Leinster beat Ulster at the RDS on Sunday. Leinster managed to do it in some style at the end - scoring a fourth try in the final minute. The Leinster tries came from Fergus McFadden; Rocky Elstrom; Leo Cullen and finally Simon Keogh.
The final try was on the back of five minutes camped on the Ulster line. The Ulster defence held solid as the Leinster forwards tried repeatedly to get over the line. Finally the ball was passed back deep to Simon Keogh who took the perfect diagonal line and made it over. Where we were sitting we could see his path to the line as soon as he received the pass. 4th try - bonus point!
Ulster are a much improved team and I saw them trounce Munster over Christmas. Matt Williams has done a lot with them since the start of the season. The second half was the best RDS performance by Leinster since their victory over Wasps at the start of the Heineken Cup campaign back in October.
The bonus point brings Leinster within 3 points of Munster who still too the table. Munster had a comfortable 26-13 win away to their bogey team Glasgow on Friday night. This is a great set up for the derby match in Thomond Park next week-end. Neither side can afford to field their very best team because of the Heineken Cup quarter-finals the following week-end. However with the Magners League at stake it should be a great match. Munster were never really interested in the Magners until Leinster won it last year. Its clear that it is a very important - even if secondary - objective this season. The league (and the Irish performances) have been better for than ambition.
An Irish Magners League and Heineken Cup double would be a great conclusion to a Grand Slam year!
My first memory of Curragh Rugby club is travelling to some far off place like Navan on a cold Sunday to a Towns Cup match. I was about 11 and had a developing interest in the game. I had even been to Lansdowne Road to “see” Ireland play England. I had travelled up with Barney and Joan and while they managed to buy a ticket I was hopped over the turnstile. I remember the crush in the terraces – occasionally I could see snatches of the game – but it was exciting to be there.
Navan in early spring was a different story for an eleven year old. It may have been the final and it may not have been Navan, but what I remember most is the full back playing for The Curragh. He was the star of the game kicking penalties and defending against all-comers. “Who’s he?” I asked. “Ssh” said Barney and then soto voce he said “That’s Dermot Earley, he’s going under the same Sean McDermott because of the ban”. Others will remember the outcome of that match, I don’t recall who won. I hope this revelation doesn’t embarrass General Earley or cause a tribunal of enquiry and a decision to reverse the result for the fielding an illegal player.
During the early seventies Curragh was around for us from time to time, but I don’t remember Barney being very involved. But then in 1977 I arrived home from college one week-end to be told that he had been elected President of the rugby club. Maybe others can remember why, but it was a strange appointment to me. I remember Gerry McMahon was Chairman and I think Donagh O’Keeffe was Captain. I think Donagh and Barney worked together in the A&Q school – maybe that’s the key to the mystery. But like all things Barney threw himself into the job wholeheartedly. I remember him explaining that the President was really an honorary position and that past presidents didn’t even attend committee meetings. But he was at committee meetings every week. There was a lot of activity and army politics associated with the development of the club house and facilities on the Green Road.
Then there was the trip to Ross on Wye. I only saw the photos and heard (some of) the stories. My strongest memory is that Barney arrived home with a hat. It was like something that Micheál MacLíammóir would wear. He called it the president’s hat. There is a photograph somewhere I hope I can find it. I know he made a big impression in Ross-on-Wye because in March 1981 just 5 months before he died I joined him on his one and only pilgrimage to Cheltenham (horse racing was his other sporting love). Joan and I travelled over with him and we stayed in Ross-on-Wye with friends from that rugby trip.
The other memories are following the team – especially through that Towns Cup campaign with Bob Cole in 1978. Joan knitted black and yellow scarves; monkey hats and made a great big Curragh banner as well as lots of flags. I believed for many years that we lost that match because of the case of champagne that Barney brought in the boot of his car for the post match celebrations. It was returned to the mess the following day for a full refund.
