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Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Gavin Coombes: ‘I've been waiting four years for this'
Gavin Coombes knows what it's like to win in Georgia. Eight years ago in Kutaisi, he was part of an Ireland Under-20 group that finished ninth in the World Championship, a squad that included Caelan Doris, Rónan Kelleher, Fineen Wycherley and Calvin Nash, a team-mate at the Mikheil Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi for Saturday night's match. The previous year Nigel Carolan's 20s had reached the World Cup final, but it was to be an altogether tougher experience 12 months on. Coombes and his cohorts lost all three pool matches, going down to Italy and Scotland before taking a shellacking from New Zealand. Victories over Samoa and Georgia rescued a ninth-place finish. He has mixed memories of the experience on the pitch. Off it, they're more pleasant. 'We had some not great results, and we won a few games. I think when you're playing 20s rugby it's very enjoyable. You're playing with a lot of people you grew up with. I have fond memories.' Coombes was in the vanguard of a glut of young players that established west Cork as a rich source of rugby talent, alongside Darren Sweetnam, his cousin Liam Coombes, Jack Crowley, John Hodnett, Jack Crowley and the Wycherleys, Fineen and Josh. READ MORE Coombes is a cousin of Irish rowing royalty, the O'Donovan brothers, Paul and Gary , and he grew up on a dairy farm in Betsboro, about 3km outside Skibbereen. He played all sports, but a significant part of his childhood was spent on the sidelines at Skibbereen RFC, watching his father Eric and uncle John. His aunt Mags was the first woman to be elected club president. Liam is her son. There was no bushel that could hide Gavin Coombes, who was always tall for his age and now stands at 6ft 6in. His power game was evident from a young age, and so too his athleticism. But there were gaps in his game, which were not evident as much when playing with Munster but became more apparent as he progressed from age-grade internationals to playing in the senior national side. When he won a brace of caps in the summer of 2021, against Japan off the bench and a try-scoring start against the USA, the expectation was that he would become a feature. Ireland's Gavin Coombes scores a try during the game against the USA. Photograph: Donall Farmer/PA Wire It didn't materialise despite a stellar try-scoring rate for Munster and his largely consistent excellence. There were also a couple of blokes called Jack Conan and Caelan Doris who were reluctant to accommodate his international ambitions. Sitting in a hotel in Tbilisi he's guarded rather than evasive. In four years since those caps he's had to listen to a list of his playing shortcomings. Some of it could be considered fair appraisal, some of it a little picky and ignoring the substance of his performances. The Georgia match has been inked on his calendar as a chance to regain a foothold once again in Test rugby. He explained: 'It's huge. It's probably been my target for the season, to get here. So now I've got to take that opportunity with both hands. 'It's been a while since I've played, so I want to put my best foot forward and hopefully, farther down the line, it gives me more opportunities.' He has scars from the knock-backs, but he's used them as fuel. 'I guess after I played four years ago, I had put a lot of pressure on myself to try to get in and play regularly, but when you get disappointed a few times, I think you have to step back from the situation and look at the players that you're competing with. 'I'm competing with two of the best 'eights' in the world, so, just looking at myself and focusing on myself and then all I can do is improve what I'm doing. I can't control what they're doing. I'd say I'm a good bit different. I made a lot of mistakes in those four years. It is experience gained. 'I feel like four years ago I might have taken it for granted and thought that was the normal thing to do; when you're 23, you're picked for Ireland and then your career goes in that trajectory. I'm definitely going to be a lot more grateful for the opportunity this time and hopefully I can grab it.' Gavin Coombes in action for Munster. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho When asked about the mistakes or missteps, he listened to the feedback from people whom he respected. 'There were a lot of mistakes on the pitch, mistakes off the pitch maybe with regards to preparation, planning and different things like that. 'I would be in conversation with Paulie [ Paul O'Connell ] a good bit and the coaches in Munster would be constantly chatting with the coaches up here [with Ireland], so I'm well aware of the areas of my game that I need to work on. 'I've definitely gone after a few of those areas, but I think for any player that sits up here they can never say they're a complete player. It's just about planning those little one-percenters wherever you can.' He acknowledges that his point of difference in his ball carrying, which is something his team-mates in Tbilisi will rely on when it comes to the gainline. He'll relish the physical confrontation and collisions. 'I guess that's something I pride myself on week-in, week-out with Munster, so if I want to go where I want to go, I have to bring it to this stage.' The veil descends a little as if he catches himself saying too much. He knows the pitch is the proving ground. He needs to make it his time. 'I've been waiting for four years.' That's it in a nutshell. It's about actions now.
