Irish Pride

Has Brian O Driscoll hit the nail on the head with his statement that the players should see playing for Ireland as the ultimate honour over playing for one of the Provinces. I think he has stumbled across a solution to that burning question. Since 2009 Ireland have failed to kick on from that Grand Slam win , realistically Ireland have only really tasted fleeting success since 09 , beating South Africa and Argentina in 2010 , following up that in 2011 by beating Australia at the World Cup but then being beaten by Wales in the quarter final two weeks later , it just doesn’t add up. Those examples prove how inconsistent Ireland have been since 2009. After the Grand Slam win , Ireland were fourth in the world , had 13 players in that summer’s Lions squad to tour South Africa. Where has it all gone wrong?

The Welsh example is the best one to use to explain how things could change for the better , their regions may not have won Europe’s top prize , but they have won three Grand Slams in the last five years , Why? Because they focus all their energy on the national team , it is seen as the Ultimate to play for Wales , maybe there is the problem , Irish players have had more success at Provincial level and they are not seeing the same level of success at International level. This can change Ireland have some great young players , Andrew Conway , Brendan Macken from Leinster , Tiernan O Halloran , Kieran Mc Grath from Connacht , Simon Zebo, JJ Hanrahan from Munster and Paddy Jackson , Paddy Mc Allister from Ulster so the future is bright , it is just a matter of time until Declan Kidney calls these players into Ireland’s senior fold.

So playing for Ireland will now be the focus of more players minds we hope…

By Cian Mc Gibney. – 25-09-2012.