End of hype is nigh as French fans arrive for Croker spectacle

THE hype is almost over.

Tomorrow’s much-awaited Six Nations clash between Ireland and France at Croke Park (kick-off 3pm) will finally answer some of the most burning questions in rugby circles over the past few months.

Will the playing of a foreign national anthem like La Marseillaise on the hallowed turf of Croker signal a further demise in Irish cultural life? Will the usual rugby fraternity “Dart” it straight back across the Liffey to their traditional watering holes around Lansdowne Road after the final whistle?

And will Ireland’s dreams of a first Grand Slamremain intact?

The fixture has generated enormous media interest as a result of the GAA’s historic decision in favour of a temporary lifting of Rule 42 to open Croke Park for rugby and soccer internationals while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped.

The century-old sporting home of the Gael will play host to their Gallic cousins tomorrow in a match which will see a record crowd for a rugby game in Ireland.

In a season of firsts for GAA headquarters — with the floodlights and the French to be followed by the familiar foe, England — the great imponderable remains the “Croker effect.”

With a sell-out audience of 82,300 — almost twice the capacity of Lansdowne — can this proud, most modern of stadia generate the traditional atmosphere of an All-Ireland Sunday to help it become the new fortress of Irish sport?

Irish coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, certainly thinks so, despite confirming yesterday the absence of key figures, captain Brian O’Driscoll and scrum-half Peter Stringer, through injury.

“You can’t ignore the fact there will be 80,000 people screaming for us. Not that we want to ignore it. I think that’s going to be a big plus,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s getting the balance right between embracing the occasion and doing our job.”

After a week in which Irish sporting pride suffered a near-fatal blow with the national soccer team’s dismal performance against the minnows of San Marino on Wednesday, salvation will only come with an Irish victory. A defeat to a resurgent French side who are the reigning Six Nations champions will also spoil the potential epic nature of Ireland’s meeting with England on February 24.

Thousands of French supporters began arriving in Dublin last night as part of the first wave of up to 8,000 overseas rugby fans expected in the city for a match many believe will decide the destiny of this year’s championship.

Most visitors gave a familiar French-style shrug when asked about the significance of the new venue.

“For the French, playing in Croke Park is not that important. But we realise it’s an historic occasion for the Irish,” said French rugby fan, Alain Apel.

His friend, Gilles Mardelle, said he had fond memories of his only visit to Lansdowne Road, which was “small but convivial”.

Both were confident the French would emerge victors, while Irish fans will evoke the wish of poet, Seamus Heaney, that “hope and history rhyme”.