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Watch: RugbyPass Exceptional Stories - Ian McKinley

It’s now roughly eight years since the accident that led to Ian McKinley losing the sight in his left eye.

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In a freak accident, a stray boot from a fellow teammate perforated his left eye while playing a club match in 2010 for University College Dublin, leaving him partially blind in that eye.

The injury would be a career-ending one for 99.9% of professional athletes but not for McKinley.

The flyhalf retired briefly in 2011 after the shock realisation that his retina had detached, rendering him completely blind in his left eye.

He resumed his career, with the aid of protective goggles for Rugby Viadana in Italy, a semi-professional side playing in the Italian Eccellenza.

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In 2015, he would make his return to the Pro12, when Zebre needed cover at flyhalf during the World Cup.

McKinley would play a further two times for Zebre throughout the course of that season, one of those fixtures was against his previous team, Leinster.

The following season he earned a contract with Benetton Treviso, where some standout performances saw the Dubliner force his way into the international setup for the 2017 November Internationals.

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McKinley would make his international bow against Fiji, coming off the bench to seal the game with a penalty for the Azzurri.

McKinley has embraced his role as an ambassador for the visually impaired but doesn’t want it to define him.

“I didn’t sign up to be a poster boy,” said McKinley.

“I want people to look beyond the goggles – that goes for coaches as well.”

“I think they do: if I make a mistake I get the same treatment as other players.” ”

“If I do something well, I get the same praise.”

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J
JW 1 hour ago
アンディ・グッド:オーストラリアのコメントは彼らを栄光で覆い隠さなかった

Yes I was happy with the refs ruling of arrival (and that the tackled player wasn’t obligated to release the ball immediately) but if you see the wide angle you can note how Morgan dives to get there in time.


I don’t mind your (or the refs) view, but what Morgan said is accurate. Both Mils and Beaver agreed on the breakdown, and you will also get the same view from Aotearoa Rugby Pod guys for a pretty unanimous NZ view.

Sometimes when both players are low its a rugby collision and this is one of those times.

Not recently. In the SR finals and AB v Arg series weve seen players clearly bent 90 at the waist still be penalised, only when the attacker does something the ref sees immediate mitigation and rules a rugby incident. Tizzano didn’t offer that he was always in the position Morgan aimed to collect him in.


Happy to not throw the rule book at these situations but the precent is that they are in these situations.

many tries out wide the player is allowed to be tackled while diving

They are diving for the line, not to avoid being tackled.

“In principle, in a try scoring situation, if the action is deemed to be a dive forward for a try, then it should be permitted. If a player is deemed to have left the ground to avoid a tackle; or to jump, or hurdle a potential tackler, then this is dangerous play and should be sanctioned accordingly.”

You can read Nicks article for an updated discourse on this though.

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