A golden age of Irish rugby

Before Brian O’Driscoll emerged from Blackrock College to impose himself on international sport at the highest level at the start of the millenium, two Ulster men, Jack Kyle and Mike Gibson were generally held to be the brightest stars in the pantheon of Ireland rugby players.

The measure of O’Driscoll’s progress is that some 13 years on, the Dubliner is viewed as not just an exceptionally gifted rugby player but probably the finest talent that Ireland has produced in any team discipline since the cult of individualism became fashionable in the renaissance of sport in the 1950s.

When Richie McCaw, the celebrated New Zealand flanker, was named in a poll as the outstanding player in international rugby in the first decade of the 21st century, the dissenters were many and loud. Of McCaw’s athleticism and leadership qualities, there is universal approval. And yet, the great majority of those who supported O’Driscoll’s claim to that title,were far removed from Ireland’s shores.

Many reasons have been adduced for the Irishman’s popularity as the complete rugby player but Paul O’Connell, captain of the Lions’ squad in South Africa in 2009,was probably as close as anybody to the answer when, commenting on the loss of O’Driscoll for an important game he said: “When you lose a player whom you regard as your best defender as well as being your best attacker, that loss is incalcuable”.

The point was well made. Even at times when he was primarily responsible for creating and finishing in the top third of the pitch, the Leinster man was regarded as the team’s most effective forager in ruck situations, a centre threequarter who discharged the duties of a No 7 on the floor so successfully, that he was singled out for special attention in this facet of the game, by opposing coaches.

Remarkably, it was not until his final year at Blackrock that he was acknowledged for the abnormal talent that he was but after making his senior international debut against Australia at Brisbane in June 1996, he announced himself in the grand manner on the international stage with a hat trick of tries in Paris on his 11th appearance in the team. That represented Ireland’s first away win over France in 24 years and the effect was to change the whole psyche of the national team.

From a situation in which ten-man rugby was seen as the most expedient way forward for those controlling the destiny of the side, O’Driscoll’s tour de force in front of 80,000 appreciative spectators in the Stade de France, encouraged the belief that Ireland now possessed a cutting edge to complement traditional qualities of power and purpose up front. And in the wake of Keith Wood’s retirement after the 2003 World Cup championship in Australia, Eddie O’Sullivan bought into that philosophy with the announcement that O’Driscoll would henceforth assume the responsibility for captaining the team.

O’Sullivan had succeeded Warren Gatland as national team coach in somewhat controversial circumstances in November 2001 and quickly identified the need to achieve a greater degree of consistency if they were to enhance the image of Irish rugby at a time when it was about to undergo major change. In the mood, they were capable of beating any team with the notable exception of the All Blacks on home terrain but the fact that they had not secured a Triple Crown success since 1985 or even more unlikely, the Grand Slam since 1948,testified to their brittleness away from Lansdowne Road.

With Declan Kidney installed as his No 2, O’Sullivan soon began to make significant progress and with O’Driscoll calling the shots on the pitch, they claimed victories over Scotland, Italy, France and Wales – the latter on a 25-24 scoreline in Cardiff. Suddenly, the prospect of ending that 63-year wait for a clean sweep, became a national talking point. The last game in the series was against England at Lansdowne Road and in the light of their enviable home record, success seemed eminently achievable.

Alas, the huge build up to the game merely served to heighten the impact of the fall that followed. Lawrence Dallaglio’s third minute try after the Ireland back row had failed to control the ball from Peter Stringer’s put in, established the pattern of a miserable day for the home supporters and with Jonny Wilkinson at the top of his game, it was England who completed the Slam on the way to the biggest prize of all in the World Cup final in Australia some seven months later.

Ironicallly, Ireland would be the first team to beat the world champions at Twickenham six months later when Girvan Dempsey’s try at the end of a flowing movement, secured the first of four consecutive victories over the “Auld Enemy”. The consequence of Dempsey’s score was a first Triple Crown success in 22 years and having made the breakthrough in the home of English rugby, they would repeat that achievement on no fewer than three occasions in the ensuring six years.

