FANS CELEBRATE:Fans were overcome by emotion after a wait of 61 years, writes CARL O'BRIENin Cardiff
AS THE final kick of the game by Wales fell mercifully short of the posts, relief washed over 64-year-old John Power. He looked up to the heavens with clenched fists and tears began to stream down his face.
“You know,” he said, still gathering his breath, “I never thought this was going to happen again in my lifetime.”
Power, from Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, was three years of age when Ireland last won the Grand Slam.
He still treasures the silk Tricolour his late father brought to the match in 1948. And after a lifetime of supporting rugby, he wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotion that was to follow Ireland first Grand Slam in 61 years.
“The tears won’t stop. Just before the final kick I thought, well, these are the times we live in. Life can be cruel. But maybe there is fairness out there and we just weren’t going to be denied. What a day for true rugby fans – and all those fantastic players.”
As Ireland’s white-knuckle roller coaster ride into rugby history drew to a close in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, thousands of similar scenes were replicated among the fans who made the journey across the water.
Even after the celebrations, the ear-splitting fireworks and a raucous lap of honour, knots of fans stood on the terraces, still drinking in the atmosphere and struggling to believe it had actually happened.
Brothers Cyril and Michael Griffin from Nenagh were sitting down, still reliving the moments of the game where it seemed the team had won, lost, and then won again.
“At half time, six points down I was getting very worried,” said Cyril Griffin, nursing a beer to soothe the nerves. “And then 10 minutes into the second half, I thought we’d won it. With a few minutes to go, it looked like we were going to lose it.”
His brother Michael confessed: “I thought it was all over, to be honest. We were thinking, ‘Why doesn’t Gavin Henson kick it’,
but maybe because it was inside the half-way, straight in front of the posts, Jones felt he could do it. All you needed was a bit of power.”
For the thousands of Welsh who roared their team on to the end, there was generosity in defeat, with many waiting around to congratulate Irish spectators.
“We’re all Celts, so it’s good to see the championship being shared among Wales, Ireland and Scotland. As long as it’s not England,” joked Bryan Bevan (56) from Pembrey, and a diehard Scarlets fan.
“The team that scores the tries deserves to win, so no complaints at all. Their name was on the trophy, they worked hard, they deserve it, and good luck to them. It’s a long time coming – so I hope they all enjoy it.”
Generous they may be in defeat, but life as an Irish person living in Cardiff in the run-up to the championship decider was no easy feat.
Just ask Margaret Ryan-Evans, who suffered the slings and arrows of a rugby-mad populace in recent days.
“They’ve been horrible, just horrible!” she says, with just a hint of mock-horror. “What Gatland was saying about the team was just so rude.
“So, I’ve been saying to any Welsh fans this week that we’ll do our talking on the field. And we have – so I’m going to wear all green into work on Monday.” Her husband, Welshman John Evans, extended an apology of sorts in the interests of Welsh-Irish relations: “I do think some of the comments being made were despicable, I’ll say that.
“But Ireland have done their country proud tonight; to achieve what you have speaks for itself.”
Outside the stadium, as darkness fell over Cardiff, 74-year-old Derry O’Dwyer from Cashel, Co Tipperary, made his way slowly into the city centre, lingering in the afterglow of victory and being congratulated by occasional Welsh well-wishers.
For him, it was an extra special day, 61 years after attending Ireland’s last Grand Slam in Belfast as a young teenager.
“My memories of that day, I’ll never forget. I came up from Cashel for the game with my relations and the people of Belfast were very kind and generous. They let us through and shoved us up the front for a better view,” he recalls.
“I’ve been coming to matches ever since and been involved with rugby at all levels. And you know, relief is what I’m feeling right now.
“We had the better of the play. At last, we’ve got that damn monkey off our back. And we can celebrate!”