Ireland strong in the World Cup warm-up

My very first column for this publication was in October, 2018 – how time flies.

Rugby union’s autumn internationals were just around the corner and that first piece began by lamenting how culture wars between fans of rival sports were becoming more common, especially on social media.

It was topical for the subject matter at hand, because non-rugby fans like to needle those who like the sport about how there never seems to be such a thing as ‘friendly matches’.

Instead, when the southern hemisphere countries head north each November, or the European sides venture down in the summer, these are classed as Test matches.

And there’s nothing wrong with that – a game is as important as the protagonists make it. Nobody ever seems to get on cricket’s back for having Test matches.

One time when the Test title is dropped, though, is when a Rugby World Cup is just around the corner, as is the case currently.

A fortnight ago, Ireland easily saw off Italy at Aviva Stadium and this Saturday evening sees England come to Lansdowne Road, but it won’t be a proper ‘Ireland v England’ match, if that makes sense.

These matches – Ireland host Samoa next weekend – serve as a chance for coaches to separate the probables from the possibles. Of course, with all due respect to Romania and Tonga, the opening two World Cup games will serve a similar purpose.

England aren’t firing fully. After losing to Wales in Cardiff two weeks ago, they scraped past them at Twickenham last weekend but saw captain Owen Farrell yellow-carded, with the decision then upgraded to a red.

World cup opener

It means that he could be absent for what has the potential to be a very tricky World Cup opener against Argentina.

Ireland won’t be too worried about that, but with Jonathan Sexton serving his own suspension, this game will be another opportunity for the pretenders – both to be Sexton’s back-up in France and then the long-term number 10 after his retirement – to further stake their claim.

Jack Crowley did very well against Italy, but there are others in the mix, and it’s the case for other positions too, which is exactly what Andy Farrell and his coaching staff will want.

Just like their men, the Dublin ladies’ footballers are back on top of the tree after beating Kerry in the All-Ireland final last weekend.

From a neutral’s perspective, it was slightly disappointing as a Kerry side that had beaten Dublin in the round-robin stage of the All-Ireland never got going and Mick Bohan’s side led from trap to line.

The reaction of Kerry manager Declan Quill afterwards was tough to watch, but the honesty he conveyed was compelling.

“It’s very hard to put your finger on it, like,” he said, “the group were so calm, they were so ready.

“The difference between this year and last year, like, I thought they were ready to explode into the game and go on and win it for the first time in 30 years. But it doesn’t happen every day and today wasn’t going to be our day.”

To lose a final, as they did against Meath in 2022, and prepare all year in order to bounce back from that, only to fall short on the biggest stage, is difficult to take. They know that the chance may not materialise again, but they have to do all they can to ensure that it does.

All eyes on the clubs

With the inter-county GAA season having come to an end, club action is to the fore across the country.

In Cork, attendances have been encouraging, with the Champions League-style round-robin format keeping things interesting for clubs across the grades in the two codes. The last two years have seen Ballygiblin win the county Junior A hurling championship and then the premier Junior title, earning promotion to intermediate A.

Having won their opening two matches there, they are on a run of 13 straight victories in Cork championship games – while they have also picked up two Munster junior championships and an All-Ireland last January.

A team on a sequence that is a bit more unwanted are Watergrasshill in the premier Intermediate grade. Last year, they drew all three of their group games but failed to qualify for the knockout stages, meaning they were eliminated with an unbeaten record.

Incredibly, their opening two matches for 2023, against Kilworth and Ballinhassig, have also finished in ties.

It leaves things finely poised ahead of their last match against Castlemartyr, who, like the Hill, have two points. It is effectively a knockout tie as the winners will finish in the top two with Ballinhassig, but another draw would again see Watergrasshill knocked out despite avoiding defeat as Castlemartyr have a better scoring difference. It’s a cut-throat world out there.

You might recall that, a few weeks ago, we mentioned how the children’s fancy dress at Bailiú na Banndan in Bandon, Co Cork proved fruitful for a group of kids who went as the Irish women’s soccer team. Three weeks on, the fancy dress for the recently relaunched Kilbrittain Festival allowed the opportunity to evolve the act. With Ireland’s three games having been and gone (resulting in elimination), the difference of opinion between manager Vera Pauw and captain Katie McCabe allowed for a call-back to Saipan and 2002.

It meant that Johnny and Aaron – dressed as supporters for the Bandon fancy dress – could now take centre-stage as Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane respectively, alongside their cousins Amelia, Fiadh and Maggie, securing first place in the children’s section.