News article – Style D 600

Picture this scenario if you can. It’s October, Munster arrive in Gloucester for the opening Heineken Cup game and when they get to the training ground……

Picture this scenario if you can. It s October, Munster arrive in Gloucester for the opening Heineken Cup game and when they get to the training ground, footballs and a few other training items are missing. Jim Williams, the Munster captain is not best pleased. This surely is the last straw. The charter to Bristol wasn t a 747 and he had to accommodate his six foot four frame in a bucket of a seat during the hour long journey. On arrival at the hotel, the sangwitches were turned up a bit at the edges and he had to share his room (Gallimh always had a room to himself). But no footballs The last straw for sure.

So the boul Jim goes up and gives manager Jerry Holland a it was never like this at the Brumbies type earful, and informs him, nuffs a nuff, you re a disgrace, I am cancelling my membership of Xtravision straight away, I m outta hear, never want to play for Munster and takes himself back to RoyKeane town. Proper order.

Yeh right.

Comaparing like with like when it comes to professional sport is always difficult, and particularly so in the case of rugby versus soccer. The very obvious difference is remuneration. Dr Keane (nice move whoever gave him that moniker) earns more in a week than what Williams does in a season yet it is unlikely that the Australian takes his chosen profession any less seriously. Both are superb athletes, both rightly recognised as being exceptionally good at what they do. But the idea that Williams would play even a bit in a remake of Raging Roy is beyond credulity.

There will, at some stage almost certainly be a Mick Galwey book, and down the years I m sure Mick took his share of knocks, fair and unfair. I m just as certain he came across a good deal of incompetence and there has to be a selector or two that incurred his wrath (at least). So can we expect a sensational Galwey tells all.? The Roy Keane book does no-one any favours It s a poor advertisement for sport. Never mind that it s credibility is now badly undermined by the ghost writer s claim that he exercised artistic license, implying that Keane hadn t actually said what he said about the injury to Haaland. So where else has Dunphy used this artistic license ? And why did a guy who earns over Stg70k a week bother in the first place ?

And with a book to follow from Mick McCarthy and yet another from Niall Quinn we as lovers of sport should be thankful for the likes of Jim Williams and Mick Galwey. Being a professional footballer is not easy. And it seems that earning a fortune as the Keane s of this world do, doesn t make it any easier. But it would probably do the good doctor no harm at all if he were to take up Hugh Farrelly s book Munster rugby Giants and see how model professionals really behave.