‘Golden generation’ could slip out the Trap door

CALL it karma, call it coincidence, call it the circularity of history, but if anyone in the FAI was tuned in last weekend for Wales versus Ireland in the Rugby World Cup, their hearts must have skipped a beat when Shane Williams touched down for that crucial early try. And we don’t mean skipped in a bad way.

That’s because a quick look at the recent history of our international sides shows they just can’t succeed at the same time.

Since the Rugby World Cup introduced a new four-year cycle into team management, just as the (original) World Cup did for the 11-a-side game, there’s only room for one side to capture the public’s affection. It’s as if the deal with the devil didn’t have its fine print examined: one team in Ireland, or one team at a time, anyway.