The Croke Park effect is something more than an imagined advantage for Leinster players. But this week it is much less a threat to the Bulls players than it has been to teams that have come before.
The Leinster players hope to weave a little of their own rugby narrative into GAA history in the United Rugby Championship final on Saturday.
But Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan has warned that the venue’s aura could work in both teams’ favour. He said it will be one of the many drivers for Leinster on the day, but he counselled that its allure and the events of more than 100 years ago could also have a galvanising effect on the Bulls.
“Over the last year or so we have played there three times,” said Sheehan. “[We know] how cool it is and how it amplifies the occasion, and I think the opposition also get a bit of lift from it.”
“That’s because they obviously read into the history of it. They realise that it is a big game for us. I think it’s a benefit for both sides.”
But there is more than that and the Johannesburg-born Bulls’ coach Jake White has done his reading too. While Sheehan sees it as an energy source, White has cautioned his players not to talk about Croke Park’s historical significance.
“A lot of these boys weren’t around probably and haven’t understood what the significance of Croke Park means in history and, to be fair, I told them not to comment or to be sucked in to anything that would lead anyone to read it the wrong way,” said White at the Bulls training ground at St Mary’s RFC.
Instead, White has cleverly turned the date and the number 14 into a kind of fateful symbol for his team.
Former Springbok and Bulls winger Cornal Hendricks died suddenly this year on May 14th.
The 37-year-old, who played 12 times for South Africa and was part of the Bulls resurgence under White, suffered a fatal heart attack. In homage to him, the team retired the number 14 jersey for the rest of the season, including in the play-off matches.
“He died on the May 14th, and Saturday we play on June 14th,” said White. “It’s quite an ominous number. Funnily enough, I was doing a bit of homework and I read that on Bloody Sunday, 14 people died at Croke Park. It’s quite amazing that the number 14 comes up.”
Bloody Sunday took place in 1920, when British forces opened fire on a crowd of almost 10,000 spectators at a football challenge match between Dublin and Tipperary, killing 14 people including Tipperary player Michael Hogan.
“So, there is a lot of nice memories of Cornal that we will use and the number 14,” added White. “Hopefully it will be a fantastic day on June 14th for us as a club as well.”
“Everyone has a feeling about it and for us the fact that it is the 14th of the month, that when I read it was 14 people I thought, jeez, it was quite spooky, you know? He [Hendricks] dies on May 14th . . . I think his son was born on December 14th.”
White also alluded to Munster’s mournful defiance following the death of Anthony Foley. Foley died in his sleep in 2016 while staying at a hotel in Paris with the Munster squad.
The team was preparing to face Racing 92 in its opening game of the 2016–17 European Rugby Champions Cup.
In the first game after Foley’s death, Munster beat Glasgow in a sold-out Thomond Park. Tributes were paid to Foley before, during and after the game and the number 8 jersey was retired for the match, with CJ Stander wearing the number 24 for the occasion.
Before Ireland’s historic first ever win against New Zealand in Soldier Field, Chicago later that year, the team paid tribute by forming a figure of eight, led by Stander, Simon Zebo, Conor Murray and Donnacha Ryan, to face the All Blacks’ haka.
“There is a lot of relevance, the number 14 not being used this weekend,” said White. “Sometimes you need that. Look what Munster did in the time that they lost their coach and how quickly the reason why just turned the way Munster became for that year.
“Stars are aligned,” he added. “Hopefully we will use that in our favour.”
