Players’ neck hairs stand to attention

Michael Moynihan was wowed by last night’s fly-on-the-wall documentary on the Irish rugby squad.

FOR the anoraks among us who love a peek behind the curtain into elite teams’ dressing-rooms, last night’s ‘Reaching for Glory: Inside Irish Rugby 07’ was another little gem.

Coming as it did from Dave Berry and Nathan Nugent, makers of Final Words 04 and 05, and Brian Kerr’s World Cup Diary, the grammar of the documentary was unmistakable: interviewees in a darkened room reacting to film, action sequences sound-tracked well and of course, the all-important access-all-areas footage.

Structurally the programme-makers had one tricky challenge: the season began with a heartbreaking defeat to France and the agony of the last-minute try by the same side against Scotland, which of course won Les Bleus the championship.

Beginning the documentary with the players in their Rome hotel, anxiously awaiting the television match official’s decision on that late late try in Paris, solved that riddle.

It also gave the first real glimpse of Eddie O’Sullivan, laying down the law in Rome in the dressing-room after the game, telling his player not to “die wondering”. O’Sullivan’s dominant personality certainly came through in the documentary – no surprise there – though the early pre-game footage impressed in other ways as well.

It’s interesting that often in interviews, professional rugby players say that before games their dressing-rooms are quieter than people would imagine. Hearing Brian O’Driscoll gee his players up before the Wales game in Cardiff didn’t quite fit with that image of zen masters silently summoning a higher power before going out on the field of play, mind you.

The Croke Park factor was certainly given due recognition, though one of the more interesting sections of the documentary is the footage of O’Driscoll trying his dodgy hamstring the day before the French game, right down to the final wince as he stretches his leg. It finally answered an age-old question: just what happens in a fitness test?

The upside to O’Driscoll’s withdrawal, for our purposes, was Paul O’Connell giving the captain’s speech for the French game, in which the words “manic aggression” are both spoken and enacted. It was hard to tell given the angle of the camera but presumably when O’Connell asked his team-mates to put the fear of God into the opposition there was some vigorous nodding in reply.

One of the few real highlights of that game — Ronan O’Gara’s try — is beautifully cut with swelling music which hit a crescendo as the Corkman touched down at the Canal End. Just too bad that Vincent Clerc’s late try is the take-home memory, as witnessed by the small boy in an Ireland jersey, tearful against a railing in the stadium.

Redemption wasn’t far away. The England game, the anthems, the controversy is next up and there’s a different feel to the dressing-room, and we’re not just talking about the barely audible sounds of someone vomiting in the background. Certainly the rising volume of Eddie O’Sullivan’s pre-game speech suggests that everything was on the line, and after an excellent first half, O’Connell again hit the right note in the dressing-room, when he suggested the team should be “going bananas” for the next 40 minutes.

Incidentally, it shouldn’t be surprising to see just how banged-up professional sportsmen are after a game, but there’s a fair disconnection between the traditional description of a few niggles and the visual evidence on show in the documentary, whether it was Shane Horgan’s swollen cheekbone, Ronan O’Gara’s shredded eyebrow, or the sundry vivid rake-marks to be seen on various torsos. Gordon D’Arcy’s sheer fatigue after the Wales game, an ice pack held to the back of his neck, spoke volumes.

Not all the injuries were that visible. It was fascinating to see the footage of O’Sullivan stating bluntly after the Scotland game that he felt Ronan O’Gara had been choked. Understandably the player himself was focusing on his narrow escape, but his coach wasn’t backing down on the issue, saying in the documentary it was important for him to raise it.

The insight into training methods – no doubt taped by coaches all over the country — was tantalising. The footage of Denis Leamy and Donncha O’Callaghan pounding a punch bag was entertaining, but after the Munster DVD we’re getting tired of the sight of Paul O’Connell on a stationary bicycle. At this rate Sean Kelly must be looking over his shoulder.

Eddie O’Sullivan, fittingly, had the last word, saying the “sick feeling” the players had in their stomachs after losing the Six Nations would go in the pot until the autumn, and the World Cup. As a taster to keep you ticking over until then, last night’s show certainly tasted a lot sweeter.