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Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Cork hurler Ciaran Joyce's day job and well-known GAA family off the pitch
Ciaran Joyce might be youthful, but he's already established himself as a formidable presence in GAA circles. The Cork hurler, hailing from Castlemartyr, operates as a centre-back and initially made his mark whilst representing Midleton CBS as a student. He's now an indispensable figure for Cork's senior squad - hardly shocking given his family's deep GAA connections. Here's everything you need to discover about his existence both on and off the field. Age Ciaran was born in 2002, making him 23 years old. Club career Ciaran played at juvenile and underage levels with Kiltha Óg. He first appeared on Castlemartyr's adult team in 2020 and is also a member of the Imokilly divisional team, based in East Cork. Inter-county career Ciaran debuted for his native county as part of the minor team in 2019. The following year, he immediately progressed to the under-20 team. In 2022, Ciaran made his senior debut for Cork. He previously told the Irish Sun: "When I was first called in, I was like, 'If I make the match-day panel, I'll be happy.' "When I started training and playing a few matches then, I was making my way up and up. Then I was in the starting 15 and I was thinking, 'I might actually be in with a shout here.' "I just worked my way from there, took it training by training, match by match and luckily I found my way into the starting 15 that year." Day job Ciaran recently completed an agriculture degree course at MTU and hopes to have a career in dairy farming. He currently works alongside his father Carey on their family farm in East Cork. "I love it. There are no days off there. [His dad] won't give you any days off. It keeps me grounded anyway," he told "I'll farm for the rest of the summer anyway and I'll look into maybe getting a job there at the end of the year. "But in the future, I do hope to go home dairy farming. That's the plan anyway. "It's not conducive to training but I'm lucky now my dad is fit and healthy and he's able to go milking. But any time I'm around, I do go milking." GAA family GAA is a big part of the Joyce household, particularly hurling. Ciaran's grandfather, Dan Joe Joyce, won a Harty Cup with St Colman's of Fermoy in 1948. His father Carey won the cup with Midleton CBS in 1988 while Ciaran won it himself in 2019. Carey coached his son at Kiltha Óg and is also club chairman for Castlemartyr. However, the father and son don't spend all of their time talking about sport. Ciaran told the Irish Examiner: "We actually try and talk as little as possible about hurling. He's very good like that. He's a big GAA man, but with that, he realises it's important to keep my eyes off hurling for a good while." Ciaran's younger brother Darragh plays hurling for Kiltha Óg, Castlemartyr and Midleton CBS, while sister Aoibhe plays Gaelic football with Inch Rovers.
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Jason Forde: Schoolboy prodigy, senior perseverance, and All-Star form
THERE'S A STORY from Jason Forde's schooldays which underlines the shatterproof self-belief and prodigious talent that have seen him reach his peak form at 31. Back in 2012, the Silvermines star was due to play the biggest game of his young hurling life, a Harty Cup quarter-final against local rivals Thurles CBS. The evening before that derby clash, he rang up one of the coaches. What followed wasn't so much a discussion as an alert from their mild-mannered captain. Nenagh CBS manager Donach O'Donnell takes up the story. 'He rang Niall Quigley the night before the Thurles game to tell him, listen, I'm going to take my frees off the left side tomorrow, just in case you're wondering what's going on. He was that comfortable shooting off both sides, and he just felt, when he was practising, he was more comfortable with it. I mean, it's a phenomenal feat really. 'The coach rang me, we were discussing it, a bit worried about it, but look, if he feels he can do it, let him off.' It wasn't as if his free-taking had been a problem. Indeed, Forde takes them off his right to this day. The frees he slotted down the stretch against Kilkenny from either sideline were all struck off his right. His 1-5 total was mined from six shots. They could've as easily been taken off his left. In that Thurles CBS encounter, he struck 1-14 between the drawn game and replay. He stuck with the citóg approach for the remainder of the campaign. The semi-final against champions Ardscoil Rís also went to a second day, with Forde scoring 1-17 across those games. In the replay, he accounted for 1-10 of their 1-11 total, including a spectacular stoppage-time winner. They lost the Harty final to the Coláiste na nDéise combination, but Forde scored 14 of Nenagh's 17 points to defeat St Kieran's in the Croke Cup semi-final. Forde was taken down by illness before the final against Kilkenny CBS. If he wasn't moving with his usual energy at centre-forward, he turned the game when switched inside, burying two goals and laying on a third for Nenagh's All-Ireland breakthrough. Nenagh CBS captain Jason Forde lifts the Croke Cup. