FROM THE ARCHIVES:Sport was one of the victims of the early years of the Northern Troubles, notably with the refusal of Scotland and Wales to travel to Dublin to play their Five Nations matches against Ireland in 1972. Which made it all the more of an occasion when the All Blacks travelled to Belfast to play Ulster later that year, as Henry Kelly reported.
– JOE JOYCE
THERE WAS a moment of emotion at Ravenhill Road, Belfast, on last Saturday a few seconds before 2.30pm. As we waited for Ulster and New Zealand to take the field for their rugby match, the voice of the public address system announcer said: “Now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we have all been waiting for, for a long time. Will you please rise and welcome Ian Kirkpatrick and the Seventh All Blacks.”
More than 20,000 spectators put nearly three years of deprivation into a five-minute ovation. Those sitting, stood up. Those standing wished they could get a few feet higher and clap a few decibels louder so that the 15 black-shirted men, who were trotting impressively on to Ravenhill’s crisp, green turf, could know they were saying: “Fair play to you and thanks for coming.”
It was a fine moment for Ulster and for Irish rugby. For Ulster, deprived for years of any major sporting event, it was a very happy day.
For Ireland, it made sure that these Kiwis occupy, for the moment at any rate, a far safer place in the hearts of rugby followers than the Scots who did not come to Dublin, even, last year. And it has hopefully made it very difficult for any other group of 15 rugby-playing men to cancel appointment in this country in the coming months.
Anyway, at Ravenhill on Saturday, it was not the score or who would win that mattered. It was the fact that the match was taking place at all.
The day was cold and damp, with dull clouds hanging sullenly over the Castlereagh hills. But the crowds streaming to the ground were in happy mood, and even if the rain was falling when we were walking away at the end of 80 minutes of hard rugby, there were few people present who would have missed the match (which New Zealand won by 19 points to 6).
At the entrance stiles there were only spot checks and the only moment of doubt came during the match when the public announcer appealed for the owners of two cars to move them as they were causing congestion. For a few seconds there was a hint of fear about the two cars, but nothing more was heard about them.
Ravenhill Road, at the best of times, is not the most inspiring venue for any sporting fixture. But on Saturday afternoon, for a couple of hours after lunch, with the pitch an immaculate green, with the crowd enjoying every moment of the match, with the security discreet and with not a single incident to interrupt proceedings, a hard-pressed Belfast took a momentary bow after three years of disappointments, letdowns and frustrations in the sporting field.
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