Over The Line

Harking back to the days when the ability to light your own farts and drink fifteen pints was seen as the main criteria for success as a rugby player, the Lions Tour is set to be the big news of 2009. But do they have a chance of upsetting the reigning World Champions? No is the short answer, but that doesn’t take up much space on a blog, so gazing into our oval shaped crystal ball, here’s some of what might happen in 2009.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | 2 Comments »

If sheer tenacity, bravery and spirit were worth points, Munster would have strolled to another famous victory over the All Blacks, but the awesome quality shone through in the end as Joe Rokocoko ended the dream at the death.

In acknowledgement of the tremendous Munster performance and to ease the pain of a heart-breaking defeat, we’re refunding just under €40,000 in losing match bets on the Red Army.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby, Justice Payouts | 10 Comments »

You say cricket bat, we say camán. You give men sticks and they spend the day largely trying not to hit the red ball, whilst if we give a bunch of men sticks, we expect some light maiming at the very least. Our sporting preferences haven’t always been in prefect harmony, but there has been a bizarre symmetry to the sporting fortunes of two of England and Ireland’s main sports in recent months.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | 1 Comment »

More free stuff!! Yaay! In an effort to keep our loyal customers happy without sending them cold hard cash in the post, we’ve 2 pairs of tickets to give away for Ireland’s encounter with the mighty All Blacks. Guaranteed satisfaction that will take longer than the normal 30 seconds - 80 minutes of pulsating rugby in the comfortable surroundings of Croke Park.*

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby, Competitions | 28 Comments »

Forget Barack Obama for a moment. As a new era of Irish rugby dawns under the astute tutelage of Declan Kidney, we have 2 pairs of tickets for each of the Autumn internationals against the All Blacks (if nothing else, it’ll be a great game), Argentina (Ireland could possibly win this) and Canada (did we mention the tickets are free).

To be in with your chance of winning two tickets to the Canada game at Thomond Park this Saturday, simply send your username and the answer to the following question to competitions@paddypower.com.

The potentially hazardous question:

What is the correct name of this former Triple Crown winning Ireland rugby coach?

(a) Eddie Jordan
(b) Eddie O’Sullivan
(c) Eddie Izzard
(d) Eddy Grant

Competition closes for the first pair of tickets at 12pm on Thursday 6th November. Winners will be drawn at random. Winners will be notified by Friday morning at the latest, hopefully.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby, Competitions | 12 Comments »

The Homo Nations

Eclipsing any Olympic opening ceremony (in colour anyway) the 2008 Paddy Power Gay Rugby World Cup got underway today in DCU Sports Campus on the northside of Dublin. 31 teams from 12 countries are taking part in what is the biggest international team sports event to be played in Ireland this year.

As with all major events of this stature, the kind sponsors (that’s us) threw a party for the players last Wednesday night in the luxurious surroundings of the Dragon Pub in Dublin city. At first a little unnerved by their surroundings the two Paddy Power PR professionals, Paddy and Ken (aka Dumb and Dumber) decided to calm their nerves with a few pints. Some time later they decided to meet the players. Both Paddy and Ken claim their drinks were tampered with. We’re not so sure …

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | 1 Comment »

The last fifteen minutes were tedious. Magnificent monotony and beautiful boredom intertwined with the most gut-wrenching tension. One mistake, one handling error, one over-eager forward could have brought the fragile foundations of victory crashing down, but Munster have run through the script so many times in the past that a mistake never looked likely.

If it had been a Bonny Baby contest, Munster would have been the kid going home with a brown paper bag on its head and in the arms of parents who met at a family reunion, but it was Heineken Cup final and as such Munster deservedly walked away with the trophy. True, it wasn’t the prettiest, but the dirty truth is that pretty teams seldom get to see their beautiful reflections in sparkling silverware.

The time has come to stop criticising Munster for their style. They win games of rugby and that’s all anyone can ask. As we saw with Arsenal in the Premier League, pretty doesn’t always win the race and even Man Utd’s swash-buckling swagger to league and European triumphs came about with some judicious application of a more conservative game-plan when it was needed. Closer to Thomond Park, Leinster owe much of their Magners League success to increased grit upfront as opposed to Contepomi’s creativity.

It was disappointing to hear the negative comments emanating from the Toulouse camp following the defeat. Jean Baptiste Elissalde tried to claim the consolation of being the moral victors by declaring “we weren’t very good but you can’t play rugby like that. There were 15 minutes at the end of the game where we couldn’t get our hands on the ball without infringing.” Had it been Toulouse with the slender lead approaching the end of the game, you can be certain that Fabien Pelous would have been ordering his pack to do exactly what Munster did.

That is simply the game of rugby union and if Elissalde isn’t happy with it, there’s a thirteen man code that he may be interested in. Not only is it hypocritical, but it’s downright wrong. The width of a rulebook separated Doug Howlett from what would have been a sensational try and all day long Munster gave centres Tipoki and Mafi the opportunity to make line breaks. Time and time again the superb Toulouse defence blocked any progress and once that avenue was closed, Munster had to resort to what they know best.

