Ian Dowling Retires from Rugby

TheRevolution

Very unfortunate for him. I thought he was a solid player who always played his heart out.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/8890.php

hardCopy

Very sad to see such a young player forced out of the game.

Best of luck to him.

phog

I'm gutted for him, he one of my favourite players and always gave 110%.

Best of Luck to him.

buck65

Always feared that this was coming. A real workhorse on the wing, great sense of positioning and defensively sound. Scored some very important tries for us and a crowd favourite. Was at the Sale game when himself and Barry Murphy announced themselves on the big stage with great tries.
A big loss, best of luck Ian.

vetinari

That's a shame. Always gave it his all for Munster and like buck65 was very sound defensively. A very handy player. Best of luck to him with the physio career.

wixfjord

Now there's a guy I'm sorry to see go.
Made a great career for himself, with, lets face it, limited talent, and won two Heineken Cups from it.
Even Ireland's greatest player currently has one HC!

Fair play Ian, hopefully Munster will reward him with a nice corporate gig


And one final word for his behind. My, what a massive arse he had, a thing of beauty as it made it's way down the wing!

Podge_irl

vetinari wrote: »

Always gave it his all for Munster and like buck65 was very sound defensively.

I heard Buck has ****e defence.


Never liked him much as a player, but he was a model professional. A lot of more "talented" players could learn a lot from his work ethic.

bamboozle

a shame, he's a good role model for young academy players as an indicator of how the right attitude and hard work is so important in a professional rugby career.

wicklowdub

Feel sorry for the lad.

theofficepest2

wixfjord wrote: »

Now there's a guy I'm sorry to see go.
Made a great career for himself, with, lets face it, limited talent, and won two Heineken Cups from it.
Even Ireland's greatest player currently has one HC!

Fair play Ian, hopefully Munster will reward him with a nice corporate gig


And one final word for his behind. My, what a massive arse he had, a thing of beauty as it made it's way down the wing!

That was such a gracious post with let's face it, limited talent :pac:

Dowling you legend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QVUKGKbRKw

thomond2006

Gutted for him, was solid as a rock for us whenever he played.

Best of luck to him in the future, he will be missed.

Picture gallery of his career: http://www.munsterrugby.ie/rugby/8892.php

RuggieBear

shame.

WeeBushy

Put his incredible work ethic with the talents of say caucau and you would've had a scarily good player...

Was never a big fan of his playing style, but i have a huge amount of respect for the effort and honesty with which he played the game. A real squad player and someone, I would imagine, who will be geatly missed in the Munster set up. As wixfjord pointed out - the fact that he has 2 HC medals is a real testament to his work ethic.

Never nice to see a player retire from injury, it is a cruel aul sport. Best of luck with whatever he does in the future.

Risteard

Sad to hear about this. Dowling was an important part of the Munster teams that won the HCs. In a way he epitomised those teams, not flashy or dripping with flair. But an incredible worker and extremely consistent, defensively solid and rarely lost the ball in contact, hard to remember a game where he was really poor. He was the winger that suited our style of play and with the signing of Carney, I suppose there was a speculation about Dowling's place considering Carney had been impressive in his first few games and had incredible pace, but Dowling held him out and fought for his position. Always sad to see a player retire due to injury.

PhatPiggins

Are we only allowed to say positive things?

If not then he's no loss to the squad considering the palyers we have in his position.

Did well consdering his lack of natural talent but I always thought of him as symbolic of Munsters lack of backline creativity.

Micky Dolenz

Best of luck in your future endeavours.

CatFromHue

PhatPiggins wrote: »

If not then he's no loss to the squad considering the palyers we have in his position.

Did well consdering his lack of natural talent but I always thought of him as symbolic of Munsters lack of backline creativity.

sackey wouldnt have scored his try in the game away to toulon on dowlings wing.

he may not have been the most creative of players but he always gave all he had.

does anyone know what exactly the problem with his hip was?

Cpt_Blackbeard

Fantastically dependable player who would never leave the team down. He stood for everything good about Munster Rugby and its extremely sad to see such a young player retire due to injury.