BreakingNews.ie
20-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Ian Bailey's ashes scattered off Cork coast as family hold memorial service
The family of Ian Bailey held a memorial service in west Cork on Friday morning with the ashes of the journalist and poet then scattered off the coast. Mr Bailey was the chief suspect in the 1996 murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier. The 66-year-old died in January 2024. Advertisement He was cremated at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, in the days following his death. Mr Bailey was on two occasions detained by gardaí for questioning in relation to the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier. The battered body of the 39-year-old French film producer was found near her holiday home in Toormore on the outskirts of Schull in west Cork on December 23rd, 1996. Kay Reynolds, the only sister of Mr Bailey, spoke to the Opinion Line on 96FM on Friday morning. She said Ian 'loved west Cork with a passion.' Advertisement "There was the warrant which meant he could not leave the country but he said he would not want to be anywhere else." "It was very appropriate that this is where we spread his ashes. It is something he wanted." Ms Reynolds said that Ian was "quite fit" until the last few years of his life. "[The stress] finally got to him. He was not taking care of himself but it was all to do with the pressure. It had been relentless for almost 30 years. It took its toll on him." Advertisement "There were times he did not help himself. I think if he had kept quiet it would have been better but that was not Ian's style. "He had nothing to hide and he would not hide. He confronted his challengers face on." Ms Reynolds said she never for a second considered the possibility that Mr Bailey might have carried out the murder. "As family we never thought that he had done this," she said. "Gardaí felt there were things that only somebody involved in the crime would have known. I don't think that helped." Advertisement "That was Ian's style of journalism – in Gloucester he did stuff about GCHQ [the UK spy agency] that other journalists didn't. He thought outside the box. "I think that was what happened there and became his downfall. That is how he became a suspect." "From the moment he told us – he phoned us to let us know we would start to see things in the paper about him – we never doubted him that he had been involved in this." She added that her thoughts were with the family of Ms Toscan du Plantier. Advertisement "This is not to forget that a very young mother was brutally murdered. I feel so sorry for the family because of the misguided belief that Ian committed the murder they have just had so many years of torture." The father of Ms Toscan Du Plantier died late in December 2024 just days after the 28th anniversary of the murder of his daughter. Georges Bouniol, who was 98, passed away in Paris after spending close to three decades seeking justice for the murder of his daughter. Mr Bouniol died in hospital with his family at his bedside. For many years Georges and his wife Marguerite travelled to west Cork at Christmas to attend an anniversary mass for Sophie with their son Bertrand and Sophie's son Pierre-Louis. Two years ago Sophie's uncle, Jean Pierre Gazeau, said it was the final wish of her parents to see a conviction in the case. He told the Irish Daily Mail that the family had waited too long for justice. "They are so heartbroken that they still cannot move on with their lives. They've been waiting so long for justice and know they will not be around forever. "It's their wish that they will see a successful end to this investigation so they can live the rest of their lives in peace." Mr Bailey always vehemently denied any wrongdoing in relation to the murder of the mother of one. He was convicted in absentia after a trial in France in 2015, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, officials in France were unable to extradite Mr Bailey to Paris to serve the sentence handed down by the courts. Mr Bailey fought two attempts by the authorities in France to extradite him to the country. Ireland Toscan Du Plantier's brother agrees that Ian Baile... Read More He also unsuccessfully sued newspapers for allegedly defaming him and gardaí for allegedly trying to frame him. He also lodged a complaint with the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) in early 2012 into his treatment by gardaí investigating the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier. A subsequent Gsoc report indicated grave issues of concern but said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Bailey was framed for the murder or that evidence was falsified, forged or fabricated by members of An Garda Siochána. A cold case review into the death of Ms Toscan Du Plantier is ongoing.
