Hook Predictions

Gracelessly Tom

Here is George Hook's article from before the H Cup began.......


"However, back to Leinster. Two of their opponents are coached by fiercely aggressive and proven competitors. Racing Metro boss Pierre Berbizier has been slapped with a 60-day suspension for his outburst regarding referee Christophe Berdos. Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter has an equally undistinguished record of clashing with authority. One can assume that their teams will be similarly hard-nosed.

Venter believes the depth in his squad will make them serious contenders for the Heineken Cup this season as they return to the European top flight after a two-season absence and looking to do better than their 2008 semi-final showing. Venter made his case thus: "We're a better-prepared outfit than we were last year. Our biggest strength is that we've got a lot of depth now. We've got a lot of players who can play for Saracens now on rotation and on form. We had a philosophy last year that a squad wins a championship, not a team. I think that's the case even more so now."

The Saracens coach has a team that could dominate a Leinster pack that looks decidedly undernourished.

Racing are the Top 14 co-leaders in France and present Leinster with a difficult opening, followed by an imposing trip to Wembley against Saracens. If Leinster's opponents are led by tough guys, the jury is clearly out on Joe Schmidt. His view on French teams is interesting. "In the Six Nations, France did it across the board and yes, they did show some real ball skills. They played really well but I thought where they really dominated was in the set-pieces, particularly at the scrums," he said.

"Leinster couldn't access the game in Toulouse; Munster couldn't access the game against Biarritz. They both got shut out by the superb set-pieces of the French, which some of the teams over here have. That is something to think about for the Irish."

The opening matches have shown that he has failed to solve the set-piece problem, although the lineout is a bigger problem than the scrum. And centre partners Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy look as if they have just met each other and forgotten everything learned about defence under Kurt McQuilkin.

The entire team has lost a defence coherence and organisation that had been there since Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney

One suspects it is too late for Schmidt to get the team back on the rails. The Magners League is no barometer of Heineken Cup success but I suspect this is a coach that has lost the dressing-room. The last time I saw such a collective unwillingness to compete was Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland at the last World Cup. It will require a stunning change in attitude for Leinster to qualify for the knock-out stages.

Munster will qualify for all the reasons Leinster will not. Tony McGahan has made no effort to subscribe to the new game being played around the globe, sticking instead to the tried and trusted. Back-room boys Anthony Foley and Mick Galwey will
help preserve a game based on Ronan O'Gara's kicking and a decade of pressure to see the side home. The opponents present the right kind of challenge: London Irish will flatter to deceive; Ospreys, despite their Magners League triumph, are not a team Munster fear, principally because they cannot bully the men in red; and Toulon do not
have the intrinsic flair and hardness to win on the road.

Munster and Ulster in the quarter-finals but no Irish team in the last four will test the loyalty of the ticket-buying public in a depression. Rugby could be like the property market: full of high expectations based on a bubble."

kippy

Gracelessly Tom wrote: »

Here is George Hook's article from before the H Cup began.......


"However, back to Leinster. Two of their opponents are coached by fiercely aggressive and proven competitors. Racing Metro boss Pierre Berbizier has been slapped with a 60-day suspension for his outburst regarding referee Christophe Berdos. Saracens director of rugby Brendan Venter has an equally undistinguished record of clashing with authority. One can assume that their teams will be similarly hard-nosed.

Venter believes the depth in his squad will make them serious contenders for
the Heineken Cup this season as they return to the European top flight after a
two-season absence and looking to do better than their 2008 semi-final showing.
Venter made his case thus: "We're a better-prepared outfit than we were last
year. Our biggest strength is that we've got a lot of depth now. We've got a lot
of players who can play for Saracens now on rotation and on form. We had a
philosophy last year that a squad wins a championship, not a team. I think
that's the case even more so now."

The Saracens coach has a team that could dominate a Leinster pack that looks
decidedly undernourished.

Racing are the Top 14 co-leaders in France and present Leinster with a difficult opening, followed by an imposing trip to Wembley against Saracens. If Leinster's opponents are led by tough guys, the jury is clearly out on Joe Schmidt. His
view on French teams is interesting. "In the Six Nations, France did it across the board and yes, they did show some real ball skills. They played really well but I thought where they really dominated was in the set-pieces, particularly at the scrums," he said.

"Leinster couldn't access the game in Toulouse; Munster couldn't access the
game against Biarritz. They both got shut out by the superb set-pieces of the
French, which some of the teams over here have. That is something to think about
for the Irish."