The bigger prize would prove considerably more elusive. After O’Driscoll’s heroics in 2000, Paris would again unnerve visiting teams and on those occasions when French teams found themselves under pressure in Dublin, they still managed to compete abrasively. Typical was the experience at Croke Park in 2007 when with just two minutes remaining, Ronan O’Gara kicked a penalty to turn a slender one point advantage into a seemingly match winning lead. That was until Paul O’Connell, in a rare lapse of concentration, dropped the restart and after working the ball across the width of the pitch, the visitors got in for the try which broke Irish hearts.

Hardship merely had the effect of steeling Ireland’s resolve and buoyed by the consistency of the Irish teams in the knock out stages of the Heineken Cup, Declan Kidney and his management team sensed that the gap between frustration and fulfilment had dwindled to almost nothing as the nations prepared for the 2009 staging of the six nations championship. This, the cognoscenti reckoned, represented the best chance in seventy years, of tracking down the precious silverware and with France and England back in town, the optimism seemed well founded.

With another year to run on the GAA’s agreement to rent out their pristine stadium,Croke Park provided the perfect back drop for another collision with France - and this time the gods were smiling on the men in green. In the best rugby played in the all too short sojourn of the oval ball game on Jones Road, France made the perfect start, courtesy of Imanol Harinoroquy’s exquisitely executed try.That didn’t figure in any of Kidney’s pre-match calculations but in the manner of a team which had grown significantly over the previous year, Ireland did not depart from Plan A and helped by the visitors’ indiscipline at the breakdown, they gradually got a foot hold in a frenetic contest.

An adverse penalty count of 10-2 didn’t endear the Welsh referee Nigel Owen to the French contingent but there were no expedient excuses available to explain their trevail after a superb Irish move had ended with Jamie Heaslip careering down the centre for the try which lit up the stadium. Gordon D’Arcy, on as a replacement for Paddy Wallace, heightened the Leinster influence by touching down close to the end and in between, the irrepressible Brian O’Driscoll traced a mazy line between Lionel Beauxis and Julien Malzieu to enhance his reputation as a finisher of the highest quality.

Judged even by the loftiest level of expectation, a 30-21 victory was an achievement to re-assure in the context of the Grand Slam and O’Driscoll was again among the try scorers as the Irish team grew from an uncertain start to overwhelm Italy 38-9 in Rome. Beating the Italians on the road was one thing but dealing with the threat posed by England was a mission which challenged the character of management and players alike on another day of imperishable drama at Croke Park.

Two years earlier, Martin Corry’s England team had earned the warm admiration of the locals by the manner in which they accepted a heavy defeat. Now, revenge was the raw incentive which drove them to the limits of their potential and were it not for another mountainous contribution by O’Driscoll, they might well have succeeded. The Irish captain, forsaking his natural flair to run the ball, first dropped a rare goal and then, following the withdrawal of England’s blind side flanker, James Haskell, the man with No 13 on his shirt, displayed all the attributes of a natural No 7 by burrowing under a forest of bodies for a critical try which would be matched only by his contribution in Cardiff two weeks later.

Before the end, Delon Armitage’s converted try reduced the gap to a single point, 14-1, but after what seemed an age, the last blast of the referee’s whistle sounded and some 82,000 spectators poured out on to the surrounding streets to celebrate a game which had embodied all the classical elements of one of the longest established rivalries in international rugby.

For once, O’Driscoll didn’t get his name on the score sheet when the next phase of the championship programme took Ireland to Scotland. Murrayfield tends to yield up victory to visitors only grudgingly. This was no exception but Jamie Heaslip’s try following a typical, sniping run by Peter Stringer, complemented by 17 points from the trusty right foot of Ronan O’Gara, eventually carried the Irishmen to a 22-15 success.

The pages of rugby history are illuminated with stories of how favourites came undone on that famous patch of green in downtown Cardiff and memories of previous disasters there, were all too prevalent as O’Driscoll led his team on to the pitch for the last, critical assignment on the path to fulfilment. A first half of naked intensity ended with Wales leading 6-0 and in that situation, Irish eyes looked instinctively to their captain to plot a way back. He was not found wanting, scattering friend and foe alike as he made it across the try line in the middle of a heaving mass of humanity to open ireland’s account early in the second half.

That was the critical moment of an enthralling afternoon and no less than another towering performance from the pack leader, Paul O’Connell, it encouraged the belief that victory could yet be Ireland’s. And those fond hopes hardened into conviction when Tommy Bowe, on a flood tide of confidence, took a bouncing ball in full stride to race in under the posts for a 14-6 lead.

