Good to see Neil Francis back writing again. Great article from the big man in the Sunday Times today
He doesn't seem to consider women's sport. The number of lesbians in top level women's sport appears to be far higher than the incidence in the general population.
When Francis was being fired from the Indo it was patently obvious that plenty just disliked Francis full stop and were just glad to see him fired.
Nobody is forcing anyone to read anyone's articles.
He's fairly harmless overall and did have some good articles not about the current Irish team specifically like the one about the night out with Leon Spinks in Chicago
Interesting fella
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Francis_(rugby_union)&oldid=605470235
Brilliant, read it while you can, doubt it will be there long.
Why would he consider it? Does anyone read Frannos articles for insight into womens sports?
I think that that has been up there on wikipedia for a long time already.
he's always got that cheeky smirk on his face for some reason😗
I think now he will be somewhat diminished as a writer as he has been outed now by the woke brigade and he will have lost that confidence to say it as he feels it,I always enjoyed his column ,his anecdotes,jokes and general air of calling it without fear or favour were IMO a cut above some of the sterile down the middle reporting available elsewhere..His conviction to call it was sometimes misjudged,for example he lambasted Tommy Bowe at the start of his career but none are infallible.I thought his firing was over the top and a yellow card was more appropriate.
The smugness of lifetime affluence.
Full time - They are centrally contracted. Nucifora has to sign off on it apparently.
Joking aside I am glad to see Neil Francis back. I always enjoyed his articles in the Sindo.
He's a smug over confident blow hard but also a provocateur and comedian who understands that controversy, humour and bullshit keep his editors happy. I interviewed him years ago for a doc about Dublin's gay rugby team and he was quite effusive about the courage it took for gay people to show up in a rugby dressing room and deal with some of the inevitable attitudes that they would run up against. Those attitudes have changed and become far more rare and unacceptable but it's not that long ago that homosexuality was illegal in Ireland. Now I wasn't fully clear as to whether he was a talking about gay folks having to deal with the homophobic slagging he would dish out, or referring to others. But I could imagine it was a bit of both.
Typical Boards Rugby debate. Lots of posters don't even want to read opinions that differ from their own. Neil Francis is a decent sports writer. Much like Eamon Dunphy. It's not compulsory to agree with them. However, they are generally a more enjoyable read than the dreadfully boring former internationals who offer zero insight and who avoid controversy at all costs.
Yeah, for all the infuriating bs coming out of the likes of Hook and Franno it's worth remembering that primarily sport is entertainment. Some fans take it seriously and denounce casuals for being uninformed and whatever but participating in sport is very important for young people, it builds confidence, fitness, and teaches us how to deal with others and be part of a team, etc. Thats the 'important' part of sport. Following pro teams and gossiping about them is a lot of fun but it's not that important, we admire players for their skills and dedication and should be respectful but there's room for commentators who get the entertainment part of it. Dunphy, Francis and Keano all understand that much more than most other journos do.
Neil Francis is a decent sports writer?
I nearly dropped my phone laughing at that. Whatever about him being a homophobe, biggot and a mysoginistic dick. Anyone trying to claim he was a decent sports writer, has completely lost the plot. As a sports writer, he was completely and utterly clueless. Any point Franno tried to make, you can be fairly sure the opposite was true.
Typical. Can you not argue your point without the sneering? I have not ‘lost the plot’.
Francis at least adds some colour and wit to his pieces. Compare to Darcy’s article in the Irish Times today. He managed to make the following extraordinary points in about 500 words…
Francis adopts a humorous ‘tongue in cheek’ style - it is not meant to be taken seriously. It’s entertainment. No need to get all hot and bothered about it Stephen.
I think the real issue is that nobody needs two pages about the Ireland vs Italy match. About any rugby match really.
yeah... tongue in cheek entertaining comments which require this.....
https://www.joe.ie/news/neil-francis-apologises-profusely-and-unreservedly-for-contoversial-comments-on-gays-in-sport-409854
Get over it.
At least it's only tongue in cheek. Could be worse...
Hahaha
Nice!
Has he been completely cancelled at this stage?
Last straw
You mean has he made himself completely unemployable at this stage?
Probably yes
Yeah lets be clear, being poor at your job and incompetent isn't being "cancelled by the Wokerati". Cancelled as a term gets thrown around way too much as a cover word for "basic repercussions for being incapable of doing your job, or composing yourself, to the appropriate level required.
I'm gonna try it next time i'm **** at what I do.
Any punditry from the big man these days?
haven't seen any media controversy about sexiest, homophobic or racist comments lately... so he must still be out in the wilderness... thankfully.
I miss his columns.always enjoyed him but his sense of humour was always going to get him in the end,his Smith comment was pretty tame but as Big Ron would confirm,Dems the rules.
Can’t deny that I always read his column.
Found entertainment in Hook
And always liked EOS
Now we have the bland writing and awful, awful commentary of D’Acry , the horrifically disinterested Heaslip and other incompetent presenters and panellist.
There is little scope anymore for colour commentary in the broadsheet's or on RTÉ.
Just tick the box and make sure you don’t offend anyone.
I'd recommend learning a bit of Xhosa and watching the south African Comms. Even without understanding a word it's the best out there.
Hook was painful but Franno and EOS were at least provocative in a stimulating way. I don't get Heaslip broadcasting, isn't he a guy who used to claim not to watch or be that interested in rugby other than as a player?
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