I saw him walking around UL last week and it was clear that he hadn't recovered fully from the hip injury and would have a long road ahead before playing rugby again.

I just hope that he is the only Munster player to hang up his boots due to injury in the near future.

riskyOz

Good underrated player. Will be missed !

LostPassword

Not a silky winger, but an excellent ball carrier with great physicality and solid and committed defence. Munster miss him already.

garhjw

shame his career has ended early but he achieved a lot and can be proud of his achievements

razorblunt

Sad news for the guy, but at 28 he's won a hell of alot more than alot of guys in the game.

For passion, effort and commitment he can't be faulted. Best of luck to him whatever he does.

phog

Ian was on Newstalk tonight, just listening to him on Listenback

Part 2 of the show then fast forward to about 47mins.

LuckyGent88

Very unfortunate for him. It seems to happening a lot more that players have to retire early deu to injuries.

Very solid player who could always to be trusted in defence. Always gave 100%.
Best of luck in the future Ian.

Judgement Day

wixfjord wrote: »

Now there's a guy I'm sorry to see go.
Made a great career for himself, with, lets face it, limited talent, and won two Heineken Cups from it.
Even Ireland's greatest player currently has one HC!

Fair play Ian, hopefully Munster will reward him with a nice corporate gig


And one final word for his behind. My, what a massive arse he had, a thing of beauty as it made it's way down the wing!

I thought ROG was in the 2006 and 2008 HC winning teams.

Never nice to see a player forced to retire.

An able if not flashy servant to Munster Rugby.

Wish him the best.

Zzippy

Sad to see him have to retire, I'm sure its a big blow to have your career taken away so early. Hopefully he remains involved in the game...
For such a limited player* he achieved so much. Funny that...




* as he has been described here

buck65

He always held his place in the top European team of the past 5 years, scored tries, defended well, strong in contact - how the hell was he limited? His pace was his only weakness but he was so positionally aware that it was rarely exposed.
I remember he came on for Howlett against Treviso last season after recovering from injury and really grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck when we looked in real trouble and scored a valuable try.

Otacon

I always enjoyed watching Dowling play. He was never flashy and was never going to skin a player, but when he commited to a tackle, or just appeared in the right place at the right time, it always gave me confidence.

Good luck in the future Ian.

Sin a bhfuil

buck65 wrote: »

He always held his place in the top European team of the past 5 years, scored tries, defended well, strong in contact - how the hell was he limited? His pace was his only weakness but he was so positionally aware that it was rarely exposed.
I remember he came on for Howlett against Treviso last season after recovering from injury and really grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck when we looked in real trouble and scored a valuable try.

Even though his pace was his one weakness, I seem to remember him getting back very rapid to make a successful last ditch tackle very early in the game against the ABs. Ashton didn't get a sniff of a try either when Dowling was on the wing when Munster played Northampton.

Munster have missed and will miss him even more now that he is retired. Great player, great attitude. Best of luck to him in the future. If he applies the same workrate as he has to his rugby, he will be a success at whatever he does.

Aidric

phog wrote: »

Ian was on Newstalk tonight, just listening to him on Listenback

Part 2 of the show then fast forward to about 47mins.

Listened to that just there. The poor bloke sounds cut up and startled with the news. Only 28 ffs and talking about hip replacements.

I hope he goes well in his future studies and still contributes something to the game.

frankie2shoes

Disapointed to hear so many negative comments here. Ian was a great professional player who will be sorely missed in irish rugby. Irish rugby will miss him...............best of luck to ya in whatever ya do next!

PhatPiggins

frankie2shoes wrote: »

Disapointed to hear so many negative comments here. Ian was a great professional player who will be sorely missed in irish rugby. Irish rugby will miss him...............best of luck to ya in whatever ya do next!

Would you rather people lied and only said nice things?

As an aside who has the higher tries per game ratio, Marcus Horan or Ian Dowling?

phog

PhatPiggins wrote: »

As an aside who has the higher tries per game ratio, Marcus Horan or Ian Dowling?

I haven't checked but your post would seem to indicate Marcus. TBH, making comparisons like that is bull. You need to look at how Munster played their game it that period, it was mainly forward orientated.

