A year of triumphs, great and small

SPORT REVIEW 2011:It was a good year for Irish rugby. The victory over Australia proved a high point but for sheer drama it was hard to beat Leinster's remarkable comeback in the memorable Heineken Cup final in Cardiff

THIS WAS A good year for Irish rugby, indeed a very good year. Any year that yields a Heineken Cup triumph for Leinster, all the more so as there’s rarely been a comeback in a final quite like it, and a League triumph for Munster, has to be considered good. Lose sight of that and we really have lost it.

Of course, World Cup years are defined by the World Cup and after trading four warm-up defeats for four pool wins, Ireland also showed up well at the World Cup, perhaps more effectively than at any previous World Cup. The victory over Australia in Eden Park and the astonishing support from a largely ex-pat Blarney Army remain indelible memories.

Ireland’s first win over a Tri Nations powerhouse in the Southern Hemisphere since 1979, and first of any hue in a World Cup, makes it a stand-out, one-off win.

It was also a memorable, feel-good World Cup to be at, for as expected the hosts put on quite a show.

The IRB’s games analysis also showed that kicking out of hand – the bugbear of the 2007 tournament – was significantly reduced, as were lineouts and scrums, while passing was significantly increased.

Furthermore, the winning margins between ‘tier one’ and ‘tier two’ countries was appreciably reduced, meaning less thrashings, as were the margins when ‘tier one’ countries bumped into each other.

Hence, there was better rugby and the games were more competitive. And yet, and yet, there was something unfulfilling about it, culminating in a performance by Craig Joubert that left a particular sour taste in France and also for any true rugby supporter.

And a bit like the World Cup itself, Ireland’s ultimate exit at the quarter-final stage left a nagging sense of a huge opportunity lost. The win over the Wallabies had raised expectations for squad, Blarney Army and country alike. Following on from the rout of the Russians, by which stage all squad members had contributed, there had been a heightened sense of confidence and potency in the clinical Italian job.

Even the ‘failed’ attempt to nail down another Grand Slam (which looked there for the taking) earlier in the year appeared to have a purpose of sorts, offering as it did a chance of revenge over the Welsh for the Jonathan Kaplan/Peter Allen foul-up in the build-up to Mike Phillips’s match-winning try, and then the French in the semis after their successive wins in the Aviva made it 10 wins out of the previous 11 meetings.

Had Ireland maintained their group form and brought their big-match experience to bear in the quarter-final, they’d assuredly have won, and then, as we all saw, the French were there for the taking at the semi-final stage. And in forcing Wales to make 50 per cent more tackles, and spend two-and-a-half times more inside the Welsh 22, Ireland clearly did plenty right.

Alas, little mistakes proved costly, as they invariably do in big knock-out games; balls lost in contact, handling errors, missed touch kicks, the overthrow on half-way after clawing their way back to level terms (and Rory Best had possibly been Ireland’s player of the tournament) and the vacated blindside to let Mike Phillips in for that critical try.

By contrast, Wales protected the ball and defended much better, their brilliant backrow leading the way in nullifying Seán O’Brien and company by tackling low and chopping them down.

Thus, there was no shame in losing to a super-fit, well-drilled young Welsh team who, along with New Zealand and Ireland, probably played some of the best rugby in the tournament. It was also, quite possibly, the highest quality knock-out match of the tournament, allowing for the All Blacks’ sensational first half-hour in the semi-finals against Australia.

Nevertheless, Ireland had never been so well-primed going into the knock-out stages.

Perhaps, as Bob Casey for one suggested in these pages, the Irish squad had allowed themselves to get a little ahead of themselves, to think beyond the quarter-finals and fantasise about the semis and/or final; or at any rate struggled to manage the heightened expectations.

However, talking to players even weeks and months on, they are adamant that this was not the case.

Some readers bridle at references to the so-called “golden generation”, but this generation have won a Grand Slam, four Heineken Cups and six Celtic/Magners Leagues, and the core were surely drinking at the last chance saloon when it comes to World Cups. And if Ireland cannot reach a semi-final with Brian O’Driscoll (four World Cups) and the likes of Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara, Gordon D’Arcy, Donncha O’Callaghan et al who have played in three, you wonder when they ever will.

Admittedly, there is a new breed coming through, signs of which were evident in the performances of Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Jamie Heaslip, O’Brien and others in the Heineken Cup final in the Millennium Stadium on the second last Saturday in May. And, of course, a bloke by the name of Jonathan Sexton.

Riddled with nerves, betrayed by handling errors and missed tackles, and marmalised in the scrums, Leinster were 22-6 down and reeling at the interval.

In the context of the game, the turnaround by Ross and company in the scrums was seismic, but even more so was the 17-point haul in 17 minutes by an almost manically inspired Sexton which turned the game on its head.

Even in World Cup years, that will always be one to tell the grandchildren about.