Come the day, come the hour. Come the power and the glory!
After 60 years of waiting Ireland’s Call was finally answered on Saturday as Ireland overcame a dogged Wales to claim the Grand Slam, Triple Crown and 6 Nations Championship.
|
|
It was a fitting reward for a group of players who appeared to have lost their way under the ultra conservative O’Sullivan and looked destined to finish their careers without their due rewards on the international stage. They have a lot to thank Declan Kidney for and I hope they remember it as he now starts to dismantle this team, as he surely must, if Ireland are to build towards their next challenge of the 2011 World Cup.
The likes of O’Driscoll, O’Connell and even O’Gara can not be expected to dig Ireland out of a hole time and time again and Ireland must start to develop new leaders and “go to” players if they are to continue to build on this remarkable achievement. With the likes of Ferris, Kearney and Bowe coming into their own it looks as though they’ve made a good start. However Kidney is astute enough to know that the props, second row, half backs and centres all need to be challenged and refreshed over the next three years which should lead to exciting times indeed for Ireland’s, and in particular Ulster’s, young players. Bring it on!!
I can’t let this go without commenting on Sunday nights coverage of the Six Nations Grand Slam on Setanta Ireland. This was the first time I had the pleasure of witnessing Neil Francis up close. Never before have I witness such an ill informed analyst who appears to have absolutely no clue whatsoever about rugby. As a player he always appeared to me as an under performing lazy player with a distinct aversion of getting involved in any physical challenge whatsoever. Surprisingly though, he appears to have been a better player than he is a pundit!
On the topic of pundits I was quite disappointed how everyone was more than happy to queue up and get ready to point the finger of blame at Paddy Wallace had Stephen Jones’ final penalty gone over. Surprisingly few pointed to the real culprit had Ireland’s season gone pear shaped – none other than Donacha O’Callaghan. O’Callaghan’s petulant outburst at Phillips, which resulted in a penalty reversal gifting Wales another three points, was a particulary unsavory part of the game giving some justification to Gatland’s assertion of “disliked” Ireland. I hope that Kidney didn’t let this behaviour go unpunished.
Also caught the tail end of “Ireland’s Homecoming” on RTE. I hope the start was better than the coverage I witnessed as I turned over just in time to see Tommy’s cringe making performance of Black Velvet Band! Oh well at least when he comes back home on the 3rd we’ll all be able to shout “Tell me about her eyes” as he loiters about on the wing. Should be enough to put him off his game!
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.