How Dr Cillian de Gascun took on Lomu and the All Blacks – and came within a whisker of winning

In 1992, an Ireland schools team suffered a controversial loss to New Zealand – Cian Tracey retraces the journey

IN New Zealand, they are widely recognised as the greatest schools team ever assembled. Quite the accolade considering the array of talent to have come through the Kiwi system over the years. On these shores, however, they are remembered as the side who, in the cruellest manner possible, denied Ireland a victory that would have sent shockwaves around the rugby world.

It’s 28 years since Jeff Wilson’s controversial penalty bisected the posts and sent a dagger through the hearts of every Irish player as they collapsed in a heap at the sound of the final whistle that immediately followed.

To understand how Ireland had managed to come within seconds of upsetting a star-studded New Zealand side, which boasted a staggering 10 future All Blacks, including Wilson and a certain Jonah Lomu, as well as two future Samoan stars, it’s important to provide the backstory.

For this is not your typical Irish hard luck tale, but rather about a team who had several of their own hugely talented prospects – the biggest of whom was Anthony Foley.

That day in New Plymouth, Foley went toe-to-toe with Lomu, who started opposite him at No 8. That the legendary pair passed away within 11 months of each other is still difficult to get your head around.

Foley played his part in ensuring that it took the last kick of the game, three minutes after the allotted time had elapsed, to beat Ireland. And it didn’t happen by fluke either.

Lifelong

A special lifelong bond was formed on that five-week tour of New Zealand in 1992, when Ireland managed to upset the odds so much so that by the time the Test rolled around in late August, they had beaten seven of the eight provincial teams.

A squad of 26 teenagers, under the guidance of a four-man management team led by Declan Kidney, travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand for well over a month.

Apart from the Lions, who include a far bigger squad, that kind of schedule is unheard of these days, especially for a schools team. These were far more innocent times, however.

No sooner had the majority of the squad finished sitting their Leaving Cert when a training camp in Clongowes signalled the start of what would prove to be an epic journey.

That the exam results were released during the tour added to the sense of occasion, although they largely took a back seat with what was at stake.

“It depends how well you did,” James Blaney, who captained the team, laughs.

“It was a mixed bag, but there were a few beers had by everyone that night one way or another.”

Kidney selected Blaney as captain from the outset after the talented hooker had led Terenure College to the Senior Cup title earlier that year.

A couple of narrow Four Nations defeats to England and Wales tempered expectations somewhat, but when the squad came together in Clongowes, everything fell neatly into place.

Taking on New Zealand in their own back yard was going to be a much tougher challenge, however, and that Ireland would play eight strong provincial teams in the lead up to the Test, made their task even more daunting.

“We got a bus and ferries everywhere, eight- or nine-hour bus journeys around the country. It was hard, very hard, but that’s what brings fellas through,” Kidney would recall some years later.

The intense travel was part of the experience and for Blaney, who went on to play for Leinster and Munster, it was all about relishing the challenges.

“There was serious travel involved – it was a 26-hour flight to get there,” he recalls. “Back then travel wasn’t what it is now where kids are jumping on flights on their mid-term to go wherever. New Zealand was a different world away.

“I remember getting up at six or seven in the morning to watch the Ireland senior team in New Zealand. It was surreal to get the chance to tour over there at that age. We flew in to Auckland and then we flew down to Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island, and worked our way up.

“We had eight-hour bus journeys on a bus that didn’t have a toilet, never mind a TV. Lads would kick up a fuss now if they were travelling down to Kilkenny and there was no telly, but back then, it was just different.

“We didn’t have any expectations about travel or how it should work. It probably made us bond that bit more because we had more time to chat and have the craic. It was proper old school.”

Zone

The Ireland players were taken out of their comfort zone even more so as they did not stay together – apart from the days leading up to the Test when they were placed in a boarding school.

Instead, they were billeted in other players’ houses, which, as Blaney explains, had its merits.

“It was cool. Sometimes we were paired off with someone from the team, other times you weren’t. But the people you went to were extremely friendly and hospitable. They were bringing you to places, taking you on tours, showing you the best of the country basically.”

With no footage to work off back in those days, the only thing that the young Irish players were repeatedly warned against was the size of the opponents who were lying in wait.

So, by the time Ireland arrived to play their opening game against Southland Schools, they had done everything they could to prepare for brutal physicality.

“The big thing when we went over there was the Polynesian guys – they were f**king massive,” Blaney says.

“There used to be proper rucking back then, so if you were on the wrong side of a breakdown, you would get absolutely shredded. I remember when we were in Clongowes, we practised that barefoot. The first game we played down in Invercargill against Southland Schools, they had this monster No 8 called Horie – huge Polynesian kid.

“He came in and did a big job on Conor Davis at the bottom of a ruck. Conor was in shreds. The jersey was taken off his back. But he got up and played on. About two rucks after that, your man Horie went into a ruck and he was dealt with! He ended up being stretchered off.

“I felt that was a real bonding experience for us there and then. We just built from there through each game.”

Seven victories later, as well as one defeat to Hawkes Bay, Ireland were in great shape heading into Test, which had suddenly become the talk of the country.

The Kiwi public’s excitement was building as Wilson and Lomu cemented their status as future world stars, while the likes of Carlos Spencer and Trevor Leota were not far behind.

“Everyone was talking about Jeff Wilson, I think he scored something like ten tries in one match or something,” Blaney remembers. “As we played each team, they would have another big name, and then another, and so on. By the time we got to the Test, the two guys we really knew about were Jeff Wilson and Jonah Lomu.”