“Absolute rubbish” - William O’Connor slams World Cup of Darts format and calls out seeded nations avoiding group-stage pressure

William O'Connor has branded the World Cup of Darts format “absolute rubbish” after the Republic of Ireland survived an early scare to open their 2026 campaign with a 4-1 win over Singapore in Frankfurt.

O'Connor and Mickey Mansell had to come through the group stage while the top four seeds enter directly in the last 16, with England, Netherlands, Northern Ireland and Scotland all protected from the short best-of-seven-leg opening matches.

Ireland recovered from a dramatic start in Group D after Phuay Wei Tan took out 170 to put Singapore ahead. O'Connor levelled on double 14, later produced a 122 checkout on double seven, and Mansell sealed the win on double 10.

The result gave Ireland control of their group before facing Gibraltar, but O'Connor’s strongest post-match comments were aimed at the tournament structure rather than the scoreline.

“In a short format, first to four, you could pick two boys out of the crowd who could turn around and win this,” O'Connor said in his post-match press conference. Ireland had already felt that danger against Singapore, who opened with Tan’s 170 and later saw Paul Lim threaten with a 174 set-up shot.

O'Connor believes every nation should begin at the same stage. “I think everyone in the World Cup should be in the same draw,” he said. “If it is a World Cup, every single person in the world should be in the same draw. England, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, I do not care who they are. First round.”

His verdict on the protected route for the top seeds was blunt. “It is either a World Cup or it is not. I do not agree with that. I think that is absolute rubbish. You would not see it in any other sport. I do not think it should be in darts.”

Ireland’s win looked comfortable by the final scoreline, but the opening leg put O'Connor and Mansell under immediate pressure. Tan’s 170 checkout gave Singapore the early break, while Lim’s presence kept the Irish pair alert even after they had taken control.

“To get the win against those boys, they are tricky,” O'Connor said. “I did not know too much about their second man, but Paul himself, it does not matter what age Paul is. Paul is a threat close to my heart. Paul has got more behind him than me and Mickey put together.”

O'Connor returned to the same point when asked about the group-stage pressure. “Put those boys into the same round as us,” he said of the seeded nations. “See how they do under pressure, because we were under serious pressure here today.”

Mansell framed the victory as a job done rather than a performance to pick apart. “Winning is winning, end of story,” he said, with Ireland now holding the advantage before Gibraltar enter the group.

The former Northern Ireland representative also stressed the value of avoiding a Friday double-header with no points on the board. “The advantage is winning the first game,” Mansell said. “We knew we had to go up there and the priority was to win today and give ourselves a wee bit of breathing room.”

Ireland’s second match will come after Singapore and Gibraltar meet earlier in the day. Mansell said that would not change their own approach, adding: “Whatever happens in the middle of the day is really irrelevant. The two of us will be ready to go gung-ho tomorrow night.”

Mansell’s first match in Republic colours carried a wider story after his switch from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland team. He said the move had drawn more attention outside the camp than it had inside it. “It was a lot made of it by everybody else,” Mansell said. “From my point of view, I am Irish.”

The opportunity first came up earlier this year, and Mansell said his response was immediate. “It was probably way back in March,” he explained. “The question was asked that if the opportunity became available to represent Ireland, would I accept it? I said yes. It was an instant reaction.”

Mansell said he had no hesitation once the route opened. “Why would you turn it down? I am Irish. I have had an Irish passport for 30 years,” he said. “I feel I am Irish. I am Irish. It is just a set of circumstances that had to change.”

He described the change as part of a wider choice now available to eligible players, rather than something that needed to be turned into a bigger identity debate. “It is not to say you are labelled this or labelled that,” Mansell said. “You have a choice now, like footballers or anyone.”

Mansell also linked the moment to a long-standing connection with Irish sport, recalling that he travelled to the 1994 football World Cup in the United States to watch Ireland and once had a photograph taken with Roy Keane.

Mansell made clear that O'Connor had to be comfortable with the partnership before anything else moved forward. “Whenever I knew I was in contention, the first person I asked was Willie,” he said. “There was no point in asking anyone else, because if he did not want to play with me, if he said he was not happy, then that was it.”

Keane Barry, who had previously represented Ireland alongside O'Connor, was told before the announcement became public. Mansell said Barry was disappointed, but he also made a point of praising the younger Irishman’s future. “Keane is the future of Irish darts,” he said. “I am taking this opportunity. It may not come my way again, or very often. But in the bigger context of darts, he is the future.”

O'Connor and Mansell may be a new Republic of Ireland pairing at the World Cup, but both pushed back against the idea that they were an unfamiliar team.

Mansell said he and O'Connor have spent years together around the PDC circuit, sharing tables, travel and practice-room time long before this World Cup opportunity arrived. “There is no other team that has the camaraderie we have,” Mansell said. “We have been together for the last 15 years on the tour. It is not as if we are a made-up team.”

That familiarity also stretches beyond O'Connor. Mansell said the same applied to Brendan Dolan, his former Northern Ireland team-mate, because of their long history together on tour.

For Mansell and O'Connor, the difference in Frankfurt was the shirt rather than the relationship. “It may be a new team, but we are definitely not new to each other,” Mansell said.

O'Connor added simply: “We have been friends for a long, long time.”

Ireland left the stage with the result they needed, Mansell’s first Republic appearance successfully negotiated, and O'Connor’s challenge to the format now part of the opening-night story in Frankfurt.