THE IRISH SHOW jumping team has finished as runners-up in the Nations Cup of Ireland for the Aga Khan Trophy at the Dublin Horse Show.
The USA were the winners, lifting the trophy for the eighth time as Ireland narrowly missed out. All of the first six combinations jumped clear for Ireland in what was considered to be one of the strongest fields in recent years, including Offaly’s Darragh Kenny who was first of the Irish to jump with the 17-year-old grey stallion VDL Cartello.
Mark McAuley of Louth also ran clear for the hosts on board the Denis Hickey-bred GRS Lady Amaro (ISH). Tipperary’s Denis Lynch and Vistogrand were also flawless in their performance. Anchor rider Cian O’Connor and Fancy De Kergane finished with one fence down and a time fault. But Ireland remained on zero with three first-round clears already on the board.
Ireland held a share the lead with the USA at the halfway stage with a two-fence advantage over Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands heading into round two.
Darragh Kenny and VDL Cartello had one fence down for Ireland at the start of the second round as USA edged ahead as Spenser Smith completed a double clear performance with Keeneland. Mark McAuley and GRS Lady Amaro (ISH) were clear until the last line, dropping two fences to leave them on eight faults. Denis Lynch came home with one fence down second time out, leaving Ireland tied with Belgium and Switzerland on eight faults heading into the last line riders.
Cian O’Connor went clear with Fancy De Kergane to put pressure on the USA leaders who held the advantage on four faults. But USA’s final rider McLain Ward also jumped clear to deliver the country’s first Aga Khan since 2017.
Pearce was obnoxious and condescending towards Dorris. He had his mind made up before seeing all angles ( ala another english ref) but it’s obvious that any close call went to home team. BTW it may be a good decision to employ Nigel Owens and have him in our corner like Pipper in SA
There’s a pattern here with all of Barnes, Dickson, Carley and Pearce looking down at Irish players like they’re not worthy of listening to.
If Pearce had treated Kolisi like he did Doris, the race card would have been out before the game had even ended.
We don’t have this issue with any other referees. It’s the English “Old Boys” club in full swing now we dare to really compete at the highest level and the IRFU have to do something about it.
@teuO6nLS: kolisi’s demeanor when speaking to the refs is very polite with no sense of aggression or forwardness ( a calm conversation) , as you are aware huge focus for SA over the years has been getting on the side of the the ref and the finer details of the rules and how the refs work (entrance Peyper/owns ect )…the frustrated ranting captain who asks the same question 3 times and expects a different result is never going to get on the refs side…big learning curve. SA have mastered this ….
@Stuart: How as Doris being anything other than polite but inquisitive. I saw nothing like Sexton (at times) or others in his behavior but yet Pearse got all upset and frustrated with him for even asking. Is he that insecure and childish that he can’t explain his decisions to a captain?. A referee should not be abused but equally should treat a captain who wants information with respect
The consistency, quality and intensity of his performance over a game is nothing short of remarkable.
On balance, ignoring the last 30 mins of Saturday, I’d have said Pearce is generally the most congenial of the English refs. Dickson and Carley are both considerably worse. They would have escalated more quickly and more severely than Pearce did last weekend. My biggest issue with Pearce is that he’s never in his career seen a pass that didn’t go backwards. His tolerance for the most blatant of forward passes is mindboggling.
Ben Whitehouse though … I don’t even mind him so much as a ref, but he is the worst TMO out there. Seems always to have a burning desire to be the cleverest official on duty, hunting out the obscure incidents no one else has seen, while steadfastly ignoring anything obvious – and definitively refusing to look at anything some TV producer has deigned to replay.
The only thing criticising the english his buddy is doing next game up. If you thought Pearce was arrogant…..