{"id":282162,"date":"2026-02-05T13:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282162\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T13:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T13:30:11","slug":"paris-has-become-a-graveyard-for-many-irish-careers-over-the-years-the-likes-of-jeremy-loughman-must-be-careful-or-theyll-end-up-like-these-10-stars-who-never-recovered-from-their-pain-hugh-farr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282162\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris has become a graveyard for many Irish careers over the years. The likes of Jeremy Loughman must be careful… or they’ll end up like these 10 stars who never recovered from their pain: HUGH FARRELLY"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paris is renowned the world over as the city of light and love, imbued with romance and adventure and joie de vivre.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But for Irish rugby, France\u2019s capital holds far darker associations \u2013 a city with the capacity to reduce the country\u2019s boldest and bravest to quivering wrecks in green, wandering about bloodied and dazed as rampant Frenchmen run riot among them.<\/p>\n

Between 1972 and Brian O\u2019Driscoll\u2019s hat-trick in 2000, Ireland did not manage to record a single victory by the Seine and, since 1960, they have only won there four times in this competition. Two years ago, Andy Farrell\u2019s team obliterated a French side still clearly ruined psychologically by their World Cup failure on home soil a few months earlier \u2013 but that was in Marseilles.<\/p>\n

During that 1972-2000 period, Paris became a Bermuda Triangle for Irish ambition with former Ireland and Lions second row Donal Lenihan once remarking that a generation of Ireland rugby<\/a> players were \u2018beaten before they even got on the plane\u2019.<\/p>\n

The French capital claimed some significant casualties along the way \u2013 talented players who never recovered from the harrowing experience of being filleted by the French in front of febrile stadiums of triumphant, trumpet-tooting fans.<\/p>\n

This was especially the case in the amateur era when selectors were far more volatile and \u2018one-cap wonders\u2019 were a common phenomenon.<\/p>\n

\"For <\/p>\n

For Irish rugby, France\u2019s capital holds far darker associations \u2013 a city with the capacity to reduce the country\u2019s boldest and bravest to quivering wrecks in green\u00a0<\/p>\n

Few are giving Farrell\u2019s injury-ravaged side any hope when they take top the pitch in Paris tonight top open their Six Nations campaign.<\/p>\n

With a host of established stars unavailable, for the likes of Jeremy Loughman, Thomas Clarkson, Cian Prendergast, Tommy O\u2019Brien and Sam Prendergast, all relatively in experienced at this level, this is the biggest night of their rugby lives.<\/p>\n

An evening which could define their careers \u2013 either as a launchpad to greatness, or as a trapdoor to the void. Here are 10 talented Ireland rugby players who never properly recovered from their pain in Paris\u2026<\/p>\n

ERIC LAWRENCE \u2018BOLO\u2019 BROWN 1958: France 11 Ireland 6 Stade Colombes<\/p>\n

\u2018Bolo\u2019 was a hard-tackling wing-forward from Belfast, well respected in Ulster rugby in the 1950s in his role as Instonians captain. Nonetheless, his selection to play against France in Paris in the final match of the 1958 Five Nations was still considered something of a surprise. Ireland went into that game on the back of a bad loss at home to Wales and selectors decided to get radical in a way that left many observers baffled \u2013 not least the esteemed rugby scribe W Brownlow White in the Belfast Telegraph.<\/p>\n

\u2018It is impossible to divine reasons behind some of the changes for Paris, Ireland will do very well to keep the margin down,\u2019 wrote Brownlow White.<\/p>\n

\u2018I hope this team can bring back success or, failing that, information from which we can profit,\u2019 he added, somewhat condescendingly.<\/p>\n

His misgivings were well founded, Ireland were comfortable put away in Paris to confirm their bottom-placed finish in the table and \u2018Bolo\u2019 was never seen in an Ireland jersey again.<\/p>\n

SEAN QUINLAN 1958: France 11 Ireland 6 Stade Colombes<\/p>\n

Sean Quinlan was another never to play for Ireland again after that 1958 loss in Paris. His is an interesting case, the flying wing from Cork who learnt his rugby in Blackrock College in Dublin, he had performed well in the 1956 Five Nations and then missed out until getting called up for the trip to Paris two years layter. Quinlan\u2019s pace and power had attracted the attention of rugby league clubs in the north of England and the events that day in the French capital appeared to make up his mind. Quinlan made the hugely controversial decision to change codes, as was reported rather disapprovingly in the Belfast Newsletter that October: \u2018Sean Quinlan, the Irish international wing three-quarter last night joined Oldham Rugby League club. The fee was described as \u201csubstantial\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

While Quinlan became a very popular figure around Oldham, persistent knee problems meant his career never took off and he only played 11 times for the \u2018Roughyeds\u2019.<\/p>\n

PADDY COSTELLO 1960: France 23 Ireland 6 Stade Colombes<\/p>\n

Costello was desperately unlucky that his only chance in an Ireland jersey came in Paris, when the visitors were hammered by 17 points to round off a winless, wooden-spoon championship. Costello was worthy of much more than a solitary cap. With his size, strength and skill, the Dubliner was a hugely effective second row and a legend around Bective Rangers, who he led to two Leinster Senior Cups. Costello was an all-round sports star, playing centre-half for Longford Town FC and becoming an Irish champion shot putter. More than three decades later, Paddy\u2019s son, Victor, would represent Ireland as a shot-putter at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and went on to have a brilliant career as a No8 with Leinster and Ireland \u2013 although he never managed to win in Paris.<\/p>\n

