'The Springboks are missing plenty of players too and are vulnerable. Let's have no excuses'

FROM THE BLINDSIDE:We woke up slightly the worse for wear courtesy of a night on the lash in Camps Bay, a suburb of Cape Town. It was the June, 2004 and Ireland had just lost a two-Test series against South Africa.

I was sharing a three-bed hotel room with Paul O’Connell and David Wallace. Most of the touring party were back in Ireland at that point.

I’ll come back to how we ended up there. What struck me then and what the three of us have occasionally spoken about since is that two days earlier, in the second Test against the Springboks at Newlands, we had each won our 21st cap.

It was a striking symmetry.

I managed just six more appearances for Ireland. Paul O’Connell has 85 and counting and David Wallace retired having racked up 72 for the national side.

It’s a source of massive regret now that I didn’t go on and win more than 27 caps. Injury, suspension and form were mitigating factors but not for a minute back then did I consider that I would only win a handful more.

I wouldn’t say I was blasé about playing for my country, far from it. I loved pulling on the green jersey but when you are younger, you rarely focus on the big picture. It’s a natural inclination.

It’s only as you get older and reach the autumn/winter of your career that you possess a sharper appreciation of what might be taken away and how much you covet it.

Maturity teaches you the value of what you hold dearest.

Securing honours at provincial level is a brilliant feeling but nothing surpasses playing for your country.

Keith Wood summed it up for me when he said that “playing for Ireland is a privilege and the greatest honour”.

I remember going to the old Lansdowne Road and dreaming of playing for Ireland. That was the pinnacle.

What players have achieved in the past in terms of Heineken Cups and what they might go on to do has to be parked for the next three weeks.

This focus is exclusively on Ireland. It can’t be any other way if the team is to be successful during the November Test series.

Ireland host South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The backdrop is problematic based on injuries to frontline players like Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney, Rory Best, Seán O’Brien and Stephen Ferris. That’s a third of the first-choice team.

All Blacks defeat

The memory of the 60-0 defeat to the All Blacks during the summer is still painfully raw for players, management and supporters.

Throw in precious world ranking points for the 2015 World Cup pool draw that takes place in December and you can see what’s at stake.

One man’s injury is another’s opportunity. I’d like to see the players that come in grab it with both hands. It’s about winning at all costs, playing with massive intensity, aggression, passion backed up by a huge work ethic and work rate. The result will look after itself. Let’s see those qualities on Saturday. A 9-6 victory can be every bit as fulfilling in terms of a spectacle as a game in which the ball gets plenty of air time.

The Springboks are missing plenty of players too and are vulnerable. Let’s have no excuses. This is not a game for excuses.

There’s no doubt that the players are the catalyst in terms of getting the fans involved but I’d love to see the Aviva rocking on Saturday evening.

My own experience of South Africa as a country, a people and a rugby team dates back to 2004. I had just recovered from a shoulder injury sustained at the World Cup in Australia the previous year and despite only playing a few matches for Munster made the Irish touring party. Ireland had just won the Triple Crown and the previous year had been ranked number three in the world.

There was a certain expectation that we could go well in South Africa, although I’m not sure that deep down we believed that ourselves. At the time we had a decent playing pedigree and were left in little doubt that our hosts were taking us seriously.

I was slightly apprehensive because my shoulder was still a little tight and I was going to the last place in the rugby world that you wanted to be even one per cent compromised in terms of physicality. The excitement of going there comfortably overpowered any misgivings.

We spent a few days in Cape Town before going up to Bloemfontein where we played the first Test. The most striking thing was the security issues.

There were guards at our hotel. We weren’t allowed to walk down the street after dark. We were cocooned which made the whole experience slightly surreal as we were used to going for a stroll or grabbing a cup of coffee down the town; things you took for granted.

Intimidation

The level of hostility on the way to the match from the local supporters was intimidating. They made cut-throat signs, shook and pelted the bus. I was convinced that there was going to be a riot and that we’d require rescuing. An image that sprung to mind was the “Welcome to Hell” banners that greeted Man United when they went to play Galatasaray.

I was on the bench and remember warming up behind the goalposts with Marcus Horan and being bombarded with fruit. To this day I don’t know what possessed me to pick up an orange and try to take the head off a guy who had thrown it at me. The look of horror on Marcus’s face said it all. It wasn’t my brightest idea. They enjoyed intimidating the Paddies.

We were beaten 37-11, having been level at half-time. The following week in Cape Town was a much calmer environment. Still on the 10-minute walk from the hotel to the gym I was struck by how security was a massive issue in day to day lives: the houses with their huge walls, razor wire, security gates and Alsatians.

We went up Table Mountain. I’m afraid of heights. The rest of the lads piled into cable cars and I got back on the bus. Donncha (O’Callaghan) and Paulie (O’Connell) had to drag me into the cable car and I spent the whole ride to the top sitting on the floor with a coat over my head: my version of blinkers.

Some photographers accompanied us on the trip and there was a photo opportunity at the top.

In my desperation to get into the picture I temporarily suspended my vertigo issues, which earned me a great deal of slagging. We lost the second Test 26-17 and then spent some time with the Springboks in a social environment.

We were no longer rugby players just people and I found them to be great lads.

Schalk Burger was voted IRB Player of the Year that season and I was a bit in awe of him. He turned out to be a lovely guy. He came from a farming background like some of us and we found plenty in common.

Now, back to where this column started.

We were due to fly home the following day and a few of us headed off to a bar next door to the hotel about 2pm. We put our bags on the bus which was leaving for the airport at 5.30. There were 10 or so players staying on, the rest flying home.

After a few drinks myself, Paulie (O’Connell) and (Wally) David Wallace started to debate whether we’d extend our stay in South Africa. We were still undecided when we got on the bus, a state of affairs that didn’t alter a great deal in the airport.

We went to check-in several times only to turn the trolleys around and get into a huddle to discuss staying on.

Eventually in exasperation, Ireland team manager Brian O’Brien said: “lads, for crying out loud will you make up your minds”. We asked him what he’d do in our position and he said he’d stay.

So that settled it.

We surprised our 10 team-mates in Camps Bay, had a brilliant night on the batter and flew home the following day. Several heroes from the night before looked on longingly as we again left for the airport and home.

This time there would be no going back.