Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
You put your body on the line but you do it for your team-mates.. it’s all about camaraderie
Former winger on the lessons sport taught him
The life lessons, respect and friendships you get from a sport like rugby is incredible TOMMY BOWE ON THE BENEFITS OF PLAYING RUGBY
or Jamie wanted to play, I wouldn’t mind them playing, absolutely.
“I’m a huge believer in sport, particularly team sport.
“What children and people get out of team sport far outweighs the negative side of it.
“The life lessons, respect and friendship you get from a sport like rugby is incredible.
“It’s not like soccer, you don’t see players talking back to the refs, there’s the sin bin and there’s huge respect in rugby that makes it special.”
In 2012, Tommy launched his footwear brand Lloyd & Pryce, followed by his XV Kings clothing line. He said: “It’s flying, we’ve another 150 items in the clothing range for spring summer, between jackets, gilets.”
Tommy moved from professional sport into TV presenting and now co-hosts Ireland Am on Virgin Media One, a transition he is lapping up.
He said: “TV gives me the same kicks as when I ran out on the pitch.”
Tommy has been co-presenting the show for four months and said it’s been a fun challenge.
He said: “I don’t know if Karen and Alan would agree that it’s been smooth but it’s been an incredible opportunity for me. The versatility of Ireland Am as a show has been a real challenge.
“You’re talking about such a wide array of topics, the first hour from seven to eight is very much news and there’s so much going on, from Brexit to coronavirus and everything else.
“People are waking up with their cup of tea and cornflakes, so we try to bring them up to speed, eight to nine is lighter and then nine to ten, we’re just having the craic.
“It’s a brilliant chance for me to get into that and push myself out of my comfort zone. I played rugby but then I went in to
PITCH PERFECT Tommy work with Eir sports and I’ve been fronting their Pro 14 coverage for the last two-and-a-half years, so Ireland Am was the next step.”
The proud husband said his wife Lucy, who was formerly Miss Wales, has been an incredible support to him, as he Skypes into the show, when he’s not in the studio. He explained: “We have a three year old and a 10-month-old, Lucy, my wife is just incredible. “It’s tough like for everyone, but I’ve had the dream gig being able to escape from ‘daddy, daddy, daddy’ for a couple of hours.
Paired with Karen Koster, the star only spends two to three days in studio, and beams in the rest of the week from home.”
He explained: “But now with being in the pods on Ireland Am it’s important to minimise the spread.
“I’ve ended up having to Skype into the show, on occasion when the kids are having a melt down, so it’s all fun and games.
“But I’m on dad duty many mornings, getting them up out of bed and feeding and the whole lot, it’s chaos but it’s all good.”
Catch Tommy on Ireland Am, weekdays from 7am on Virgin Media One.
I’m a fan of Novak Djokovic, the not-always-popular Serbian tennis player. This week he had more wonderful tantrums, losing a point, then walloping the racket seven times on the floor, looking at the umpire in disgust, as if to say, “How DARE you not disintegrate?”, then two more wallops before placing the debris in the bin and carrying on with a new one. This could be the next fad: Novak Djokovic’s Racket Therapy. If you can’t sleep, or the kids have made you stressed, download an app. A soothing voice will say: “Breathe deeply. That’s it. Now take the racket aaaaaand SMASH SMASH SMASH CRUNCH BANG SMASH DESTROY aaaaaand relax.”
The American Senate has decided not to impeach Donald Trump because while the
Republican Party is strict on law and order, it’s not SO strict it’s going to punish someone for the trivial crime of inciting a mob to invade the Government and try to overthrow the 240-year-old system. Maybe the problem was the lack of evidence. Who can it have been who caused the riot? It would make a great detective story, maybe for Columbo. He could keep returning, with his cigar, muttering: “Mister Trump, just one more thing. My wife, she’s such a fan, would you sign this bottle of bleach for her, thanks so much.”
Harry Styles
But the 27-year-old reckons his phenomenal success comes down to “not trying his hardest”.
Harry says: “I have always made my worst music when I’m trying the hardest. And when it feels a little bit too easy and feels a bit safe and it’s just like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what people want…’ I write it.
“I try to write music as a fan of music. I just don’t really know how else to do it, I guess. Ultimately, everyone who works in music are just fans.
“Like I’m just a fan of music and get to make some, so I try to make it from that perspective.”
Harry, who is currently dating A-lister
Olivia Wilde, 36, is celebrating after his second solo album Fine Line spent its 60th week in the charts.
Speaking to America’s SiriusXM radio, Harry says: “The process of making that album was feeling free.”
He also reveals that the confidence came “after feeling accepted by the crowds. When I went out to do shows on my own, I was amazed people were coming to see me”.
If Harry’s best tunes come from a positive space, we can expect another great album now he has found love with US actress Olivia, who is directing him in new film, Don’t Worry Darling.
Last week she praised his “humility and grace” for playing a supporting role in her female-led flick.
Olivia said: “He jumped on board and blew us away every day with his talent, warmth and ability to drive backwards.”
Sounds like he didn’t have to try too hard with that, either. Expect it to be a blockbuster hit!
A TROPHY hunter poses with her “perfect” Valentine’s gift – the heart of a giraffe she’s just shot.
Merelize Van Der Merwe, 32, boasts of how her “wonderful” husband spent £1,500 to make her five-year dream come true at a game park last Sunday.
The sick photo she proudly posted on her Facebook page has caused outrage among animal rights campaigners.