As a family we continued our association with The Curragh as supporters. Brian played with the team for a couple of years. But mainly the connection continued through the Dobey Cup. This was run as an underage blitz every January. The cup was ridiculously big for such a competition – larger than life you could say – just like Barney.
The decision to go to Cardiff was made 10 days ago before the Scotland game. The round trip including match ticket was extravagant at €500, but now I can say that to be there was priceless. Millennium Stadium is the best rugby arena I have been in – I haven't been to Parc de France (yet), but Wales should really be the home of rugby. There are only 2 countries in the world where Rugby has the status of being the national sport – New Zealand and Wales. The atmosphere was fantastic – the Welsh are such fair supporters.
The game was just unbelievable. While we lived through every nail biting minute, I didn't really appreciate what a great contest it was until I watched on the television at home the next day. The drama of the last 5 minutes would be totally unbelievable if it was scripted. It was almost another "nearly did it" Irish story. Stephen Jones could have stolen it with that last kick. But it would have been robbery – there is a great rugby god in the sky who watches over these things – I think he tugged Jones' shirt was he was kicking! Thank goodness Gavin "prepare to party" Henson missed a long range penalty earlier – otherwise he would have been given a shot and I fear he wouldn't have missed.
But those "what might have beens" belong to Wales this year. Last year in Croke Park Wales won the Triple Crown. They went ahead with just five minutes to go and held out to the end. A week later they defeated France to win Grand Slam in 2008. This year they might have done the same when Stephen Jones kicked that drop goal with five minutes to go. But Ireland managed to work themselves into a drop goal position with just 2 minutes to go and apart from the heart-stopping final penalty, the rest is history.
On the plane going out we were honoured by Jack Kyle's company. On the way home he sat beside Paul in the lounge. Paul asked him to sign his match ticket and I got a photograph from 1948 signed. Jack Kyle has been considered Ireland's best ever player for more than 60 years. Perhaps he will have to give that up – I'm sure he won't mind.
The great part about it all is that the rugby season isn't over yet. We have Munster playing the Ospreys in Thomond Park and Leinster playing Harlequins at The Stoop on Easter Sunday. Before that we will have Leinster playing Munster in Thomond park – although that will be both their second string teams. We have the prospect of another all Ireland Heineken Cup semi-final if they can both win. That gives me the added bonus of a trip to Edinburgh again as I already have 3 tickets for the Heineken Cup Final bought and paid for!
It had been planned a long time ago - Mags and I were in Edinburgh to watch Ireland play Scotland on the 4th leg of their Grand Slam quest. We travelled over late Friday evening and return late on Sunday.
Saturday morning I collected the tickets - they were on the front row in the west stand. The match wasn't until 5 so we wandered around. It’s such a beautiful city with the hills and dramatic cliffs of Arthurs seat; the dramatic setting of the castle and royal gardens; the lovely old sandstone houses; the intriguing lanes and archways. And of course there were shops. They were a little hard to find but we managed to locate them in the end.
Our hotel was located on the Royal mile just up from Princes Street. We dropped off our purchases and got on our match gear and set off for the grounds around 3pm. As we walked past The Balmoral Hotel there was a small crowd gathered on the footpath and a Bus Eireann coach parked outside. It turned out at the team were due to leave for the grounds in a few minutes. In fact they kept is waiting 15 minutes before they appeared. I managed to get a good spot near the door and captured a picture of each team member as they passed. I nearly missed Drico - he was first and fastest of the main group onto the bus. They were all very much "in the zone" and walked through the crowd as if they weren't there.
We got a bus to Murrayfield which took us most of the way before it became faster and easier to walk! There was a great atmosphere and a lot of Irish fans. We got something to eat in the grounds and were in our seats by 4.40. Scotland started with a lot of intensity. Before long Ireland had conceded a penalty and Chris Paterson (who doesn't know how a miss a penalty!) slotted it over. Patterson continued to punish all kickable penalties all day. By half-time he had kicked four scoring all of Scotland’s points. But Ronan was back on form and he was successful in his three shots at goal in the first half. The second of these gave him the record for the most scores in the 6 nations.
