Thoughts from the Island

In sport supporting the underdog is far more enjoyable

If like me you've followed the travails and heartbreak of the Irish rugby team for a long time, you are probably faced with a conundrum.

We now have a team that is no longer a laughing stock, in fact its probably one of the best Irish teams ever. But is it as much fun supporting them? Probably not.

This may sound strange, after all, the current crop of over-achievers have a winning ratio never seen before by a team in green - and that includes the boys from 1948 (the last time an Irish team won a grand slam). But with success comes expectation, and with expectation comes a greater potential for disapointment.

Let me explain.

In the late 80's and throughout the 1990's Ireland's rugby team were an absolute shambles. We had a few world class players such as Mullins, Wood, Geoghan but as hard as they tried the Irish team weren't up to scratch. We were amatuers in a sea of professionalism - official or unnofficial.
However, during these hard times, we got huge enjoyment out of the first twenty minutes of every match when we would "put it up" to the opposition. This translated into kicking seven shades of shite out of them. Surprisingly our opponents never liked it much and even less surprisingly we normally conceeded 40+ points in the last twenty minutes when all our players were tired.

On the few days when we actually won matches there were national celebrations and when you managed the very odd win against England, well, everyone was lost in rapture.

Fast forward to today. We beat England for the second year in a row and there's no jubilation. In fact many people were disapointed in the manner of victory. Now if you had told people in 1995 that that's how we'd react to a win against England in 2005, the second win in a row, they would have laughed at you - but that's the pressure of expectation.

You see I think as an island we're fantastic losers because we've loads of practice. But this winning thing, this expectation of success, the "Keane-Wood way" if you like, well, it doesn't sit as easily as the utopia of underachievement.

Compare that feeling with the predicament the English face.

After ten years of beating the rugby world, the wheels on the glorious chariot are a little buckled. They'll undoubtedly come back again, but losing that number of world class players - Johnson, Wilkinson, Dallalgio, Hill, Back etc. - has taken a toll and building a new team will take time.

But just as we're having problems adjusting to higher expectations, our imaginary foe is having similar problems adjusting to lower expectations.

Now before anyone thinks I'm bashing the English for the sake of it, let me state up front that Irish rugby should remember that we will always owe the English rugby team a debt of gratitude.

In 1972 at the height of a dark period on this island, when our celtic "friends" refused to travel to Dublin to fulfill their five nations fixtures, because of some letters they received from muppets over here, the English team travelled to Dublin and played their match. They weren't a great side and were easily beaten 18-9, which prompted the famous quote from their hooker and captain John Pullin; "We might not be very good but at least we turn up." But they did turn up.

It's funny that when your team is down, the decisions always go against you. This was how it was for Ireland's rugby team for years. But in many ways you make your own luck. The English reaction to their loss in Dublin was appalling. Most Irish rugby supporters would agree that if England had won we wouldn't have had much complaint, but the moaning and bitching from their coach, their journalists and their administrators has left a bad taste in the mouth.

I never really understood why the Australians (I supported England in the Rugby World Cup final by the way) called them the "moaning poms" but I do now. You see I've never supported a team that regularly beat the old enemy but I do now. And just as Irish rugby supporters are struggling to come to terms with success, our English friends are having similar problems passing us in the opposite direction.

My advice? Get over it. You lost, move on. Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy have all had to put up with drubbings, bad decisions and heartbreak. Welcome to the club. We've learned to deal with it, now it's your turn.

The only things that tastes worse than a bad winner is a bad loser.

Postscript 1
PlanetRugby posted a very interesting analysis of these decisions that made Mr. Robinson so angry. In the cold light of day their cause looks a lot less compelling. Their continued moaning will not help their cause.

Postscript 2
If you're living in or around the Dublin area and have even a passing interest in sport, I highly recommend tuning into Newstalk 106's sports programme: "Off the ball" with Ger Gilroy, every weekday from 7pm to 10pm. It's funny, interesting and most of all entertaining. It also has the best audience of witty texters in the world.

posted by Tom Murphy @ 8:07 AM