Brent Pope (rugby analyst)
Encyclopedia
Brent Pope is a New Zealand
born (1961) rugby
analyst on RTÉ television, rugby journalist,childrens book author, After dinner speaker and founder of Outside In Art Gallery in Dublin Ireland.
Pope was selected in the original 1987 New Zealand Rugby World Cup training squad, but had to withdraw a week before the tournament began due to a serious arm injury in the final All Black trials, he was replaced by young and relatively unknown Auckland No 8 Zinzan Brooke. Pope came back after injury to be named Otago player of the year in 1987/8 and was again shortlisted for the All Blacks tour to Japan only to miss out again when the tour party was trimmed to 24 players. Pope played in a number of final All Black trials, represented the South Island, New Zealand Schools, Universities, Leinster, Barbarians, New Zealand XV and was a former Captain of the Penquins and played county provincal rugby in England and United States. He came to Ireland in 1991 where he played for both St Marys and Clontarf RFC.
First Division title with St Marys RFC in 1999/2000, he also coached at senior provincial level with Leinster in 2000.
for over 15 years and has also appeared in many crossover programmes such as The Restaurant
, The Den
, The Afternoon Show
, The Hook and Popey Roadshow, The Late Late Show
,The Saturday Night Show, and various Travel programmes. Brent also starred as a singer in Charity You're A Star in 2007.
As part of his charity work he is leading a team of former Irish rugby players to Zambia in June 2011, where they will help build houses in the local community and also train with some of the local youngsters. The Brent Pope Rugby Legends Foundation has joined forces with the Habitat for Humanity Ireland
www.brentpoperugbylegends.com charity for the project. He is also the curator of an art gallery for mental health artists called Outside In Art Gallery www.outsideinartgalley.com
He is a regular feature on RTÉ Radio
, Newstalk 106
and Murray Deaker
in New Zealand and is a regular after dinner speaker.
He has also published a series of award winning children's books for charity. Brent also has a website for the 2011 Rugby World Cup www.Popenation.com
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
born (1961) rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
analyst on RTÉ television, rugby journalist,childrens book author, After dinner speaker and founder of Outside In Art Gallery in Dublin Ireland.
Playing career
Brent Pope played for various provincal and New Zealand underage teams before representing Canterbury and Otago at senior first division level, helping Otago to its first ever first division title in 1991. Pope played nearly 100 first class games for Otago in a career that spanned nearly 10 years with the Dunedin based side, during that time he formed loose forward trios with All Blacks Paul Henderson, Mike Brewer, Taine Randall, Josh Kronfield, Arane Pene and Jamie Joseph.Pope was selected in the original 1987 New Zealand Rugby World Cup training squad, but had to withdraw a week before the tournament began due to a serious arm injury in the final All Black trials, he was replaced by young and relatively unknown Auckland No 8 Zinzan Brooke. Pope came back after injury to be named Otago player of the year in 1987/8 and was again shortlisted for the All Blacks tour to Japan only to miss out again when the tour party was trimmed to 24 players. Pope played in a number of final All Black trials, represented the South Island, New Zealand Schools, Universities, Leinster, Barbarians, New Zealand XV and was a former Captain of the Penquins and played county provincal rugby in England and United States. He came to Ireland in 1991 where he played for both St Marys and Clontarf RFC.
Coaching career
Pope successfully coached both clubs to 3 separate National Division titles, 3 All Ireland Floodlit Cups, and 2 Leinster Senior Cups. Brent is still the only Leinster based Coach to have ever won the AIB LeagueAIB League
The Ulster Bank All-Ireland League is the national league system for the 48 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is not, however, the highest level of rugby union in Ireland, as teams representing the four provinces of Ireland play...
First Division title with St Marys RFC in 1999/2000, he also coached at senior provincial level with Leinster in 2000.
Celebrity
Brent has worked for RTÉ SportRTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
for over 15 years and has also appeared in many crossover programmes such as The Restaurant
The Restaurant (Irish TV series)
The Restaurant is a successful Irish reality television programme broadcast on RTÉ One. The seventh series began on 16 November 2008, running on Sundays at 20:30. In each episode a celebrity head chef takes on the culinary challenge of producing a top class, three-course meal with two...
, The Den
The Den (television)
The Den was the brand of the children's television strand on Irish public broadcaster RTÉ Two. It first broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ One, before moving to RTÉ Two in September 1988. The strand began to diversify throughout the late 1990s and the 2000s...
, The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show
The Afternoon Show was Raidió Teilifís Éireann's live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon programmes 4 Daily presented by Maura Derrane and The Daily Show hosted by...
, The Hook and Popey Roadshow, The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
,The Saturday Night Show, and various Travel programmes. Brent also starred as a singer in Charity You're A Star in 2007.
As part of his charity work he is leading a team of former Irish rugby players to Zambia in June 2011, where they will help build houses in the local community and also train with some of the local youngsters. The Brent Pope Rugby Legends Foundation has joined forces with the Habitat for Humanity Ireland
Habitat for Humanity Ireland
Habitat for Humanity Irelands vision is a world without poverty housing. The charity aims to make it a matter of conscience and action by providing a local solution that works in partnership with families and communities in need, and by supporting the global mission of Habitat for Humanity...
www.brentpoperugbylegends.com charity for the project. He is also the curator of an art gallery for mental health artists called Outside In Art Gallery www.outsideinartgalley.com
He is a regular feature on RTÉ Radio
RTÉ Radio
RTÉ Radio is a department of Irish national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Radio broadcasts four analogue channels and five digital channels....
, Newstalk 106
NewsTalk 106
Newstalk is an Independent Radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.The station is a "quasi-national" station as of 29 September...
and Murray Deaker
Murray Deaker
Murray "Deaks" Deaker, ONZM, is a New Zealand sports radio and television talk show host, acclaimed sports author and New Zealand icon.He was a former club rugby lock and an opening batsman in club cricket, and prior to working in radio was principal of Takapuna Grammar School. As well as radio he...
in New Zealand and is a regular after dinner speaker.
Writing
Brent is a regular print journalist for the Evening Echo, Daily Mail and various other magazines such as Village and Emerald Rugby.He has also published a series of award winning children's books for charity. Brent also has a website for the 2011 Rugby World Cup www.Popenation.com