After the initial Scottish pressure Ireland settled down well enough and when they took their 3rd penalty in the first half the Scots were very relieved to have escaped without conceding a try. As the half ended as Ireland were again applying the pressure. I was pretty sure at half time that Ireland could score a couple of tries or that Scotland would start to crumble.
The second half continued as the first had ended with continued Irish attack. However the Scots had done their homework and they defended well against O'Connell and O'Driscoll. We had one heart stopping moment when Thom Evans kicked the ball ahead and collected a very kindly bounce to run past O'Gara only to be tackled by Bowe. Evans managed a great offload to Godman who looked like he could reach the line but a fantastic covering run and tackle by O'Driscoll saved the day for Ireland. Then in the 60th minute Stringer made a great break through the Scottish defence and after a great offload to Heaslip the Naas giant ran in with his arm up in celebration and nearly forgot to ground the ball properly. The try had to be confirmed by the TMO!
Ronan kicked the conversion and we were in the lead for the first time. Paterson kicked another penalty. Ronan managed one more penalty - though he missed 2. Then he made up for than with a lovely drop goal. Ireland really closed out the game by a constant attack on the Scottish line. We should have scored more tries against a weak Scottish side. But a win in Murrayfield is always difficult.
The dream continues and my trip to Cardiff next Saturday is full of hope and just a little fear and doubt.
No skiing today. We had breakfast at the usual time. We weren't leaving for the airport until 11.30 but we were supposed to be packed and in the sitting area by 10.00. We managed to collect everything and move the bags downstairs sometime around 10. Deirdre and Chris were ready to leave around 10.30. We wondered who would be home first. I was quietly confident that they couldn't make it before midnight. They were booked on the Eurotunnel at 9.30 pm and with the M25 to circumnavigate it seemed even ambitious. I reckoned we would be at home drinking tea by 7.30.
We said our goodbyes. The snow was beginning to fall. We had no definite plans for next year - but recession permitting we would do something together again. They have another week planned in Les Gets this Easter! We're jealous already!
After they left we had about an hour to kill. We were all packed and Sol made us tea. At 11.30 we loaded up the van and we all piled in. It was still snowing and the laneway out of the chalet is up a short steep hill. With the full load on board the Highlife van we didn't make it, it lost traction in the final 20 metres. Two attempts later we were kicked out and Chris, our driver tried another couple of times. No joy. Then the owner of our chalet, who lived next door tried. Expert? No luck! It was still snowing and it was now approaching noon. Finally the owner’s brother (chalet on the other side) got out his 4x4 jeep and towed the Highlife van up the hill. We all got back in and soon we were on our way to Lyon.
No further adventures. Our flight was on time and sure enough we were at home in Rathmines by 6.30. As we arrived in the door we got a text from Deirdre - "first wash in machine - drinking a cup of tea!" They must have had a very clear home run!
Saturday morning I reviewed Chris' plan and gave it the final seal of approval. Roisin was a little spooked from yesterday and she and Deirdre decided to leave it a little later before heading out. The rest of us headed off after breakfast. The slopes were very quiet because Saturday is change-over day for most tour operators. This was a great bonus for the final day. The first step was the Tougnete cable car and there was no queue. We then had the "Perdrix" run down to Mottaret where we were going to get the 3 Plattieres lifts to Mont de La Chamber before skiing down to Val Thorens.
However my thumb had swollen up again overnight and my left hand turn was not working! What a pain. I was skiing ok but I was slow and nervous and holding everybody back. Given the big plans we had for today, this was not a good idea for anyone. As we approached Mottaret I suggested that they go ahead while I headed for a better warm up slope and see what I can do. Mags decided to stick with me. So while they followed the plan, we headed back to the Chaudanne via the east Green "Truite" run. I was slowly settling down. We headed up "Rhodos " and stopped for coffee before doing a couple of rounds and the run down to the centre. In the meantime we called Deirdre to update her on our change of plan. They were already on the move. We met up with them at the Chaudanne about 5 minutes later.