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO He actually wore the No 6 jersey for that campaign. It was a legacy from his origins, starting off hurling with a small, rural club. Forde was often cast into the centre-back slot for maximum effect. That was where he first caught the eye. He hurled there for Tipperary underage sides up to minor level, before slowly moving upfield. Nenagh left him in that jersey to take the pressure off his shoulders. After defeating Galway last month, Forde spoke about the vitality passed on by the youthful exuberance of Darragh McCarthy, Sam O'Farrell and Oisín O'Donoghue. Advertisement 'They've no baggage. They just love hurling, love training, and we're all feeding off that energy,' he told RTÉ. In many ways, McCarthy has mirrored Forde's rise. Where Forde captained the CBS to their Croke Cup breakthrough, McCarthy came along to lead them to a historic Harty Cup after four final defeats. 'I think he sees Darragh McCarthy particularly as the young fella who's followed in his footsteps,' says O'Donnell, who guided both through their school years. 'They were both captains of successful CBS teams, they're both good leaders, free-takers, top scorers most of the time. I'd say he sees that in Darragh. 'And Jason was like that when he was back in school. He never had a hurley out of his hand. He was permanently tipping away after training, before training, and on his own as well. Darragh was very much like that too. Tipperary's Jason Forde consoles Darragh McCarthy after he was sent off against Kilkenny. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO 'They both really wanted it. They really, really pushed other guys around them as well. They understood that for the team to be successful, other guys had to come with them, play their part, and improve. They both drove that mentality, that work ethic.' There was never any questioning his hurling, right from the days when he finished as runner-up in the national Féile na nGael skills final to Shane Dowling. Nor his drive, having led Silvermines to a Munster Intermediate title while still aged 18. But Forde's rise from those schooldays wasn't all plain sailing. Not that it was ever going to be easy to infiltrate an attack where Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett were passing the baton onto Séamus Callanan and Noel McGrath. He captained the county minors and U21s, but despite some remarkable scoring returns, Tony Kelly's Clare knocked them out every year from 2010 to 2014 en route to five successive Munsters and three All-Irelands across those grades. Eamon O'Shea named Forde to start for his championship debut against an O'Donnell-coached Limerick side in 2013, but illness scuppered that reunion. Forde appeared off the bench for their infamous Nowlan Park elimination, but had to wait two more years for that first championship start to come around again. When it did, he bagged 1-3 in a statement performance against Limerick in 2015. He also scored off the bench in the 2014 drawn final and 2016 victory. There were other tough days too, mainly in semi-finals against Galway. He was taken off at half-time in 2015 and came on as a sub in 2017, only to be removed before the finish. Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald and Aidan Nolan clash with Jason Forde of Tipperary. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO In the latter year, a harsh one-match suspension when Davy Fitzgerald entered the field during a league semi-final cost Forde his place in Tipp's championship opener. 'I was probably at the lowest I was ever at after 2017,' Forde would reflect. 'I got brought on and taken off in the same game, that wasn't easy to deal with. If I was to go back in 2018, I knew there was no point in going back to do the same thing — you'd only end up with the same result.' He took up personal training in the off-season, and that lit a fire to complete a strength and conditioning diploma at Setanta College, over the road from Semple Stadium. During a career break from his teaching post at Nenagh College, he launched a new business, JF Performance, in January 2023. Asked if he was looking to mirror other gym owners, TJ Reid and Andy Moran, who excelled well into their 30s, Forde replied: 'You'd be hoping so.' When Séamus Callanan missed the league in 2018, Forde grabbed his opportunity with both hands. Filled