Rebels now righteous brothers

They pile up, inspiring us, enthralling us, exhausting us; those sublime sporting moments of ecstasy and vindication.

Rafa dropping to his knees, the ninth in the bag. Katie, turning glory into a habit. Neymar scuffing one through the daisies to hoist a nation off his shoulders. The Cavan lads, at the Athletic Grounds, securing the outside lane in the parade.

The man who begins to find causes too petty has let his standards slip. “Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great is not to stir without great argument.” That was the day Hamlet knew what it would take to come out of Ulster.