Irish Examiner view: Tragic deaths

Irish rugby in mourning

The U20 Ireland rugby team huddle after the game. Picture: Inpho/SteveHaagSports/Darren Stewart

It is a well-worn cliché to say a particular event has the power to put everything else in perspective, but in the case of the Ireland U20 rugby team it has certainly been true this week.

The team observed a minute’s silence before their final pool match in South Africa yesterday following the death of former Munster rugby elite performance officer Greig Oliver, father of their teammate Jack, in a freak mid-air paraglider collision over Cape Town this week. The players were already wearing black armbands in memory of St Michael’s College students Andrew O’Donnell and Max Wall, who died in separate incidents while on holiday in Ios last weekend — several members of the squad attended the school themselves and knew the two boys.