But the defiant mum astonishingly insists killing the ageing bull giraffe helps SAVE threatened species in South Africa – a claim dismissed by conservationists.
Van Der Merwe, who started hunting at five and has killed up to 500 animals including lions, leopards and elephants, says she posted the snap to taunt the animal rights lobby.
“I have no respect for them – I call them the mafia,” she said before excitedly telling all about her dream day.
The couple had been planning a Valentine’s trip to the resort of Sun City when a pal called her to say a kill she coveted had been spotted in a game park.
“I’d waited years for my own perfect bull – the older a bull gets the darker he gets,” she said. “I love the skin and the fact it’s such an iconic animal for Africa.
“Our plans changed quickly. My wonderful husband Gerhardt knew this was my dream. I was like a child for two weeks, counting the days. Afterwards I was flooded with emotions.”
She plans to use her 17-yearold victim’s skin as a rug – and posted her pic with the comment: “Ever wondered how big a giraffe’s heart is? I’m over the moon with my Valentines present!!!”
Van Der Merwe – who runs a citrus farm in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province– claimed her kill “created work for 11 people that day” and “a lot of meat for the locals”.
She claimed the death of the old bull would mean “a new bull can take over and provide new strong genetics for the herd”.
She added: “If hunting is banned, animals will become worthless and will disappear. Hunting has helped bring back a lot of species from the brink of extinction. The only people protecting these animals are trophy hunters.”
She also believes hunting protects thousands of jobs in tourism.
But Dr Mark Jones of the Born Free Foundation told us: “Trophy hunters’ claims they are concerned about wildlife conservation are highly misleading. Trophy hunting is not a conservation tool, nor does it contribute significant funds to local communities.”
Elisa Allen, of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said: “Someone who kills another sentient being, cuts out their heart, and boasts about it fits the definition of a sociopath.
“One day, trophy hunting will be listed as a sign of a psychiatric disorder, as it should be today. It is grandiosity, serial killing, and bloodlust paired with a burning desire to show off.”
I was like a child for two weeks, counting down days VAN DER MERWE ON EXCITEMENT BEFORE KILL
NIALL Quinn has revealed that referees were terrified of Roy Keane as a player and were reluctant to rule against him.
The former Arsenal and Sunderland striker paid tribute to his former Ireland colleague in a Virgin Media interview which will air next week.
He recalled a match where he was playing for Manchester City against Keane’s Manchester United when it dawned on him the official was scared.
Quinn said: “I can remember playing one game for Man City, where he was literally running every part of the United team, barking orders at everybody.
“The moment I thought, ‘This fellow, he really has got it’, was not some outrageous skill, not a great tackle, whatever, not a great pass.’
“A ball came across from a free kick, a corner kick actually it was. We had a full back called Michel Vonk, and he went up with Cantona for a header, it was sent to far to the back post.
“He went up with Cantona for the header and Cantona kind of half fouled him. And the referee blew his whistle. I was standing there, and he roared at the referee, ‘That’s a terrible decision, how dare you give a decision like that!’
“And the referee says to him, ‘I haven’t, Roy, I haven’t, it’s a penalty for you’.
“You just went, ‘Yeah, bloody right it is’. And he walked off and they got a penalty and they scored.
“I looked at it and I went, ‘Oh my god, that referee is scared stiff of Roy Keane’.”
Quinn said Keane stood out from the pack from the beginning of his career.
He added: “His energy was the first thing that struck me, up and down the pitch.
“How he could be so involved in a game, every bit of it and at a young age, that referees were afraid of their lives of him. He had a presence in other words, right from the get-go. He became very demanding of those around him, at a very young age. It was just in him.
“Roy is driven in doing his thing and you could see there was a wall around him already, and he was in there hell bent and determined in getting to the top.
“That’s just presence – and he had the most incredible presence. Didn’t suffer fools as you know.”
But Quinn said the former Man Utd and Ireland captain had a side to him that most people did not know.
He revealed: “People who kind of knew him better than I did, would tell you that when you do take the wrapper away, that he is a great guy who does things that none of us even know about for people far less fortunate than ourselves.
“I kind of always knew this about him. So it’s hard to have a public fall-out with somebody that has so much decency in there that doesn’t show through.”
Recalling the events when Keane quit the Irish team at the 2002 World Cup, Quinn said he had been in a privileged position.
He said: “We found it difficult that he would be so alarmingly aghast at what was going on out there given that for all our international matches for the last couple of years, he was only coming in sometimes on the Tuesday and we were all in on the Saturday.
“So he had this specialist status, this privileged status in the team for a couple of years. So it was difficult I think for him to say things aren’t done right, when he wasn’t there all the time.
“So from a very early stage in that sort of Mick-Roy relationship, Roy was privileged, put in a specialised position.
“When he started giving out about stuff, I had to think, ‘The rest of us turn up all the time’.
“So that was where we were. ‘He’d be ok, he’d be fine, he’d settle down’. Then it got worse and worse.”
Quinn revealed after Keane walked out the mood of the players was to get him back but Mick McCarthy said: “Hang on a minute, I’m the manager’.
Eventually after a team meeting the squad voted to back McCarthy. Niall Quinn: From Bootroom to Boardroom is on Virgin Media Two this Wednesday at 10.15pm.
People who kind of knew him better than I did, would tell you that he’s a great guy NIALL QUINN ON THE SOFTER SIDE OF FOOTBALLER ROY KEANE