No more “they were good BUT … ” - Munster were simply terrific and are worthy European champions. It’s time they got the unconditional praise they deserve.

Granted they’ll have a new coach at the helm, but they’ve clearly mastered the formula for success in Europe. Whoever comes in would be a fool to fix a machine that’s running smoothly and combined with the fact that their seeding should mean they get a much easier pool next time around, the 5/1 for them to retain the title looks good already.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | 4 Comments »

Saturday wasn’t a good day for Paddy Powers across the world. Whilst our Paddy was busy pulling out his hair at the news that we were paying out over €1 million thanks to our Grand National 10% Bonus in the Northern Hemisphere, the rugby player formerly known as Paddy Power, previous to that known as Epi Taione and once again known as Epi Taione was in the Southern Hemisphere, getting his marching orders in a Super 14s match for a headbutt that would make Zizou and Drunken Duncan weep with pride. It’s harsh - he didn’t even connect!

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | Click here to comment »

So Eddie O’Sullivan has quit. Now he can take some time out to do a spot of gardening - although based on his previous, the flowers will probably bloom months before they’re supposed to.

Listening to Eddie since Ireland’s opening game of the World Cup has become akin to listening to a man with a borderline personality disorder denying the events that have taken place in front of our collective eyes. Although not qualifying from a group with France and Argentina isn’t the worst of crimes, the team’s overall lack of competitiveness made it especially disappointing.

You can’t blame Eddie for signing the contract extension that was ill-advisedly put in front of him prior to the World Cup. Anyone who loves their country would have signed it with little consideration for the possibility of a catastrophe scenario that ensued. The IRFU bucked common sense and the standard practice of other countries by not making a new contract dependent on a good performance at the World Cup. O’Sullivan was culpable for the displays in France.

He admitted that the players were “undercooked” and since he alone is in charge of the kitchen, the buck stops with him. The rot has continued into the Six Nations and although we weren’t likely to win it given the way the fixtures fell, we only impressed for about twenty minutes in Paris and an hour against a dreadful Scottish side. Considering that, man for man, we have a more talented first XV than the Grand Slam winners, it’s very hard to take –especially when you consider who’s in charge of Wales. This was the most talented generation of Irish players and although future success is not out of the question, they haven’t got the return that their talents deserved.

But like a divorced couple reviewing a marriage, we have to remember that there were a lot of good times before the Irish public become embittered with Eddie’s conservative and unadventurous ways. The period of domination of England was extremely enjoyable and the Triple Crowns were nice – if only because it’s nice to have something to fill the trophy cabinet.

Ultimately though, it’s all a bit underwhelming and knowing the level of talent we have at our disposal, his time in charge has to be viewed as a failure. His pride meant that he stubbornly refused to pander to the demands of the media, even though those demands frequently looked reasonable. I believe his coaching methods and favoured tactics would be useful at a struggling nation or club, but O’Sullivan doesn’t seem to be able to advance a team to the upper echelons of the game.

We’ve had some good times under Eddie and although praise for him has been thin on the ground over recent months, he did his best for Ireland and we have to be grateful for his efforts.

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | 4 Comments »

Wales v France - Sat 5pm Live on BBC1/RTE2

I think Wales will win this to take the Championship but it is going to be that close that I would actually go for France on the handicap. It’s one hell of a game to finish the Six Nations off with the two most attractive sides vying for the title and it should be one of the best games of the competition. France have certainly come over here to win, Skrela and Elissalde are good kickers, something which was missing last time out and the experience of Traille and Jauzion shows that Lievremont is less willing to take chances. For me though Wales are playing well, the pack showed how much they’ve improved this year by totally controlling Ireland and it’s going to be a fascinating game.
I don’t agree that it’s been a soft tournament, England are World Cup finalists, France are always formidable and Ireland at home is never easy so it’s been a good tournament for Wales. They’ve been the best side throughout and hopefully they’ll get their reward.

Davies’ Decision: Wales to win the game but France to sneak it on the handicap

England v Ireland - Sat 3pm Live on RTE2/BBC1

I’m going to back England this time, Ireland are starting to look very tired and England at home are tough to beat. I think the Twickenham factor will be enough to give the home side the win on the handicap.
As for Jonny Wilkinson, he hasn’t been playing well and when someone is playing well for their club like Danny Cipriani has then he deserves his chance. The forwards haven’t been helping Wilkinson a lot, everybody’s form has been pretty patchy so I think it’s the right thing to do on this occasion and bringing fresh blood in could revitalise the side.

Davies’ Decision: England to prove too strong for a tiring Ireland and ease past the handicap mark.

Italy v Scotland - Sat 1pm Live on BBC1/RTE2

I’d go with Scotland because goal kicking and penalties will be significant in this game and having Paterson swings it in their favour for me. Although England were disappointing last week Scotland did well to stay in there and the penalty kicking won it for them. I can see them getting a try or two here but Paterson will be the match winner.

Davies’ Decision: Scotland buoyed by their win over England to beat the handicap

Posted in Sportsbook, Rugby | Click here to comment »