FRANK BYRNE 1962: France 11 Ireland 0 Stade Colombes<\/p>\n

Byrne was a winger who came up through Naas RFC in Co Kildare and won his solitary cap while playing in the talented UCD side of the early 1960s, a period featuring future internationals of the calibre of Barry Bresnihan, Mick Doyle and Ray McLoughlin. However, 1962 was another tough campaign for Ireland, who finished bottom of the table with no wins and one dogged 3-3 draw at home to Wales. Byrne got his chance as an injury replacement for Niall Brophy but could not make an impact as the French cut loose and was not called upon again.<\/p>\n

DON WHITTLE 1988: France 25 Ireland 6 Parc des Princes<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's <\/p>\n

Ireland’s Don Whittle leaps at a lineout during Ireland’s clash with France in the 1988 Five Nations<\/p>\n

The bruiser from Bangor, Whittle was a fearsome presence on the Ulster rugby scene in the 1980s. At 6ft4in and pushing 19stone, the PE teacher and blindside flanker was perfectly built for the international game but faced a formidable rival at provincial and national level in the form of Ireland captain Philip Matthews. The problem was, when Whittle did get his chance as a call up for the injured Matthews, it came in Paris against France and their \u2018brute squad\u2019 pack of Cecillon, Champ, Carminati, Condom and Lorieux. Ireland were steamrolled and Whittle never got another shot \u2013 which was Ireland\u2019s loss, because they had no physical specimen like him.<\/p>\n

PAUL HOGAN 1992: France 44 Ireland 12 Parc des Princes<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's <\/p>\n

Ireland’s Paul Hogan (first left) in the Five Nations game against France in the Parc des Princes in 1992<\/p>\n

Like Whittle, Hogan was renowned for his physical style, which was hugely effective for Garryowen as they secured All-Ireland League titles in 1992 and 1994, when Irish club rugby was at its height. His club form caught the eye of the national selectors but, like Whittle, Hogan was cursed by being asked to make a big first impression against the French, in Paris, in the springtime. Predictably, it was carnage for the Irish and Hogan was cast aside. However, two years later, the Limerickman was again a standout for Garryowen and was selected to tour Australia with Gerry Murphy\u2019s Ireland squad, only to do his knee in warm-up against ACT, denying him the chance to win a second cap.<\/p>\n

DEREK McALEESE 1992: France 44, Ireland 12 Parc des Princes<\/p>\n

McAleese earned his shot at the Ireland No10 jersey in 1992 on the back of some superb form for Ballymena and Ulster. A composed playmaker and brilliant kicker, McAleese did his best on that grim afternoon in Paris, kicking all four of his penalties to record Ireland\u2019s entire points tally. However, there was no avoiding the brutal fallout from that humiliating reversal and, while he did make the touring party for the trip to New Zealand that summer, McAleese was never capped again.<\/p>\n

KEN O\u2019CONNELL 1994: France 35 Ireland 15 Parc des Princes<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connell was another brilliant backrow whose talents did not get the international recognition they deserved. An underage star with PBC Cork, O\u2019Connell first caught the eye as a youngster with Munster when he squared up to New Zealand in Musgrave Park in 1989 and made such a nuisance of himself that he was taken out by legendary All Blacks captain Wayne \u2018Buck\u2019 Shelford who, later in the clubhouse, praised the \u2018f*****g crazy\u2019 Munster flanker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 1994, O\u2019Connell was ripping it up for Sunday\u2019s Well in the All-Ireland League and thoroughly earned his Five Nations call-up. The problem, once again, was that it required a trip to Paris and, to further complicate matters for O\u2019Cconnell, a natural No6, he was selected out of position at openside flanker and, although typically committed, could do little to stem the French tide.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, although dropped from the starting XV, the Corkman did get a second cap \u2013 coming off the bench in Ireland\u2019s epic win over Will Carling\u2019s England at Twickenham a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

REGGIE CORRIGAN 2006: France 43 Ireland 31 Stade de France<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's <\/p>\n

Ireland’s Reggie Corrigan is tackled by Julien Bonnaire of France during the sides’ 2006 Six Nations game in Paris<\/p>\n

Corrigan had already enjoyed an excellent career by the time he ran out onto the Stade de France pitch in February 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At that stage, the powerful loosehead was 35 and close to 50 caps for his country, having worked his way to the top from amateur beginnings as a second row with Greystones in the mid-1990s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ireland had a fine side in 2006 under Eddie O\u2019Sullivan but went into all-too-familiar \u2018rabbit in the headlights\u2019 mode that afternoon, as France ripped them to pieces in the first-half, going in at the break 29-3 ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Pieter de Villiers at his destructive best, France were especially dominant in the scrum and Corrigan was gone just after halftime, when France bagged two more quick tries. With the hosts losing interest, Ireland mounted a face-saving fightback, allowing O\u2019Sullivan to point out that the visitors \u2018won the second half\u2019. Corrigan never played for Ireland again. A rough way to end a superb international career.<\/p>\n

MIKE McCARTHY 2016: France 10 Ireland 9 Stade de France<\/p>\n

\"Ireland's <\/p>\n

Ireland’s Mike McCarthy leaves the Stade de France pitch with a blood injury in 2016\u00a0<\/p>\n

McCarthy was a tremendous servant for Connacht and then Leinster as an athletic, ball-playing second row who earned Ireland recognition late in his career with a call up in 2011 just shy of his 30th birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He stayed around the squad for the next five years, under Declan Kidney and then Joe Schmidt, and deserved a far better ending than the one the French gave him in Paris in 2016, the last of his 19 caps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Picked to start in the second row next to Devin Toner, McCarthy became embroiled in a dour tussle with the monstrous French forwards and suffered a horrendous concussion after an accidental clash of heads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The collision was so bad, McCarthy had to be carried from the pitch and never got the chance to wear green again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paris is renowned the world over as the city of light and love, imbued with romance and adventure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[539,1814,61,60,1838,136268,850,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-282162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-france","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-paris","13":"tag-rugbyunion","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}