A day for the testing of winning streaks, Grand Slam-seeking England looking to break the All-Blacks’ world record at the Aviva in Saturday’s curtain raiser and, in the main event, Dublin attempting to equal Kerry’s world record 34-match unbeaten run at Austin Stack Park. (Two venues with somewhat contrasting naming rights there, from a multinational insurance company to an Irish revolutionary).
Come the conclusion of the evening England had lost but won the title, Ireland had won the battle but not the war, Kerry had drawn but felt like they’d lost and Dublin didn’t win but the Kerry supporter outside the stadium in Tralee bloody well felt like they had.
“Ah, we went down fighting,” he said to Eir Sport as he trudged his way home, Paul Mannion’s stoppage time equaliser for the Dubs making it seem like a 0-13 to 0-13 hammering.
Final hurdle
Roscommon, then, stand between Dublin and sole ownership of the unbeaten record, although Ger Gilroy reminded us that “Kerry’s record includes a walkover against Wexford in November 1930”, so the Dubs might be able to argue their record-breaking case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport should they slip up next week. Whatever happens, though, they’ll be unbeaten for at least two years and 24 days.
Which, coincidentally, is roughly how long stoppage time in Paris felt on Saturday, the match showing no sign of ending at all despite the teams in Dublin having already met President Michael D and sung their anthems. “Ireland v England will NOT kick off until this match is over,” our Paris commentator Hugh Cahill reassured us, but those of us who planned on getting a bit of hoovering done on Sunday morning worried that Wayne Barnes would still be awarding French scrums on the Welsh line by then.
It finally concluded, rather well for us too – our spot in pot one for the World Cup draw now safe – if not for the Welsh, who conceded the winning score after 19 minutes, 55 seconds of added time. They probably missed their flights home too.
Surge of readiness
Back in Dublin the match got under way and, although Ryle Nugent feared “the surge of readiness has dissipated”, Ireland surged in a highly readied way in the direction of the Sasanachs whose Grand Slam hopes were beginning to feel a bit dissipated when Iain Henderson went over and Johnny Sexton managed to stay on the pitch despite all their efforts to put him in the treatment room.
Eddie O’Sullivan, Brent Pope and Shane Horgan were so enthused at half-time they had Daire O’Brien fretting, but nothing could dampen their positivity. “I think England are looking in the mirror and wondering what’s looking back at them,” said Eddie. “A team that hasn’t been beaten since October 2015,” Daire and the rest of us worried to ourselves.
But Eddie had called for cool heads – “heart in the oven, head in the fridge” – and that’s largely what he got, Peter O’Mahony producing a display that would have had you breezily filing your nails if he was in the trenches alongside you, confident he’d tackle any shells heading your way.
Over on ITV, Brian O’Driscoll, wedged between Jonny Wilkinson and Clive Woodward, was purring, even taking time out to tweet nine ROFL faces at his good friend Austin Healey’s “England by 23” pre-match prediction.
Back on RTÉ we were reminded that TV3 will be our Six Nations’ hosts from next year, which might have pressed pause on the nation’s Grand Slam-busting celebrations.
“It has been a cherished honour for us to have you as our audience for over half a century for all the games we watched through our childhood and as we grew in to the people we are today,” said Daire, and then we saw a montage set to a very sad song of 50 years of rugby on RTÉ.
All good things come to an end.
Well, apart from Dublin’s unbeaten run.
