Jacqui Hurley on basketball: "I'd like to play into my 50s"

Two of Ireland's foremost sports broadcasters are back in the hot seat anchoring the Six Nations from this week. But what do Jacqui Hurley and Joe Molloy really think of each other? Donal O’Donoghue sits down the duo.

"You have to reflect the mood of the moment; that’s part of the story," says Joe Molloy of his life as a sports broadcaster. As proof, he offers the iconic example of the late Bill O’Herlihy donning a silly hat to celebrate Ireland’s famous penalty shoot-out win against Romania at Italia ’90.

It’s hard to imagine the precise Molloy, a seven-time Sports Broadcaster of the Year recipient, sporting a comedy outfit of any sort. As for the engaging Hurley, well that’s another story.

"The longest time we’ve been together is for the Six Nations launches, where we just talk shop," he says.
"I would have been listening to Joe on radio with Off the Ball all the time and it felt like I knew you," adds Jacqui.

But is there even a friendly rivalry between Hurley and Molloy, a sneaking hope that things might go slightly wrong? "Oh yeah," says Hurley. "I’m watching the Virgin Media rugby coverage and thinking 'Fall off the chair Joe!’" She laughs. Hurley is, of course (I think), joking. "I listen to Joe’s podcasts regularly and he’s always been good at letting people talk and not cutting across them."

Molloy had a dream start as a rugby anchor. That was the 2018 Six Nations, when Johnny Sexton’s epic last minute drop goal won it for Ireland in Paris. "I owe Johnny a big thank you for that," he says.

"Obviously, I was very raw, and I was very nervous. That anchor chair felt a very big one to occupy. It was TV3’s first time covering the Six Nations, and all manner of things could have gone right or wrong on that first day. It could have been so different if they lost on that opening night against France, but they didn’t and went on to win the Grand Slam.

"Ronan O’Gara was sitting beside me when Johnny Sexton kicked that winning drop goal, so you don’t have to be Einstein to know what to do in that moment. Over to ROG. And I went home that night feeling so elated and knowing I was blessed."

"Oh man, what a first day!" says Hurley, who anchored her first Six Nations match in 2022. She cannot recall the game – obviously no last-minute drop goal drama – but it was a big deal; her first gig in the hot seat.

"Stephen Ferris is like a giddy child in studio every time that Ireland is playing and that makes my job so much easier because that excitement from the experts is so infectious and they know the game inside out." Hurley, who played camogie for Cork and basketball for Ireland, didn’t, like Molloy, grow up with rugby. But like Molloy, she sees this as a positive.

"Isn’t the purpose of our job to ask those simple questions of the pundits?" she says to Molloy. "I always say I’m not trying to talk to the 10% watching who are experts in the game, but the 90% who are not."

Joe Molloy grew up in Celbridge, Co Kildare, but his GAA home was a Mayo stronghold. "Both my parents are from Mayo, so I was brought to countless Mayo matches by my dad," he says. "One memory stands out from when I was very young. It happened as the Mayo team ran out onto the pitch and Liam McHale patted my head. That was such a big deal."

So, outside the Molloy home was there ever a Kildare flag flying? "Are you mad? It was always Mayo with the flag and the teddy dressed up in the county colours and all of that. We never went to Kildare games unless they were playing Mayo." At school, the Salesian College, he played GAA and soccer and the plan was to become a teacher. So he studied English and History at NUI Maynooth. But on the daily commute to college, he was captivated by the radio sports show, Off the Ball, and his priorities shifted.

"My parents told me to go for it. I did and within a few months of graduating from that course, I was in Newstalk reading sports bulletins. But in a way, part of me would still like to be a teacher," he says.

"Ah yes," adds Hurley, "and if you were teaching, you’d have your summers off to go to all those Mayo matches!"

From the age of three, sports-mad Jacqui Hurley, who lived in Canberra, Australia from age three to 10, had the broadcasting bug, cutting out a makeshift cardboard screen to emulate her hero Bill O’Herlihy, presenting sports reports to her parents. Yet, like Molloy, she too considered a career in the classroom.

"I reckoned that if the media job didn’t work out, I could be an English teacher," she says. "In the back of my head, I still think that way, which is why I do a bit of lecturing. It scratches that itch. I also coach so I have that opportunity to talk to younger people. I have a ten-year-old and a seven-year-old, so I know what it’s like living in their world to a degree." (Hurley has published two books, Girls Play Too and Girls Play Too: Book 2, about the power of sport to instil confidence and self-belief).

Joe Molloy has a two-year-old daughter. "Wait until you get to start coaching Joe," says Jacqui. He laughs. Are their partners big fans of sport? Or is that important? "My husband, Shane, is huge into sport," says Hurley. "He plays everything, coaches the kids, does it all, but thankfully, he doesn’t work in sport. Sport was something that we bonded over when we first met and it’s something that we do together. If I’m not working, we would go to a game. We’ve been on a Lions Tour, went to the Superbowl, and so on."