I fancied the long run to St Martin again. Deirdre hadn't been there. So we took the cable car and chairlift to Tougnete and took the same route as yesterday. I was skiing a little slower than yesterday but was enjoying myself and kept up with the others. My thumb hurt, but life was good, zooming down the white snow, under blue sky and bright sunshine.
We had a similar lunch to yesterday. The queues for the cabin and chairlift were very light compared to yesterday. On the way back up in the cable car Roisin entertained us (and the others in the car) with her story of Chris' reaction to yesterday adventure! It's unrepeatable - but very funny! We made contact with Chris and the others when we reached the top. It seems had also abandoned the plan. They had found a bigger better snow park at the top of Plattieres 2 and were having too much fun to continue any further.
We were ready to bring Deirdre down the "Chocas" run and we decided that we should make the final run home. We rang Chris and the others to let them know. They were heading up to do the same - but were about 20 minutes away. We decided to go ahead - they would probably catch is before we got home!
The run was lovely. It was almost 4 and they were closing the run as we arrived at the turn-off for La Raffort. Not that anyone who knows it takes a blind but of notice of that! We were about a third of the way down when there was a shout behind us. Chris Katie Lisa Katy and Senan came flying along. They had had a great day. We skied back to the lane near the chalet. There is a little ski bump just at the end. We had a little fun to finish off.
Our skiing over we got a lift back into the ski shop so that we could return everything. We had a look around the town. We collected the photos and Katie Roisin and Senan went ice skating for an hour. It was getting cold and time to go home. Dinner was wonderful. Deirdre even managed to persuade Sol to part with some of his recipes! We got some of the packing started and also swopped some digital photos onto Laptops.
Deirdre thinks we should all go skiing in Breckenridge Colorado next year. It sounds wonderful. But I think another year in Meribel would do very nicely, recession permitting - that will be the biggest challenge.
Friday morning there were no classes. The Salibas and our crew were down for Highlife's long Red Guide. This is an all day guide by Highlife staff which tries to cover as much ground as possible. Their record is 84 kilometres. You can cover a lot of ground on skis. We would probably do 20 km without thinking about it - but 84 km between 9.30 and 4.30 is a lot of skiing. The route is set up to give people lots of opt out locations so that just the fittest, fastest skiers survive!
Mags and I left them to it. We all had our phones so meeting up later is always an option. We had a loose arrangement to meet back at the Chaudanne at 12.00. We did what we always do and took the cable car up to Rhodos. We did the usual warm-up runs, they are easy, fast enough and good to build confidence. Today I was feeling pretty good. My left hand turn was working!
We headed for the Loze chairlift as we planned to visit the Courchevel valley again. Today I was hoping we might hit the 3 valleys. From Col de la Loze we skied down to Courchevel. It is a lovely route down. We followed the same runs as yesterday, finishing up at Les Coqs chairlift which brought us back up to the little 2 lift back to the top. We took the "Boulevard de la Loze" back down and then skied all the way down to the Chaudanne by twelve o'clock. That was 2 valleys done before noon!
We called the others but they were a long way behind us so we got the cabin and chairlift to the top of Tougnete. It was beautiful up there with clear blue sky. We were now ready to hit the third valley. We took the top route along "Cretes" and onto the easy start of "Jerusalem". We were looking for the long blue Road "Chat Frere" which joins up with the Blue "Pelozet". That continues to the St Martin Chairlift where it runs into the long Blue "Biolley" It is a lovely blue which brings is all the way down to St Martin de Belleville. I was skiing with great confidence that morning and when we found the turn off of Jerusalem we were all alone on "Chat Frere", one of those narrow runs along the side of the mountain. I was skiing quite quickly and after going around one turn my skis touched and I fell over. I was up again by the time Mags caught up! On we went crossing over another Red, being careful to look up the slope as we did. Then on until we reached "Pelozet".