When I look att he scorebaord I dont give a fiddlers who scores once Munster is in front.

buck65

PhatPiggins wrote: »

Would you rather people lied and only said nice things?

As an aside who has the higher tries per game ratio, Marcus Horan or Ian Dowling?

Your attitude is a bit disappointing phat, if you were to be influenced by what boards.ie thought about players all the following would be written off too - Hayes, O Gara, Micko etc. etc.
Dowling was just another of those players who got unfairly criticised here- as a Munster supporter I feel it is my duty to stand up and defend him against such nonsnese. No one ever said he was world class or even international class, if you look back at most comments here you can see what Ian stood for as a player i.e hard work, strength, getting the most out of himself.
Ian Dowling owes Munster or the fans nothing. If you don't understand what he brought to the table as a player you only had to see the reaction to this news province wise.

W.B. Yeats

Leinster fan here:

Dowling is one of those rare breed of sportsmen that seemed to reach a higher standard of performance than the sum of their parts would indicate. My recollection of him was of a guy who on paper didn't have the class but yet on the pitch he was a different class. Seemed to have amazing performance levels and had great consistency- no massive difference between best and worst performance. He appeared to have great commitment levels and I imagine he's the type of player a manager would kill to have.
Best of luck to him in his future endeavours.

Aidric

buck65 wrote: »

Your attitude is a bit disappointing phat, if you were to be influenced by what boards.ie thought about players all the following would be written off too - Hayes, O Gara, Micko etc. etc.
Dowling was just another of those players who got unfairly criticised here- as a Munster supporter I feel it is my duty to stand up and defend him against such nonsnese. No one ever said he was world class or even international class, if you look back at most comments here you can see what Ian stood for as a player i.e hard work, strength, getting the most out of himself.
Ian Dowling owes Munster or the fans nothing. If you don't understand what he brought to the table as a player you only had to see the reaction to this news province wise.

Erudite post. ROG never stood a chance.

PhatPiggins

buck65 wrote: »

Your attitude is a bit disappointing phat, if you were to be influenced by what boards.ie thought about players all the following would be written off too - Hayes, O Gara, Micko etc. etc.
Dowling was just another of those players who got unfairly criticised here- as a Munster supporter I feel it is my duty to stand up and defend him against such nonsnese. No one ever said he was world class or even international class, if you look back at most comments here you can see what Ian stood for as a player i.e hard work, strength, getting the most out of himself.
Ian Dowling owes Munster or the fans nothing. If you don't understand what he brought to the table as a player you only had to see the reaction to this news province wise.

I base my opinion only on what I see on the pitch buck and I have been harsh on Dowling as he has the qualities you've mentioned above. Dowling as a player got the maximum out of what he had but he wasn't HC winner standard for me. He suited Munsters game plan perfectly because they didn't use wingers in the traditional sense. Stick him in a team where he would have been expected to use pace and exploit space and I think he would have been badly exposed. Before someone accuses me of not understanding what Dowlings brought to the table I do, I just don't rate it as highly as others.


Anyway good luck to him, I didn't realise he was so young

Sin a bhfuil

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I base my opinion only on what I see on the pitch buck and I have been harsh on Dowling as he has the qualities you've mentioned above.

Is he any loss to the squad though?

Phog I'm getting tired of your nanny state attitude to what others post on here.

A massive loss. You'd never have a doubt with Dowling starting. He didn't make mistakes. He rarely got caught out. Hurley, Johne Murphy, Earls, Dougie, Warwick - they are all liable to make mistakes. Dowling didn't. You need someone like that in a team.

When was the last time he started?

Christ, I'm all for celebrating a player, but defending someone like Dowling to the hilt is taking it way too far.

Sin a bhfuil

Deleted User wrote: »

When was the last time he started?

Christ, I'm all for celebrating a player, but defending someone like Dowling to the hilt is taking it way too far.

He got injured playing against Ospreys last September.

He also didn't make the trip to Biarritz last season either - he got injured in the Northampton semi. Maybe its a coincidence, but Munster haven't faired very well since his injuries.

