Legends recall treasured Lansdowne memories

TOMORROW will be an emotional day at Lansdowne Road, the day when fans and players, former and present, say goodbye to international rugby at the rickety old stadium.

Two rugby legends, Ollie Campbell and Ciaran Fitzgerald — both involved with one of the golden ages of Irish rugby — have special memories of the Dublin venue place and its unique place in Irish sporting history.

Campbell ‘s first visit as a spectator was on December 7, 1963 – for the appearance of the All Blacks.

Even though Ireland lost 5-6, Campbell claims that two men on that Irish team, Tommy Kiernan and Noel Murphy, ultimately had a big influence on his career; yet, that wasn’t really his connection to the world’s oldest international rugby ground.

As a child, he had heard much about the family tree and how his grandmother was then the only woman to present the Leinster Schools Senior Cup to two of her sons, Seamus (1938) and Michael Henry (1945), who both captained Belvedere to success.

But, if Campbell’s enthusiasm for the game was whipped up in 1963, it was embellished eight years later when Belvedere won the Leinster Schools Cup with a last minute try over Presentation Bray. Campbell played that day and later picked the Lansdowne road mud from his boots and put it into storage for several years.

The next year Campbell was again to the fore and helped his side to a successive final victory; this time a bit more comfortable with a 20-10 win over Terenure. It was almost 100 years to the day of the first game at Lansdowne Road, and it was Campbell’s first try at the venue. It’s something he hasn’t forgotten.

Fast forward to 1976 when Campbell won his first cap.

“It was the 16th of January; we got beaten and it was the only time in my career that I was dropped from any team, at any level. Still, the highlight for me that day was to play inside Mike Gibson, who captained the side, and Gibson was a hero of mine.”

Moving on, Campbell still had memories. Of course, the biggest one came on February 20, 1982 when Ireland won the Triple Crown for only the fifth time, and the first occasion in 33 years. “It was a defining day in my career, something so special, so magical, the memories of the fans singing Molly Malone, the whole of the numbers in the east stand willing us to victory. Yes, that was something amazing,” he said.

But Campbell being Campbell, with an amazing recall of games from different times, wasn’t actually totally focused on his own career.

He remembers, for instance, the endless ovation that England received when they broke the Celtic mould by deciding to travel to Dublin at the height of the troubles.

Campbell says: “I was there in the crowd, it was a really emotional moment, hairs on the neck and goose bumps situation.

“In 1974 I recall Ireland scoring a late try to draw with the All Blacks and Barry McGann was inches wide of the target to win the game; I remember 1985 and Mick Kiernan’s winning drop goal – the Munster drop goal – to secure another Triple Crown victory.

“Then, in 1989 we had Willie Anderson taking on New Zealand as they did the Haka – some of his colleagues were less than enthusiastic about taking up the challenge, but it was something to look back on.

“Who can ever forget the 1991 World Cup quarter final against Australia, that last minute defeat? Who can forget the atmosphere at the same ground when the Wallabies went on to beat New Zealand with David Campese producing a world class performance.

“We can go on to look at and admire what Mick Galwey did to England in 1993, we didn‘t just win that game, we won it by 17-3 and Mick won his place on the Lions tour as a result.”

He also remembers Ulster’s 1999 success in the Heineken Cup where, he says, Dublin was faced with a situation of coping with thousands of Ulster people who had never been south of the border, but it was a “brilliant occasion” and united people from both sides of the divide.

Campbell went on to note, as a Leinster man, his disappointment at Munster winning the 2006 Heineken Cup semi final at the famed venue but he did acknowledge: “It was a deserved victory.”

Former Irish and Lions captain Ciaran Fitzgerald played with — and beyond — Campbell. His spin on his favourite moments is slightly different.

Fitzgerald captained Ireland to their first Triple crown win in 33 years – Campbell polished off the Scots at Lansdowne Road to secure the title. Yet, Fitzgerald’s memory of 1985 is slightly fonder.

“We won the Triple crown in 1985 against all the odds; it was a new, exciting team, with probably only Phil Orr, myself and Donal Lenihan being the main survivors from 1982.

“The day was wet, the pitch was heavy – all of that pointed to an England win, but we were a team that really enjoyed each other’s company. We had a fantastic rapport, and we managed to come back to level the game and then snatch a victory right at the end.”

Another special day was at against France in 1983. Ireland had clinched a Triple Crown victory over Scotland at Lansdowne Road and went a month later to Paris only to get seriously disfigured, emotionally at least.

Next winter, the sparks flew. It was, according to Fitzgerald, “very physical.” Behind closed doors, Fitzgerald would admit that it was downright dirty. “We had a pretty eventful opening 15 minutes; things settled down a bit after that, but I’m happy to say that we won the match.”

But if Campbell and Fitzgerald will look back on numerous occasions, both will agree it’s an intimate place with or without crowds.

Fitzgerald wonders whether the atmosphere will ever be created in a new environment. “From my point of view, I don’t know. I just remember, before the ball boy days, that I would have to go looking for the ball, you got straight into the crowd, listened to the comments, knew what was going on in the terraces, and it was like as if a wall of supporters were wrapped around you.

“It was a volatile atmosphere geared to make it very difficult for the opposition. Hopefully that will continue in the new Lansdowne Road.” Amen.