2009 Grand Slam victory in the 6 Nations. The current crop of Irish Rugby Internationals were heralded as being the finest athletes our island nation had ever produced. Our boys become men over night, and Lions within a few short weeks of this feat. Players became household names and their surnames were mentioned and dropped into conversation as if we all knew them personally as our neighbours.
Like those horrible motor sport crashes they insist on showing in slow motion, the wheels came off our streamlined wagon for what appeared to be no apparent reason. One loss that we would recover from for our International team turned into another, and quickly gathered momentum to become a fully fledged "losing streak." All of this whilst our provincial teams gathered pace in the rate with which they were claiming silverware at club level. The sum of our provincial parts just wasn't adding up when we put our team out in a green jersey.
Today, the underdog rose again. Having listened to months of sound bites on what they were "building" in camp with no visible proof of anything but backward momentum, we finally got a glimpse of their copy books and their homework was quite impressive. By no stretch of the imagination was it perfect but the courage, determination and heart on display today would have brought a tear to the eye of Nelson Mandela if he enjoys a good game of rugby.
Sean O'Brien set the tone from the get go with a display of raw emotion against the Ozzies(albeit via his swinging arms). The crowd galvanised that sentiment with a rousing rendition of Ole Ole, which has practically become our unofficial national anthem at such events. What followed was some of the most impressive and impulsive rugby Ireland has played since that day in Cardiff in 2009.
Stephen Ferris, coming back from injury with virtually no game time, demonstrated his puppeteering skills with the ferocity of his choke hold on players in defence. Cian Healy's MotM performance was deserving for his undeniable contribution to the end result of the game, considering the months of criticism he has endured when the scrum was a weak area for us.
Not to discount Australian efforts. When given the opportunity they proved they are dangerous and capable of rapid progression. Quade Cooper demonstrating with some stunning breaks why, at such a young age, he is a world class player.
The enormity of this match for Ireland going forward as a team was evident in the emotion displayed. Attitude is everything for a team that has displayed the skills to reaffirm the values of the presidential motto of "Yes We Can." There is something about being dismissed that puts fire in the bellies of this team. It's our Red Bull or Gatorade or whatever you want to call it. The underdog title picks us up from that 3pm slump and produces our greatest performances. Hopefully we have bigger and better things to come and we can get that same rush from being the favoured team to get us over the oppositions gain line.
For now, I thank the Green Kiwi's out there who lent their voices to our cause on a great day for Irish Rugby down under! Kia Ora!
Ireland made a sensational game and I really think this is your season, the right time! By the way, I made a bet over Irish team!
ReplyDeleteHi insweep! Thanks for the follow. I definitely think we showed a little of what we're capable of but there's still alot to improve on. But we proved it's achieveable after all the talk. Glad your bet paid off :)
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