Exclusive extract from Donal Lenihan's autobiography: From ‘The Sash’ to ‘The Fields of Athenry’

Different times, different rules. In this exclusive extract from My Life in Rugby, Donal Lenihan explains the complexity of playing rugby for Ireland in the 1980’s...

“LADS, there’s been a bomb blast outside Newry. David Irwin, Nigel Carr and Philip Rainey were caught up in it.’ It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning in April 1987 and we were gathered for a pre-World Cup training session at the Wanderers ground on Merrion Road in Dublin. Irwin, Carr and Rainey hadn’t shown up. We’d had no idea where they were, and continued with our training.

Rugby’s first ever World Cup was only a few weeks away and we were, belatedly, focused on getting ourselves ready. But thoughts of rugby disappeared when we were told the horrific news.