Fur long in squad for New Zealand tour

April 1992

Former Wexford Wanderers star Neville Furlong received another deserved accolade at the weekend, when he was named in the Irish rugby squad for the tour of New Zealand in May.

Furlong attracted the attention of the selectors with his sterling performances on the wing with UCG and Connacht this season, and he also impressed when making his Ireland ‘B’ debut against Scotland in December.

With his excellent defensive capabilities, something which has been lacking from the Irish team this year, everyone in Wexford will be hoping that Neville will receive a full international cap on the tour. The other wingers selected are Richard Wallace (Garryowen), Ron Carey (Dungannon) and Jack Clarke (Dolphin).

An all-round sportsman, Furlong is a past pupil of St. Peter’s College and represented Wexford in under-21 football in 1989.

Meanwhile, Nick Popplewell from Ballyoughter, Ballycanew, has also been selected for the tour but may not be able to travel. He is getting married in the near future and is thought unlikely to be able to take time off for both reasons.

Note: Furlong ended up playing in both test matches against New Zealand on that tour - the only two caps he ever won - with Ireland going close to causing a huge shock in the first one, before losing 24-21.

There was a backlash from the All Blacks in the second match, as they stormed to a 59-6 victory, but the Irish try that day came from Furlong, who had already picked up a leg injury and who limped over the line with the ball. Rugby lore has it that as he went back out the field, he turned to New Zealand’s John Kirwan - one of the game’s all-time greats, but who failed to stop him going through - and said: ‘I thought you were supposed to be good, but you can’t even tackle a cripple!’