Homophobia Destroys Ireland's World Cup Bid.
I'm just reporting this from the Ireland team base in France. This story will break on Sunday, when the tabloids will break the story.
Ireland's World Cup bid has been derailed by severe unrest within the squad over captain Brian O'Driscoll's sexuality. This year O’Driscoll has made very public his relationship with actress Amy Huberman. The star Ireland centre had previously been courting model Glenda Gilson, with whom he split from in 2005. These relationships have been used as cover for O’Driscoll to remain ‘in the closet’ so as not to upset his rugby career.
The rumours circulating in Paris are that his secret has come out within the Ireland rugby squad and that some of the players are not too happy for O’Driscoll to be in the team. A training ground bust-up occurred between O'Driscoll and star out half Ronan O'Gara during the team’s intensive training camp in Poland. The row has simmered ever since, with O’Gara reported to be extremely uncomfortable to be in the same team as O’Driscoll. The sensational rift has split the squad between the two players, with many of his Munster teammates siding with the Cork Con man.
Ireland manager Eddie O’Sullivan is reported to be very upset with O’Gara’s stance towards his captain, but is powerless to intervene, as O’Gara is Ireland’s only choice for the pivotal out half position. He has attempted to keep the story from breaking in order to try and keep Ireland’s world cup bid on track. However the plan has backfired badly with his team failing to perform so far at this world cup. Ireland lost 25-3 to France in Friday night’s match, putting them in a near impossible situation to reach the quarterfinals.
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Homophobia Destroys Ireland's World Cup Bid.
