The Humphs Video

[Rooster]

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A short and unfortunately not great quality video of some of his recent moments.
Have not seen any TV coverage this weekend but then I had a power failure and missed the UTV news on Saturday

[pwrmoore]

Thanks rooster

[Neil F]

Great video, Rooster. Sadly, my personal favourite Humphreys moment wasn't included (the track-back tackle against Toulouse in 1998/1999) but some great moments, none the less! Thanks, as always, for the moving pictures!

[Rooster]

Great video, Rooster. Sadly, my personal favourite Humphreys moment wasn't included (the track-back tackle against Toulouse in 1998/1999) but some great moments, none the less! Thanks, as always, for the moving pictures!

Good reason for that Neil, I haven't got that game on disc

[Neil F]

No Toulouse game on disc(k?)? Tut tut! Of course, I tut in the knowledge that I'm of the glass-half-empty persuasion that believes that there would have been no try against Stade had that tackle not gone in. I suppose the same goes for missed drop goals, however!

Not to worry. I've got the tackle somewhere on one of thon there retro VHS things!

[rugbymunchkin]

great vid! cheers rooster!!!

[rave on]

Thanks for those,and the soundtrack was perfect too!

[goodaine]

Excellent oh chicken legs & think the people 10 doors up could hear the sound track

[cables]

In yesterday's BT:

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Tyrone Howe: Humphreys is one of the true greats
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Last Friday night at Ravenhill typified the drama of the life of a professional sportsman.

The greatest and most influential player in Ulster rugby over the last 20 years did everything he could to ensure that he managed to get out onto his hallowed Ravenhill turf for one last hurrah, only to be forced to leave the pitch after only eight minutes, injury again striking him down in a final cruel twist of fate.

Fitness-wise, who knows whether David Humphreys (aka my friend Humph) should or should not have played.

What is certain, however, is that it was the right decision, even for those eight short minutes, for we were all there to pay our respects to the player who is one of Northern Ireland's greatest ever sportsmen.

As I sat beside inspirational ex-captain Andy Ward, both of us rose to our feet and lifted our hands in applause — not a word uttered at that moment, just looking on and saluting a player and individual with whom we both share such good memories.

But it was like that for everyone in the stadium, as they all had they their own abiding and special memories.

Despite his quiet and modest ways, Humph will also have been delighted to have waved farewell to his playing career on the pitch rather than in the physio room.

Having the opportunity to run out with two of his children, Katie and James, will have meant just as much to him as the extended standing ovation he received as he entered the arena for the last time.

Indeed, maybe it is this sentiment, in part, that has endeared him not only to rugby followers but also sports fans across Ireland, as his priorities in life have always seemed to have been in the right order even in the midst of the most intense pressure or rugby glory.

It's a difficult thing to do, to write what is close to a rugby obituary, firstly when it is about a mate, and clearly you can never be too complimentary about your mates, but secondly, and more importantly, because it is difficult, if not impossible fully to do justice to a career which broke virtually all the records.

Humph's first Ulster cap came against Cumbria in 1992, which I'm sure was thrilling at the time, but the second one must have felt much more like the real deal — the first match in the 1992 inter-provincial series in Thomond Park against Munster.

I remember it well as it coincided with my own first cap, lining up against Ireland wing Richard Wallace.

It was exactly as you would imagine — tough, uncompromising and total " in your face" aggression. David started the match on the bench and as the game wore on, we were down by quite a few points.

Enter stage right Mr D Humphreys.

Cool as you like, two penalties and a drop-goal right at the end to win the match for Ulster. Sound familiar? It should do because that's exactly how it continued for well over a decade.

We were both cubs, wet behind the ears, loving every minute of playing with our heroes but that day in Limerick was the real starting point for both of us, as individuals and friends.

I probably got to know Humph best during our postgraduate days at Oxford University. It was there that I discovered that David isn't actually perfect. He used to buy enormous stashes of chocolate but rarely embraced the concept of sharing.

I tried time and time again to prise some chocolate away from him, but with limited success. It was like a game of cat and mouse and you had more chance of breaking into Fort Knox than getting at the chocolate in Humph's room, but trust me, when I did, I made the most of the opportunity.

Humph also made the most of his opportunity in the subsequent Varsity Match in December 1995. We had a limited side and went into the game as massive underdogs.

We spent weeks, maybe even months trying to work out how, against all odds, we could get this limited side into a potentially winning position.

Judging from previous Varsity matches, if your team scored 20 points then you would be there or thereabouts.

So, we needed to put the ball behind them, smash them defensively and take whatever chances came our way. Above all, this meant getting the ball into Humph's hands as much as possible.

In front of 76,000 people, a then world record for a club game, Humph took the game by the scruff of the neck and achieved the grand slam of points — a try, conversion, drop goal and three penalties. All our points, 19 in all, came from David that day, equalling the record set for the most points scored by an individual in a Varsity Match.

Alas, our efforts were to be thwarted by the now famous rugby referee Tony Spreadbury who awarded the first ever penalty try in rugby to Cambridge, who followed this up with a try at the death to take the match 21 to 19.

Despite the heartbreak, this game was the catalyst for Humph's rugby breakthrough and subsequent international career, as he played for Ireland two months later against France in Paris.

From then on, he did not miss a Six Nations squad selection for 10 years. That is simply phenomenal. It is also testament to his commitment to clean living (chocolate aside), fitness and durability.

Humph was in no way a "monster" in the gym, and it is a lesson to those younger players coming through, that while physical conditioning is, of course, vitally important, it's about what you produce on the pitch that counts.

Clearly some of us, in our slightly tongue in cheek way, might argue that Humph's durability was in part down to the fact that he rarely found himself in contact situations!

However, apart from Jonny Wilkinson, who set his own bar in terms of defensive duties, Humph was as good defensively as any other number 10 around, and there were a good few things that Jonny couldn't do that he could.

Ultimately, what counts amongst the playing fraternity is respect from one's peers. The accolades afforded to Humph over the years and more recently in his retirement absolutely confirm the great esteem in which he is held by fellow players.

Humph had it all in terms of skill, pace and vision. He was outstanding in his ability to sum up the varying factors of a situation in a millisecond and make the right decision.

He ran the show with consummate poise, control and composure. So often the term talisman is used flippantly to describe a player's influence, but Humph truly lifted the performances of those around him and pulled the strings of the team like a master puppeteer.

Finally, Humph was capable of absolute magic — invariably it happened when you least expected it or when all hope seemed lost. And the thing was, he did it time after time after time.

I once heard the line that it takes skill to get to the top but character to stay there. Sixteen years on, exit stage left Dr David G Humphreys MBE. His playing record guarantees his place in the history books, but, above all, speaks volume for the man.

[ColinS]

Excellent article.
Thanks for posting Cables!

[againstthehead]

good work The Rooster!

[daveybaby]

What a lovely article. It was indeed that varsity match that I first heard of Humph and was a fan from then on.