Brothers who went to war with a smile

The date May 2, 2009, will forever be etched in the minds of Irish rugby followers. It was balmy that evening but Croke Park, the home of Gaelic games in Ireland, was absolutely heaving and buzzing with unsuppressed excitement as Leinster and Munster prepared to do battle in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup.

For the previous month, it wasn’t just sporting Ireland that couldn’t wait for the day to come round. The rivalry between the provinces extended back over a century and had always been intense. But even that increased a thousandfold when Munster clobbered Leinster by 30-6 in the 2006 Heineken Cup semi-final in front of a full house at Lansdowne Road. That scoreline was bad enough for the supporters of the losing side, but the fact that 75% of the fans in a stadium situated in the game’s heartland in the capital were bedecked in the red of Munster was a source of deep embarrassment to Leinster supporters. They vowed they would never lose on the terraces and stands again, whatever about on the field of play, and when the scene was re-enacted, albeit north of the Liffey, three years later, the Boys in Blue matched, if not outnumbered, the Red Army.

As for the happenings on the Croke Park pitch itself, it was hardly a contest as Leinster exacted massive revenge, winning against the odds by 25-6. There were innumerable fascinating little cameos that day and one of the most intriguing was that brothers would literally come face to face for a 15-minute period in the second half.

Tipperary natives John (Leinster) and Denis (Munster) Fogarty were the respective replacement hookers and as the game entered its climactic closing moments, both were introduced to the fray.

As John remembers: “Denis and I had been chatting about the game even before the quarter-finals — ‘if we win our next match and you win yours, we’re going to meet in the semi-finals and that will be some game’. And then we were on the phone thinking, bloody hell, we could be going head-to-head at Croke Park, which for everybody Irish is the place to play. We would have been brought there from an early age being from Tipp, and I remember back then walking on the pitch and thinking, this is the biggest place in the world.

“Denis and I talked and hoped that we would both get on and have a crack at each other. We discussed it in an excited way and as the day grew closer, it somehow became bigger than either of us had imagined. The atmosphere going into the game was unbelievable. I never thought it was going to be that big. People kept ringing me and were beginning to wreck my head a bit. Really, you don’t want to hear too much about it.

“As it turned out, though, it was the biggest game I have ever been involved in. It really was a big week. It was a hugely emotional week, playing against a family member — weird, surreal, there was even an element of sadness.

“But there was not a sense of regret playing against my native place. I had been let go by Munster and was annoyed when they kept a Dublin guy, James Blaney. They had turned their backs on me and that was how I would have stupidly felt back then. I was sad to leave Munster and also a little bitter, although I completely changed as a player and took my job a lot more seriously after that. And when I moved to Leinster, I became a part of the scene very quickly.

“On my way there, I was thinking that not so very many years before, I used to hate Leinster. I used to look at them as those f*****s up the road. I never thought I’d end up there of all places; the dream would have been to play for my home province from day one to day end. But I was genuinely excited at going up there after five years at Connacht and Munster not wanting me in any shape or form.

And then there was the privilege of playing with so many great players. I loved it and was excited to be there.

“They turned out to be the best three years of my career. My attitude changed from when I was a young fella. For me, rugby comes down to the jersey you wear and the fellas you’re playing with, what you go through with them and that’s why I quickly became involved with Leinster because they were a genuinely good bunch of fellas. They were working their backsides off to get rid of this tag they had around their necks and the attitude other people had towards them — the ladyboys stuff and all that and it was very harsh and very personal.

“It was taking away from their integrity as people. And, I can tell you, it was an effective tool in winning the Heineken Cup.

“As the game loomed, I didn’t think too much about being from Munster. I was playing with a great group of fellas. There was great camaraderie. The impression I once had of Leinster was the wrong one. I just wanted to be part of a team that was going to beat Munster on a big stage because I suppose I wanted to get my own little bit of revenge. This was a team that didn’t want me, okay the bitterness was gone a long time, but I still wanted to play against my own team and win. I had a point to make and it was a small point and only for myself, and I don’t think anyone else would have given a damn, but I really wanted to beat them.

