Gordon D'Arcy has made quite a name for himself in his short journalism career. He's had three captivating articles on the art of centre play, with Jesse Kriel and Sam Burgess coming under scrutiny in his Irish Times columns. His most recent article has received quite a lot of unfair backlash from all corners of the rugby world, but the reaction of the New Zealand Herald is by far the worst.
They completely dismiss the articulate and balanced argument that D'Arcy is presenting complete with examples, and instead focus on taking contrived shots at the centre's playing career:
Former Ireland back Gordon D'Arcy is proving significantly more incisive in print than he ever was on the field. Best known for not being anywhere near as good as Brian O'Driscoll, D'Arcy's savaging of English league convert Sam Burgess in the Irish Times went around the planet in a nanosecond.
Their painting of D'Arcy as a) not incisive, and b) being known as not being anywhere near as good as Brian O'Driscoll is not only ignorant, but just plain wrong. Leinster's third top try scorer of all time was known for some exceptional linebreaks in his early career, and was by no means nowhere near as good as O'Driscoll.
The New Zealand publication then took some more jabs at the Irish record at the World Cups:
D'Arcy, of course, knows plenty about RWC quarter-finals - it being the stage where Ireland tended to exit the tournament during the 16-odd years of mediocrity that coincided with his international career.
It's an unwarranted, ill-informed and ignorant attack on one of Ireland's best centres, especially coming from an informative article that the recently-retired centre produced.
You can see the full article here.
[New Zealand Herald]
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Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
