Rugby has shown we’re one sporting island, says Tommy
THE clock is ticking — for Brexit and, perhaps more importantly for rugby fans, the World Cup in Japan.
At the Ireland Fund lunch at the Shelbourne hotel where business luminaries gathered last Friday, the talk was evenly divided between both events.
Fitting then, that the event’s guest of honour is a man from a border county who was both a stand-out on the wing for Ulster and served the whole island in the green shirt.
Tommy Bowe still feels the frisson of tension in the air as his former teammates began their Six Nations campaign but, having retired on his own terms last year, he doesn’t miss the knot in the stomach that comes with the pressure to perform. “I bumped into Rory Best and a few of the players there and it brings back a few memories of great days, but you know also in a way I could say the nerves are something I’m glad to have left behind me. I feel nervous now and I’m not even playing.”
The symbolism of the event and the interplay of Brexit and sport is not lost on Bowe. During his career, he saw a merging of the rugby fan base, North and South, and a rise in the number of Northern Catholics who threw their support behind Ulster rugby.
“As a sport I think we’ve shown that it is all one island. There’s a family that come up to the Kingspan Stadium from Cavan and I see them every week and they must travel an hour and 45 minutes to get there. There’s groups of guys who come from Letterkenny to watch the match. When I started in 2002, it would have been very British, very Belfast, very local, but it’s incredible how things have changed in the years since then. People now come from all over the province to support Ulster.”
The plurality of rugby is one of its major assets. Bowe points out there are English supporters scattered throughout the Aviva for Ireland v England games but its always highly unlikely that there would be any trouble. If sectarianism has no place in the sport then neither does racism. He was disappointed with the racist jeering that former teammate Simon Zebo endured recently.
“I thought Ulster did very well in handing out a lifetime ban to the person who did that. With me I’d just hear stuff about my tan or being a bad winger. Generally it would come under banter and sometimes when you hear them you have to struggle not to laugh but sometimes I would turn around and give them a smile. Generally a rugby crowd is good natured and there to enjoy themselves.”
What about homophobia in rugby? Why does he think no gay Irish rugby player has yet come out? “There were never any Irish guys who came out as homosexual when I was playing. I didn’t know about Gareth Thomas before he came out but I was around all those Welsh guys and there were rumours, but there was obviously no ill feeling when he did. I’m sure there must be some gay men in Irish rugby, but maybe they just don’t feel the time is right for them to come out. I think if an Irishman did come out as gay he’d be welcomed with open arms — you only have to look at how well Gareth Thomas has been received. I know (Welsh referee) Nigel Owens away from the game and he’s a great guy, very funny and entertaining.”
At the Ireland Fund lunch, RTE broadcaster Evanne Ni Chuilinn conducted an interview with Tommy Bowe in which she teased out some of the funnier moments including the Welsh rugby players’ obsession with shaving their legs. Bowe spoke about Joe Schmidt filming Irish players secretly in order to highlight those who weren’t making the full effort. Bowe added that he was one of those embarrassed.
Bowe (34) and his wife, Lucy, have a baby girl, Emma, who will be two this summer. He’s a presenter with Eir Sport now and he says it’s an ideal role because it allows him to work in media, without having to offend former teammates with any pot-stirring punditry. “Instead of saying controversial things I get to ask the questions.”