Room 101: James Shanahan – Olb Albanians head coach

1. The Dive Pass
As a fly-half you want the ball delivered into your hands as quickly as possible, especially now that defences are up so quick, and the dive pass certainly doesn’t do that. Not only is the dive pass slower than a conventional scrum-half pass, it also means the scrum-half takes longer to get to the next ruck because he’s got to pick himself off the floor first. The game doesn’t need to see Dewi Morris and Richard Hill impersonators. Stef Liebenberg take note!
TRP verdict: Call us nostalgic but you’ve mentioned two pass-masters of old who could teach today’s nines a thing or two. If you’d have put crabbing a couple of steps sideways at the base of a ruck, well that would have been a different matter.
2. Poor gym etiquette
Unfortunately, I’m a bit of a gym junkie and I like to lift weights. So when I see people do arm curls in the squat rack, it really frustrates me. The squat rack is for squats! I’ve made comments in the past but I can’t be bothered anymore and just move on to something else instead.
TRP verdict: As someone who’d rather bypass bicep curls altogether I’m not sure I can let this one through, either!
3. Reality TV/celebs
Too many people are made famous not by their outstanding deeds or inherent talent but by appearing on horrendous programmes like Big Brother and Geordie Shore. When you see a clip of Celebrity Big Brother you have to try to work out who they are, they’re that irrelevant. I try to avoid these programmes like the plague but it’s hard to totally shut yourself off from them when the youngsters of the day talk endlessly about which ‘celebrity’ did what.
TRP verdict: This one’s the real deal, well done.