with confidence from a second Fitzgibbon Cup with UL and installed as the focal point of the attack at full-forward, he blasted 7-72 across seven games; an average of 1-10 per match. Forde scored 2-11 in the semi-final against Limerick and 2-12 in the final defeat to Kilkenny. He finished April as GAA/GPA Player of the Month. He carried that form into championship, scoring 3-39 in four games, but Tipp didn't win any as they dropped out of the Munster round-robin. When his first All-Star nomination came, Forde was the only Premier hurler on the shortlist. Liam Sheedy kept Forde as his free-taker in 2019 as the Premier won their second All-Ireland in four seasons. Forde landed 0-7 from play in a remarkable Munster final defeat to Limerick in 2021, earning his third All-Star nomination. Jason Forde scores Tipperary's third goal of the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO If there's a sense that Forde is overdue an All-Star for his talent, he could be on the cusp of reaching that milestone. While Cork are favourites, Forde is Tipp's front-runner for Hurler of the Year honours. As per Gaelic Statsman on X, Forde has converted 80% of his shots at the posts in 2025, the highest of the inside forwards on either side this year. His tally of 3-44 from 59 shots includes 3-14 from play. In an era where shooting from a sideline cut has fallen out of fashion as the low-percentage play, Forde has slotted all four from four attempts this summer. His flicked goal against Kilkenny was the reward for all those years of pucking around before and after training, as he came up trumps in those championship moments. In a final against Cork, they once again need Forde to be at his efficient best. Tipp know they can count on him. Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
RTÉ News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
More measured Darragh McCarthy key to Tipperary's All-Ireland final hopes
Oh no. Not again. You didn't have to be a mind reader to guess what Darragh McCarthy was thinking when referee James Owens flashed a yellow card and then a red at the Tipperary forward in the 58th minute of the All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Kilkenny. The 19-year-old put his hands on his head, frozen in shock, before opponent Mikey Butler and team-mate Jake Morris encourage him to leave the field with consoling pats on the back. Tipp are already one point down. This is going to be the Cork Munster round-robin game all over again, when his red card in the opening seconds was widely accepted to have decided the contest before it started. Fortunately for McCarthy, it isn't. The 14 men up their game, and beat the Cats by what controversially turns out to be two points, after Oisín O'Donoghue's goal in the final minute of normal time and a scoreboard fiasco. McCarthy embraces his fellow Under-20 All-Ireland winner at the final whistle, tears of relief as much as joy. His side had survived the red card to make this Sunday's All-Ireland final – just as they had in their most recent semi-final appearance, when John McGrath was dismissed against Wexford in 2019 – and, like McGrath was then, he is eligible to play. But has the youngster given his manager a decision to make? McCarthy has had a spectacular ascent in becoming the first teenager (he doesn't turn 20 until August) to nail down a championship starting spot for Tipp since his now team-mate Noel McGrath - who McCarthy has called "my favourite player of all time" - in 2009. Despite his obvious skill growing up, the Community Games U12 long-puck champion wasn't the tallest, taking a while to get to his current height of 5'10 (178cm) and didn't start a single game when the Premier pipped Offaly for their first All-Ireland minor crown in six years in 2022. However, as manager James Woodlock told The Examiner this year: "He was winning most matches for us coming off the bench. He attacked every game when he came on. Never a cross word. He knew what was expected of him. He was above his years for a 16-year-old. "There was absolutely no question Darragh was going to make it. He was ahead of his years, he was direct, he was aggressive. You couldn't ask for a better young fella." He started one game for the Tipperary U20s in 2023 but then just under 18 months ago, McCarthy captained St Joseph's CBS Nenagh to their first Harty Cup (Munster secondary schools). Nenagh were pipped by St Raphael's of Loughrea in the semi-finals but McCarthy went on to score 2-43 in six games (0-08 from play) as Tipp's U20s won the provincial title for the first time in five years, only falling short against Offaly in the All-Ireland final. He was also introduced to senior training with an eye to the near future – as Tipperary finished bottom of Munster with one point - and then lit up