Friday 31 August 2007

United Ireland (written after France beat Ireland in March 2007)


Simon Barnes of the London Times writes frequently about the indicators of sporting greatness and without wanting to misquote him too much he suggests it boils down to the imposition of will. He talks about great sporting moments when the likes of Michael Jordan and Shane Warne overcome insurmountable odds to impose their will on opponents and win. At times I’ve read this ‘pyscho-babble of sport’ and considered it a credible reason why some teams win and others fail. (In my grumpy cynic moments I dismiss this logic as the over-intellectualisation of sport, typical of the South London gastro-pub mob, who’ve never met Dean Richards in full flight on the rugby pitch and had knock him backwards…and if you can’t remember Deano then you don’t remember ‘the Claw’ and therefore are still having problems renewing your subscription to adult entertainment channels…legal at this point you’re not required to say anything!)

And then watching Ireland fumble their opportunity for greatness yesterday – again – I had to grudgingly concede Ireland fails to convince. Maybe the Irish are born to be second best? That whether individually or as a team, great sports people must have the mental edge to truly set themselves apart, I struggle to see where Irish sportspeople can claim their place.

Fundamentally, my issue is that Ireland could be a great team but we can’t achieve that glory because we don’t behave like a team. We’re are a nation of individual under-achievers….and strangely enough the only time people get upset with that description is when we are upset with someone else patronising us…that says more about us than about the opposition. I want to be seen as an equal to the Kiwis and everyone else….I deserve that…Ireland deserves that …I don’t expect total greatness but I would like the opportunity.

The obvious difference between individual greats like Tiger Woods and Shane Warne is that for a team to win everyone has to believe they can impose their will on the opposition. It is dawning on me with increasing clarity that Ireland cannot muster the collective will power required when our rugby is bedeviled by historical and political baggage that only serves to exaggerate the divide between our players.

Keith Wood flagged the lack of decisiveness at crucial moments in the game, underlined by the woeful restart that cost us the match. Part of me wanted to chastise him, because looking back to the days when he was captain I cursed his team on several occasions for – in my eyes – for failing at crucial times. Now I realise that Woody alone could not win a game and sure you can argue that his team did not have the same talent as today’s Fifteen, but he needed his teammates to believe as earnestly as he did, that they could win. Yesterday’s performance underlines that we have not moved on in this crucial facet of the game. Yes we have the talent, but it was clear the team did not possess the communal belief that they could and should win, that they could impose their will on the game.

We have exhibited it briefly in the Autumn series against Australia and yet that half hour when we bossed them around the park felt alien, if not somewhat uncomfortable, because it displayed a degree of ruthlessness that we have traditionally been reluctant to nurture and reward. I would argue that we will never overcome that mental block until we – every Irish supporter – empower our team to achieve that sense of the collective will power, which will enable us to join the greats.

To achieve it we are going to have to develop a much more inclusive sense of the collective. What I call a ‘United Ireland’ backing a ‘United Irish’ rugby team.

And by that I mean fans and players alike being conscious of and inclusive of all the elements of our collective culture, because to be able to impose the collective will on your opponents you have to have a collective sense of purpose, underlined by common values and goals. Ireland cannot achieve that if we continue to pander to history and unnecessary ceremonial paraphenialia.

I realise that ‘United Ireland’ is a provocative term, one that has its own baggage, but I use it deliberately, because I have reached the end of my tether with the provincial dogma that besets Irish rugby.

Now at this stage I should declare all of my interests in this subject. Firstly, I was not born in Ireland – either North or South – but in what I call the ‘fifth province,’ namely London. I realise the mere mention of that City will provoke snorts of derision and dismissal from the new class of modern ‘celtic tiger’ who never had to experience the realities of third world Ireland. But for many the choices that exist today did not exist for my family, so I would kindly ask those with shorter memories to display a little tolerance. Secondly, I have lived and – occasionally – studied in Belfast, which means I’ve had an opportunity to play rugby there and listen both sides of the discussion. Certainly I do not have all the answers, but my experience gives me a different perspective on yesterday’s proceedings, which I notice the media preferred to avoid as it would have been a little too uncomfortable to air during the media hype around the ‘historic’day.

Playing at Croke Park was a momentus occasion loaded with significance and symbolism, don’t get me wrong, yet I can’t help but be troubled by one question - on who’s terms did we celebrate this event? In our obsession with myths and legends I would argue it was a one-sided affair concentrating on the Republic’s ‘struggle’ against the British Empire, but I did not see much mention of the Ulster players in the fanfare. Quite sensibly they may have wanted to avoid the sentiment that seemed to permeate every article I read, but in the face of such chest beating I wonder what effect it may have had on their preparations, and ultimately their sense of inclusion in the common cause?

