remember the try against England in 04. The sheer bravery to take it the way he did and the teamwork beforehand. He was subbed shortly afterwards cause he was kicked badly in the ribs by an English player while scoring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdWnhH_Pj74

Thank you for the memories.

Pride Fighter

Pride Fighter wrote: »

I'll always remember the try against England in 04. The sheer bravery to take it the way he did and the teamwork beforehand. He was subbed shortly afterwards cause he was kicked badly in the ribs by an English player while scoring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdWnhH_Pj74

Thank you for the memories.

Ben Cohen, a reckless challenge that went unnoticed simply because Dempsey got the try.

A great servant to Irish Rugby.

Podge_irl

Deleted User wrote: »

Ben Cohen, a reckless challenge that went unnoticed simply because Dempsey got the try.

A great servant to Irish Rugby.

Should have restarted with a penalty to Ireland. Cohen slid feet first into Dempsey. Nasty stuff.

Excellent, excellent try though. He scored a fair few important ones over the years.

phog

Podge_irl wrote: »

Should have restarted with a penalty to Ireland. Cohen slid feet first into Dempsey. Nasty stuff.

Excellent, excellent try though. He scored a fair few important ones over the years.

I can opnly recall one case of restart with a penalty after a try being scored but it would have been the correct call in this instance.

Brian P

You always felt save when he was there to make the try saving tackle.Good going forward also... if underrated by most pundits.He retires with Triple crowns and Heineken cup.....not bad when you think of it.
I first saw him play with Terenure when he scored a try against Shannon which Terenure won in a shock result in Tipperary(Thomond park being redeveloped 2nd last time) during the latter end of Shannon's 4 in a row in the late 90s .

jackcee

Ah Girvan - what a shame that time, as always, has caught up.

In the professional era, has any player been as underrated.

In ALL aspects of the game, he can be set up there as a role model.

In terms of doing the right thing, he was exemplary.

Has anyone ever gone "Well feck you, Girvan"???

Me neither.

buck65

Good luck to Girvan, a good pro with superb aerial skills and a trustee boot with an ability to score crucial tries. A loss to Leinster.

dub_skav

truly great player. I was always on his side in the tedious murphy, dempsey debate. Underrated in attack and unparalleled in defence. Stepping down to let young guys through, classy to the end

LFC5Times

bamboozle wrote: »

excellant positioning, excellant hands, great all round game, if only he wasnt from the gick!

What a knob of a comment!!!

Who cares where he is from.

Anyway back on topic - I think everybody who has posted already has summed him up.

Solid and dependable being the two key words I associated with him.

durkadurka

LFC5Times wrote: »

What a knob of a comment!!!

Who cares where he is from.

Anyway back on topic - I think everybody who has posted already has summed him up.

Solid and dependable being the two key words I associated with him.

Can noone crack a joke anymore?

Stev_o

Not the most naturally talented player Ireland have ever produced but certainly one of the most safe players you could trust in to give all he had with a very low error rate. He's done his province and country proud in his time as a professional rugby player.

Eoin

Stev_o wrote: »

Not the most naturally talented player Ireland have ever produced but certainly one of the most safe players you could trust in to give all he had with a very low error rate. He's done his province and country proud in his time as a professional rugby player.

I think that's understating his talent somewhat - he was a lot more than a safe pair of hands. He regularly beat the first tackle a lot more times than people give him credit for, and he has a very good eye for choosing his angles on supporting runs.

buck65

eoin wrote: »

I think that's understating his talent somewhat - he was a lot more than a safe pair of hands. He regularly beat the first tackle a lot more times than people give him credit for, and he has a very good eye for choosing his angles on supporting runs.

Good post Eoin, to write him off as a safe , dependable player only is a disservice to him.
Wtf is the Gick anyway??

Derek Zoolander

buck65 wrote: »

Good post Eoin, to write him off as a safe , dependable player only is a disservice to him.
Wtf is the Gick anyway??

from 'Nure

durkadurka

LFC5Times wrote: »

What a knob of a comment!!!

Who cares where he is from.

Anyway back on topic - I think everybody who has posted already has summed him up.

Solid and dependable being the two key words I associated with him.

Derek Zoolander wrote: »

from 'Nure

Its a serious blot on his character...

Bugnug

Derek Zoolander wrote: »

from 'Nure

wtf is 'nure? Is that the way you talk?

irishbucsfan

durkadurka wrote: »

Its a serious blot on his character...

They produced Brian Blayney. They're a powerhouse of Irish rugby

irishbucsfan

Bugnug wrote: »

wtf is 'nure? Is that the way you talk?

Terenure. Known as the gick. It's slang in dublin, its been around for years.

God, you'd swear some people have never even read a Ross O'Carroll-Kelly book.

Teferi

As a proud 'Nure man I am devestated to see him go. Great servant of the game and if all the stories are to be believed of him then he's an absolute gent on and off the field.

Aidric

Bit of a Conor O Shea vibe off the swerve and them both full backs. A dependable sort without ever being special. He served province and country well. Hope he has a good retirement and stays involved with the game at some level.

fergywergy

It might be coincidence, but I think since around the time Cheika took over in Leinster, Dempsey seemed to back himself a bit more and make a lot more yards than he is given credit for.








well said think i only started to appreciate his reliability in the last few years and he has been a terrific servant and an exemplary professional.

Hippo

Has a great reputation as 'dependable', but 19 international tries and 4th in the all-time Ireland try-scoring list suggests he brought rather more to the game than just an ability to catch garryowens.

profitius

eoin wrote: »

I think that's understating his talent somewhat - he was a lot more than a safe pair of hands. He regularly beat the first tackle a lot more times than people give him credit for, and he has a very good eye for choosing his angles on supporting runs.

I always thought he lacked belief in himself. It's probably a result of safety first Irish coaching of the 90's. Dempsey had the ability to have been even more dangerous in attack.

thomond2006

profitius wrote: »

I always thought he lacked belief in himself. It's probably a result of safety first Irish coaching of the 90's. Dempsey had the ability to have been even more dangerous in attack.

Matt Williams made a similar point on Off The Ball.

anonymous_joe

Aidric wrote: »

Bit of a Conor O Shea vibe off the swerve and them both full backs. A dependable sort without ever being special. He served province and country well. Hope he has a good retirement and stays involved with the game at some level.

Don't think that rings true with O'Shea. He was unreal in England and a lot of Irish fans don't regard his international career as remotely successful. Personally think that's a tad harsh, but that's how it goes.

Dempsey was a great player, and one who made superb use of his mind, and of his excellent positional sense. One of my favourite players to watch when in the RDS just to see how to properly position yourself.