the county senior hurling championship for the second year in a row, finishing as top-scorer with 3-62 in six matches, 2-13 from play, as his club Toomevara (home to Tommy and Benny Dunne, and John O'Brien) reached their first county final in 16 years but were defeated by a John McGrath-inspired Loughmore-Castleiney. Last autumn, McCarthy was awarded a scholarship to study Sport and Exercise Sciences at University of Limerick but played for the first-year team (he was captain and man of the match in the Freshers 1 final) rather than with their Fitzgibbon Cup-winning side. He was plenty busy though, scoring 1-06 from placed balls on his Tipperary senior debut against Galway in January as he also took over the key role of free-taker, following a rotating cast last year. The young sharpshooter topped the 2025 Allianz Hurling League scoring charts, with 2-38 (0-07 from play), despite being rested for the final-round win over Clare, and scored four frees in the 10-point defeat in the decider to Cork. He then hit three points from play and the equalising late free (having missed a couple) on an excellent championship debut against Limerick in April, having played for the U20s midweek. But then it all went wrong, even before the throw-in, in Cork. His dismissal at Páirc Uí Chaoimh came for a jab of the butt of the hurl into Rebel corner-back Sean O'Donoghue even before the throw-in, as part of what appeared a team strategy to square up to opponents that had also been evident before the draw with Limerick. Cork scored three goals in the first 17 minutes and won by 15 points but manager Liam Cahill certainly wasn't throwing him under the bus afterwards. "It is a difficult day for young Darragh," he said. "He is 19 years of age. He is a lovely kid. He loves hurling and loves playing for Tipperary. He is just misfortunate today. That is Munster championship hurling. "He is beating himself up, as well, which is not unusual for a fella that loves his hurling so much. We all have his back in Tipperary and we'll support and he will have really good days in the Tipperary jersey. He is mentally a very strong young fella." 'That's the problem with adrenaline' - the panel assess the incident which saw Darragh McCarthy sent off before throw-in 📺 Watch @rte2 & @rteplayer 📻 @rteradio1 📱 Updates — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 27, 2025 Former Premier manager Liam Sheedy noted: "That's the problem with adrenaline, when it takes over" and called it "a tough learning experience." The question for Cahill now is whether he is learning too slowly. McCarthy regained his place after suspension, scoring 23 points (0-02 from play) in the victories over Waterford – in between winning the Munster and All-Ireland U20 titles - Laois and Galway, and had scored 1-02 (2f) as well as setting up Jason Forde's goal in his almost an hour on the pitch in the semi-final. McCarthy had picked up his first yellow in just the fourth minute, for a slap of the hurl onto Paddy Deegan's elbow as he tried to close down the Kilkenny wing-back. "There wasn't much force. But at the same time, you can't do it, it is a striking action," observed Limerick forward Tom Morrissey on The Sunday Game. "Some refs might leave it go but you're still putting yourself at risk of getting a yellow. That meant he had to be careful for the rest of the game but, with 12 minutes left and the contest finely poised, Kilkenny keeper Eoin Murphy sidestepped the Tipp man, who left his hurl hanging out to rap Murphy on the knuckles. Owens called him over and ended his afternoon prematurely. Tipperary are down to 14 men after Darragh McCarthy is shown a second yellow card. That seemed harsh. 📺Watch 📻Listen 📱 Follow — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 6, 2025 "It's only a slight little tip, but there's no need to do it," said a baffled Michael Duignan on commentary. "It's harmless enough, but when you're on a yellow you don't do that." Brendan Cummins, his U20 manager, Sheedy and Jackie Tyrrell all felt the second yellow was harsh but the concern is that McCarthy had no prospect of winning the ball with either challenge, and Cahill said he had "no complaints" with the decision. "There's no need to do it," agreed Morrissey. "On both occasions, the player wasn't about to play the ball where you could come in with the hurley. They were carrying the ball in their hand. Flicking with the hurley, the ref is going to have make a decision and you're the one who's going to miss out." Forde had already been switched onto the frees by the time of the red card, McCarthy having missed two scoreable opportunities. The 31-year-old then hit four placed balls of considerable difficulty, which were instrumental in Tipperary closing out the game. Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Cahill suggested McCarthy would not be taken off the frees: "It's great to have Jason in reserve, he's having a huge year again... I'll be backing young Darragh all day long anyway, I have no concerns in that regard." But, given O'Donoghue's match-winning impact off the bench, is there an argument to start him instead of his U20 team-mate? It would allow Forde to take over the dead-balls without drama and McCarthy could always step in as a sub if the veteran was having an off day. It might also spare him some surely inevitable attempts to test his composure. Does he risk being ineffectual if he is too worried about picking up cards to tackle? Speaking in the aftermath of being named man of the match on his SHC debut against Limerick, McCarthy gave an interview that sounded articulate and mature beyond his 19 years. "The atmosphere was class and I loved every second," he said. "Playing with the likes of John and Jason is such a privilege and it's so invaluable the experience you get from them. It's really kicking me on as a player. After the U20 triumph, he said: "To be able to put on this jersey is a massive honour. You're representing your club, your family, coaches. You're representing everyone. It does so much for so many people; it lifts the whole county, and we're in great preparations for the senior team as well." Though his second mistake this summer could have been very costly, Cahill called him "a very resilient young man" and gave every indication that he will retain his spot: "I think over the next couple of sessions, he'll arrive here in a good place." This time, the manager will hope McCarthy can be as clever on the pitch as he clearly is off it and keep his aggression on the right side of the line. If he does, he just might go one better than his idol Noel and become an All-Ireland champion in his debut season.
The 42
06-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'There's a lot of drive in them' - The North Tipperary attacking stars pointing the way
TWELVE YEARS APART and history repeated itself in a hurling pocket of north Tipperary. In the spring of 2012, Donach O'Donnell looked after a Nenagh CBS team inspired by the attacking talents of Jason Forde from Silvermines. In the spring of 2024, O'Donnell guided another school side that hinged on the freescoring brilliance of Darragh McCarthy from Toomevara. The potential in both was glaringly obvious in those school days. Higher hurling stages beckoned. Today they'll link up together with Tipperary one game away from an All-Ireland final place. 'Jason and Darragh were very similar really. Both really good young players coming through, both free takers, both captains, both (on) successful teams. There's a lot of comparisons there. 'There's a lot of drive in them. First hand from seeing Darragh and Jason, they drove the standards and pushed players. 'Darragh had an instinct for it. A session would be going a little bit flat and you're just about to pull them in, and Darragh would pull them in. 'He'd say, 'Lads we need to pick it up from here.' 'Which was just brilliant to see and having that insight into the way the players think.' They demanded plenty from their team-mates but backed it up on the pitch. Advertisement In 2012 Forde steered Nenagh CBS to the Harty Cup final. In their semi-final replay against Ardscoil Rís, who included Cian Lynch and William O'Donoghue in their ranks, Forde scored 1-10 out of his team's 1-11 tally. When they were in trouble late on, he bailed them out by scoring 1-1 to win by a point. They lost the subsequent decider but regrouped to win the All-Ireland competition, Forde firing 2-2 against Kilkenny CBS as they grasped silverware. In 2024 McCarthy pointed the way as Nenagh CBS made a historic breakthrough, 0-13 in the semi-final succes over Charleville CBS, 0-7 in the final victory over Ardscoil Rís. A first Harty Cup title. Dreamland stuff. The scoring totals they compiled were less by accident and more by design. Forde was Tipperary's regular free-taker for years, now McCarthy has assumed that responsibility. Both have spent years relentlessly honing their craft. In the wake of Tipperary's quarter-final victory a fortnight ago, Forde remarked that McCarthy would spend every waking hour hurling if he could, such is his fanatical devotion to the game. 'I'd arguments with Darragh over how much training he was doing,' recalls O'Donnell. 