• Home
  • /
  • Rugby
  • /
  • England Captain Left Embarrassed By Woeful Roy Keane Impression

England Captain Left Embarrassed By Woeful Roy Keane Impression

England Captain Left Embarrassed By Woeful Roy Keane Impression
Eoin Harrington
By Eoin Harrington Updated
Share this article

The meme factor of Roy Keane's punditry is undeniable, with the Irishman's harsh critiques of teams and joking jabs at punditry partners making him a popular figure for football fans.

Manchester United legend Keane has been a staple of Sky Sports' football punditry for five years now, making himself an integral part of the UK and Ireland's sports broadcasting spheres - but his influence of course stems from his iconic playing career.

Recommended

Keane captained United for eight years and won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and a Champions League during an immensely successful period at Old Trafford. He is widely held as one of the greatest leaders, if not the greatest leader in the league's history.

It is only natural that he has been called in as a motivational speaker for many current sports teams as a result and it is evident that he made an impression on Jamie George when he visited the English rugby camp ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

READ HERE: Analysis: How Ireland Boxed Clever And Exploited French Mistakes To Transform Their Lineout

READ HERE: Ex-Wales Star Wonders If Ireland Six Nations Squad Choice Will Cost Them In Long Run

Advertisement

George appeared on the BBC's Rugby Union Weekly on Friday, and was asked which sportsperson he would have in to give a motivational speech to the England squad ahead of their Six Nations clash with Wales. The question came with the condition that it could not be someone who had previously visited the camp.

He chose Ben Stokes and Leah Williamson - skippers of the England men's cricket and women's football teams respectively - but had to slip in a mention for who he found to be the best guest speaker the rugby team had previously had into camp:

The first person who came to mind, but he has actually been in to the camp, is Roy Keane.

I love that bloke. As a captain, he has a no-messing about approach to things...I don't know how well it would go down nowadays! But he was fascinating when he came into camp.

It spoke volumes of how much Keane's leadership qualities are respected that George went out of his way to mention the Irishman, though we're not sure that the Corkman would have been wild on what came next.

Jamie George had hilariously poor Roy Keane impression on rugby podcast

George jokingly attempted to imitate Keane's accent, seemingly taking off the ex-United captain speaking to his teammate and punditry partner Gary Neville - leaving co-host Ugo Monye in stitches.

Advertisement

The England skipper then apologised for his questionable impression, before co-host Sara Orchard pushed him to continue his attempt to impersonate Keane. George rather sheepishly shied away from further embarrassment and quickly changed the subject.

The entire discussion can be heard from about 23:30 in the above podcast.

Advertisement

At the time of that 2019 visit to camp, England head coach Eddie Jones spoke highly of Keane, saying that he balanced his motivational speeches well with humour:

Well, he’s one of the funniest blokes I’ve ever met. He’s inspirational but his stories are incredible, mate. I remember our coaching staff spent about an hour with him and he had us just laughing and laughing and laughing.

Then he spoke to the players and he was equally as funny. He was certainly one of the most memorable guys we have had in, obviously a very good player and a tough guy in terms of the way he played the game. A great raconteur of football stories so we would be happy to get him in again.

George and his England teammates will be hoping to put in a better performance in Saturday's home game against Wales than they did on the opening weekend of the Six Nations.

Questionable defence from England allowed Italy to come within touching distance of a famous win in Rome, with Irish coach Felix Jones having a shaky start as Steve Borthwick's new defence coach.

Kick-off at Twickenham between England and Wales is at 16:45 on Saturday evening.

Advertisement

SEE ALSO: Shane Horgan Hesitant To Be Drawn Into 'Unfair' Calvin Nash Discussions

Shane Horgan Calvin Nash

Join The Monday Club Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? We're looking for loyal Balls readers free-to-join members club where top tipsters can win prizes and Balls merchandise

Processing your request...

You are now subscribed!

Share this article

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com

Advertisement