In my book, comments that he won't be missed need to be rebutted.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Deleted User wrote: »

Christ, I'm all for celebrating a player, but defending someone like Dowling to the hilt is taking it way too far.

In the Ospreys match in September when he got injured it was his third start from 3 munster matches so far this season.

PhatPiggins

Deleted User wrote: »

When was the last time he started?

Christ, I'm all for celebrating a player, but defending someone like Dowling to the hilt is taking it way too far.

I was begining to think that we were becoming a nanny state where only pc posts are allowed

Wow, losing Dowling is the catalyst for Munster's poor performances?

This is getting way out of hand.

If he was fit, who's position would he take so, Earls' or Howlett's?

Otacon

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I was begining to think that we were becoming a nanny state where only pc posts are allowed

People like Dowling; his work rate, honesty and ability to defend which has saved Munster a number of times. And for a small enough guy, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times he was turned over, or beaten in defense.

Just as you are entitled to criticise him, others can support him. What's the issue?

Sin a bhfuil

Deleted User wrote: »

Wow, losing Dowling is the catalyst for Munster's poor performances?

This is getting way out of hand.

If he was fit, who's position would he take so, Earls' or Howlett's?

When all were fit, Earls played in the centre or fullback.

theofficepest2

PhatPiggins wrote: »

I base my opinion only on what I see on the pitch buck and I have been harsh on Dowling as he has the qualities you've mentioned above. Dowling as a player got the maximum out of what he had but he wasn't HC winner standard for me. He suited Munsters game plan perfectly because they didn't use wingers in the traditional sense. Stick him in a team where he would have been expected to use pace and exploit space and I think he would have been badly exposed. Before someone accuses me of not understanding what Dowlings brought to the table I do, I just don't rate it as highly as others.


Anyway good luck to him, I didn't realise he was so young

He's not just HC winning standard, he's double HC winning standard, which is obviously better, he played the way the team played, thats as much a part of being a good player as any other facet

Which wingers are you comparing him to? Hickie? Who in the irish squad had actual pace to burn like him? No body, not Bowe, Not Fitz, not Kearney, not even earlsy

See my previous video

Dowling calling for it out wide on the wing, ball shifted, he goes low and scores the try, classic wingers try when Munster actually decided to use him, he saw the space and calls for the play

for anyone to say he's limited is a bit more than harsh, so why have people got to be negative, what is the point of that, everyone is limited in some way

So saying he'd be found out on a team where he was expected to exploit space is pure conjecture

GerM

Dowling was an excellent servant to Munster who played to a level beyond his ability through his intelligence and determination. Personally, I'd have had him in the team nearly always as he simply didn't make mistakes and was someone you could rely on every time to do the simple correct thing.

With that said, there is some hyperbole here in relation to his value to Munster. Dowling had dropped significantly down the pecking order. He started 10 games in all competitions last season and had fallen behind a few people for a spot on the team. He only really started when others were unavailable. So, whilst I have the highest respect for him as a player, he's not really a massive loss in reality when Munster have infrequently used him since 2009. It would be like saying Jackman was a massive loss to Leinster when he retired. Great servant who gave 100% but at that stage was never really more than a bench option near the end of his career.

With all said and done, he was a model professional and if he brings a similar attitude to his studies and subsequent career, he'll cruise through life.

Otacon

Otacon wrote: »

People like Dowling; his work rate, honesty and ability to defend which has saved Munster a number of times. And for a small enough guy, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times he was turned over, or beaten in defense.

Just as you are entitled to criticise him, others can support him. What's the issue?

I actually haven't criticised the guy one bit, I'm calling for a bit of realism, which others are sorely missing.

buck65

Ger, he was actually injured for alot of the 2009/10 season also and this probably forced him down the pecking order a bit.
When fully fit he was always in the squad.

Otacon

Deleted User wrote: »

I actually haven't criticised the guy one bit, I'm calling for a bit of realism, which others are sorely missing.

Sorry, I wanted to respond to your post as well but messed it up.

Anyway, regarding your post, no, I do not believe his absense was the cause of Munster's downfall. However, I do feel that his absense certainly made the issue more pronounced. We may not have conceded quite as much if he were on the field.