'I had to stop him. I had to actually physically remove him nearly from the pitch. But both of them were constantly in the field. I remember (with) Jason, I got a phone call from one of the coaches the night before we played the semi-final, that Jason was going to take frees with his left hand, not his right, so just in case we were wondering what's happening. He was that comfortable off both hands, decided he was shooting better off his left.' In between Forde and McCarthy's schooln days, came Jake Morris. His class of 2017 contested a Harty Cup semi-final, Nenagh losing out to a Templemore side that featured Andrew Ormond and Brian McGrath. O'Donnell was not directly involved coaching that team but witnessed enough of their games to gauge the ability Morris progressed. The swiftness of the graduation to play senior for Tipperary in 2018 and win an All-Ireland medal in 2019 surprised no one. 'Jake was very influential.. I wasn't coaching him at the time, but they used to move him from centre forward to centre back, because he had that much influence on a game, depending on who were playing or sometimes during the game they would do it (at) half-time, so he had a big influence on on that team.' That influence has extended to the Tipperary senior ranks. Morris was pegged as an attacker who liked to be close to goal but has this year thrived in a deeper capacity. 'He's a really, really good athlete,' says O'Donnell. 'He's extremely strong and quick, his turn of pace, particularly. He's an ability to kind of glide and then just take off in a couple of steps, and again in schools, he was always around the middle looking for balls and that's where he played mostly. He ended up making it with Tipp inside first of all, but outside suits him better definitely.' Supplying half of the Tipperary starting attack elevates this season for those with Nenagh CBS connections. The links runs deeper. Craig Morgan is another past student, the Kilruane MacDonaghs clubman has overcome a cruciate injury to nail down a starting spot. Seanie Kenneally has impacted off the bench, netting a vital goal last year against Waterford and clipping a point against Clare this year, the Moneygall man has returned to his alma mater to coach hurling teams in recent times. Michael Corcoran from Silvermines is also on the panel and while Sam O'Farrell went to Glenstal Abbey, he is another Nenagh local. In an area that is a hotbed for the game, these ties strengthen the support for Tipperary and the school game that feeds into it. 'It's hugely important. The Harty is a big deal to the kids, it's very important to them as it is to everyone around. Last year we made the breakthrough to win the Harty which is again just a huge thing for the whole community really, the whole school and the whole surrounding area.' Tipperary's hurling fortunes have declined since the highs of three All-Irelands from 2010-19 and regular attendees in Croke Park. Their resurgence has been underpinned by signs of underage promise, three All-Ireland wins across minor and U20 in the last four seasons. The Harty Cup has been a vital stepping stone towards that, the Cashel, Nenagh, and Thurles flagship sides taking the last three crowns. 'It has definitely improved in the preparation stakes, it's effectively an inter-county setup,' says O'Donnell 'I've been involved in inter-county setups. We're not doing anything different to them, apart from the volume maybe. 'Early on you've a lot of club games so you don't have that much time with the players, but once you get out of the group stages, you have your prep and organisation sessions and your video analysis and your physio and all that stuff is like intercounty, and I think most teams are like that. Related Reads Absolute warfare: The return of Kilkenny and Tipperary after six years 'He's in our minds every time we take the field. It's a privilege to still play for him' Tippeary selector rejects suggestion that Liam Cahill 'flogs his teams' 'If you had two or three county minors, you were doing really well at U18 level, whereas now you need 3 or 4 U20s on your (school) team. Most of the players are with those three teams have been involved in the county U20s. That's really good for the for the county.' With school hurling days behind them, they have flourished. Forde and Morris remain central components of the Tipperary cause, having battled through recent lean years. McCarthy has become a breakout star and even when hit with a setback like his early red card against Cork, has shown the resilience to recover. That demonstration of character was something O'Donnell was always aware of. 'He wasn't fully fit playing with us in the last couple of games (last year). 'He was carrying a groin strain and again was just relentless in his will to play and to train and again we had to limit it because he wasn't going to. 'His first year on the (school Harty) panel he was very small physically, and we brought him on really for experience for the following year, but he ended up starting. 'He's very quick to learn and anything you said to him he soaked it in straight away, and he's a real ability to work. 'Often times in Harty he'd be double marked or he'd be under a lot of pressure and he'd go make a 30, 40 yard run and hit someone, contact and win the ball and pass it off to someone else. He's that type of player, that he wanted to stay involved.' *****
