Pages

Wednesday 11 May 2011

Mike Gibson enters IRB hall of Fame

Mike Gibson playing for the Lions against New Zealand
 
 For any Irish supporter the number 13 jersey will always hold a special pride of place in Irish rugby. Over the last decade Brian O'Driscoll has set the bench mark for outside centre play in world rugby. His creativity in the midfield, his eye for a gap and his determination in defence have highlighted Ireland's and Leinster success over the past decade. With this it easy easy to forgot other great Irish rugby players to wear the number 13 jersey, no more great than the ever young Mike Gibson.

Gibson rugby legacy was recognised on a world scale on Tuesday night as he became the 5th Irishman to be inducted to the IRB hall of Fame. Gibson joins Jack Kyle, Willie John McBride, Syd Millar and Tony O’Reilly as the Irish representatives in the IRB Hall of Fame. The category which was introduced in 2006 to recognise players who performed consistently to a high level in the world game.

Gibson was a similar type of player to O'Driscoll and was capped 69 timesduring a 15 year career than began in1964, a record not surpassed till big Mal O'Kelly broke that figure against Scotland in 2006. He represented the Lions on 5 separate occasions and is a worthy winner of the IRB Hall of Fame award.

0 comments:

Post a Comment