I am not questioning their commitment on the field, which will never be in doubt, but psychologically what must it have been like for them in the heartland of Gaelic Games with a stadium echoing to the sound of the ‘Soldier’s Song?’ Perhaps the players would be affronted at the implication that something could distract them from their concentration on the common cause, but looking down the French line during the national anthems and comparing to the Irish team was telling.

Ultimately Ireland will never succeed on the rugby pitch until we have a ‘United Ireland.’ Now before I’m sent to the same purgatory as Jade Goodey, let me explain. I want Ireland to win the Rugby World Cup. If you’d had to listen to the gloating of Jonathan Davies and Jeremey Guscott as long as I have, then you would understand.

I believe we have a team that could win the World Cup. But there is a ‘but.’ Why?

It comes back to the ‘imposition of will’ and Ireland will never impose its will on the opposition consistently and – more importantly during the big games – until they are confident and believe in the team they are playing for…i.e. they are a United Irish team. Importantly I believe the attitude and response of the Irish supporters is crucial, because we will only succeed if we step beyond tribal boundaries. While fans at Croker, all hoarse today from shouting their support for the team would argue this point, I believe our contribution to the ‘collective,’ to this ‘United Ireland’ should be something different. How much more powerful would our collective will be if fans and players were all sworn to one goal that rose above traditional symbols and songs that only represent part of the collective? The burden of responsibility for that change lies with us, the fans, not the players.

They play for each other and more often than not they play superbly together, but when opportunities for greatness slip from our grasp I can’t help but wonder what difference it would make if the team was embued with an all inclusive sense of purpose? Last year I was so happy that we came back from the dead at Twickenham to win the Triple Crown I almost had enough to drink to forget the fact that we threw away the Grand Slam in Paris…sadly the headache the next day did not let me forget what had slipped through our grasp.

We claim the old days are gone, when we were happy just to beat England or not get the Wooden Spoon, yet we have not made that final step up – and it is a step for all of us to take, not just the team.

To me this issue is symbolised by the national anthem. Sure, one understands the diplomatic reasons why these traditions are followed, yet when you look down the line at the Irish team not everyone is engaged, not everyone is bought in. How can you impose your will on the opposition if you don’t or can’t agree on what you’re fighting for in the first place?

Perhaps I am restarting a well-worn debate that will have the nationalists tub-thumping, but surely it is time we paid our respects to the past and properly embraced this supposed new era of tolerance? A big step for some but to me a true sign of the new tolerance on this island would be to stop playing the national anthem at games. A gesture more than anything else – and it would not be a miraculous cure-all – but when I look at the pomp and hype before yesterday’s game I can’t help but think our desire for the spectacle is hurting the team.

Rather than minimising sensitivities yesterday’s circus in Croke Park only accentuated the differences between players, who are meant to put their bodies on the line for each other. I wonder who was meant to benefit from the usual protracted premble. If the politicos were that desperate to get their mugs on the telly would they not have been better served kissing babies or opening community centres for old people? While everyone was obsessed with the ‘historical’ significance of rugby being played in Croke Park, did anyone ask an Ulster player or fan how they felt about the occasion? Sure it would have been difficult to offer a truly candid opinion, but it seems as though the ‘celtic tiger generation’ has forgotten ‘folklore’ for them is still recent ‘history’ for those in the north of the country. While it’s great from a media perspective to indulge in such dramatics, it is still raw for both sides in the North.

Until Ireland reflects its now broad and complex make-up we will continue to be seen as the ‘plucky Irish.’ Living in London you have a heightened sense of ‘smell’ for such phrases, ‘the luck of the Irish’ etc, etc. It reflects a characterisation of this country that has been built up over the years, which every year on the rugby pitch we struggle to shake off…perhaps one year Ireland beat England, but that’s an English team without ‘Jonny Wilkinson’ so it’s not quite the same thing…is it?


In two weeks time that ‘rawness,’ that sensitivity will be even more acute. If ‘we’ – and I mean all of us connected with this island – want to win that match, what will be the priority? Will it be the emotional media scrum or will it be the imposition of the wills of 15 men over their opponents…15 men united in one cause…to win for each other against their opponents. I believe we all have our part to play in helping our team to achieve that common sense of purpose.

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