1. Romanian captain, Cristian Petre, who after suffering a 67-3 loss to England,  was asked by a reporter about the game and replied “I play rugby for happiness.”  More.
2. The French rugby team won the toss to choose who wears their own home jerseys in the Rugby World Cup Final and declined to wear their treasured ‘bleu’. Instead they felt it was right for Kiwis, as RWC hosts, should  wear their own colours.   More
3. Young Kerry Gaelic football Tomás Ó’Sé after the final whistle carried the ball as a souvenir to the Dublin goal keeper who kicked the winning point in 2011 All Ireland Gaelic Final. Caught on camera! More.
4. Former Somali refugee, Mohamed Farah, won gold for Britain in the 5,000 metres World Athletic Championships – making his new nation very proud while arch rival, Kenyan, Paul Lagat (representing USA) was the first to embrace him and congratulate him. More.
5. Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni showed honour when he allowed England’s batsman to be reinstated after being ‘run out’ because of a misunderstanding that the game had stopped for tea. More.
6. Vancouver’s Langley Elementary School children displayed true sportsmanship after Ice Hockey riots when they wrote to Boston school children to congratulate the winners, Boston. More.
7. Ex American basket ball pro, ex junkie and now coach, Chris Herren, is a true sportsman as he coaches children and encourages them to always have fun & enjoy their games. More.
8. The Indian & Pakistan cricket fans – arch enemies became friends for life as they shared the excitement & enjoyment of fierce competition as over one billion people watched the match on television.  One man offered to sell his liver … More.
9. 19 year old Japanese golfer, Ryo Ishikawa, donated all this year’s earnings to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  More.
10. Irish rugby coach, Declan Kidney when asked about the illegal Welsh try that won the game said, that ‘while he felt extremely frustrated, he was not going to make an issue of it at a time when so many in the world were suffering. More.

I will tweet later our all time favourite single moment for 2011. Happy New Year  To One and All.  Say ‘Yes’ to Great Sportsmanship in 2012.

Some footballers think they have a right to dive - they don't

Here’s one club who is doing something about it. Australia’s Sydney FC have taken the lead and fine their players if they dive.

During an A League match against Gold Coast United, Sydney striker, Shannon Cole, took a ‘dishonest tumble’ in the penalty box. In fact there was contact made by the defender against the Sydney striker, but it was minimal and not enough to force him to fall. Sydney FC have a ‘No Diving’ policy and consequently fined Cole an undisclosed amount.

Do you know of any clubs that fine their players for cheating? Please tell us.

[Thanks to our Sportsmanship Ambassador, Francois Dumontel for alerting us to this story.]

Saracens could have won this crucial Heineken Cup game. And last year, they could have, and some say, should have, beaten Munster in the Heineken Cup Semi Finals in Coventry. They played great rugby. This year, they came to within 2 points.

The last 10 minutes was a Saracens siege. The dividing line between success and ejection from the Heineken Cup was just two wafer thin points – one mistake, one missed tackle or one penalty conceded. Leinster held out and Saracens were out, but they leave the Heineken Cup with pride and honour. As their captain’s generous spirit proved once again, there is honour and dignity in defeat.

See also: Real Madrid Fans applaud Liverpool’s Steven Gerard

…to be held in hidden jewel in the crown which the rest of the rest of the world never knew about, the GAA’s wonderful Croke Park. And once again, our Welsh friends shone. They came in droves. Thousands of red shirts worn proudly and distant Welsh voices singing beautifully in pubs across Dublin. How come the Welsh are such great singers? If anyone knows, please inform me. Even the biggest ugliest, most savage prop forwards quietly, yet proudly, stand up and sing beautifully when called upon. Ireland won and the Welsh celebrated with us. Irish captain, Brian O’Driscoll won his 100th cap.

Their final game before moving back to the world’s oldest international rugby venue, Lansdowne Road. A really sizzling new stadium, in the same old location, opens in the Autumn. But meanwhile, we’ve got one more trip to ‘Croker’ to see Ireland take on the Scots and maybe win a Triple Crown. A great day of sportsmanship is coming as Irish men, women and children cheer on auld England to beat France on Saturday to give Ireland a chance of winning the 6 Nations Championship outright.

Meet Ron McCarten (photo), who told me that he actually played on the wing for Ireland against England in Lansdowne Road in 1961 (the other Irish winger that day was Tony O’Reilly). Irish hero Tom Kiernan made his debut that day with Ireland going on to win 11-8 in another dramatic match. I will post up a video interview of Ron later. Crystal clear memories almost half a century later.