Flights of fancy on this scale are never to be entertained in Cardiff. Nothing if not abrasive, Wales hung in and helped by a couple of doubtful calls from the English referee, Wayne Barnes, they rallied so effectively that with little more than four minutes left in the game, a finely drop goal from Stephen Jones put the home team back in the lead, 15-14.

Suddenly, the hand of history was again touching the shoulders of the men in green. For most of the earlier games, it was Leinster players who worked the magic for Ireland. Now it was the turn of Munster’s hardened troops, David Wallace led the charge from a ruck, Peter Stringer fed Ronan O’Gara and the outhalf was nerveless as he slotted the drop goal that would exorcise the ghastly memories of 61 years.

It was no thing of beauty but in the context of accelerating Ireland’s rugby renaissance, the end product was priceless. With the game in its last minute, Paddy Wallace was pinged for fringing at a ruck just inside the Irish half and a nation held its breath as Stephen Jones,the Welsh out half, addressed the ensuing penalty. Paul O’Connell immense on the day, couldn’t bear to watch after Jones had launched the kick which could have changed everything.

“I thought we had lost it – I feared it would go over” recounted the Munster lock. “When he hit it, I knew it was on target and turned my back. I just saw Geordan (Murphy) getting excited when he realised the ball was falling short. Geordan caught it and the sense of relief was unbelievable. I looked up at the clock and saw it was in the red. It was game over – at last we had reached the promised land.”

The celebrations, joyous and raucus in equal measure, were of necessity, short-lived. Both Leinster and Munster had some unfinished business to attend to, in the Heineken Cup and soon Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell, comrades in arms in Cardifff, were charting vastly different courses. As holders of the trophy, Munster faced a tricky quarter-final tie against Ospreys, a task which was duly accomplished with some aplomb.

For Leinster, the challenge was a whole lot different. To reach the last four, they were required to bring down Harlequins, the English Premiership high fliers on their own patch at the Stoop where they had proved unbeatable for much of the season. In the event, the Irishmen prevailed against all the odds but only after a massive display of disciplined defence, best illustrated by the contributions of two of their overseas signings, Rocky Elsom and Felipe Contepomi.

As the name implied, Elsom was the force which turned Leinster’s pack from a collection of talented individuals into a coterie of hardened winners. So successful was his Irish sojourn, that he returned to Australia a revitalised player, reclaiming his place in the national team before going on to captain them in their World Cup campaign. Leinster were similarly enriched, acquiring the where withal to enable them to indulge their riches behind the scrum and the balance of power in European rugby was about to shift.

Contepomi, signed in the most fortuitous circumstances after he was facilitated in his determination to finish his medical studies in Dublin, remained on board for a much longer period and like Elsom, was a superb competitor in difficult surroundings. As the playmaker in chief, he would solve a persistent problem at No 10 as well as bringing his kicking skills to bear in the most pressurised situations. That facet of the Argentine’s make up served Leinster well against Harlequins, kicking two penalties in the first half before standing tall in an attritional second period, to restrict the Londoners to a solitary score for an epic 6-5 victory.

The reward was a semi-final tie against Munster at Croke Park which for a variety of reasons is recalled as one of the great dramas of Irish and European rugby. For one thing, it attracted a mammoth crowd of 82,000 and played against the background of a long established and occasionally acrimonious rivalry of the two provinces, it captured the imagination of the public to the point where the biggest stadium in the country wasn’t nearly sufficent to accommodate all those wishing to witness the head-on collision.

The stigma of Leinster’s horror show at the same stage of the competition in 2006 was still raw enough to evoke dark thoughts of retribution among players and supporters alike. On that occasion, they were overpowered by the Munster pack. Now with Elsom leading the charge, the roles were likely to be reversed and the local public couldn’t wait for it to happen.

First up tackles by Elsom and Contepomi on O’Gara defined Leinster’s strategy within minutes of the start and from this statement of intent, grew the conviction that the reigning European champions would on this occasion, end up in the losers’ dressing room. And that probability came more sharply into focus when in the wake of the loss of Contepomi with a knee injury, Isa Nacewa nailed Keith Earls close to the line and Elsom, on the opposite wing, stunned Ian Dowling with an equally ferocious tackle, taken directly from the Munster manual.

