By Jonathan Bowen
In what was a St Patrick’s Day weekend not to be forgotten for a long time, the Irish rugby teams delivered on the success that the Irish horses started at the Cheltenham races.
It was a case in both games that the results of the games meant more than the quality of play and with a double Grand Slam now in the bag for both the U20s and the senior men’s Irish rugby sides the question being asked now, is how far can the teams go in their respective Rugby World Cups later this year?
If Ireland doesn’t get to the final of both championships this year, questions will be asked about if beating the All Blacks and winning the Grand Slam was all worth it? For the time being fans need to enjoy the successes coming the teams’s way now.
The men’s team kicked off the weekend with their final game of this year’s Six Nations against England. The build-up to the game had everything! There were photos of Owen Farrell’s son at the Irish team’s captain run chatting with Johnny Sexton. There was even talk that Owen’s son would be supporting his grandfather’s side rather than his father’s. When Owen was asked the question at the pre-match press conference how he felt about his son watching on at the Irish team’s captain runs, Owen’s response was: “It was news to him, but the kids were staying with their grandfather this weekend and when they stay with their grandfather they play by granddad’s rules.”
The game started with much fanfare. I heard the only place harder than the Aviva Stadium to get into to watch the game was the No 1 Rugby Bar in NYC, The Pig ‘N’ Whistle on 36th Street!
The Aviva Stadium was packed for the game, and the teams entered the arena to a huge roar from the crowd. The game started and to the crowd’s surprise England had the upper hand for the early part of the game. England had converted two penalty kicks within the first ten minutes, to give them a 6-0 lead.
When Johnny Sexton converted his penalty in the 18th minute, the Irish fans started to breathe a little easier. Ireland scored the first try of the game through Dan Sheehan after a great passing movement by the Irish backline. Johnny added the extras and it was then the Irish fans who started to believe this could just be their weekend!
Just before halftime Freddie Stewart was shown a red card for a shoulder collision to Hugo Keenan’s head. It was a red card that is becoming all too frequent in rugby these days with the tackler just not going low enough to complete a legal tackle.
Ireland then tried to strike again before half time but as the team were moving towards the try line a bad knock by Ireland ended the half.
England came out in the second half like wounded bulls with a point to prove. They got on the scoreboard first in the sending half with a penalty converted by Owen Farrell which brought the score to 10-9 to Ireland. As the half went on, Ireland took advantage on their extra man and the team grew in confidence as the game wore on.
In the 62nd minute Robbie Henshaw scored the try that seemed to have been coming for a while and when Johnny Sexton converted it, it looked like England’s day was done!
Dan Sheenan would go onto to score another try with 10 minutes to go to secure the game for Ireland.
Jamie George would score a well-deserved consolation try for England which Owen Farrell converted. This brought England within eight points of Ireland with seven minutes to play, but it wasn’t to be for England.
When Jack Willis was sin binned and England were down to 13 players Ireland closed out the game with an excellent try through Ross Byrne who put the game to bed, and it was then time for the Irish Supporters and players to party.
Ireland secured the win by 29-16 and their first Grand Slam win in Dublin. The most memorable moment of the post-match celebrations was when Owen Farrell went up to his father Andy (Head Coach of the Irish Rugby Team) and the two embraced in a hug! It highlighted the fact that family is more important than rugby, even when families are competing against each other.
The match was a fitting result for what is Johnny Sexton’s final Six Nations match at Lansdowne Road in an Irish jersey and it was fitting that as captain he would lift the Six Nations trophy in front of his home supporters in Dublin.
The post-match interview was all about turning our attention to the World Cup in France. Andy was quoted as saying better days lay ahead for Irish rugby. David and Andy are all about building a squad of 40 plus players good enough to lift the Rugby World Cup trophy and with the team more than likely going into the World Cup as the No 1 ranked country in the world and with the World Rugby Player of the year on their side who would doubt their capability to deliver the trophy in September?
Also don’t forget that Netflix captured this entire Six Nations tournament on film for a documentary to be released later this year. This documentary will be a must see for any Irish rugby fan.
The second game of the weekend was the U20 Ireland v England Six Nations match. Ireland was chasing a double Grand Slam win at a sold-out Musgrave Park in Cork and their second U20 Grand Slam in a row!
It was a wet and dreary day in Cork and Ireland had England on the back foot within the first couple of minutes. When Hugh Gavin crossed over the line to provide Ireland with a 5-0 lead, dreams of a double were on the cards.
The game see-sawed back and forth between Irish dominance and English dominance. England tied the game up in the 16th minute when Tobias Elliot scored a try which was converted by Sam Harris.
Ireland was not to be outdone though. Brian Gleeson scored a great try which Sam Prendergast converted with ease. This provided Ireland with a 12-7 half time lead. It was a surprise to most that Sam Prendergast’s performance was not to his usual high standard.
The see-sawing game continued in the second half, Ireland scoring first through a hard worked try by George Hadden in the 51st minute. Five minutes later Ireland scored again through Brian Gleeson which was converted by Sam Prendergast. This meant Ireland had secured the four try bonus point.
England kept themselves in the game with a solid penalty kick by Sam Harris but in the 60th minute when Ireland scored another try through Hugh Gavin, the result was looking like a forgone conclusion.
England started to play some serious rugby in the final ten minutes of the game and when they secured back-to-back converted tries through Joe Jenkins and Tobias Elliot, they suddenly gave themselves a chance at 31-24 down.
Fintan Gunne scored the final try in the 80th minute that secured Ireland a back-to-back Grand Slam. It has been a Hell of a year for the Irish U20 side and, with the World Championships on in June and July this year in South Africa, expectations are high that Ireland can bring home another trophy for the cabinet.
It will be interesting see how this team and its players progress over the coming years.
In rugby news closer to home, the New York Ironworkers returned home this week to play the Free Jacks. In a game New York were hoping would extend their unbeaten streak at home this season, they were outplayed and outclassed by a Free Jacks side that exposed their defensive weaknesses.
James Semple has a lot of work to do if his side is to be a contender for the finals this season. The loss of Milner-Skudder and Naholo is proving to a headache that is starting to prove that New York do not have the depth or the quality of players they thought they did within their roster.
New York’s next game will be at home on April Fool’s Day to Rugby ATL! Let’s hope the team can find a performance worthy of the occasion and prove to be no man’s fool on the day!
One other bit of news I would like you to keep your support going for is Orla Fowley who is looking to raise money for the CARI Foundation and CRY Cardiac Risk in the Young and The Mid-Western Cancer Foundation in honor of Munster and Irish Rugby Legend Anthony Fowley.
If you can spare a few dollars this is a very worthwhile cause to donate to. As part of the fundraiser Orla has cycled 3000km around Ireland and counting. She is looking to raise 40K euro for this very worthy cause.
Any contribution you can make would be most grateful. Here is a link to the website where you can donate: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/ORLASWILDWAYS.
If you want to keep up to date with all the latest rugby news you can find me on Instagram @jb052006 or drop me an email at jonathan.joseph.bowen@gmail.com.