It was early June 2018, Manchester City had just sealed their first Premier League title under Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger had stepped down as manager of Arsenal, the World Cup in Russia was a fortnight away and Declan Rice was Irish.
On June 2nd at Lansdowne Road, Rice started for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland team in a friendly against the USA. Wearing number 12, it was Rice’s third senior appearance, having previously played at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He was 19.
On the pitch John O’Shea was behind him, bowing out on 118 caps. Graham Burke was in front of him, scoring the opener – becoming the first League of Ireland player to score at senior level since Ray Treacy 40 years earlier.
So while there was ongoing disappointment that the World Cup had not been reached after the high of Euro 2016, there were still threads new and old to be stitched into the fabric of the jersey’s international history.
Rice was part of that. He had played well beside Jeff Hendrick in midfield, impressive enough to be named man-of-the-match. His first-time swept pass to James McClean created the late winner for Alan Judge. Rice celebrated with gusto, peeling off from the group of hugging players to thrust his joyous self towards the stands. The crowd could have seen nothing but a committed young Irish footballer.
Rice, not O’Shea, was the night’s talking point and O’Neill spoke admiringly of the teenager’s contribution, describing Rice as “outstanding, in every aspect, in every phase . . . he’s played some delightful balls, got it under control quite quickly, played lovely balls, 10-yard passes, 15-yard passes, 20-yard passes to people. I couldn’t speak more highly of him”.
O’Neill said this praise was not only for public consumption. In the home dressingroom he had said the same in front of Rice’s team-mates.
O’Neill, of course, understood the underlying agenda. Ireland’s next game was a competitive one, in the Nations League in Wales, and if Rice played in that then he was an Irish international until the end of his career. If he did not, London-born Rice was still available to England.
“The praise I’ve given him tonight both here and in the dressingroom was not so that he would don the shirt in September,” O’Neill said. “That wasn’t my thinking; it was just because he was so excellent tonight.
“Until he’s actually played competitive football for us at senior level, though, you can never say anything is across the line. But I do think he genuinely wants to play for us.”
O’Neill had too much football nous for this to be mere guesswork and, as he spoke, not far away at Lansdowne Rice was franking his manager’s assessment.
“It’s all a load of crap to be honest,” he told Irish reporters of the Ireland-England debate. “I don’t read too much about it.
“It’s a question that keeps on being asked but I’m just focused on playing and enjoying my football. There are two games in September and I’m looking forward to them.”
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then Rice was an Irish international. He seemed proud of his status, not 50-50 about it. The Irish public was excited.
But come September, Rice was not in Wales. Hendrick had Conor Hourihane beside him and O’Neill was not gushing about Rice’s midfield presence, he was explaining his absence.
“England have spoken to him,” O’Neill said. It was a small sentence laden with implication and everyone knew it. “He is still deliberating.”
It was February 2019 and Declan Rice’s deliberation led him to declare for England and no longer to play for Ireland. The decision was described as a “defection” in the Irish Times.
The announcement came 24 hours before Valentine’s Day and if Irish hearts were not broken, they were most certainly hurt. For some the pain meant pride morphed into prejudice and Rice was accused of duplicity. One month later Rice was named FAI Young Player of the Year, an award to be collected on St Patrick’s Day. Embarrassment was widespread all over Ireland.
Rice did offer an explanation for his life and career choices: “Like so many people around the world, I consider myself to be of mixed nationality. I am a proud Englishman, having been born and raised in London. However, I am just as proud of my family’s Irish heritage and my affinity and connection with the country. I have equal respect and love for both England and Ireland and therefore the national team I choose to represent is not a clear-cut, simple selection.”
This could have been a reminder to people that there are indeed 40 shades of green and nationality is not always straightforward. O’Neill, a Celtic-supporting nationalist Ulsterman, felt the nip of exclusion in Dublin when reported as ‘the Northerner’; his successor, Mick McCarthy, sounds as Yorkshire as, well, Mick McCarthy, but he’s Irish.
Jack Grealish trod a similar path to Rice, though he did not appear for the senior team and while there was Irish dejection when Grealish declared for England, there was not the antipathy Rice has received.
Forty shades of greed was an accusation because the scale of England means, commercially, players will earn much more than with Ireland. They know it, agents know it and a sharp, market-aware selling club would also know the England premium. Last year West Ham sold Rice, ‘the England international’, for £100 million. The most ever paid for an Irish player is £23 million, for Nathan Collins.
Now Declan Rice has been named in the England squad for the forthcoming Nations League games by England’s interim head coach, Lee Carsley, a man from Birmingham who won 40 Irish caps. The first of these games is in Dublin.
Rice is 25, plays for Arsenal and has 58 England caps. He has appeared at the European Championships of 2020 and 2024 as well as the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. The Republic of Ireland have not qualified for any of these tournaments.
On a purely football measure, Rice’s defection-decision has been justified, although O’Neill, McCarthy and Stephen Kenny might argue that Irish chances of qualification were hardly helped by Rice’s omission.
And now there is a new Ireland coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson. His first match is at Lansdowne, where Rice signed off six years and three months ago. It is foreseeable Rice’s reception will be a mix of sincere disillusion and pantomime hostility. It is foreseeable headlines will include spice as well as Rice.
What was it Jane Austen said in Pride and Prejudice? “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours . . .”
