Ready for a new chapter of sporting dreams

IT SEEMED entirely appropriate at a time of unprecedented activity in the construction sector in this country that Lansdowne Road should finally play host to the demolition experts.

In truth they didn’t need to work very hard — experts predicted the fabled structure would collapse of its own accord within a period of twenty years. With the rest of the Dublin skyline pock-marked with giant cranes, a few more in the vicinity of Ballsbridge wouldn’t attract too much attention.

It may not have been pretty, but it was home. That is why when I left the stadium for the final time after the last ever rugby game to be played at the old Lansdowne between Leinster and Ulster in December 2006, I was forced to take stock of a patch of ground that held so many wonderful memories.