The opening matches have shown that he has failed to solve the set-piece problem, although the lineout is a bigger problem than the scrum. And centre partners Brian
O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy look as if they have just met each other and forgotten everything learned about defence under Kurt McQuilkin.

The entire team has lost a defence coherence and organisation that had been there since Matt Williams and Alan Gaffney

One suspects it is too late for Schmidt to get the team back on the rails.
The Magners League is no barometer of Heineken Cup success but I suspect this is
a coach that has lost the dressing-room. The last time I saw such a collective
unwillingness to compete was Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland at the last World Cup.
It will require a stunning change in attitude for Leinster to qualify for the
knock-out stages.

Munster will qualify for all the reasons Leinster will not. Tony McGahan has made no effort to subscribe to the new game being played around the globe, sticking instead to the tried and trusted. Back-room boys Anthony Foley and Mick Galwey will
help preserve a game based on Ronan O'Gara's kicking and a decade of pressure to see the side home. The opponents present the right kind of challenge: London Irish will flatter to deceive; Ospreys, despite their Magners League triumph, are not a team Munster fear, principally because they cannot bully the men in red; and Toulon do not
have the intrinsic flair and hardness to win on the road.

Munster and Ulster in the quarter-finals but no Irish team in the last four
will test the loyalty of the ticket-buying public in a depression. Rugby could
be like the property market: full of high expectations based on a bubble."

Hook is to Rugby what Dunphy is to Soccer.

Hook is so good at his job it's unreal.

He's not a rugby analyst. He's a professional **** stirrer.

Being right doesn't sell as much papers as being sensational.

Chnandler Bong

Thought this was about James Hook not some whining fat fcuk

irishbucsfan

It's funny I kept that article as well!

Read it one morning while watching the Ryder Cup and couldn't believe how wrong he was as usual. Was going to post it.

Piliger

Hook's article in the Herald on Monday was equally poor.

He blew up the Heaslip incident into a major foul - I have watched it a dozen times on SKY+ and am convinced it was no foul at all.

He made no mention of the off-the-ball tackle of Horgan in the scoring of the try in the first half.

Emmet is right, above, "He's a professional **** stirrer".

GerM

Piliger wrote: »

Hook's article in the Herald on Monday was equally poor.

He blew up the Heaslip incident into a major foul - I have watched it a dozen times on SKY+ and am convinced it was no foul at all.

He made no mention of the off-the-ball tackle of Horgan in the scoring of the try in the first half.

Emmet is right, above, "He's a professional **** stirrer".

I'm not sure he's a professional stirrer. I think he's just a complete buffoon. I think he genuinely believes most of the stuff he spouts. His claims against Heaslip were laughable. A yellow card for blocking a defender when your own team are about to score a try?! Even if Heaslip had gone out of his way to block a defender, it would have only ever been a penalty. I would believe that Hook was just looking for reactions but he not only made the claim in his column but also on RTE. He genuinely believes it to have been a yellow card offence. His levels of ignorance are astounding. I don't think he put Coughlan in his team of the future as a wind up. He simply doesn't know that James Coughlan has been around for years and is the wrong side of 30.

A little bit of me dies inside when he speaks about areas of the game that isn't common knowledge such as refereeing decisions and youth structures. It's in stark contrast to Pope who had both Luke McGrath and Conor Gilsenan in his team of the future showing he had actually bothered to follow the sport more in depth.

rockman15

I think this should be locked. The nation accepts he says things to rile everyone up and make great tv and sell papers.

Can we leave this alone lads and be bigger people!

SD7792

I think he was talking about Jordan Coughlan rather than James Coughlan..

That aside it's astounding to see how far off the mark he was with that prediction at the start of the year.

GerM

SD7792 wrote: »

I think he was talking about Jordan Coughlan rather than James Coughlan..

Don't think so. When mentioning him, he spoke about how it was time for Coughlan to step up and assume a leadership role within the Munster set up. Certainly not how I would think he would speak about an 18 year old who is still in school.

CatFromHue

There isnt a whole lot wrong with the first section of the article. Racing Metro and Saracens are formidable units and Leinster weren't playing great at the start of the season.

Its the last three paragraphs that are a bit over the top, especially the bit about Schmidt losing the dressing room.

He is also right about the ospreys and London Irish. The thing he is wrong about is that Toulon won away to Irish which in the end was what got them through.

wixfjord

CatFromHue wrote: »

There isnt a whole lot wrong with the first section of the article. Racing Metro and Saracens are formidable units and Leinster weren't playing great at the start of the season.

