People who go to support Ireland should dress for the occasion, writes journalist Brendan Grehan
A FEW MOONS AGO, I had been ranting on Facebook about Leinster and Munster fans and their supposed "age-old" enmities which are largely a media creation and or the love-child of the new rugby 'fan'.
Like it or love it, with the success of the Irish provincial game, there are a whole load of new 'fans' who wouldn't know one end of Kilgobbin from the other. Have they ever drunk a lemo in the Pav, had their cojones turned to ice in Kilternan. Have they ever froze on the sideline in Birr while their team of jobbing junior counsels, a secondhand car salesman, a tailor and a future High Court judge (watch this space) were dismantled by an XV mainly comprised of former inter-county hurlers. They say that it is the fastest ball-game in the world but let me tell you those hurlers were handy rugby players too.
Imagine if an Eddie Brennan or a Declan Ruth had picked up the oval ball, maybe we would be looking at three grand slams in the trophy cabinet in Lansdowne Road, but that is an argument for a winters evening, in front of a turf fire from the finest West Kerry peat and two balls of malt or even a large balloon glass of Cardenal Mendoza.
The old Cardenal. One of the pleasures of being involved in this old blogging lark is that you can feck off on a tangent, whenever you like, like driving to Mullingar on the N4 via Enfield and Edenderry.
Well Cardenal Mendoza is one of the best Spanish brandies out there on the market. I was raised on Spanish brandy from an early age and there is no finer Brandy De Jerez than the old Cardenal. Named after a famous Castillian Statesman and Cardinal, it also was the favourite tipple of Lee Brilleaux from Dr.Feelgood.
Some of my younger readers (do I have any, sorry does anybody ever read this, I know a few do) may not have heard of the Feelgoods, the legendary pub-rock band from Canvey Island in Essex but Brilleaux was a gourmand and lover of good pubs and eateries. A man after my own heart. Myself and my two brothers and three sisters,it must be pointed out do have a small reputation for sniffing out good nosheries for fellow trenchermen and trencherladies in most locales.
Back to Canvey Island, well Brilleaux while on tour would keep a diary with the best pubs and restaurants he ate and drank in. It was almost like a rock and roll Michelin guide. He alway used to end the night and sometimes start it (i'm sure) with a snifter of the the ol' cardenal as he used to call it.
Sadly Lee passed away from cancer in 1994 but here is a clip of Canvey Island's finest with Brilleaux on lead vocals and showing off some useful chops on slide guitar.
Back to provincial small-mindedness. Oh, the cat is out of the bag. And we should take it out because this phenomenon needs to be discussed because it has no place in our game.
In the bad old days when you went to inter-provincials, there may have been 300 there may have been 1000 but it was understood. It was the rest of Ireland versus the Cork rugby mafia and their cousins up in Ravenhill.
The boys, who sail in the summer months down in Crosshaven, decided how the Irish team was selected and really ran the show.
Now as rugby has embraced professionalism and its little love-child, sports marketing, we have a game that has morphed into a professional game but still retains some of its amateur roots.
But could you tell some of the 'fans' out there that just because a Leinster player is having an off-day while on a much-needed holiday in the Far East and he doesn't pose for photographs with a harem of orange-coated thong-wearing (the sandals) south Dublin witches, it does not make him 'obnoxious'.
He is a professional sportsperson and is entitled to his private life and private time.
Therein lies the problem. The new fan (who supports the professional game through their financial support) doesn't really get it.
Yes if you have to dress from head to toe in blue polyester sportswear and cheer on Leinster tomorrow against Zebre, do it. Down south, wear all those delightful red performance fabrics but because you have a ticket, it does not make you part of the game.
You are just another number. I feel some Bob Seger coming on. He captured man's disconnect with 'the man' in his 1978 classic 'Feel like a number'.
I may be a bit harsh but what really gets me going is that when you head to Lansdowne Road for International games. It is not a sea of green. It is a polycotton mess of blue and red and black and red. In fairness to Connacht, I have a bit of a gra for the men and women from the west. West of the Shannon is the real Ireland, they have suffered from the diaspora (and continue to do so) more than the pale and its dort-accent environs. I won't begrudge a Connacht fan wearing their green jersey to an Irish game but the idiots who wear Leinster jackets and their cousins in Munster and Ulster who do the same.
Are they trying to prove a point, that they have no cop on altogether?
On my way to last Saturday's game, I asked a couple of Ulster fans ( dressed head to mid-riff in Ulster gear): "I didn't know Ulster were playing today".
They scowled back.
Before the South African game, there were a couple of Munster lads wearing some smart branded anoraks. I passed a remark about Munster not playing but to be fair to them they wittily retorted : "Most of them are on the field".
I know that the provincial game has largely trumped its bigger brother. It is sad but there is more of a buzz now about the upcoming European Cup games than there ever was about the Autumn Internationals and that is a challenge for the IRFU.
It is a challenge they and Declan Kidney will meet but rugby fans you don't have to rub it in.
For your own sake, could you ditch the provincial sportswear for the odd time that you hit Lansdowne and wear something green.
Twitter: @brendanxavier
Facebook: Brendan Grehan
Brendan Grehan is a journalist.
