Garvey ‘buzzing’ at the possibility of fans attending cup clash, says Corry
LISNAGARVEY and Cookstown are keeping their fingers crossed that they will be able to benefit from home support in next month’s Irish Senior Cup semi-finals.
It had been feared that the NI Executive would fall into line with the Republic’s government and ban spectators from sporting events for the time being.
However, there were no such restrictions imposed at yesterday’s Stormont briefing and, instead, it’s understood that fans could be allowed to attend the games — held over from last season which was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic — on September 6, subject to local government approval and provided the venues pass risk assessments.
Garvey face Glenanne at Comber Road and Cookstown are up against UCD at Steelweld Park with the final scheduled for September 19 at a venue still to be confirmed.
Garvey captain James Corry said: “The boys are buzzing for the game and if we are allowed to bring a crowd along, it will only add to the sense of occasion.
“Everyone is really excited ahead of the new campaign and being able to complete last season’s Irish Cup will be a great curtain raiser.”
Meanwhile, umpires are being urged to clamp down on serious breaches of Covid-19 protocols when the new season kicks off.
Although it’s unlikely to happen, players who are deemed to have coughed deliberately in front of an opponent or official will be handed an automatic red card.
Pre-match team huddles and any such gatherings between quarters are forbidden as are high-fives, handshakes and goal celebrations that break social distancing.
Any flouting of such protocols will initially produce a warning to the captain of the offending team, to be followed by cards and a spell in the sin-bin for repeated indiscretions.
The advice to umpires is part of Hockey Ireland’s latest returnto-play and return-to-competition protocols which were announced this week.
AS a card carrying member of the front-row union, it should come as no surprise that former prop Dan Mcfarland sees a lot to admire in Jack Mcgrath.
From one loosehead to another though, when asked what the former Leinsterman brings to the Ulster coach’s panel, what Mcfarland wanted to highlight had nothing to do with the thousands of set-pieces logged over an already illustrious career.
“I’m not even going to talk about what he brings on the field because we all know what he brings there, his scrummaging, his size, his muscularity, his physicality,” he said.
“Off the pitch, Jack says it how it is. He doesn’t care what people think of him and if it needs saying, he’ll say it. There aren’t many people like that.
“You can’t underestimate the power of that when it is backed up by his credibility and the legacy he has in rugby.
“I knew Jack before he came here and I had a lot of time for Jack as a person. He’s my kind of player. I like those nasty fellas.”
It was back in November of this disrupted season that Ulster’s longest-serving player Luke Marshall spoke of a focus to redress the perception of a “soft underbelly” at Kingspan Stadium and, coming from the winning culture of Leinster, Mcgrath knows there is little point in sugar-coating the message if players aren’t meeting the standards required for that long sought-after piece of silverware.
“The main thing for me (when arriving last summer) was to try and fit in and bring my experience of what I had done in the game and give people confidence that they are doing the right thing,” said the 30-year-old who boasts more Test caps than any other member of the squad.
“There is no point in bigging people up if they haven’t done something right. You need to call them out.
“That’s the ruthlessness of the sport that we are in. It’s constructive criticism any time I would say it. I wouldn’t just go at someone for no reason. If you want to get to the next level, you can’t leave any stone unturned and that’s what we’re trying to do here, push each to the next level every time we train. It’s probably a little bit different from what they were used to before.”
So too Mcgrath, who had to leave all he’d known to make the move north a little over a year ago.
Injuries had led to the 2017 Test Lion falling down the pecking order with both Leinster and Ireland in the early months of 2019, leaving him with a decision to make. Following the familiar path to Belfast also taken by former RDS team-mates John Cooney, Jordi Murphy and now, Ian Madigan, a thumb injury, his return to the Ireland scene post-world Cup and, of course, the Covid-19 pandemic have all combined to see him make just 10 appearances for Ulster so far, yet he is in no doubt he made the right call.
“I love it,” he enthused. “They’ve taken me in, the guys are unbelievable craic, and it’s an enjoyable place to come into every day.
“Moving out of Dublin having (only) played for Leinster, it’s nice to get outside the bubble as well and test yourself somewhere else, in a different culture. Stepping outside your comfort zone was a massive thing. All I can say is it’s been positive for me. I’ve loved every minute. It’s been really enjoyable, I’m just ready to get back into games now. It’s been a long old wait.”
That wait is almost over. Ulster will today name their team for Sunday’s long-awaited return to PRO14 action against Connacht in the Aviva Stadium, the side needing at most one win to be sure of their place in an abbreviated play-off format.
While an Edinburgh victory over Glasgow tomorrow would render Ulster’s result academic, the desire to simply get back on the pitch again after six months ensures the derby will carry a sense of sizeable significance regardless.
Even with the novelty of an intra-squad game in training last week, Mcgrath knows nothing can rival the real thing.
“Everyone has been buzzing,” he said. “Even though it was lashing rain, lads were still smiling. It was our last day of pre-season on Saturday and we did a bit of a hit-out here.
“So it was noted that that was the end of pre-season on Saturday and that we’d a game this week. Lads are just ready to go now.”
As Mcgrath points out, normally this time of year would bring a pre-season match-up with expanded squads, rolling subs, and all the intensity of a Sunday afternoon stroll. While the usual hallmarks of rust and faltering cohesion are still to be expected, there’s no denying that this weekend will deliver the stark contrast of full-blooded contests, fittingly given where we are in the season if not the calendar.
Like Mcgrath’s old club Lein