“Taking on the kid brother was really weird. I wanted him to do well and was thinking to myself, ‘Come on Denis’ or whatever, and then straightaway I snapped back to ‘I’ll break your bloody neck’.

“I suppose there’s a part of the older brother that will always mind the younger brother, but there’s no need to mind Denis, I can tell you.

“I was on the pitch before him and didn’t know the Munster change was coming. It was before a scrum and the next thing he was coming on and there was a little lump in my throat for about .4 of a second at the thought of the two of us being on the pitch at the same time, because it was what we had chatted about for weeks previously.

“I was absolutely definitely chuffed that Denis was on and we were playing in front of more than 82,000 people in one of the biggest games in the country’s history. I think I gave him a smile and a wink.

“Munster and Leinster is the biggest rivalry in Irish rugby without a doubt. It’s not that they hate each other, they just hate to lose to each other. They’re the biggest games and you want to beat them so much but when your brother is playing, you want him to do well, to go well but you also want him to lose.

“As I say, it’s surreal and I really don’t know how to put the feelings, the emotions, into words.

“The Leinster/Munster thing. Well, there’s not one Leinster player who will say ‘I hate a certain Munster guy’, that he’s a bad guy, except that on the pitch on the day of a match they are all bad guys. They are all trying to beat you, but you cannot let that happen.

“Leinster weren’t supposed to win that game, but there was no gloating at the finish, no jumping around in the dressing room. I made a beeline for Denis and don’t remember exactly what I said except, ‘Are you all right?’ and he said he was okay and I probably gave him a hug. If Denis wasn’t my brother, I would still be very close to him because of the kind of fella he is. With Munster, you know you are going to get done the next time or the time after that. Other teams can gloat, but Munster and Leinster are not teams for that kind of stuff.

“I am hugely proud to have been part of that match and it meant a huge amount to the people at home. Cashel is a small enough town and it had three players in the game. Obviously it didn’t go great from their point of view, but it was a huge occasion and it was huge for both sides of our family, the O’Connor side and the Fogarty side. They were extremely proud. Very emotional.”

AS Denis remembers: “It was a huge day. John and I had been chatting about it all for weeks and there was huge excitement for our family, even though we were both subs and so there was no guarantee that either of us would be directly involved. There was obviously the possibility that we could meet at some stage of the game. The whole family and the cousins came up to enjoy it all and watch and wait for the moment when the two of us clashed.

“John got on before me and I think I got on for the last 10 minutes. I had a few scrums with him which was great even if it was a little crazy. Going out in front of a record crowd of 82,000 was driving me mad enough without going out against yer man, but meeting him was always at the back of my mind although you’re sitting on the bench and thinking about the game and the end result. I didn’t know for sure that I would be coming on. I would never say it was a lost cause, but it was nearly dead when I got the nod. Of course we weren’t going to lie down and I wasn’t going to lie down.

“Going into our first scrum, he winked at me. So I just kind of grinned back and that was that and we went bursting at it. We have now played against each other a few times. At the very start of the 2009/10 season, we both started up in Donnybrook and he won that one as well, so he’s had a few over on me.

“But we beat them at Thomond Park later that season and I scored a try and he was gutted. I didn’t give him too much stick because there are always games coming up and you don’t want to blow your trumpet too loudly. He leads 3-1 and now that he has retired, I cannot get my own back, and he reminds me of that, too.

“Sure, there is a touch of Munster in him deep down. He is from Tipp and Munster and it was the first provincial team he played with, but he really enjoyed his time up in Leinster. I think he left here with a bit of bitterness, and he’s kind of a bitter person when it comes to his rugby, even though there will always be a bit of red in him. And he got to pull on the green jersey, it was a great thing for him after an up and down career. I was delighted to see him get the cap and felt it was well deserved. My aim is to emulate him.”

* Featuring the Wallace brothers, the Easterbys, the Doyles, the Bests, the Springs, the McLaughlins and more, ‘Brothers in Sport’ is a compelling look at famous rugby brothers from all four provinces. Featuring some previously unseen family and personal photos, ‘Brothers in Sport’ opens the door on some of Ireland’s most famous rugby brothers. Published by Mercier Press. Available in bookshops nationwide at €16.99.