Friday, September 10, 2010 Previous editions
NOTHING has changed in the land of the long white cloud.
IT’S THE same question every year. As sure as Cork and Kerry will produce a draw in the Munster football championship, we speculate as to who from the home nations is capable of producing any kind of a win on the annual summer sojourns to the southern hemisphere.
NOW that the silverware has been distributed for a variety of tournaments all over Europe a period of quiet reflection and planning will commence for next season.
SATURDAY sees the culmination of the domestic competitions in this part of the world with the Magners League, Guinness Premiership and the French Top 14 championship all up for grabs.
AS with all disappointments, time is a great healer. Travelling home empty handed from the two Heineken Cup semi-finals 10 days ago, even the potential of a Magners league play-off meeting between Leinster and Munster appeared somewhat hollow.
SUCCESS breeds success. Last season Ireland finally delivered an overdue Grand Slam, the foundation of which can be traced back to the prosperity of the provinces in Europe.
IN the not-too-distant past, there was a time when a Heineken Cup fixture on French soil was approached with quivering trepidation.
FIGHTING on two fronts up to last weekend, unbeaten in Europe this season – the only one of the 44 sides that started out in either the Heineken Cup or Amlin Challenge Cup to achieve that feat.
THE BRIEF from the top at ERC was straightforward: “your mission, should you choose to accept, is to select the best European side of the last 15 years comprised of players who played in either the Heineken or Challenge Cup competitions”.
FOUR days on and the sense of excitement and anticipation that filled the masses at Thomond Park is every bit as palpable.
WHAT odds now on Leinster doing the seemingly impossible by becoming only the second side to successfully defend the Heineken Cup? On the evidence of this performance you wouldn’t put your house on it.
IF THE recent Six Nations defeat to Scotland has taught us anything, it’s that despite all the heroics and accumulation of trophies last season, Irish rugby has no divine right to silverware.
AT the final whistle, despite the hostilities of the previous 80 minutes, they shook hands and went their separate ways, safe in the knowledge they had helped each other in their quest to advance to the Heineken Cup semi-finals.
WITH just over a week to go to season-defining quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for Munster and Leinster, one could surmise Friday’s eagerly-awaited Magners League clash will resonate more with supporters than the players.
IF Declan Kidney’s adage that you learn more in defeat than in victory is correct, then Saturday’s reversal to Scotland could prove the greatest education of all for a side offered the ultimate reality check.
Donal Lenihan reflects on his five most memorable action moments at Ireland's temporary home.
ALL over bar the shouting? Well, unless Martin Johnson can oversee a tactical sea-change of monumental proportions and England finally decide to go out and play, the destination of the 2010 Six Nations championship has already been decided.
EVEN with the prospect of another Triple Crown to play for against Scotland next Saturday – incredibly a potential fifth in seven years – the collective highlight of Ireland’s relocation to Croke Park will remain that epic occasion and clinical performance against England in 2007.
THE SIX NATIONS moves into its final phase over the next two weekends but France could all but wrap up the championship this weekend with a comprehensive win over Italy in Paris.
THERE IS no greater remedy for a heavy defeat than going out and winning your next game. More often than not at club level, players and management have that opportunity on a weekly basis. That is not always the case on the international stage, thus disappointment and frustration tend to linger that bit longer.
THIS Irish rugby squad is fast becoming a victim of its own success with expectation levels at home at an all time high coming into this year’s Six Nations. We have also become a treasured scalp for even the top teams. Nothing illustrated this more than the sight of a French side doing a lap of honour after beating Ireland in Paris.
IT’S so long since Ireland lost a game that one had forgotten how bad it feels. Those once familiar pictures of dejected figures in green jerseys at the final whistle had almost faded into sepia-tone. It was inevitable that a reality check would come at some stage and the fact that it occurred in Paris shouldn’t come as a surprise.
WHEN the rival brass bands from various rugby regions of southern France are playing in unison after only 25 minutes, you know you’re in serious trouble.
IF DECLAN KIDNEY is keen to present fresh challenges to his high-achieving national squad, then Saturday’s crunch clash against France fits the bill perfectly. With just a solitary win in the French capital in the past 38 years, conquering the Stade de France this weekend is a potential fast-track to glory.
WE’RE spoiled. After the drama and excitement of the race to reach the last eight of the Heineken Cup, we now have a Six Nations championship to nourish our insatiable appetite for top class rugby.
FOR the Munster players saying their farewells at Thomond Park last Friday night, the scene was reminiscent of classmates leaving boarding school at the end of term. There were handshakes all around as a 12th successive Heineken Cup quarter-final slot was secured.
NO OTHER rugby tournament worldwide can match the drama and excitement of round six of the Heineken Cup. After five intense rounds of competition – encompassing 60 games – only two teams, Biarritz and Toulouse, have officially qualified for the quarter-finals.
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