Ron McCarten enjoys the drama of  Ireland versus England.                                 

Meanwhile, I heard a nice story about the English coach, Martin Johnson, which I am going to ask for help in finishing the story. Here’s the start. When England came to town in 2003, Johnson and his team stood at the Irish end before the national anthems – forcing the Irish team to stand further down the pitch on the grass (beyond the red carpet) and thereby forcing the Irish President McAleese to soil her shoes as she had to walk on the grass. Despite being asked to move, Johnson refused. England had failed at the final hurdle during the previous three seasons. This time both Ireland and England were going for the Grand Slam. England stuffed Ireland 42-6 and went on to win the World Cup that year. Half the country hated Johnson for insulting the Irish president and half the country (including the Irish captain, O’Driscoll) quietly admired his determination not to be bossed by anyone that day.

A few seasons later, an Irish rugby character sent Johnson a red carpet with the following message: ‘For sale, one red carpet, unused, almost new‘. Johnson took the carpet to a charity auction in his club Leicester. He sold it and sent the money to Ireland with the cheque made out to the Irish character’s local rugby club, with a photograph of Johnson holding the carpet. If anyone has a copy of this photograph or the name of the rugby club – please let me know. Or perhaps get Martin Johnson to give me  a call to clarify.

*For the record, yesterday, Ireland won 20-16.

Millions of children watched cheating win last night when a French player handled the ball twice to create the winning goal and throw Ireland out of the World Cup 2010. FIFA have a rare opportunity to help kids know that Fair Play prevails over cheating. We are at the end of an era in football when games are played without video replay facilities for referees (rugby union and many other sports use it successfully to ensure correct decisions are made). So it would be a fitting end to the era to call for a replay. THE FAI have also asked for a replay against France .

There is precedent. FIFA forced a World Cup replay between Bahrain and Uzbekistan in a World Cup play-off for a mistake made on a penalty kick in 2005 so it is possible (albeit a different type of referee’s mistake). Also a truly great French football manager (who managed Henry) once insisted on offering a replay after winning an FA Cup match by ‘improper means’ in 1999 against Sheffield United. Full story is in Great Moments Of Sportsmanship pp.126-128. The French manager has the opportunity to do likewise. He and France would be remembered forever more in the world of football as truly noble sportsmen, elevating them into superheroes for kids all over the world.

Another Frenchman, Philippe Sella, a classy rugby international when told that France would get a by into the final of the World Rugby Cup if their semi final was abandoned (because of weather), said the team would not accept this way of winning.

So there are true heroes out there. They revel in an honest contest. Come on France – show us your noble honour once again; let fair play prevail; do battle with Ireland once more and become instantaneous immortal sports heroes for children all over the world.

It is the Gaelic Athletic Association’s (GAA) stadium where bigger crowds than any English premiere league football match attend during the summer months. They come to watch the two Irish sports, Gaelic Football and Hurling (the fastest field game in the world), as the counties of Ireland battle to make history.

The GAA was a banned organisation during the British occupation of Ireland. Subsequently foreign games like rugby and soccer were banned from Croke Park for over 100 years by the GAA. Ironically, when the ban was finally lifted,  it was in Croke Park where Ireland inflicted its biggest ever rugby win over England (43-13) in 2007 and it is where Ireland played both 2009 home matches that formed part of the history making Grand Slam, 6 Nations Champions and Triple Crown winners.

For 125 years Croke Park has promoted Irish culture, heritage and sport. Interestingly the 2 minute slide show makes no reference (correct me if I’m wrong) to the 14 civilians shot dead in the crowd by British Troops in Croke Park in 1920. We have moved on. See page 169 of my sportsmanship book for more on this and how we’ve moved on because of rugby.  The GAA gesture to open Croke Park to rugby and ‘soccer’ embraced a new view, a new feeling, almost a new Ireland.  It was a difficult decision for many, however, it shows the world that sport can prevail and it has done so in Croke Park – Ireland’s previously hidden jewel in its own crown.  Now, let’s make a bid for a World Cup Rugby and World Cup Finals (football) competition in Ireland (and  Britain) with Croke Park hosting the final.

Liverpool have this tradition too. So too do Munster rugby & Queens Park Rangers FC (see story in the book). Now I’m delighted to add the mighty Real Madrid to this growing ‘club’ of sportsmanship.

To listen to the BBC 5 live Radio interview click on the play button (arrow button) below:

Or if you prefer click the link below to download the mp3 file:

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