Irish Examiner
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Elusive Olympic success driving Ireland's consistent world beaters
Even now, hurling percolates Michael Blake's world. Brought up in Tuamgraney in East Clare, it's close to fifty decades since the high performance director of Ireland's hugely successful show jumping team put away the hurley and concentrated on the saddle. He remembers well his time at St Flannan's when the Ennis college ended 18 years without a Harty Cup in 1976, and the golden period that followed as they lost two finals and came through again in 1979. Clare's resurrection in the 1990s elicits relief and some regrets. 1996 and the loss to Limerick. The Offaly protest in '98. Ach! This background bubbles to the surface time and again, even when the conversation revolves exclusively around a day job that has seen Ireland enjoy an extraordinary run of success at some of show jumping's most illustrious of events around the world. In recent weeks alone, Irish teams have won two Nations Cups on different continents within five days having already won a prestigious Longines League of Nations Cup event on a third, in Abu Dhabi, only last February. All with completely different riders. This week sees the team in Aachen to defend another prestigious title. Ireland's recent podium finish rate has ballooned to almost 80%. They had eleven Nations Cup podiums last year alone. Other countries would sit in and around the 40% mark. The one fly in this ointment is the inability to get over the line in the biggest of the big ones. They lost the World Championships by six-hundredths of a second. What Blake refers to as an 'eyelash'. A team of Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle and Cian O'Connor couldn't build on a perfect platform on the final day at last year's Olympics in Paris when coming in seventh. Here comes one of those hurling analogies. 'We need to put it in the net all the time,' said Blake. 'I know that's hard to do, but we should put it in the net nine times out of 10 because now we have that kind of ability. We almost have that kind of structure and depth. The constant winning should be soon normal.' He knows better than anyone the tiny margins involved. Working with animals brings with it an added and obvious layer of the unexpected. A horse can step on a stone, or be sold by an owner, and everything can change. Ireland named their squad two weeks earlier than others for the Games, in case of any objections lodged over team selections. How problematic is that? Well, says Blake, Limerick wouldn't name their team seven weeks before an All-Ireland, would they? 'We're bitterly disappointed that we let our nation down. We wanted to do our best and we've bounced back before and after. We've bounced back now. We're the only country in the world that have two five-star wins up this year and so we can't be too bad.' This ability to win often and with multiple riders isn't a fluke. Blake reckons Ireland can call on a pool of riders that may be as large as 30 while powerhouses such as Sweden and Switzerland are struggling having stuck with the same, small gene pool. 'I've created a monster,' he laughed when asked about the selection headaches involved. It's a base he started to build at underage levels back in 2012. Young riders were backed and encouraged to pack their knapsacks and go off and build resilience and careers. They went from being big fish in a small pond here to minnows abroad. A young rider's academy was set up at home in support. They were educated on everything from conduct, to how to get an owner, media training, veterinary, accounting and how to get a lorry licence. All skills essential to this most unique of sporting careers. 'Being able to ride the horse is very important, but it's 50% at most.' The Nations Cup title claimed in La Baule earlier this month was won with two young riders, Seamus Hughes Kennedy and Tom Wachman, riding two young horses. All performed admirably. Blake likens it to minor players mixing it with the big boys. Hughes Kennedy is a 23-year old who, he said, has come from nowhere to be 'the new Ronaldo in this world'. The really exciting part in all this is how much better again this new generation will be when the time comes to tackle the next Games in LA in 2028. There is plenty to be done, and won, before then. Blake speaks of his love for Aachen and Rome and La Baule and a Dublin event that he describes as the Mecca. But that elusive Olympic medal exercises his mind constantly. 'There's only them [Olympic] circles,' he admitted. 'That's what I'm after.'
