Why rugby fans’ hunt for lost tickets was worth a try
THREE rugby fans had an extra reason to remember Ireland’s momentous 24- 9 victory over France at the weekend – after realising they had lost their tickets just before kick-off.
Ian Browne, his wife Sinéad O’Brien and his cousin Colin Browne had misplaced the precious tickets near Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Sunday.
But they were found by Limerick natives John Cullinan and Rachel Kelly – who pulled out all the stops to reunite the tickets with their owners in time for kick-off.
Mr Cullinan told the Mail how he and Ms Kelly were enjoying a few prematch pints when he looked down and spotted the three tickets on the floor. He looked for a name or address on the tickets and spotted, in the small print along the bottom, the name Ian Browne.
The couple spoke to security staff and handed the tickets to one of the stewards. But the pair – realising how anxious Mr Browne and his friends would be – decided to try to find them to let them know their tickets had been found.
Ms Kelly then came up with the bright idea to write a message on bright yellow placards that were being handed out outside the stadium.
The couple wrote ‘Ian Browne, Lost Something?’ on the signs and walked around the fan zone in the hope Mr Browne and his group would see the sign. Speaking yesterday, Mr Cullinan said he and Ms Kelly had decided on a wording that would be cryptic to most onlookers – but would immediately catch the eye of the owner of the tickets.
The couple wandered around the fan zone outside the stadium for about 20 minutes with just an hour or so to go before the match.
They then returned to the spot where they found the tickets – and met Mr Browne with his wife and cousin. The three then took possession of their tickets once more.
Mr Cullinan and Ms Kelly were treated to pints from Mr Browne, who is from Ireland but lives in London.
‘They were absolutely delighted,’ said Mr Cullinan, saying that Mr Browne and his friends took the sign as a souvenir. ‘They were so gracious, and they bought us a few pints, and we all had a laugh. Fair play to them.’
As the story of their good deed has gone viral, Mr Cullinan said people were surprised they made the effort to find Mr Browne and return his lost ticket to him.
Mr Cullinan said: ‘What they couldn’t believe is that, after we handed them in, and nearly an hour before the game – it was very close to when the game was supposed to start – that we went off and made the effort to create the sign and walk around the fan zone looking and searching to see if we could find the owner, to try and get the tickets back to them.’
Reports said delivery firm DHL had offered tickets to Mr Cullinan for Ireland’s crucial Rugby World Cup quarter-final match against Argentina on Sunday, although he has not heard anything definite.
‘I’ll probably just be watching the game in Limerick,’ said Mr Cullinan.
‘They bought us a few pints’