Squad meeting revived Irish spirit, says Wals

The Irish Elite team got their heads together following a backs-to-the-wall team talk at the European Championships in Minsk, Belarus, according to head coach Billy Walsh.

The Ireland squad arrived in the Belarusian capital with a well-earned reputation as one of the most formidable Irish sides ever assembled. But Team Ireland was on the ropes within 24 hours after three boxers, two of which were European champions, crashed out.

Sean McComb, and Ray Moylette and Joe Ward, gold medal winners at the 2011 Europeans in Turkey, were on the wrong end of two unanimous decisions and a freak injury. Ward was well ahead with just 20 seconds to go the final bell of his light-heavy duel with Poland’s Mateusz Tryc when a clash of knees dislocated his left kneecap and TKO’d his bid to win back-to-back European crowns.