Mentally exhausted from our intensive sightseeing of last week, we decided instead to do battle on the home front. With arrangements for house-sitters gelling, and the promise of spring palpable after a week of sunshine, we spent the better part of the day trying to get the back patio to a livable state.
First up was weeding and getting seeds into little pots on the windowsill. Next up was the task of trying to resuscitate the outdoor furniture, cheap pine with a fine plastic finish, peeling and rotted in places. The inevitable short tempers flared, and while the table is largely sanded, the beds remain unplanted and the pot of paint unopened.
There were many outstanding performances on the day but none eclipsed the contribution of Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and first half replacement Denis Leamy, who had a truly stupendous match. Clearly we needed a diversion. Lucky for us, the pub just down the lane had a big screen TV, and Ireland was playing Wales in Cardiff in the last of the Six Nations tournament. The stakes were high: the Irish haven't swept this rugby series for 61 years. After gobbling up steaming plates of noodles with pesto, we head over to Polyphouca House, where things are in full swing.
Ryan Jones sly trip on Ronan O’Gara on 41 seconds after the Irish outhalf hoisted an up and under drew an irate response from Donncha O’Callaghan whose one-on-one grappling with the Welsh captain was soon joined by most players from both teams. Alfred pulls a few chairs out of the restaurant for us, and people scooch to make room. "Best seat in the house," says one fellow with a wink. "No, she's sitting next to Sean!" says someone else. Laughter all around.
Tomas O’Leary’s clever kick to the corner proved even more precipitous when Ireland spoiled the Welsh lineout and Shane Williams was collared over his own line. Some fine playing going on, a few dogpiles. All in all, good rugby. Alfred gets a pint, I pull out my knitting and nurse a glass of cider.
The tension of the occasion was manifest in prolonged bouts of aerial ping-pong with the Irish halfbacks guilty of a couple of errors in putting the ball out on the full. A Welsh runner breaks out and needs to be stopped. "Kill 'im!" I hear to my left. I give him a motherly glance. "I didn't mean that…" he says. I smile, "Yes you did." "Well, yeah, I s'pose." More joviality.
Fitzgerald then tidied up brilliantly and beat several defenders on a slaloming run but as Ireland surged into the 22 with two brilliant offloading cameos from John Hayes, they conceded their sixth penalty of the half. "Where the !@#$ did he get that?!" (Wales picks a ball out of a dogpile) and "!@#$# @#$%!@!" (Ireland makes a forward pass). Wales scores again to lead 15-14, with only 16 minutes to go. This is not good.
It’s a measure of the character of this Ireland team that they refused to buckle, getting first the field position and then following half a dozen rucks, O’Gara dropped back into the pocket to drop a goal with two minutes and 15 seconds left. Cheers erupt. Could it be that they will win this? Ireland could use some good news about now.
"Boo!" a deafening roar. With only 16 seconds left on the clock,
referee Wayne Barnes, whose wrath they incurred religiously awards a penalty kick to the home team. If Stephen Jones makes this kick, Wales will deprive Ireland of the sweep. We all are holding our breath.
The kick. The ball arcs gracefully, almost as if in slow motion, toward
the goalposts. Its trajectory is clearly between the posts, it looks like Wales will steal the glory away. But the ball is low, and a green jersey standing between the posts jumps up and plucks the ball from the air. There is silence as everyone registers that the ball did not cross the line. The room erupts. Shouts and jumps. Now the party begins.
The Grand Slam famine is over 61 years after Ireland’s only previous triumph, as Ireland produced a remarkable performance underpinned by high tensile mental steel to win a truly heart-stopping encounter that wasn’t decided until the final kick of the game.
