Monday, March 15, 2010
FOR anyone with even remote links to the GAA, a lifetime achievement could constitute a single appearance on the hallowed ground of Croke Park.
Next week, Tomás O’Leary is due to make what in all probability will be his last appearance at the venue – in rugby anyway – and he is hell bent on making it a day to remember.
With the Triple Crown and possibly another RBS Six Nations title on the line, losing to Scotland isn’t an option and he will begin preparing himself mentally and physically for that challenge from today.
But for the last 24 hours O’Leary was able to bask in the glory of being awarded the man-of-the-match award after Ireland’s comprehensive victory over Wales, and for a young man with such huge links to our national games, it really was a special achievement.
O’Leary scored one try, created another and was involved in the build-up to the third as Ireland romped to an easy 15-point win.
More than the award, O’Leary was content to have played once more at Croke Park and to have experienced what he described as magnificent support from the bulk of the 81,000 fans.
"It was," he said, "a memorable day and it has been a privilege for me to play there."
Last year, Ireland clinched the Grand Slam, the Six Nations and Triple Crown titles in Cardiff. It would be nice, said O’Leary, to land some silverware on home soil, as he explained: "For me, to win a Triple Crown at Croke Park would be a huge thing, for all of us really; it’s our last game there and we’re conscious of the history, of our culture and the part played by Croke Park in that. It would be a huge honour were we to manage to beat Scotland and win another trophy on this last day at the ground."
O’Leary may have won the individual honours on Saturday, but he played down his contribution and paid tribute to rookie Keith Earls who scored the other two Irish tries.
"I really thought Keith was outstanding, he has gone from strength to strength since he was picked for the Lions. I look a bit in awe of how he has developed, he has pace, skill, power and the ability to spot the gap as well as the courage to go for it and take his chances… brilliant, absolutely brilliant," said O’Leary.
Although Welsh supporters were unhappy at what they deemed to be a poor performance from their team, O’Leary said it was a tougher game than it might have looked: "We had a great start and grabbed a couple of tries to give us a nice cushion going in at half-time, but the second half was anything but easy; it was very physical and we had to defend for long periods.
"They’re not a bad side, they’re a decent side, and we had to work hard to close them down and not allow them score a try. For long spells they were only one score away for getting back into the match, so it was important we got that third try.
"The Welsh had a lot of fire power out wide; they’re capable of testing any side through their backs and thankfully we stood up to that. It was a matter of trusting our defensive system and it paid off.
"I think we defended to a pretty high standard as we have all season, the French match maybe apart when we had a bad day at the office. If we maintain the high standards produced generally this season, I figure we’re going to have a chance of winning every match we play," he said.
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