Wexford People

Players must answer Ireland’s wake-up call

- Edited by Dave Devereux. email: devereuxda­ve@yahoo.ie

A REALITY check, a wake-up call, a right royal good kick up the backside. Whatever way you want to paint it, our rugby boys took one hell of a beating in their Six Nations Championsh­ip opener in front of a shell-shocked Aviva Stadium crowd on Saturday.

The hosts were out-thought, out-muscled and completely outplayed as England rode into town with purpose and did more damage in a couple of hours to our hopes and dreams than even Theresa May has managed to do to the image of British politics in recent months.

It didn’t help that in many quarters we had been built up as some sort of irresistib­le force, riding on the crest of a wave after beating the All Blacks in what was, in the cold light of day, a friendly, with nothing tangible at stake but chest-beating national pride.

Of course, it’s great to overcome the best in November internatio­nals, but the reality is that teams will always be truly judged on the bread and butter of proper competitiv­e outings.

Thankfully in 2018 we did well on that front as well, winning an all too rare Grand Slam, but with all the euphoria of the success it’s easy to forget that the green giants didn’t always have it their own way during the tournament.

A more contrary bounce of a ball in the Stade de France last year could have easily left the dreams in tatters with the competitio­n still in its infancy, just like this time around.

A bit of luck, steely determinat­ion, and the ice-cool brilliance of Jonathan Sexton meant Ireland left Paris with the spoils, but it easily could have been oh so different.

Sometimes there’s a mere toss of a coin between the jubilation of victory and the bitter pain of defeat. Tails you win, heads you lose.

As it turns out, the last-gasp triumph in Paris was the catalyst for a phenomenal year and over-enthusiast­ic supporters could be forgiven for believing the hype that the team are world beaters that would continue to steamroll all and sundry.

However, anyone who believed that Ireland were genuine front-runners to lift the Webb Ellis Cup after beating New Zealand was living somewhere in the vicinity of cloud cuckoo land.

England well and truly dispelled those fantastica­l dreams as their fully-charged chariot tore into the Irish rearguard with the ferocity of a team determined to right a litany of wrongs.

When Jonny May was fist-pumping after crossing the whitewash within 90 seconds, any notions of grandeur among the Irish faithful was rammed back down their throats with interest.

As matters got worse later in the game and it became clear that Ireland were on to a hiding to nothing, in complete contrast to the rousing atmosphere that reverberat­ed around the stadium for the momentous win over New Zealand in November, the tame attempts at The Fields of Athenry were as meek and non-intrusive as the background music in a dimly-lit Dublin 4 restaurant.

An over-confidence in our rugby team is nothing new, as the so-called golden generation of O’Driscoll, O’Gara et al were often built up before the inevitable World Cup fall, but the hype around the current crop has reached alarming levels.

There’s no doubting that we have a strong squad that is capable of doing great things, but there’s an arrogance that has crept in among certain supporters that’s not particular­ly palatable.

Some were cocksure that the defending Six Nations champions were going to hammer England on Saturday, in what was simply a stepping stone to Grand Slam and World Cup wins.

When you consider Ireland have only won three Grand Slams and never got past the last eight of the World Cup in all our years of playing the game, you can see how some of the chest puffed out hubris is premature and misplaced.

Confidence is one thing, but you can’t take anything for granted in sport and it’s also prudent to never allow yourself to get above your station.

The loss to England, disappoint­ing and all as it is, is not the end of the world. Joe Schmidt and co. can now take stock and make the adjustment­s needed during the rest of the Six Nations Championsh­ip as they build towards the World Cup in Japan, where they can hopefully get past the quarter-finals for the first time ever.

Only then we will know if they’ve stood shoulder to shoulder and answered Ireland’s wake-up call.

 ??  ?? A dejected Jonathan Sexton after Ireland’s Six Nations loss against England.
A dejected Jonathan Sexton after Ireland’s Six Nations loss against England.

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