No pomp at Newark airport, not a haka in sight, and zero ceremony, unlike Ireland’s dizzying November visit to a United States of America that has changed, changed utterly.
Last time around the IRFU, shamelessly, took an entire floor in Chicago’s Trump Towers. Politics, during that historic week, paled into the blue-dyed river as our Cubs ended the curse of the Billy Goat.
A day after five million baseball fanatics were swept from the Windy City streets by bicycle cops, rugby ripples in corporate America's marina trench of sport were visible as Ireland ruptured the All Blacks invincibility, snatching the spoils from Soldier Field.
The glow Stateside lasted mere hours before the Football season arrived like a juggernaut; all memory of All Blacks versus Ireland erased by a concussed Tom Brady’s iron will guiding the New England Patriots to a fifth Superbowl just as Kevin Durant was settling into galactico life at the Golden State Warriors.
On this Wednesday evening, Durant, allied by miraculous feats from his MVP twin Steph Curry, a confrontational Draymond Green and the subtle brilliance of Klay Thompson are expected to go up 3-zip in the NBA finals. LeBron James and his Cavaliers are about to be swept out the door of their Cleveland home.
Amidst this epic American sports tale, rugby sneaks quietly into a smaller arena, sponsored by an energy drink, up in Harrison, New Jersey.
For this visit Joe Schmidt’s youngest imaginable squad are closeted in the shadow of Manhattan’s sky line, across the Hudson river in the safer Hyatt hotel option.
The build-up to this Test match has the lowliest feel. It is June.
Ireland train three miles up the New Jersey docks in Stevens Institute of Technology. No injuries to report. Thursday’s team will be inexperienced yet very interesting in at least one position.
"Earls, Toner, Healy are the most experienced players," said forwards coach Simon Easterby. "Below that there's a smattering of players who've been with us for a while, but not got many caps, then below that uncapped, so we're trying to give them the best opportunity this week to go out and perform and the way the week is; it worked for us in Chicago and hopefully it lays a bit of a template for us."
There are obvious benefits on tour, like Joey Carbery spending the week in Ronan O'Gara's company.
“He is more of a watching role than anything but Rog being Rog he has a lot to offer,” said Easterby. “He is asking questions. Just trying to take as much out of it as he can, and offering advice and assistance to the younger players as well as supporting the coaches.”
It will be fascinating to hear the O’Gara perspective of Schmidt’s coaching methodology.
The US Eagles, meanwhile, are about to lose their coach. Former All Black supremo John Mitchell moves off to the Bulls in South Africa as soon as he secures qualification to the 2019 World Cup with or without victories over Canada.
Ireland, minus the 11 Lions, provides the ideal tune-up.
Mitchell has brought Gavin Hickie into the US camp this week at Drew University. The 37 year old former St Mary’s and Leinster hooker has been running the rugby programme at Dartmouth since 2012. Like fellow Irish coaches Greg McWilliams and Justin Fitzpatrick, Hickie has carved out a career and a life across the Atlantic.
But, make no mistake, nobody is striving to promote rugby in the USA with this game. It has an end of season, keep the old-summer-romance-lit feel to it all. Even the Irish-born outhalf AJ MacGinty has kept a low profile. Pity.
Rugby doesn’t register on this land mass. The cop in Newark checking our visa knows about “Sevens.”
“Well, I’ve never actually seen that either,” he admitted.
Maybe Japan will be different. They are hosting the sport’s flagship event in 2019.
Schmidt’s team will be announced on Wednesday and by then it’s conceivable that one from Garry Ringrose, Simon Zebo, Keith Earls and even Cian Healy will be switched to a different tour.
“I think it’s important we are focused on this,” said Easterby. “We’ve got enough on our plate than to be worried about what is going on down there. It might concern us if there is an injury where they lose an individual and that has implications on us.
“I watched the [NZ Barbarians] game on the weekend with my little boy, he was up early, and I think the excitement of the Lions as we are away from it a little, being outside Ireland and the UK, so we are not as exposed to it as back home. We are still fans and want them to do well.”
More than that, Easterby was a late replacement for the Lions in 2005 when he started the second and third Tests against New Zealand.
