Gibson happy for O’Kelly as he surpasses record

SEEING Malcolm O’Kelly overtake his record haul of Irish caps at Murrayfield will only bring back happy memories for the man regarded by many as the greatest ever to don the green jersey.

Mike Gibson, whose 69 Irish caps is being surpassed by O’Kelly this afternoon, has only the fondest memories of the day he himself took the record off Willie John McBride by running out at Lansdowne Road against New Zealand in 1978.

“I feel happy for Malcolm, because I still remember how happy and honoured I was by the reception I got from the other players and the crowd on the day I got the record.

“I can honestly say I never thought the record would stand as long as it has.

“In fairness to Malcolm, however, to beat the record he has turned up now on 70 occasions, although there are differences, particularly as mine was set in the amateur era and Malcolm is a professional. Back in my time we only got four internationals a year, maybe five if we played a touring side, so it took quite a while to build up that tally.

“The other side of it is that we had much longer rest periods and did not have to play the sort of physical game like the players today. Rugby today is described as a ‘collision game’ whereas in our day it was more of an ‘evasion game’ and we did not have to endure the sort of physicality that is demanded of the players today.

“I had 16 years of international rugby, but I don’t know if any of today’s players could last that long, simply because of the effort they have to put in and the effect it has on their bodies.

“My advice to Malcolm would be to aim for the 100 mark - and then reassess the situation,” the Irish great commented, tongue firmly in cheek.