Hockey World Cup final: An inspiring team that did us all proud

Ireland’s sports shops may not enjoy the great run on hockey sticks that might have materialised had Ireland met just a good team in yesterday afternoon’s World Cup final in London.

However, the steely Irish women met, by a distance, the best team in the world. Holland has won eight of the 14 World Cups held to date and, yesterday, they had the luxury of fielding the tournament’s five top-scorers. Not even the all-conquering All Blacks can match that record. Indeed, they don’t come even close.