Fever Pitch: The Croke Park experience

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Donal Lenihan reflects on his five most memorable action moments at Ireland's temporary home.

1. Shane Horgan's try against England in 2007

WHILE the facile 43-13 victory over England on their first ever appearance at GAA headquarters will be remembered for a myriad of reasons, the most appropriate moment - given the surroundings - must be Shane Horgan's magnificent try on 68 minutes when the best of gaelic football and rugby combined to produce the perfect score.

An exquisite cross field kick from Cork's Ronan O'Gara weighted precisely to extract the maximum from the physical attributes that made Horgan such a great midfield prospect for the Meath minors only a few years earlier.

Soaring like John McDermott, Horgan plucked the ball out of the air with an artistry that would have resonated with the countless GAA people present to witness a historic day.

2. Vincent Clerc's try at the death in the opening game

UNFORTUNATELY not all the Croke Park moments will be recalled with the same fondness.

After all the hype surrounding the opening, the first game became the ultimate horror show at the death with the winning try pinched by French winger Vincent Clerc from the last play of the game. In any circumstance, it would have been devastating but because of the significance of the occasion it was the ultimate party-pooper. It instantly killed off the Grand Slam dream that looked a real prospect. It was to prove even worse when Ireland went on to win their remaining four games of the tournament with relative ease and were only denied the championship on points difference by France when Elvis Vermeulen scored an injury time try against Scotland. A case of what might have been.

3. Jamie Heaslip's try against France in 2009

WITH the memory of that Vincent Clerc try still fresh in the memory, the French returned to Croke Park two years later to launch Declan Kidney's Six Nations debut as head coach.

Significantly after a mixed bag of performances the previous autumn there was little or no talk about the possibility of a Grand Slam in 2009. That all changed when Ireland reversed the trend of recent results against France by winning 30-21. The catalyst for that win was a magnificent solo effort from one of the new kids on the block. Put into space by a pass from Paul O'Connell on the French 22, Jamie Heaslip showed tremendous dexterity and skill for a No. 8, in backing his pace and side-stepping ability to leave a number of French defenders floundering.

Not only did it launch the first successful assault on a Grand Slam in 61 years, but it also highlighted the new found confidence in an exciting batch of new young Irish players that is still gathering momentum.

4. Brian O'Driscoll's try at the death against Australia in 2009

UNBEATEN throughout 2009 Ireland's unblemished record was set to fall to an Australian side that had struggled on their November tour.

Trailing by seven points with time running out, Ireland needed something special to save their proud record. With territory safely negotiated inside the Australian twenty two, Brian O'Driscoll called the shots. With dummy runners presenting themselves everywhere, scrum half Tomas O'Leary had a split second to deliver the perfect pass, picking out O'Driscoll in traffic, and sending his captain in under the posts. The Australian midfield of Quade Cooper and Digby Ioane looked at each other in disbelief as Ireland scraped a draw at the death.

5. That defending five metre scrum against Wales last Saturday

OF all the sides to visit Croke Park in the Six Nations tournament, Wales were they only team with the prospect of finishing their tenure unbeaten.

Given the significance of previous events, that would have sat well with Welsh coach Warren Gatland. However Ireland had other ideas and were in no mood to witness Welsh celebrations in Croke Park again.

Trailing by just ten points Wales were awarded penalty metres from the Irish goal line. Believing the Irish scrum to be vulnerable they opted to scrummage in preference to the certain three points. The initial assault looked like justifying that decision as the Irish scrum was propelled backwards resulting in the concession of a further penalty.

With the prospect of a penalty try looming the Irish front five galvanised and with precision timing delivered the perfect scrum engagement. John Hayes dislodged and drove his opposite number Paul James upwards and backwards with such ferocity that Ireland took the ball against the head and cleared their lines. Two minutes later a Sexton penalty finished the game as a contest.

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, March 20, 2010