Pope is KING OF FASHION

Cheerful, easygoing and witty TV rugby pundit, Brent Pope, dubbed one of Ireland’s Sexiest men, arrived in Ireland for a three months visit in 1991, fell in love with the Country and remained here ever since.

Since then the 55 year old New Zealand native with the beaming smile has become the darling of Irish rugby fans, a fashion icon, an author of award winning children’s books, a mental health advocate and a TV star appearing in a wide range of box hit shows such as The Late Late Show, the Ray D’Arcy Show, The Restaurant, The Den, The Afternoon Show, The Hook and Popey Roadshow, The Saturday Night Show, Ireland AM and various travel programmes.

Brent also starred as a singer in ‘Charity You’re a Star’ in 2007. In 2012 he learned and played the clarinet for the RTÉ reality music show ‘Instrumental’. He was listed at number 4 in a recent poll for Ireland’s hottest male television stars, and in 2013 he was nominated as one of Ireland’s best dressed men.

Bright Future

A talented rugby star with a bright future on the International scene, Brent played for various provincial and New Zealand underage teams before representing Mid Canterbury and then Canterbury.

“I loved the game with a passion and dreamed that one day I would wear the black jersey with the silver fern of my country on the World stage. I played for Lincoln University and then moved to Otago University and for the next decade played for Otago at New Zealand first division level, helping Otago to its first ever first division national title in 1991. I played nearly 100 first class games for Otago in a career that spanned nearly 10

years with the Dunedin-based side.”

Brent was selected on the original 1987 New Zealand Rugby World Cup training squad, but had to withdraw a week before the tournament began due to a serious elbow injury in the final series of All Black trials, he was then replaced by a young and relatively unknown Auckland No 8 by the name of Zinzan Brooke. Pope came back after injury to be nominated as one of New Zealand’s outstanding domestic players of that year. He was named Otago player of the year in 1987/8 and was again shortlisted for the All Blacks tour to Japan at the end of that year.

“Sadly I missed out again when the tour party was trimmed to just 24 players. I played in a number of final All Black trials from 1987-1992, represented the South Island, New Zealand Schools, Universities, Leinster, Barbarians, A New Zealand selection XV, International XV and was a Captain of the Penguins. I also played county provincial representative rugby in England and United States (OMBAC) When I came to Ireland in 1991 I played and later coached St Mary’s, Clontarf RFC and Leinster A.”

Pope successfully coached both St Mary’s and Clontarf to 3 separate National Division AIL Rugby titles, 3 All Ireland Floodlit Cups, and 2 Leinster Senior Cups, the first in Clontarf since the 1956.

“I have seen the pitch from all angles and was honored more than 15 years ago when RTE asked me to join their rugby panel with the late great and much loved Kerryman Mick Doyle, Tony Ward and Ciaran Fitzgerald. Thankfully I am still on the RTE panel alongside George Hook and Conor O’Shea and Tom McGurk. They call me the calm and collected Buddha.”

Warm

It is very obvious he enjoys his job. People warm to him, even those who don’t know him. He has simplified the rules and tactics of rugby for the viewing public.
“The passionate male fans tune in for my very concise and informative analysis of the game. If you look at the Irish fan base 40% know the game, the rules and the play. All the others tune in because they are passionate about their Country and want to support them, no matter what the sport.”

Female fans check out Brent’s latest style trends, his dashing good looks and that heart warming smile which has endeared him to the nation.

Anxiety

Despite his sporting success, life was not a bed of roses for Brent. He speaks honestly and eloquently about his mental health issues having suffered anxiety attacks for many years.

“I always had low self esteem. At times it took over my life and I suffered quiet a lot. I was always very hard on myself. In the end, rugby broke my spirit but it saved my life, too. Rugby kept me going. There were times in my life when I as anxious about exams or negative about the direction I was going in. When you see people who have problems, you realise that you are lucky and that you have a lot to be thankful for. When I came to Ireland, I needed a change at that time. I met new people and had a new life. I began to enjoy myself and my new life and all this changed my life for the better.”

Brent encourages anyone with mental health issues, loneliness and who needs help to seek assistance.

The likeable New Zealand native devotes a lot of his free time helping others. He is the curator of a popular art gallery for mental health artists called ‘The Outside in Art Gallery’. He’s involved in several mental health charities, and is an ambassador for St Patrick’s Hospital ‘Walk in My Shoes’, ‘Cycle Against Suicide’, and RTE’s ‘People Of The Year’.

Confidence

Brent believes that if a person looks and feels good on the outside it will give them confidence in other areas of their life.

“Lots of people commented how well I looked on TV, how well dressed I was and how confident I came across as a rugby analysist. This got me thinking. I decided to help people look and fell good so I embarked on a journey to design shirts that looked well, were stylish and affordable.”

Established in 2013, Pope Shirts brought a unique style to the Irish market and delivered a quality product any man would feel confident wearing.

Brent designs all the shirts and personally selects the finest hand-picked cottons and silks from around Europe. He places great emphasis on fit and quality, and employs first class tailoring systems to achieve it. Every shirt is 100% cotton, machine washable and iron friendly, and thoughtfully made for comfort, ease and style. Coming from a rugby background, he also addressed the problems of sizing for muscular shapes.

Recently Brent extending his fashion ambitions and launched collection of shoes, ‘Pope Shoes . . . Created by Brent’.

He has developed a collection of 22 styles of leather and nubuck shoes and boots that are now available in more than 80 stores around Ireland or on line.
“The shoes come in some great colours and are affordable. All the styles are age appropriate. I had great fun working on the designs and thanks to my shoe and shirt range today’s modern man can fell comfortable, stylish and enjoy the feel good factor that goes along with feeling good on the inside.”

In his candid 2012 autobiography, If You Really Knew Me, Brent talks openly, for the first time ever, about his rugby career and personal life which was shortlisted as one of the best sporting books in the UK at the 2013 British Sports Book of the Year award.

Legends

In 2009, the Brent Pope Rugby Legends Foundation joined forces with the non-profit housing charity Habitat for Humanity Ireland. Brent has visited Zambia three times with the foundation, being accompanied by rugby legends Malcolm O’Kelly in June 2011 and by Liam Toland, Paddy Johns and Angus McKeen in June 2012. In September 2013 Brent visited Argentina to continue building houses in disadvantaged areas with PUMA rugby legends including Argentine Captain Felipe Contepomi.

“I begin each day by thinking about what I’m grateful for and I make a list of five things. They can be small simple things like a blue sky. I do this every day and it makes a difference and check the list at night. I will say that today was good but I must make tomorrow a better day. I try not to think too far ahead and I try to live in the now. I try not to beat myself up any more. I try to take the positive out of everything. If we all do this then we can become much happier people.”