Heaslip Retiring / Appreciation Thread [MOD WARNING: POST 1]

dub_skav

I think many of us feared this.
What a legend, he will be missed

Edit: Felt it deserved its own thread

https://twitter.com/jamieheaslip/status/968060885410381826

MOD WARNING: This is now an appreciation thread. This is not something we wanted to do. Unfortunately as people don’t know how to behave like adults so there it is. You can keep your long harbinged grudges for another time...

Shefwedfan

He seemed to announce it on facebook/twitter.

It was on the cards. Fabulous player. After all the talk of never getting injured it was an injury which took him down.

He will be missed

lawred2

Sad to hear but not entirely unexpected.

All the best to him.

Peregrine

It's not a surprise but still sad nevertheless.

The man was pure class. He deserved to go out on a high.

scott1974

Ah, well.. I suppose it's the best for him and his long-term future, great servant and owes us nothing.

salmocab

Gutted, he’s going a bit far to prove Kimmage wrong at this stage though.

.ak

Ah no. On the cards but doesn’t make it any less hard to swallow.

What a warrior. Best ever 8 developed by Ireland. We’ve badly missed him for the past year.

dub_skav

We could do with him for the next match up

A-Train

It was expected but still terrible news, a great great player.

Shefwedfan

Legend

Buer

Professionalism personified and his absence has been felt for both Ireland and Leinster. We'll be lucky if we produce another 8 of his calibre in the next 20 years.

Try_harder

Was expected by very sad none the less. A great servant to Irish rugby and, as injuries attest, always put his body on the line for Ireland

Burkie1203

Absolutely gutted for the guy. Deserved to hit 100 irish caps

One of our greatest ever players.

But what a career.

Sanjuro

Really sorry to hear that. Not entirely unexpected, but still a loss. A proper legend for Leinster and Ireland.

famagusta

What was the injury?

2smiggy

so glad they kept onto him rather than donnacha ryan

That's a real punch in the gut. Incredible player for Ireland and Leinster. All the best to him.

rebel girl 15

famagusta wrote: »

What was the injury?

Back injury

sydthebeat

One of the very best. Very sad to hear this but at 34 his future well being is priority.

my avatar feels a bit more poignant now

irishbucsfan

2smiggy wrote: »

so glad they kept onto him rather than donnacha ryan

What an incredibly sad person you are, if this is the first thing that came to mind.

awec

It is a massive shame he didn’t go out on his own terms.

Class player.

Guy:Incognito

For a guy that never seemed to get injured it's crappy that this has done him in.

Odd that all the bits coming out in the last few weeks were about his imminent return.

sydthebeat

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

For a guy that never seemed to get injured it's crappy that this has done him in.

Odd that all the bits coming out in the last few weeks were about his imminent return.

its probably a case of the closer you get back to 100% the more you realise the impact of the injury

Podge_irl

Absolute killer blow that the man who is ever present and uninjurable doesn't get to go out on his own terms. Wonder how much of it stems back to the Pape incident.

Anyways, best no.8 I ever expect to see playing for Leinster or Ireland.

irishbucsfan

I'll never forget 08/09 and our back row that year. Heaslip, Jennings and Elsom were just unplayable at times. I was at the Quins QF with mutual clubmates and I still maintain that was probably my favourite Leinster memory. We were only really scratching the surface of what would be a great career.

He's been a brilliant player for Ireland, Leinster, the Lions and so on. Great, great memories he's left us.

Such a shame that a guy who was so rarely injured ended up going out this way, but I suppose he was mostly much luckier than others in that regard.

razorblunt

I know he'll feel disappointed at having to stop early. But he's 34, a Grand Slam, 6 Nations, European Cup, Pro 12 winner and Lions Test player and Captain to boot.

That's a hell of a haul and should take solace in the fact he is walking away, healthy, if not on his own terms.

kuang1

You always hope that the whispers about something like this coming down the tracks are exaggerated.
Sad news.

One of my fondest memories was how quickly he bounced back from Pape's knee that time.
Amazingly quick turnaround after getting 3 vertebrae damaged.
Never thought that the man made of Titanium would have to call it quits thanks to an injury.

What is the exact nature of this injury does anybody know?

thomond2006

That's a tough way to bow out but he seems set up for life post professional rugby and owes Irish Rugby nothing. Great player.

Guy:Incognito

razorblunt wrote: »

I know he'll feel disappointed at having to stop early. But he's 34, a Grand Slam, 6 Nations, European Cup, Pro 12 winner and Lions Test player and Captain to boot.

That's a hell of a haul and should take solace in the fact he is walking away, healthy, if not on his own terms.

It's a full year since the injury though. So in reality he finished at 33.