It was a lovely wide blue with very little traffic. It's a long ski down to St Martin de Belleville probably 7 or 8 kilometres. Just as were approaching the outskirts of the village, the run divided in 2. I wasn't sure we were on the right part so I saw a little path connecting the two. I was travelling at speed and there appeared to be a small hump of which I thought "OK I can manage this". But it was followed immediately by a second sharper and bigger hump - it actually was the built up side of the piste. Well I didn't have the skill to deal with that and I went up in the air out of control and came down whacking my forehead on the snow. Mags had taken the simple straight-forward route. I was a little dazed but able to get up with a little help. My head was fine but my left-hand thumb was sore. We carried on down, a little more slowly and I was glad to arrive in the village. There were 3 restaurants with lunch in full flow and lots of skiers. The cable car which brought us half way back up the hill was just beside us.
We had a lovely lunch. We both had a great big Savoyarde salad. My thumb was quite swollen. But with plenty of ice and snow around I was able to relieve the swelling. After lunch we got the cable car from across the road back up the slope. We got a call from Lisa Katy Senan and the Salibas to say that they had left the Red guide and they were heading up Tougnete. The cable car goes half way up the slope and then there is a chairlift to the top. We got a second call as we were in the queue for the chairlift to say that they were now at the top of Tougnete waiting for us. The queue for the chairlift was long and slow and it was more than 20 minutes before we reached the top. I thought we might ski home at that stage - but they were up for a trip to the snow park. Since we had kept them waiting so long and it was still early that seemed fair enough.
I didn't enjoy the blue run "Faon" down to the snow park. It was a little narrow and steep in places. But we got down ok. However we had lost Roisin on the way. She had wandered off the blue and fell over onto the black slope beside it and lost one ski in the process! She then managed to ski down to the bottom of the Black slope on just one ski! She is fearless and amazing on the snow. Chris and Katie found her at the ski lift just a little distressed. He brought them into the restaurant nearby to settle Roisin's nerves with a hot chocolate. In the meantime Lisa, Katy, Mags, Senan and Deirdre had skied around to the drag lift to do the snow park run. I was to wait in the snow with the video ready to catch the action.
The comedy of errors continued. While I was standing in the cold, waiting for the run to begin, Mags was hanging onto to the drag lift instead of sitting on it. Not really the best idea! She hung on for about five minutes until she was near what she thought was the top. Despite her determination the arms were just too tired and she let go and slid down the hill past the others. Lisa got off her lift to help her and eventually so did Deirdre. Katy and Senan carried on up to the top. In the meantime Chris was heading up the Tougnete 2 chair lift, with a ranger to look for the missing ski. Katy and Senan put me out of my misery and did the jumps. I'm afraid they are just dots in the crowd as you can see.
They decided to do the run home and went for the Tougnete 2 lift. I had enough and decided to get the cabin down to the Chaudanne. As they were getting on the chairlift Katy saw Roisin's ski - someone had found it and carried it down. Katy rang me and I rang Chris to tell him the good news. Chris' line was busy so I rang Deirdre to tell her (and to say are you in the Chaudanne). Deirdre rang Chris who rang me back to let me know!
Vodafone profits take a major jump!
As I went down the Tougnete cable car I was talking on the phone to Mags. I could also hear them below me at the lift. "look up" I waved! They has an icy Blue "Lievre" to get back, it was hard work after a tiring day. Chris, Katie and Roisin weren't too long behind us. After the last stressful hour we were all ready for home. Highlife gave us a lift to the chalet. By the time we got there, Katy and Senan had arrived by ski just before us. The cup of tea and freshly baked cake soothed the nerves! The de-tox routine followed and we were nearly human again!
Dinner was superb, again. We never had enough energy to play charades this year and tonight was no exception. Instead, Chris and I set about planning our final day's ski. The idea was to explore Val Thorens without travelling on any Reds or Blacks. It is a slightly tricky problem but Chris was able to design a solution. So with our plans all made and wine all drunk it was time for bed to get plenty of rest for the final onslaught on the slopes.
