Thursday 30 August 2007

Green, White and Blue

It all seemed so rosy last Autumn. A solid summer tour to New Zealand and Australia followed by sound performances in the Autumn internationals. And yet in the midst of ‘success’ there were worrying signs that most of us Irish fans chose to ignore pretending they might go away.


Primarily failing to finish off the big guns when the opportunity arose. Then in November there were other concerns. Neil Best, who’d been such a Trojan throughout the summer campaign, started to run out of steam probably at around the same time as his province. (Ulster went on to spend the rest of the season sliding down the Magniers league faster than a beginner skier on a black run) Munster threatened so much at the end of 2006, but when it really mattered they were blown away by the aggression of Leicester, who will go on to provide half the England team. The other half, Wasps, bullied Leinster off the park in their match. This is the same England team that was comprehensively beaten by France.

But then again we are Irish so surely we shouldn’t expect too much? It’s alright to run New Zealand close, but beating them? That would be impolite after them being such kind hosts. Sure didn’t we beat South Africa, isn’t that great? Top four or five in the world of rugby. Imagine that! And beating the English in Croke Park, wasn’t that the best?

Sometimes I wish I weren’t Irish.

We seem to have trademarked underwhelming success, because even though we can all remember some mighty victories we can remember more defeats. It is partly genetic. It is scientifically proven that humans have a natural leaning towards the negative, but with the Irish it is something deeper.

Melancholy and sadness are part of the psyche. So ingrained is it that from Jonathan Swift to Oscar Wilde and Brendan Behan we’ve made jokes about it and turned it into theatre that today has become the money spinner that those tourists seek on their 4 day whirlwind tour of ’Oireland.’

A historian could give you a more accurate perspective, but virtually every major event in Ireland’s history is littered with ‘what ifs’ and ‘if onlys.’ And put bluntly we have perhaps gotten fat on the profits of romantic tales of what might have been. Both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the Soccer World Cup brought the party atmosphere and a touch of magic, the jesters providing some light entertainment before the real work started. That ‘ah jaysus didn‘t we give it some stick’ tag.

There are times when Roy Keane’s intensity is too much, but on this point I am totally behind him. Why should we settle for participation and not contention? Why celebrate the ‘success’ of beating England at Croke Park having failed to beat France two weeks earlier? We have won the Triple Crown three times in the last four years, but how many times have we lost the Grand Slam?

Oh to be English. (I can’t believe I just said that!) That Dunkirk spirit, that stubbornness in the face of insurmountable odds stuck in the trenches with shells flying everywhere and death imminent. “Many of my colleagues may die,” says Tommy, “But I ain’t giving in…cor blimey.”
While not wishing to make light of the tragedy of World War One that image does stick with me when I consider recent important performances. The Thomond Park record broken by the Tigers or that men and boys encounter between Wasps and Leinster.

Other nations do not appear to suffer similar challenges. The Australians, with an almost Germanic precision, appear to be arriving at the World Cup with an outfit that could unsettle anyone. The metronomic ease with which they’ve timed their run compares with the stuttering, disbelieving performances of Ireland over the last four months. And to add insult to injury even the French crowd are starting to believe in their team, as the noise levels in Marseille proved.

Certainly none of the ’warm-ups’ have instilled confidence in anyone, least of all our players. Why can Ireland not show that American ‘will to win,’ that unashamed ego? Is it because we have made too much of the ‘theatre of sadness’ in which we like to wallow? Individual players continue to surprise, such as ROG, whose outbursts sometimes appear more primadona than most, yet during the Six Nations and in the recent Italian encounter he broke the opposition’s line to save the blushes. As a leader is Ronan failing to transmit his belief to others or is it their responsibility to stand up and make themselves counted? Can it simply be attributed to the failing of Eddie O’Sullivan? Can we just blame him and be comfortable in our ‘nearly man title?’


If you look at the team we are supposed to have several world class players. How many have performed consistently well over the last 12 months? When you consider the team of Keith Wood, one of the greatest Irish players ever, he did not have a world class team around him and there are important moments when that clearly showed. Yet this outfit can challenge the best teams in the world, they have demonstrated that capability. But in the best performances not only did the leaders lead, but the ‘rest’ followed. The worker bees and unsung heroes. In the last 12 months Ireland has only shown the odd 15 minutes or half a match of brilliance, because the leaders have not been inspiring and the drones have not been droning.

Systematically, ruthlessly and patiently.

Some might say we don’t possess such traits, yet when I watch Kerry dispose of Dublin and Monaghan in the GAA I see professionalism that would be better suited to the Milan derby in Serie A. And though I run the risk of never being allowed into Kerry again why can’t we take their self-belief and stick it in the national squad? I’m certain they wouldn’t mind lending us the ‘Gooch’ as a replacement fly half.

But then again that would mean crossing tribal boundaries, ignoring history and symbolism. And sure that would bring the national industry of ‘underwhelming success’ to a standstill?

Imagine 82 minutes are gone in the semi-final of the World Cup. Ireland is winning, but the opposition is on our line. If there were one person you could turn to, the stubbornest mule in the place, the one fella who wouldn’t back down, is there anyone on this island of Ireland who you could think of?

Ignore history, politics, tribalism.

I know who I’d choose. There is a Ballymena man, who stirs passion and on paper certainly lacks the rugby skills of Davey Humphries, but has the mentality to hold out against all the odds.

Sure he has been reviled by many on this island of Ireland for a long time, but isn’t this trip to France the opportunity to test how far we’ve come? There are beliefs in this country that are strident, there are viewpoints that are seemingly irreconcible, but don’t they reveal traits that could be harnessed for the greater good of our ‘cause’ on the Continent?

Reverting to genetic type I would say that today I feel green, white and blue on many levels. Proud of the successes of our team to date and a little expectant. But sadly not too much, because I’ve anticipated that euphoria before only to be left with that feeling of ‘underwhelming success.’ Yet like Roy Keane - and secretly like more and more of the Irish nation - I am greedy for more.

And if I were to keep with our great theatrical traditions I’d say this….our first child is due on 8th September, my birthday is 21st September, the day I take my father , who has prostate cancer, to see Ireland vs. France in Paris. I don’t know where we’ll be in four years time, but I know where we’ll be on 21st September and we both understand how important ‘la Revanche’ against France will be to our hopes of World Cup glory.

As I said today I feel ‘green, white and blue.’ But then I can’t help thinking of ‘Big Ian’ and I know he’d only have one thing to say.

‘No retreat, no surrender.’ Isn’t it time those words took on a new meaning?

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