The morning started well enough. Up good and early in bright sunshine, met the bread delivery van with fresh rolls when I nipped down to the corner shop, bacon and sausages sizzling nicely and coffee percolating away as I got the breakfast baps ready to take round to The Eagle to catch the game.
Sure even Ireland stood a chance on a fine morning like this! Got round to The Eagle in plenty of time and I must admit the Haka got the adrenalin going as I munched my baps and sipped my coffee.
Ireland started not too badly, unfortunately gave away a soft try, and they were making a few breaks of their own against the young New Zealand side. Even the much maligned (and I’ve maligned him more than most) Tony Buckley was making line breaks and tackling well round the pitch and the ageing Ireland side looked well up for it.
Then disaster struck, all the more extraordinary in that it was the normally restrained Heaslip that resorted to the dirt, with . . .
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