Tribute to ROG thread

Fireball07

Lads, I'm shocked that ROG didn't get a tribute thread... I mean Howlett and Schmidt both got one, and while they both made massive contributions while they were....very few people have done as much for Munster and Irish rugby as ROG. Maybe it's the fact that he signed on as a coach for Racing, and it was lost in the furore of that but ROG deserves all the praise he gets.

For pretty much as long as I've been watching rugby, he has been playing... it's going to be weird not having him there. And he was a fantastic player, a beautiful, fizzing pass; extreme accuracy off the tee and as for kicking out of hand, I've never seen anyone who could measure a kick like him. You'd often hear "he knows every blade of grass in Thomond Park" which is a cliché, but for him, it was almost true..... how many times over the years did we see him move the game 40-50 metres downfield with a perfectly exercised kick... the bounce always seemed to go his way, and that kind of thing can lift a crowd.

And under pressure, no better man to step and deliver, whether it be drop goals, penalties, conversions... he won lots of games in the last minute for Ireland and Munster. His points record speaks for itself, he was amazingly consistent aswell, rarely seemed to get injured. Okay, his kicking record wasn't always perfect.....he had his bad days, everyone does, but he always bounced back. And his defence was never great but he always put his body on the line. People criticise him as an attacking out half, but he did get the best out of D'Arcy/O'Driscoll etc. when we played some scintillating rugby under Eddie O'Sullivan.

Now, I have been critical of him myself in the past 12 months, for much of the year, he probably should have been behind Keatley for Munster, and he made some silly mistakes at international level. But, in the end, he recovered and played very well in 2 big Munster performances against Harlequins and Clermont. It's just a pity that he doesn't get a proper send-off from Thomond Park, after everything he has given. He will be missed...... at his best, he was the best out-half in Europe imo, and is an icon of the Heineken Cup.



As for specific ROG memories, I could spam this message with videos because there was so many: last-minute kick to beat Saracens in 2000, try against Toulouse in that crazy semi-final, the conversion in the miracle match to send us through against all the odds, the try to kill the game against Leinster in the 2006 semi-final, keeping his nerve in both HC finals that we won, a left-footed drop goal under pressure against Perpignan which helped us to a 1-point victory......and more recently, 2 last-minute winning drop goals in 2 weeks against Northampton and Castres, the one against the Saints under extraordinary pressure after about 40 phases. I'm probably forgetting loads more.

And for Ireland, a crucial try to beat Wales in 2007 helping us to a triple crown, his famous crossfield kick to Horgan in the massacre of England at Croke Park.....a last-minute drop goal to beat Wales in 2003, after Stephen Jones had got one minutes earlier..... a feat which was strangely mirrored 6 years later in what will probably be remembered as ROG's greatest moment.



I'll leave you with that.....add in your own memories....and people, try to be nice

Swiwi

Um, he did get one...

awec

Fear not my friend, we paid homage to the man: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83488119

Fireball07

Ah lads, I must have been away, completely missed that.....the thread title is a bit misleading :P


Sorry about that, mod can close this thread.