Ireland's Six Nations joy all the more precious for their struggles

Six Nations Talking Points: Adieu to old warriors. Are England back in business? What price relegation?

AADIEU? Ireland’s Peter O’Mahony. Picture: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Phew! What a relief

Thank goodness the Six Nations is a tournament and not a knock-out event. No World Cup desolation. No hollow-eyed stares. No shaking off the head in disbelief. Irish fans may have felt bereft and hard done-by five months ago in France, feeling that due recompense had been snatched away from them. There was no such emptiness here, even if a historic back-to-back Grand Slam had eluded them and even though they had to scrap and wrestle and bide their time to get across the line against teeth-clenched Scotland.

The gritty tussle at the Aviva Stadium may actually help the doubters appreciate just what an achievement successive championship titles actually is. It is no mere consolation prize. It is a real feather in the cap for Irish rugby, a milestone that puts Andy Farrell’s team among the greatest Six Nations sides in history. 2003 England are still the market-leaders for me but 2023-24 Ireland are worthy contenders too for pole position. It was not a glorious procession to the podium and finishing first is all the more precious and meaningful because of that. It was no fluke, no gimme. Ireland are all the better for the hardship en route to triumph. No pain, no gain. Ireland have a ThreePeat to aim for next season although Andy Farrell will be there only with his Lions’ notebook. On the evidence of this championship, Ireland are very much still a force even if the challengers are closing in.

Adieu to old warriors

There was no more plangent moment than when the tears welled up in Peter O’Mahony’s eyes as the anthems played at the Aviva, no more scene-summing sight than that of George North being helped from the field towards the end of Wales’s pitiful loss to Italy. The medics might have been employed to help off several of his teammates so abject was Wales’s play, especially in the first half. But this is a time to celebrate great stars of the game and these two are among the finest of the test arena over the last decade, England’s injury-blighted Manu Tuilagi, too.

We are unlikely to see the likes of England scrum-half, Danny Care, again. It is O’Mahony, though, that epitomises the best of the sport – unselfish, unstinting, with plenty of edge but without ego. The 34 year old Munster man is not a man for the bright lights, preferring life in the shadows on and off the field but there was no man deserving off the celebratory hosannas as the Six Nations trophy was awarded then Ireland’s captain. And as the veterans shuffle off stage left what about a welcome for the likes of newbies Joe McCarthy, Nolann Le Garrec, Tommaso Menoncello and Manny Feyi-Waboso. In the sporting game, the baton is quickly passed.

Best Six Nations ever?

As the songs swirled around the Groupama Stadium in Lyon on Saturday night, acknowledging the home team’s refusal to roll over and fade away as England mounted what seemed to be an irresistible second-half revival, it felt as if this really had been a tournament to savour with its twists and turns, notably over the closing two weekends.

Rugby does not have long to claim a place in the sun with such competition in the market place but there would have been no sports fans feeling short-changed over the course of the tournament. England have come again to contribute fully to gripping games over the last fortnight, France too have roused themselves from post-World Cup torpor while Italy finally have come good with the promise of more to come given the results of their under 20s. Ireland, of course, have topped the lot and deservedly so.

What too of the different venues in France, Marseille, Lille and Lyon, the latter two Six Nations newcomers? The different itinerary was forced on France because of the Paris Olympics but wouldn’t it be great if England were to take a Six Nations match to Manchester or Newcastle? It hasn’t done France any harm.

Relegation debate

There are many Italians that could provide a check-list of phrases at this time of year – how can the bottom side not face jeopardy, how can the game be grown if others are not encouraged, why should it be a free hit for the opposition against such feeble opponents? Now it is Wales’s turn to suffer the indignity. However, there will be precious few advocates for them to be off-loaded and replaced by Portugal or Georgia. Wales is too valuable an asset, too proven a force, too cherished to be ditched unceremoniously.

There has to be more effort made in nurturing the interests of a Portugal or Georgia or Spain, a guaranteed fixture in the November window for starters, with a review every three years to see if the tournament should be expanded. As for Wales, what woe and calamity. It comes to something when fans have to use politics as an escape from the miseries of sport, the nation celebrating its diversity on Saturday with Vaughan Gething becoming the first black person to be appointed Welsh first minister on the same day as its rugby team fell into a slough of despondency.

Are England back?

If so, it’s good news. Of course, there are many who like nothing better than to see the arch colonialists have a taste of life down among the serfs. The truth of the Six Nations, though, is that it needs strength across the board, for teams to be punching their weight if the sport is to have global credibility. As the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia in 2025 begins to take more tangible shape, Andy Farrell will be eager for a raft of contenders to start showing their credentials. On that score alone, the emergence of Ben Earl, George Martin, Ollie Chessum, Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman and Manny Feyi-Waboso is encouraging. As for Wales, now that’s another matter although even in the doldrums, the likes of Cameron Winnett and Tommy Reffell have done their claims no harm.