BERN WINNER
Eventer Joe backs Jackman to play big part in Irish Olympic medal hunt
JOSEPH MURPHY is backing Bernard Jackman to deliver the extra few percent to deliver Olympic success for Ireland’s showjumpers.
Former Ireland rugby international Jackman has no background in equestrian sport but the 47-year-old was appointed as Horse Sport Ireland’s new interim head of high performance in November.
Murphy, who competed at London 2012, was the reserve for Tokyo and who is on course for the Paris Games this summer, believes HSI have made the right decision in bringing on board Jackman.
The Carlow man was a head coach with Dragons in Wales before moving into TV punditry and keynote speaking in sport and business circles.
Jackman has also spent a lot of time in high performance sport environments such as with the
All Blacks, Manchester United, Barcelona, the
ING Tennis Academy in Florida and AFL club
Carlton.
“I have had plenty of time with Bernard and
I think it’s a very positive appointment,” said
Murphy, one of Ireland’s leading event riders.
“Bernard blew me away the first couple of times I met him with his enthusiasm and what he would like to do – he wants to achieve and I think this momentum is going to drive us forward a lot more.
“With the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Bernard and event team manager Dag Albert behind us now, it’s definitely a big positive. Bernard is a big positive in the team now.”
Murphy does admit there were some concerns expressed outside of the Team Ireland set-up about the appointment of someone with no specific experience in the sport.
“Within the riders and our very close community, we were always very positive about it,” insisted the 47-year-old. “It serves us well if we have somebody coming in with new ideas and has no real focus on one rider or one person.
“We want somebody to come in and bring other sports into the mix in terms of how we can improve fitness, mentality and so on. From the outside community in the beginning, I heard one or two complaints about, ‘What does he know about horses and what does he know about eventing?’.
“But he has had a very good sporting career, he has a very good business mind and has a lot of experience.
“We’re the ones who have to be successful with the horses and we know our job very well – 95 percent of it is down to us. We just need that five percent of back up, of mentoring, of giving us the right direction.
“And hopefully Bernard can steer that in a good way and give us that little bit of a leg up that we need now. Rugby is a very, very physical sport but what I like is you need a very strong mentality to succeed in it.”