Rugby: England deserve all the plaudits

BEFORE we go any further here, congratulations are in order. If Ireland had won the rugby World Cup, England and the English would have been delighted for us.

For the life of me, I can't understand why that feeling isn't generally reciprocated.

I mean, does anyone in rugby remember that year in the early '70s when the Welsh and the Scots, our Celtic cousins, our kindred spirits, disgracefully refused to come to Dublin in a year when we had every chance of winning that rarest of gems in our sporting history, the rugby Grand Slam?

Do ye not recall who actually made a point of coming, when they themselves had nothing to gain? It was England, lads, England.

On Saturday morning last, in the company of half-a-dozen other Irishmen, cheering on the men in white against the clearly outclassed Australians, I found myself in a very definite minority of one.

Thankfully for the northern hemisphere, for rugby generally, even for Ireland (because we get to test ourselves against them on an annual basis), but most of all for themselves, England won.

Heartiest congratulations to them all, to Clive Woodward particularly.

On the few occasions in which I've had cause to interview the England manager, I've found him to be extremely courteous, friendly, ultra-professional, without a hint of anti-Irish sentiment or patronisation.

In fact it was the exact opposite; with Woodward, with any of the English players to whom I've spoken, I got the distinct impression that they liked Ireland and the Irish, had huge respect for our rugby and the way we were progressing.

Time for us to move on lads because the small-minded manner in which we insist on continuing with this blanket anti-English sentiment isn't very becoming, not for a maturing nation that prides itself on its intelligence, generosity and good humour.

Speaking of intelligence, I know because I've dealt with so many of them at local, county and national level that the GAA is filled wall-to-wall with intelligent people at administrative level. And yet, time after time, year after year, we get decisions that absolutely defy logic.

Take this weekend's GAA action. If, like me, you are a hurling junkie, there isn't much left on this year's calendar to give the kind of fix needed to tide you over the closed season.

Just two big games really, the Munster and Leinster club finals. Newtownshandrum of Cork against Patrickswell of Limerick in the former, reigning All-Ireland champions Birr of Offaly against Kilkenny champions O'Loughlin Gaels in the latter.

You tell me, what hurling fan wouldn't like to see those two games? In a year where much of the main course disappointed, a mouth-watering couple of late dishes to finish things off. What happens?

Both games are on at the same time, on the same day, different venues. Brilliant, a work of genius that, by the fixtures gurus.

TAKE out your map of Ireland, put one point of your compass in Thurles, rotate it around, check the distances to the four competing teams this Sunday. Nearest point? Kilkenny. Next? Birr. The two Leinster teams. Furthest away? Newtownshandrum, with Patrickswell only slightly closer.

Thurles is the best hurling location in the country, best sod, best local atmosphere, perfect infrastructure. As a venue, it is neutral to all, advantage to none.

I know it falls outside Leinster, but surely some arrangement could have been made to allow these two games to go on as a double-header, allow all of us hurling fans still floating around at this time of year the very rare opportunity to see the best of Munster and Leinster on the same day?

Forget about the lost revenue for the moment, the lost opportunity on TV also. What about the disappointment for all those hurling fans forced now to make a choice?

Like so many supporters, I'll be at one, but it will mean missing the other. Stupid, absolutely stupid. Too late to do anything about it now, but surely, for future reference, something to be kept in mind.