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Our competition asking readers to pick the result of Saturday’s rugby international between Ireland and England attracted a record number of entries, particularly from travel retail’s sizeable Irish contingent.
To a man and woman, the latter all chose Ireland to win, as well as supplying some magnificent replies (some of them repeatable) to our two tie-breaker questions:
- Immediately after watching the last 2 minutes and 36 seconds of the Ireland v All Blacks match from the substitutes’ bench, what were legendary Irish player Brian O’Driscoll’s first few words?
- Describe English referee Wayne Barnes in two words
Alas for the Irish, a promising 10-3 second-half lead was whittled away by the resilient English, who edged the match 13-10.
Several Englishmen, including Jonathan Holland of Singapore-based Jonathan Holland & Associates and Rémy Cointreau Global Travel Retail Managing Director Peter Sant, picked a red rose victory and added nice tie-breaker answers for the Brian O’Driscoll question (Jonathan: O’Driscoll – “Kiwis oh Kiwis, why wasn’t my mother a kiwi?!”; Peter: O’Driscoll – “I’ve no xxxx clue what the xxxx just happened, we were on track to make history and now we are xxxx history ourselves!”
However, our winner was neither an Irishman nor an Englishmen but an Aussie. None other than James Kfouri, Director of Sales Australia, SE Asia & Global Travel Retail for Paramount Farms, producer of Wonderful Pistachios and, appropriately, a total rugby nut.
James picked an 18-12 scoreline to England, giving him a total score differential of just -7, and picked the first to score (England). So he wins a ticket, courtesy of Dubai Duty Free, in the retailer’s next ‘Millennium Millionaire’ prize draw (pictured below), offering the chance to win US$1 million. That would buy an awful lot of nuts.
We did, of course, also offer a limited edition (only one is in existence) travel retail exclusive DVD of the last 2 minutes and 36 seconds of the All-Blacks v Ireland international at Lansdowne Road last November. For some reason this generous readers’ offer attracted several notes of mild abuse from our Irish readers, albeit attached to some brilliant tie-breaker answers.
I liked Puig Travel Retail Key Account Manager Vincent McDermott’s words into BOD’s mouth: “Jaysis, dropped twice by a Kiwi and now beaten by them with 2 minutes to spare in Dublin, yeah I feel great…”
As I did the bitter irony from Alan Watson, Director at Diageo Global Travel & Middle East public relations agency Smarts Communicate in County Down, who suggested the Irish immortal’s words might be: “That Warren Gatland’s a nice bloke too…”
Of the more printable replies, David Spillane, Chairman, Founder, Global President and CEO of Travel Retail Sales in Ireland, summed up referee Wayne Barnes nicely in the requisite two words, ‘Fred Lowery’ (a famed, blind Texas whistler – I promise I am not making this up -Ed). On the strength of that, David wins our special travel retail exclusive DVD, which, to add value, I will personally watch with him on no fewer than ten occasions while consoling him on the great injustices of life, sport and the whole damn thing.
Close but no cigar, was Alan Watson, who described Barnes as ‘A lawyer’ (which the Englishman actually is when he is not disrupting rugby matches). Several other contestants used the same first word but a different second one of varying excess, none of which can be repeated here.
With four teams (Ireland, England, France and Wales) now locked on equal points at the top of the 6 Nations table, who will win the Championship? I feel another readers’ competition coming on…