The good, bad and ugly

COLLISION COURSE Munster’s Ian Dowling is tackled Connacht’s Colm Rigney during last week’s Magners League game at Musgrave Park, Cork. Pic: Sportsfile

The good, bad and ugly

FLICKING through the obligatory sports reviews of the year which appear in nearly every magazine and newspaper at this time of year only confirms that 2007 was an anti-climatic year for rugby followers in our native land. The passion and pride displayed on Saturday, February 24 in an almost perfect display against England in Croke Park and the high tempo, free-flowing rugby produced in overwhelming the Italians in Rome only went some way to easing the pain and frustration of a last-minute defeat to France which ultimately cost Ireland its best chance of a Grand Slam since 1948.
Those memorable victories during the Six Nations were undoubtedly the high points of the calendar year. In fact many would argue that the English match at GAA headquarters was indeed the sporting occasion of 2007, if not the decade. However, that was as good as it got. Munster and Leinster both crashed out of the Heineken Cup at the quarter-final stage to Wasps, the eventual winners and Llanelli respectively. Ulster were booed at home in Ravenhill as their season unravelled towards the end of the Magners League while Connacht were again left to rue missed opportunities throughout the year. The western province failed to progress to the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup for the first time in six seasons and just finished ahead of the now disbanded Boarders in the league.
With many of the country’s top players being rested, the tour to Argentina in late May provided many players, including myself, an opportunity to stake a claim for the remaining places available in Eddie O’Sullivan’s World Cup squad. A last-minute drop goal by Felipe Contepomi denied an experimental Irish side victory in Sante Fe, and the hosts showed no sign of a hangover from their celebrating as they went on to win the second test in Buenos Aires 16-0.
By the end of June, preparations for the forthcoming World Cup in France were in full swing with training camps in Spala (Poland), Limerick, Dublin, Belfast and the south west of France all undertaken before the squad made its base just outside Bordeaux in early September. So much has already been written about Ireland’s trials and tribulations during rugby’s biggest competition. Suffice to say, it was a disappointment, an anti-climax.
If Irish rugby in general went from the good to the bad as the months rolled by, then on a personal level the graph went in the opposite direction. From the frustration of playing ‘Monday Night Football’ (that is, Seconds’ rugby) in Harlequins and knocking on the door of Dean Richards (Director of Rugby) in order to ask could my contract be terminated with immediate effect last March to winning further caps in Argentina and ultimately earning selection for the World Cup squad in August, it has been a roller-coaster of a year. Did I enjoy the journey along the way? At times I did and at times I didn’t but I am hugely grateful for the chance to return to Connacht and the opportunities that came my way since.

NO HAPPY CHRISTMAS FORCONNACHT DOWN SOUTH

IT would have been nice to finish the year on a high, but a trip to Cork to take on Munster on a miserable, miserable night in Musgrave Park proved not to be the case. We made our own way down to Cork for midday on St Stephen’s morning and trained for an hour after lunch. Some lads went to the cinema that night while others including myself watched a DVD in the team room. Having not seen each other for a couple of days it was as if the lads had missed slagging each other and wanted to make up for lost time! Johnny O’Connor and John Fogarty were delighted not to be rooming together again as both declare the other is the worst room-mate ever, while Mike McCarthy is establishing himself as the joker in the pack with his weird and wonderful observations, statements and noises!
A late breakfast at 10.30am followed by lunch at 1.30pm and a top up meal at 4.15pm helped to break up a long day before we arrived at Musgrave Park just before 6.30pm, an hour before kick-off. We were confident of an upset and a first Connacht win over Munster since the mid-1980s. Well, we’ll now have to wait at least till the end of March for that to happen as we were defeated 17-0 in (have I already told you?) appalling conditions.
Again, ill-discipline proved to be our downfall, especially in the first 40 minutes, as former Connacht out-half Paul Warwick made the most of playing with the elements, converting four penalties for the men in red. The penalty count was 9-3 in favour of the hosts at half time. Two of those penalties were conceded in the last four minutes of the half, undoing a huge defensive effort and allowing Munster to stretch their lead to 12 points as the teams returned to the dressing rooms. Denis Leamy put the game out of our reach when he crashed over a try in the 67th minute as we failed to take advantage of the wind after the interval. It was a disappointing end to the year after two victories in early December against Glasgow and Newcastle had promised more.
And so it is to the New Year we look. Even following our last two defeats on our travels to Newcastle and Munster we believe we are on the right road. It may not be an easy ride as we continue to hit a few potholes along the way, but with continued hard work and endeavour we will soon take more advantage of the opportunities we create for ourselves. Llanelli Scarlets visit the Sportsground this Friday night, January 4. A win against the Welsh region will go along way in helping us reach our desired destination, the European Cup. Qualification is in our own hands and if achieved would be without doubt a positive start to any review being written about Irish rugby in 2008. Again, thank you for your support through out 2007. May you be on the winning side more often than not in the year to come!