Niall Kelly and Kieran Cunningham were in studio for Sunday’s Paper Review looking ahead to the day’s biggest events.
On top of the agenda were Ireland’s Six Nations showdown with Italy, the GAA motion allowing other sports to use GAA grounds and the crucial Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool.
The difference that IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora has made in the Irish set up was brought up, with Kelly pointing out just how important the Australian is.
“It’s not very glamorous work or very sexy work, but it's very important.
“It’s interesting how highly rated he is, I didn’t realise that he’s been tipped to be the next Australia coach after Michael Cheika,” Kelly said.
The IRFU is now often looked at as one of the most professional set-ups in world rugby, with centralised contracts the envy of many unions across the globe.
This is a far cry from the days when Warren Gatland was in charge of Ireland and would have to meet with a ‘group of blazers’ to explain his tactics to them.
While many could argue that the GAA should’ve allowed other sports to take in place in GAA grounds before now, Kelly was pleased to see the motion go through.
"It's a progressive step, it may not be before it's time, but it's a progressive step,” Kelly commented.
The motion was brought forward by the controversy that surrounded the Liam Miller tribute match that was held in Pairc Ui Chaoimh last September.
Kieran Cunningham was certainly looking forward to the day’s big Premier League match saying, “It's the biggest Manchester United v Liverpool fixture since the 1977 FA Cup final."
While United fans wouldn’t exactly be happy with seeing their city rivals win the league title again, Cunningham believed that anything would be better for them than seeing Liverpool win.
“If you asked 100 Man United fans who they would want to win the league between Man City and Liverpool, 95 of them would say Man City,” Cunningham said.
Written by Eoin Harte.
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