Should Irish rugby take part in The Gathering? asks Brendan Grehan…
I have been 43 years on this little Earth of ours and I have been a 'journalist' for the last 15. I dabbled in 'student journalism' when I was in University but it was mostly tittle-tattle. In fact, one little article led me to being punched in the stomach as I was striding across College Park. I deserved the punch. I wrote something which I was not proud of and I later apologised to the individual that I had offended.
But as a journalist you do have to rock the boat, to provoke debate, to initiate change. In Ireland we are a nation of knockers. It is not good to stick your head over the parapet. Change is not welcomed. Organisations talk of change but in fact they do nothing. It is all window dressing, hot air generated by so called management consultants who can barely manage themselves let alone a team of bleary-eyed number crunchers.
I like to rock the boat but sometimes you capsize.
I have always had a bit of a gra for the Pumas. Being half-Spanish may have had something to do with it and playing as a prop for most of my undistinguished rugby career could provide you with another hint. As Argentina always produce good front rows. You can't have a good rugby team without two solid props and a chippy little hooker. It saddens me to report that there are some "professional" coaches in Ireland who are sending out teams without proper front rows. I have witnessed this aberration at first hand and to say it is a disgrace is an understatement. When you have a two props who can't scrummage and spend their time masquerading as centres, but without the ball skills, then we have a problem. A really great prop can do his job in the setpiece and flash it out when needs be. I have bumped into a few great props over the years and they are always the best people in the bar to share a bottle of el vino collapso with.
Getting back to the pampas. The Irish side of the family hails from Westmeath and earlier from Roscommon. Many from Westmeath emigrated to Argentina in the 19th Century. My second cousin Betty O'Reilly from Mullingar went to live with her Argentine cousins in the '50s. Famously, they didn't speak Spanish. So there was a little bit of Westmeath out on the Pampas and I bet the beef was as good as anything you would find in the fine town of Mullingar.
A number of rugby players were murdered or gave their lives in the 9/11 attacks notably Mark Bingham but a name also appears in the footnotes. Pedro Grehan (35) from Buenos Aires who was living in Hoboken, New Jersey , was working as a broker for Cantor Fitzgerald when the planes struck. Pedro had played for one of the top clubs in Buenos Aires.
The current coach of Argentina, Santiago Phelan, is a man also of Irish extraction. I know a number of Phelans who would love to welcome him to his homeland down in the sunny south-east. He didn't seem to like it when I reminded him of his Irish heritage in the wake of his teams defeat to Ireland. He looked at me like I was an eejit (is there a word for eejit in Spanish but in fairness I was one). I suppose I was thinking laterally and for Santiago's benefit.
I have a proposal for Philip Browne, The IRFU, and Enda Kenny. As this year we are celebrating The Gathering, would it not be a good idea for the IRFU to mark the year with an end of year international between an Irish XV and a Gathering XV. The Gathering XV could be coached by Santiago Phelan and managed by Sean Fitzpatrick
Lawrence Dallaglio, whose mother is Irish, could coach the forwards. My younger brother, Mark, whose idea this was, always reminds me of the time when we visited Adams Park in 2007 for the Wasps-Leinster Heineken Cup Quarter-Final. The Leinster fans were verbally joshing the Wasps pack as they warmed up. Dallaglio, in his own inimitable way, turned to the stands and pointed to the Leinster fans. His pack knew what was expected of them and they performed. Leinster were beaten fair and square. Limerick man Eoin Reddan scored a fabulous try for Wasps and I remember him running over to his family on the touchline. Reddan, that day was an exile and he sent a message to Eddie O'Sullivan that day. Irish rugby wouldn't breathe without the treaty city.
Dallaglio, of course, could have played for Italy too, In some ways he is a true son of Europe, or rather of Charlemagne. A warrior, the younger brother is also of the opinion that if Dallaglio had been on the pitch during the first Lions test of 2005, the Lions would have left the field honours even in the wake of the O'Driscoll incident.
But we would have no problem selecting a team of International players of Irish extraction. Agustin Creevy, Declan Danaher, Shane Geraghty, Paddy Ryan, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Blaine Scully, Nick Cummins, Pat McCabe, Stephen Moore, Jamie Cudmore, Jebb Sinclair, Liam Messam, the list goes on and on.
It is just an idea, a vain dream but could you imagine the sports tourism potential of such a game. Kiwi and Wallaby fans would travel over from the UK for the game.
You can guarantee that the English fans would come over to as they love Dublin. It would be a game that would celebrate Irish Rugby and the Irish rugby spirit that travels so well wherever it goes.
Brendan Grehan is a journalist.
Facebook: Brendan Grehan
Twitter : @brendanxavier
