0 – Minutes of the Six Nations 2022 that Josh van der Flier wasn’t on the pitch. He was the only Irish player to stay on for every minute of every game and ends the year as the World Rugby Player of the Year.
1 – Goals conceded by the Ireland women’s soccer team in qualifying matches in 2022. It came against Sweden in April, a late equaliser for the team ranked third in the world. Since then, the qualifying record of Vera Pauw’s team reads: Played 4, Won 4, For 12, Against 0. That’ll do it most of the time.
2 – Matches lost by David Clifford in 2022. He was on the UL team that were beaten in the final of the Sigerson Cup by NUIG in February and the Kerry team that lost their final league game against Tyrone in March. Since then, for Kerry, East Kerry and Fossa, he hasn’t tasted a single defeat.
3 – Years (almost) since the Dublin men’s football team won a close game. Under Dessie Farrell, they’ve been involved in nine matches in league and championship that have been decided by a goal or less. Their only win was in February 2020, a 1-15 to 1-14 victory over Donegal.
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4 – Limerick hurlers who have played every minute of their four All-Ireland final victories: Nickie Quaid, Seán Finn, Diarmaid Byrnes and Dan Morrissey. Four is also the number of different counties Limerick have beaten in those finals: Galway, Waterford, Cork and Kilkenny.
5 – Penalty shoot-outs at the 2022 World Cup. That’s the most of any World Cup ever, beating the previous record of four, jointly held by the tournaments in 1990, 2006, 2014 and 2018. Argentina have been involved in seven World Cup penalty shoot-outs and won six of them.
6 – Times Max Verstappen finished outside the top two in 22 races during the Formula One World Championship season. After all the excitement of the previous year’s championship, the Dutch driver won the 2022 version by a clear 146 points.
7 – Times Cork and Kilkenny were level in the second half of the All-Ireland camogie final, a game that was eventually decided by an injury-time free from Kilkenny’s Denise Gaule. It is 10 years since anyone other than Cork, Kilkenny or Galway have contested the senior final on camogie’s biggest day.
8 – Irish try-scorers in the series win over New Zealand. Andrew Porter was the only player to cross the line twice, and there was one each for Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Josh van der Flier, Hugo Keenan, Robbie Henshaw and Rob Herring. As it happens, the All Blacks had eight try-scorers too across the three Tests.
9 – Matches lost in 2022 by the best women’s tennis player in the world, Iga Swiatak. The Polish world number one went on a 37-match winning streak between February and July, reeling off six tournaments in a row, including the French Open. She added the US Open before the year was out.
10 – Professional tournaments won by Irish golfers in 2022. Four for Pádraig Harrington (Champions Tour), three for Rory McIlroy (PGA Tour), one each for Shane Lowry (DP World Tour), Séamus Power (PGA Tour) and Leona Maguire (LPGA Tour). McIlroy ends the year as the world number one, Power ends it sitting at number one in the Fed-Ex Cup rankings.
11 – Top-eight finishes by Irish athletes at the European Championships in Munich in August. The previous best by any Irish team at a Europeans was six – and you had to go back 20 years to 2002 to find it. For the record, the 11 were Ciara Mageean (silver), Mark English (bronze), Rhasidat Adeleke, Sarah Lavin, women’s marathon team (all 5th), Israel Olatunde, Efrem Giday, women’s 4x400m team (all 6th), Fionnuala McCormack (7th), Louise Shanahan and Brian Fay (both 8th).
12 – Fights won by Amy Broadhurst to take home gold medals at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games. The Dundalk fighter went the full year unbeaten, was voted Boxer of the Tournament in the Europeans, and ends 2022 as The Irish Times Sportswoman of the Year.
13 – Goals scored by the Ireland men’s soccer team in 2022. Stephen Kenny’s side played 10 times across the year, winning four, losing four and drawing twice. Alan Browne was Ireland’s top scorer for the year with three goals, followed by John Egan (2), Michael Obafemi (2), Troy Parrott (2) and one each for Robbie Brady, Nathan Collins, Chiedozie Ogbene and Callum Robinson.
14 – Number of Champions League titles won by Real Madrid, with their latest coming after a 1-0 defeat of Liverpool in Paris in May. Thibaut Courtois was Man of the Match in the final, the first goalkeeper to win the award in the decider since Edwin van der Sar in 2008. It was the third year in a row that the final ended on a 1-0 scoreline – previously, the final had gone 22 years without a 1-0.
15 – Months between Rhys McClenaghan’s crushing disappointment at the Olympics in Tokyo and his World Championship redemption in Liverpool. He won Ireland’s first-ever gymnastics world gold medal with a 15.300 performance on the pommel horse, a distance clear of second place.
16 – Century breaks by Mark Williams at the World Snooker Championships. It meant that Williams equalled the all-time record, set in 2002 by Stephen Hendry. Ronnie O’Sullivan had 15 centuries on the way to his seventh title, joining Hendry at the top of the roll of honour. By doing so, 46-year-old O’Sullivan became the oldest champion in the tournament’s history, overtaking Ray Reardon, who won in 1978 as a 45-year-old.
17 – All-Ireland final appearances by Kilkenny under Brian Cody, the last of which came in July against Limerick. Cody stepped down after 24 seasons in charge, during which he presided over 11 All-Ireland titles. He was Kilkenny manager for 281 games in league and championship and left with a record of 203 wins, 63 defeats and 15 draws.
18 – Irish winners at Cheltenham 2022. It was down five on the previous year’s all-time record but Irish-trained horses still won all five championship races. Willie Mullins equalled his own record of 10 winners at the festival, which also equalled the return for the British-trained horses for the week.
19 – Number of Cheltenham festivals Davy Russell rode in before his retirement in 2022. He finished his career with 25 festival winners, behind only Ruby Walsh, Tony McCoy and Barry Geraghty on the all-time jockeys list.
20 – Number of Grand Slam titles Roger Federer won before his retirement in 2022. The breakdown is eight Wimbledons, six Australian Opens, five US Opens and one French Open. It leaves him third on the all-time list, behind Rafael Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (21). Federer won 103 singles titles in his career and finished with a winning percentage of 82 per cent (1,251 wins out of 1,526 matches).
21 – Rounds of golf played on the LIV Tour by Graeme McDowell in 2022. His highest finish was 12th in a 48-man field. His total earnings from playing seven tournaments came to $2,373,381. On his last full season on the PGA Tour, McDowell played 40 rounds and came away with total earnings of $212,749.
