Ireland's profitable return from the Randwick way

The famed club’s relationship with this isle is borderline mythical, sometimes overly so.

SON OF RANDWICK: Alan Gaffney. Pic: David Rogers/Getty Images)

THE cheap joke often thrown at them was that Matraville High School was deliberately built in the shadow of the nation’s most notorious high security prison, Long Bay Jail. Once they finished education, they just had to make a short walk to start their new lives behind bars.

A desperate last resort of bigots, racists and sore losers alike. The school and prison had disproportionately high rates of young indigenous Australians. Pride and joy came from the local rugby club, Randwick. The outsiders with their own rules proved a recipe for success. Home to George Gregan, David Campese, the Ella brothers and a host of Wallabies. They can now claim twelve Australian captains.