Molloy, a man who plays his cards close to his chest, offers simply: "My wife (Keavy) has a passing interest." For the record, he is a Man Utd fan (even if that passion has dimmed somewhat) and has a soft spot for Rory McIlroy. "Much like the Mayo football team, it will be a magical thing when Rory McIlroy wins that elusive next major."

Curiously, he says that he doesn’t support Leinster in rugby. "But I think that if I wasn’t working in media I would," he adds. "Even when Ireland is playing, I feel a bit dispassionate. When I’m in studio or doing the podcast, I’m in this work prism and the job is all."

Is Jacqui Hurley able to detach herself to that degree? "Ah no, when Cork was playing in the All-Ireland hurling final last year, I was sitting beside Anthony Daly and we almost had to be separated," she says with a laugh. "We did have great craic, but I’m emotionally invested in the GAA, and it can be very hard to detach myself. But you must keep bias separate. When the Cork camogie team won down the years – I would have played with a lot of them – but you must keep your emotions in check on air, because you’re a broadcaster and journalist first and foremost and have a job to do."

She still plays Gaelic football with her local club in south Dublin, mixing it up with the young ones. "What?" says an incredulous Molloy. "But I’m in the twilight of my career," adds Hurley. "I turned 41 very recently and I reckon the football will have to go. I’ll move into a coaching role in that respect. But the basketball is something I’d like to play into my 50s. There are so many former Irish internationals that I’ve known down the years, and they are still playing. I’d love to play on an Irish Masters team and travel with them. Someday, hopefully."

Molloy, who plays astro soccer and tennis (with a two-year-old, the golf had to go), is 39. So, the Big 4-0 later this year Joe? "I’m 39," he says again. Jacqui Hurley laughs. Here is a man unlikely to ever fall off his studio seat, but in the mood of the moment, who knows what might happen?

How will Ireland do in the Six Nations?
Jacqui Hurley: I believe that Ireland is good enough to win it. If they beat England this Saturday in Dublin, they are on that train to the Grand Slam but that first game is crucial. If they lose the wheels might come off.
Joe Molloy: For me, the key Ireland game is that clash with France. No Andy Farrell with Simon Easterby deputising. There are other intangibles. Who will play at No 10? I’m thinking Sam Prendergast is in pole position. We are going into this Six Nations with more questions than last year. But I’d still have Ireland as marginal favourites.

What Ireland match are you most looking forward to?
Jacqui Hurley: Ireland v France. I can’t wait. Not just because RTÉ are showing it but for the simple fact that every time Ireland and France play it is box-office with loads of fireworks.
Joe Molloy: I agree. Ireland and France are the two best teams in the tournament. Last year, France seemed to take a year-out after the heartbreak of the World Cup and they were missing their maestro, Antoine Dupont, as well.

What non-Ireland match most whets the appetite?
Jacqui Hurley: France v England because England tend to bring something out of France. That game is usually never less than exciting. And what Wales will show up? Now they look an utter shambles, but would it shock you if they were actually good? (‘It would’ says Joe)
Joe Molloy: England v Scotland for the Calcutta Cup is always an exciting game and Scotland looked impressive in their autumn internationals.

What Ireland player are you most looking forward to seeing in action?
Jacqui Hurley: Sam Prendergast but I don’t think that the No 10 position is a done deal. Jack Crowley will have a big say obviously. It will be all about how Prendergast develops over the next eight weeks as to whether he will start or be on the bench. But I’m really looking forward to seeing him go through that evolution in the tournament.
Joe Molloy: Sam Prendergast, the boy wonder. I don’t know if he will start but whether he comes off the bench or starts a game, he’s the one I’m looking forward to seeing in Six Nations action. In a way, I feel sorry for him because of all the hype and scrutiny but he has handled it all so well so far.

And what non-Ireland player excites you?
Jacqui Hurley: If you’re not excited by watching the France scrum half, Antoine Dupont, then you won’t be excited by anything. He makes people love rugby. He’s exciting to watch every time he’s near the ball. He’s the Usain Bolt of his sport and has transcended rugby in a way I never thought possible.
Joe: Molloy: If it stays like this, Dupont will be the best player of the professional era. He’s sensational.

Who do you think will be the dark horses of this year’s tournament?
Jacqui Hurley: Scotland. They have been steadily improving since the World Cup and Finn Russell can do just about anything at out-half, a player who brilliantly pulls the strings but I think Scotland will finish third as Ireland and France are ahead of them.
Joe Molloy: Scotland as well.

Finally, who will take the wooden spoon?
Jacqui Molloy: Ireland to win and Wales to take the wooden spoon but it wouldn’t shock me if they pulled one huge performance out of the bag.
Joe Molloy: Ireland to win and Italy are favourites still to take the wooden spoon.