Im sure he was hoping to go after the WC, so he's lost the final 30 months of his career.

thomond2006

95 caps. It's a pity he didn't make 100.

Buer

thomond2006 wrote: »

95 caps. It's a pity he didn't make 100.

Got the 100 test caps, just not all for Ireland.

irishbucsfan

thomond2006 wrote: »

95 caps. It's a pity he didn't make 100.

100 caps including the Lions. We'll give it to him

thomond2006

Buer wrote: »

Got the 100 test caps, just not all for Ireland.

irishbucsfan wrote: »

100 caps including the Lions. We'll give it to him

Aye, we'll give it to him.

prawnsambo

Such a shame. The last year must have been so tough for him and the final decision to call it quits is gutting. My abiding memory of him is his ability to gather the ball and make ground during the days of the famous Leinster reversing scrum. So many times he saved Leinster being penalised by his control when going backwards. I'm sure he wouldn't want to remember those days, but it was a skill that very few number eights would even have to learn.

He still gets membership of the 100 cap club due to his Lions appearances, so he does have that, even if he didn't make the 100 with Ireland.

Fantastic player. He got so much stick from 'fans', but the difference in the few times when he was missing was stark. People would say he wasn't missed until he was back and then you could see it clearly. Great great player and an awful way to end his career. Reminiscent of how POC's career ended. At least he has plenty to keep him busy in his retirement.

razorblunt

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

It's a full year since the injury though. So in reality he finished at 33.

Im sure he was hoping to go after the WC, so he's lost the final 30 months of his career.

Yeah, true enough.
I guess though, given that he was apparently close to a return, that maybe fitness wise he's there, but the top % of stuff is missing and that's where the decision came from.

There's also that question of whether he'd come back at the required level to a) knock Conan out of the 8 jersey for Leinster and b) get back into the Irish shirt.

I guess the not knowing might be something he battles with in the immediate term.

Former Former

Absolutely gutted.

A genuine legend of the game and one of the best players Ireland have ever produced.

100 test caps, two Lions tours, two World Cups, three Six Nations championships incl 1 Grand Slam, three Heineken Cup medals, one Challenge Cup medal, three Pro12/14 medals.

RWC 2019 would have been a good way to cap it all off but not to be.

awec

Former Former wrote: »

Absolutely gutted.

A genuine legend of the game and one of the best players Ireland have ever produced.

100 test caps, two Lions tours, two World Cups, three Six Nations championships incl 1 Grand Slam, three Heineken Cup medals, one Challenge Cup medal, three Pro12/14 medals.

RWC 2019 would have been a good way to cap it all off but not to be.

Anyone else find it mad he only has three pro12 medals?

irishfan9

Some lack of class shown in Kimmage's tweet.

Clegg

Heaslip was every bit as important to Ireland's successes as BoD and PoC were. He'll be remembered as one of the all time greats.

awec

Just to think that he was actually named in the team to play England and withdrew late in the warmup and that was his last ever involvement on a rugby field. A slightly bizarre tale.

Former Former

This is still incredible

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTS85UE1ask

gmisk

irishfan9 wrote: »

Some lack of class shown in Kimmage's tweet.

Do you have a link?

Try_harder

irishfan9 wrote: »

Some lack of class shown in Kimmage's tweet.

Anyone surprised???

Former Former

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXX-kJUQbMU

thomond2006

Stop bringing attention to K*mmage. Don't mention him. Don't post any links. Please.

Bridge93

awec wrote: »

Anyone else find it mad he only has three pro12 medals?

Yeah he probably has about 4 runners up medals from it. Ospreys knicked a few in particular

Rackard

Very good player but I thought massively over rated. Excellent in the early part of his career but the latter few years he was nowhere near being a top player in my opinion. Not the same force as a ball carrier as he once was.

A decent lad though by all accounts and a shame he had to retire the way he did.

Clegg

Rackard wrote: »

Very good player but I thought massively over rated. Excellent in the early part of his career but the latter few years he was nowhere near being a top player in my opinion. Not the same force as a ball carrier as he once was.

A decent lad though by all accounts and a shame he had to retire the way he did.

:rolleyes:

He was nominated for World Player of the Year in 2016, his last season as a pro.

Shefwedfan

Jamie and Luke lost to injury, two great players for Ireland and Leinster. Such a pity but I think will become a more regular occurrence with the current game

prawnsambo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Stop bringing attention to K*mmage. Don't mention him. Don't post any links. Please.

Not necessary anyway since he's deleted it.

Rackard

Clegg wrote: »

:rolleyes:

He was nominated for World Player of the Year in 2016, his last season as a pro.

Which was a huge surprise