Gordon D’Arcy’s 31st-minute try, at the end of a patient, skilful build up, heightened the sense of impending doom for Munster and from an interval deficit of 6-11,it would get it even worse for the men in red. A subtle sway of the hips took Luke Fitzgerald inside Paul Warwick’s tackle for the second try early in the second half and Leinster’s conquest was total when Brian O’Driscoll, intercepting O’Gara’s laboured pass to Paul O’Connell, sprinted 70 yards to score under the posts and apply the gloss to an unforgettable day for Michael Cheika’s squad.

Leinster supporters, chanting for the gates to be closed on rival fans seeking to depart early, merely served to emphasise the tension underpinning the fixture but victory on a 25-6 score line was comprehensive enough to forewarn Leicester, another of the enduring powers of European rugby, of choppy waters ahead as the scene was set for the final at Murrayfield on the fourth Saturday in May.

It was a pairing with a number of precedents and while Leicester held a slight edge overall, the Irish team could reflect that in the past they had gone to Welford Road and triumphed on a ground which had little respect for the reputation of visiting days. Now the big prize would be won or lost in the Scottish capital and the English champions, prized from their feared fortress, could expect little support from Ireland’s Celtic cousins.

The other factor Leinster had going for them was the presence of Leo Cullen and Shane Jennings in the pack. Cullen had emerged as a key man in the new look team assembled by Cheika, taking over the captaincy after Brian O’Driscoll stepped down because of an overload of commitments.

Cullen, hard and competitive, had been signed by Leicester as the replacement for their legendary lock, Martin Johnson. Now after a satisfactory stint in the England Premiership, he had returned with Jennings to his alma mater, providing his Leinster team mates with an insider’s knowledge of Leicester’s game plans and the players who implemented them. Geordan Murphy was still playing well at full back for the English champions but the more obvious challenge was to restrict the influence of big game players such as Alesana Tuilagi,Dan Hipkiss and up front,Ben Kay and Tom Croft.

As it happened, Murphy departed early with a hip injury but in the manner of their climb to a position of pre-eminence in Europe, Leicester were ruthless as they sought to impose themselves on an ultra physical battle for forward supremacy. In other times, Leinster might have wilted but not now. Meeting power with power, they took on the opposition in some heavyweight hits that posed urgent questions of character. And having made their point in this war of wills, they then sought to bring their perceived advantage in creativity, into play.

Drop goals from Brian O’Driscoll and Jonathan Sexton, supplemented by Sexton’s penalty, had the Irishmen 9-3 in front heading towards half time but then came the feared riposte. With Leinster prop, Stanley Wright in the sin bin, Julian Dupuy landed a 34th minute penalty to be followed almost immediately by the first try of the game. A patient build up enabled Leicester to exploit their numerical advantage and to the delight of the English supporters, flanker Ben Woods got over for the try which established them in a 13-9 interval lead.

For the thousands of supporters who had travelled to Edinburgh in support of Leinster’s cause,that was a shock to the system. Having succeeded in the first segment of their survival plan by containing Leicester’s early surge, the concession of a seven-pointer at a stage when the referee’s half time whistle was expected at any moment, was a significant setback for the Irish team. The consensus was that they needed to put their name on the next score to stay competitive and with Wright by now back on the pitch, they delivered within five minutes of the restart.

Fittingly, it was a try conceived of rare vision and finished in a manner which bespoke the philosophy of Leinster rugby. After Rocky Elsom, his bloodied face reflecting the physicality of it all, had won a line out cleanly, the ball was zealously protected in phase after phase before sufficient space was contrived to allow them to inject an added element of pace in the Leicester 22. Then, with Shane Jennings in support, Jamie Heaslip slipped between Ben Kay and Craig Newby for the score which effectively, marked the official declaration of a new epoch in European rugby on a 19-16 score line.

Twice in the ensuing three years, the squad once derided as antiquated in the changed and changing world of professional rugby, would scale the summit of the game in the northern hemisphere. And a golden generation of players, identified by Brian O’Driscoll’s ageless skills, at last enjoyed the brand of popularity which was once, the exclusive preserve of Dublin 4.

This is an extract from From The Press Box – 70 Years of Great Moments In Irish Sport by Peter Byrne is ublished by Liberties Press, priced €17.