Rory Best - 100 Caps

Adbrowne

Completely missed this until now. A great achievement for any player and only the fifth Irish player after BOD, POC, ROG and Hayes. Only Heaslip of the current squad will get to this mark in the next few years too.


https://twitter.com/IrishRugby/status/802154357726867458

sydthebeat

Captain and leader. !!

Stheno

I only realised today he first played for Ireland in 2005?

vienne86

Great achievement. Delighted he was made captain too.

bilston

Rory Best...a hooker who can actually hook...

It is a brillant achievement and maybe we get blas these days about players reaching 100 caps.

When you think of the physicality of test rugby it must take some effort to go through it 100+ times.

Our first captain to win in South Africa and to beat New Zealand doesn'the look bad on the CV.

He's 34 and by rights should be nearing the end of his career but I think there a few miles left in the tank yet.

Hope he has a good one today for cap 100.

former total

Phenomenonal achievement. And, to be honest, I don't think many of us would have foreseen it earlier in his career.

He was always a 'good' player but since about 2012 he has gone up to another level altogether. His consistency and quality of performance is incredible.

Delighted for him.

phog

You only realise how good Best is when you don't have him. Aside from his role as hooker, he's brilliant in defence especially at ruck time.

He fully deserved the captain's arm band and the 100 caps. May he have loads more.

irishbucsfan

He has put in some incredible performances. When **** hit the pan against Argentina he was the one player who really stood up. I'll never forget the defensive series where he hit three defensive rucks in a row and eventually we won the ball back. One of the best we've had in the position.

Interested Observer

Class act on and off the field. Congrats to him.

captbarnacles

I remember him driving into a ruck with a broken arm vs NZ in 2013!

Bazzo

Three cheers for Rory Best

nagdefy

I can see Rory playing until 36 like Sean Fitzpatrick. Would be wonderful if he could last until 2019. He's improving if anything.

Represents everything that's good about Irish rugby. Hope his achievement is rewarded with an Irish win today.

I remember both himself and Andrew Trimble making there debuts in the 2005 Autumn Internationals.

nagdefy

Stheno wrote: »

I only realised today he first played for Ireland in 2005?

And for the first 4 or 5 years of his career he was up against Jerry Flannery for selection so at another time he might be well over the ton of caps.

nagdefy

P.s. Off topic but does any of the Ulster posters know how his brother Simon is doing these days. I've heard little of him since he retired with the heart scare in 2007.

Brewster

nagdefy wrote: »

P.s. Off topic but does any of the Ulster posters know how his brother Simon is doing these days. I've heard little of him since he retired with the heart scare in 2007.

Simon is a farmer and a pretty sizeable one at that! As Rory will be when he retires. Delighted for the big man, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I am his biggest fan over the last decade. Just the honesty of the man. Sums him up. The amount of BS arguments I had on here over the years, he can't throw the ball, he can't carry the ball etc, he can't do this, he can't do that. 100 Caps Rory. To captain the team to wins over NZ, SA and now Oz is just fantastic. Really excited for Six Nations now with Best leading from the front...

nagdefy

Brewster wrote: »

Simon is a farmer and a pretty sizeable one at that! As Rory will be when he retires. Delighted for the big man, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I am his biggest fan over the last decade. Just the honesty of the man. Sums him up. The amount of BS arguments I had on here over the years, he can't throw the ball, he can't carry the ball etc, he can't do this, he can't do that. 100 Caps Rory. To captain the team to wins over NZ, SA and now Oz is just fantastic. Really excited for Six Nations now with Best leading from the front...

Rory's vital for Ireland now. Great game today. His interaction with the kids, crowd etc was brilliant today. You could see the man he is on and off the field and how respected he is by his peers.

Simon is sizeable in acreage or weight I presume acreage if Rory will join him after retirement. Good on Simon, i'm delighted to hear he's doing well. His story got lost in the malaise of WC 2007.

Met Rory a few times at farm safety events.

Brewster

nagdefy wrote: »

Rory's vital for Ireland now. Great game today. His interaction with the kids, crowd etc was brilliant today. You could see the man he is on and off the field and how respected he is by his peers.

Simon is sizeable in acreage or weight I presume acreage if Rory will join him after retirement. Good on Simon, i'm delighted to hear he's doing well. His story got lost in the malaise of WC 2007.

Met Rory a few times at farm safety events.

He can keep going, his game is not based on pace as we all know. He can play another 2 years at the top. It is up to Cronin, Herring et al to close the gap on him. It doesn't look like his standards are going to fall off the cliff, fitness provided of course. A bad injury can change things overnight...

jacothelad

Brewster wrote: »

He can keep going, his game is not based on pace as we all know. He can play another 2 years at the top. It is up to Cronin, Herring et al to close the gap on him. It doesn't look like his standards are going to fall off the cliff, fitness provided of course. A bad injury can change things overnight...

Herring looks a great young player but so does Tracey. No worries at 2. There are other guys like Scannell and that big, young fuc%&r at Connacht whose name escapes me at the moment.

awec

I love Rory Best. An incredible man, an incredible player. We're lucky to have him.

Bazzo

jacothelad wrote: »

Herring looks a great young player but so does Tracey. No worries at 2. There are other guys like Scannell and that big, young fuc%&r at Connacht whose name escapes me at the moment.

Are you talking about Dave "the step" Heffernan?

https://twitter.com/daveheffernan88/status/802487872498659328

errlloyd

Just watched Rorys pre match feature on Rte. What a top bloke.

Talking about how he wanted to be a farmer and captain Banbridge, and then going on to say he was thankful for the opportunities rugby had given his family! You get the impression he's a real humble hero.