Its the last three paragraphs that are a bit over the top, especially the bit about Schmidt losing the dressing room.

He is also right about the ospreys and London Irish. The thing he is wrong about is that Toulon won away to Irish which in the end was what got them through.

He states that "Ospreys, despite their Magners League triumph, are not a team Munster fear, principally because they cannot bully the men in red"

Hmmm, think that might be exactly what happened in the scrum in Swansea this year!

Pure and utter buffoon, pure and simple. His sour puss on the post match analysis was great to see, particularly after his wild comments about Sexton during the 6N.

andrewdcs

Schmidt is the most loved / lauded manager since, I dunno, Big Jack, I know Leinster were pretty poor early doors, I was very worried about the HEC group on the draw, but how he could say some of that stuff is just pure Hooky.

Stephen Jones is still my fave to rave though. There a man who knows his balls.

Clareman

This reminded me of when a mate met Mr. Hook in a lift in a hotel before a match, my mate asked "What brings you to Limerick", to which he got the reply "Wine, women and song", just then the door opens and my mate goes "thank f**k cause you know nothing about rugby" and walked out

hardCopy

I heard a story from a taxi driver recently.

Taxi man picks up George. George asks him what he thinks of his radio show. Taxi man says he loves it but his rugby analysis drives him mad. George says: "That's good because I'd have to worry about anyone who believes what I say about rugby"

Never met the taxi man before so can't speak for him but I do know his company had an account with Newstalk for a long time.

At least he acknowledges that he's a professional shit stirrer

_blank_

Tone down the abuse lads, it specifically says in the charter that abuse of media personalities will result in bans/infractions - and that's exactly what I'm handing out

CatFromHue

wixfjord wrote: »

He states that "Ospreys, despite their Magners League triumph, are not a team Munster fear, principally because they cannot bully the men in red"

Hmmm, think that might be exactly what happened in the scrum in Swansea this year!

Pure and utter buffoon, pure and simple. His sour puss on the post match analysis was great to see, particularly after his wild comments about Sexton during the 6N.

in fairness munster have played the ospreys 10 times (5 this year, 2 last year, 3 the year before) over the last 3 seasons and won on 7 occasions. thats a pretty good record no matter what happened in the scrum in swansea.

tolosenc

I like the way he goes that Munster will qualify because they stuck to the tried and tested, and Leinster won't because they are trying to play an offloading/possession game. i.e. The exact opposite of what actually happened.

Podge_irl

Hook isn't even the rugby equivalent of Dunphy. At least he seems to have the slightest idea what he's on about.

Hook has done fairly well for myself out of being a pundit in a sport he knows very little about.

CIARAN_BOYLE

tolosenc wrote: »

I like the way he goes that Munster will qualify because they stuck to the tried and tested, and Leinster won't because they are trying to play an offloading/possession game. i.e. The exact opposite of what actually happened.

In fairness when that was written the offloading game was failing, 4 games into the season 2 wins and 2 losses I don't think anyone was expecting Leinster to win the HEC. Didn't Joe admit recently that he half expected that he was going to be asked to resign

CatFromHue

tolosenc wrote: »

I like the way he goes that Munster will qualify because they stuck to the tried and tested, and Leinster won't because they are trying to play an offloading/possession game. i.e. The exact opposite of what actually happened.

hindsight is wonderfull but before the heineken cup started munster had only lost away to leinster in 7 games. they'd gone to both edinburgh and glasgow and won, and also beat the ospreys.

alot of people, and people on here were very worried about leinster. not me of course:cool:
:pac:

durkadurka

I have to say I was worried around late September 2010 but I found a comment on the Leinster gossip thread where i had some degree of optImism

irishbucsfan

If you want to look back through my absolutely amazing and wonderful posts you will see I was never worried. You will also realise what a fantastic person I am.

durkadurka

I'll take that as a joke! I said 'let's not panic'. I wasnt exactly bullish...

Ciaran-Irl

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

In fairness when that was written the offloading game was failing, 4 games into the season 2 wins and 2 losses I don't think anyone was expecting Leinster to win the HEC. Didn't Joe admit recently that he half expected that he was going to be asked to resign

Those comments from Joe were clearly tongue in cheek. He didn't expect to be fired, he was just having a deserved poke at the media types like Hook & Francis that talked abour him getting fired after all of 6 games.