Richard Hogan: Our world-class rugby team gives us all a sense of pride and confidence

We may be a small country, but we are a great one, too. The country of Yeats, Collins, Rory Gallagher, Markievicz, Joyce, Roy Keane’s right foot, Roy Keane’s left foot, Sexton, U2. 

Okay, so I’m channelling Hugh Grant vibes here but this small island has produced remarkable people who have dented the universe and left an indelible mark on world history. 

All last week, our small nation was celebrated the world over. And then over the weekend, we took on England for the Grand Slam. We had three Championships, before Saturday, to our name over the last 140 years, proving it isn’t easily won. 

Growing up in the eighties and watching sport, Ireland always gave gutsy performances only to be beaten right at the end. 

There was always a feeling that something might conspire against us, the ref, the weather, injuries etc. I don’t know if we ever believed we could do more than just take part in the competition. I remember, as a child, heading up to Lansdowne Road, uttering some prayer into the ether, that Simon Geoghegan and the boys would manage to overcome whatever superpower of international rugby they faced that day. 

The Gods rarely answered my prayers. Unlike Nick Cave and his bloody ill-begotten Bad Seeds, I wanted to believe in an interventionist God. A God that felt for the underdog! Wasn’t he one himself?

But things have felt different over the last number of years. We have beaten the All Blacks more than once, victories over South Africa, Australia, France have moved us to the top position on the world ranking, a place we have never been comfortable with. 

THINGS HAVE CHANGED

No longer fearful of the superpowers of international rugby, we can now accurately describe ourselves as one of those superpowers. Feared and relentless. 

I remember writing about our victory over the All Blacks in November 2018, describing it as a seminal moment in our collective consciousness. 

It was a moment where we developed our national confidence, no longer thinking, ‘we gave them a good game’, we started to think, ‘we can beat anyone’. 

In the words of Bob Dylan, ‘things have changed’. We are no longer running an outdated fatalistic logic, but really beginning to see ourselves as a potential world cup winning country. 

We have won two elusive Slams in the last five years. A feat unimaginable in my childhood, and impossible without the influence of Johnny Sexton. It’s hard to write about Sexton, he is a colossus in Irish sport, a Ronnie Delaney, a Roy Keane. 

I found myself quickly in awe of his talent, his kicking, his tackling, his reading of the game, his sheer commitment and perfectionism, inspiring generations of players. I worked in a rugby school for many years and saw the impact he had on young boys dreaming about becoming the next great player. 

His name was like Roy Keane’s when I was a kid. It was a byword for talent and ambition. Ferociously competitive, I remember him standing over O’Gara as Leinster and Munster clashed, thinking ‘who the hell is this kid’. He certainly signalled his arrival. His confidence in his ability was there for us all to see. And it seeped into all of us.

WAITING FOR THE MOMENT

I suppose the remarkable difference from the boy who walked nervously up to Lansdowne Road all those years ago and the man who watched the match at home with his daughters on Saturday is that I never expected Ireland to lose to England, not because England have underperformed in this competition, because these players believe in themselves. 

Their confidence in their abilities oozes out of them. 

And their ability is awesome. When things didn’t start as they had hoped, there was no sense of panic, they just waited for that moment, which they knew would come, to express themselves and their personalities. 

Once they did that, game over. The real sign of a great team is how they manage to close out games they are underperforming in, something Ireland did with great style and ease on Saturday. 

Kilkenny did the same thing under Cody, Barcelona with Pep, and United with Ferguson. Great teams win even when they play badly by their standards.

For years, I was struck by watching scenes of Irish football fans abroad - their jovial hijinks, infectious to observe, but also illuminating a deep lack of confidence. 

Their only value was to be a bit of craic, certainly not to be taken seriously. 

But over the last number of years, the Irish rugby team has instilled a deep belief in all of us. We can perform on the world stage, and we should expect to win. 

What a message this talented group of players is giving our children. September isn’t far away - roll on World Cup 2023.