Irish Rugby Players who Impressed In 2019
2019 was quite a significant year for sport with netball, women’s football, cricket and rugby union all having world cups and very memorable moments. We also got to witness Tiger Woods finally winning another major golf trophy, an amazing Wimbledon final seeing Djokovic beat Federer, and South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup with their first ever black captain, to mention a few highlights. As ever these events were watched worldwide and with many benefitting from some great tips online at bettingonline.co.uk.
In terms of individual sporting teams, 2019 was set to be an important year for the Irish Rugby team who reached number one in world rankings for the first time ever, after victory over Wales in September. The year wasn’t as memorable as they were hoping though, with the defending Six Nations champions performance being very disappointing, seeing them lose a one sided game 20-32 to England and also lose 7-25 against the winners Wales. This was followed by a quarter final exit at the Rugby World Cup for the seventh time.
However, there were still several stand out players for Ireland throughout the course of the year:
23 year old, second row, James Ryan is being touted to be the captain of the Lions team on the 2021 tour of South Africa, showing just how highly regarded he is at the moment. He was named Leinster’s player of the year for 2019 and after playing a key role in the six nations win of 2018. He was solid at the 2019 tournament, despite the overall team performance and was voted 2019 Players’ player by his peers. His performances at the 2019 world cup were also highly commended and he has remained one of Ireland’s stand out players and future captain.
John Cooney was left out of the World Cup squad this year; however, he is still regarded by many as being the player of the season in Ireland. After not being selected for Ireland, he then started 10 out of 11 games for Ulster and scored 7 tries and accumulated an impressive 83 points through kicking. Due to these performances he is seen as a prime contender to start the opening Six Nations game in 2020, giving him the chance to shine on an international stage.
Jordan Larmour is only 22 and also plays for Leinster as a fullback or as a winger and has been described as the most electrifying player in Irish Rugby since Brian O’Driscoll. He spent a lot of time on the bench at the World Cup, but whenever he entered the pitch, he seemed to be on the verge of lighting up the game and was awarded Man of the Match in his start against Samoa. His 2019 performances both for Ireland, especially at the six nations and Leinster, have really made him a player to watch for 2020.
