Tallaght sets example
Sunday April 09 2006
Gearoid Ferrick, the IRFU's man in this urban sprawl, watched the kids coming and marvelled at the sight. Several of them wore Ireland rugby shirts which was normal. More of them were kitted out in Leinster colours which was not.
For Ferrick it was further evidence of the toe-hold rugby has gained in the region since his arrival seven years ago and a sign of the increasing awareness of Leinster as a rugby brand. Back then in Tallaght, he says, it was nothing but Robbie Keane this, Robbie Keane that.
A little while back, he watched Brian O'Driscoll being mobbed in St MacDara's school in Templeogue. Five years ago, Ireland's captain might have had all the impact of a fire prevention officer.
At a rough guess, Ferrick estimates 40,000 kids have played rugby at some stage over the last seven years. In his office hangs a picture of a smiling Trevor Brennan surrounded by a gaggle of kids at the Tallaght project's opening in 1999 and what stands out is the fact that nearly all the kids are still involved.
One of them, Chris Greene, is in Italy with Ireland A this week. It is a heartwarming story from whatever angle you look.
Ferrick knows that Tallaght barely registers a blip on the wider rugby universe, but it shows what can be done when minds are put to the task. And Tallaght seems more relevant right now when you consider the sad squabble that has developed between soccer and the GAA over the use of the stadium being completed by south Dublin county council and supposedly earmarked for Shamrock Rovers.
Maybe it is a sign of rugby's growing confidence that they too felt they deserved a slice of the cake.
"We did make an approach to the SDCC," says Ferrick. "We were laughed out of it."
Every day he passes the big GAA clubs with playing fields stretching into the distance. For all the miles they have travelled, Tallaght rugby still doesn't have a facility to call its own. But no point, he thinks, in getting depressed about it.
What the situation in Tallaght tells you is that, for all the goodwill that genuinely exists between the main sporting organisations, at base level they are always primed to get down and dirty. They have to.
The progress of Munster in recent years might fool you into thinking that rugby is the dominant force in the province. The reality, of course, is that it still lags seriously behind the GAA and soccer while the latter continues to grow exponentially.
What they have, though, is a trump card in a passionately supported team and a platform, the upcoming Heineken Cup semi-final, that the GAA could only hope for at most once-a-year and soccer once in a blue moon.
"This is a huge opportunity for us," says Munster rugby chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald. "There's a huge crossover between the sports down here and we all work together when we can but when you get your chance you have to take it. In a huge GAA province this is a fantastic branding opportunity for us."
Are they truly grasping it though? Has the fact that this is the most eagerly awaited rugby match on Irish soil since the Grand Slam game with England in 2003 and, outside of the Ryder Cup, will probably be the biggest sporting event in the country this year really sunk in?
Think of what they have. A team that attracts a vocal and passionate support and seems capable of writing heroic scripts on a regular basis, another team playing some of the best rugby on the planet and the blissful knowledge that one of them will be involved in the final in Cardiff in May. Irish rugby has struck gold but, like a prospector squinting at the shimmering metal in his pan, it can't quite believe what it sees.
Following last week's dramatic quarter-finals, you'd imagine thoughts would quickly have turned to the next round. A think-tank at board level, perhaps, consultations with RTE, an exchange of ideas with top people in the IRFU. How do we push this thing forward? How do we maximise the golden opportunity presented to us?
Has anybody asked these questions? Compare the upcoming semi-final to an All-Ireland and Fitzgerald will gently remind you that it is just a semi-final and offers bragging rights only. It is not to have a go at Fitzgerald, and no one doubts Munster rugby is doing good work, but that the CEO is wary of cranking up the hype seems unfortunate.
Fitzgerald makes the point too that it is the ERC (European Cup Rugby) who are completely responsible for the game's logistics but that must not be seen as a cop-out. A decade ago, enhanced sponsorship gave the All-Ireland championships, particularly hurling, a desperately-needed boost and Irish rugby needs a further kick.
For sure there are those who despise the whole Munster thing and expectantly await their next heroic failure but begrudgers should be ignored. Heroism is a much-abused term in sport anyway, but to suggest that the heroics of Brian Lohan or Brian Corcoran are any more worthy of mythic status than the deeds of, say, Keith Wood or Paul O'Connell seems churlish.
In terms of perception, it is arguably Leinster who have more to gain. As much as beating Toulouse will help, it won't change the deep-rooted feeling that Leinster rugby is elitist to any significant degree.
"The D4 thing," says Leinster rugby CEO Mick Dawson wearily.
"Unfortunately it is there and it will always be there."
Doesn't mean they can't chip away at it, though. In Shane Horgan, a Meathman who climbed through the youth ranks, they have the star of 2006 so far and a perfect role model. Ferrick's kids in Tallaght will follow his exploits just as eagerly as those from Leinster's most expensive schools and there's a greater chance now they'll stay with it. All told it isn't too bad to be going on with.
Should they win, Leinster know they will go to Cardiff with a talented side and the goodwill of most of the population. Failing to tap into it - rather than losing - would be their biggest crime.
- John O'Brien
