IT'S BEEN FUN while it lasted and it was never going to last for ever. But the sense of regret over leaving Croke Park today is palpable and it's also no wonder. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, the three-and-a-half year tenancy in Croke Park also heralded the most successful period in Irish rugby history, writes GERRY THORNLEY
As home to our national games, Croke Park represents national identity like no other sporting venue and it appears to have been genuinely inspiring. There have been afternoons – be they Sundays or on Saturdays come to think of it – when Croker hasn’t exactly had the fervour of an All-Ireland final day in September.
But, by and large, the good days have far outweighed the bad, with the wins over France and England last season being the springboard for a first Grand Slam in 61 years. Ensuring some tangible silverware from Ireland’s last day there today, by dint of sealing a fifth Triple Crown in seven years, would mark the farewell appropriately.
The standout game will be the unforgettable sense of occasion for the record 43-13 win over England in 2007. It resonated with the history between the two countries, notably the shooting of 11 spectators and the Tipperary captain Michael Hogan, during a Dublin-Tipperary football match in 1920.
The Hogan Stand, built in 1924, was named in his honour and Hill 16 had been built from the rubble of O’Connell Street that was left after British forces subdued the Easter Rising.
The GAA relaxed Rule 42 in April 2005 after much intense debate, and it was probably for the best that France arrived first the following February, but England’s first ever visit to Croke Park two weeks later had been shrouded in tension, especially when God Save The Queen was played.
With white shirts conspicuously absent, it was afforded due respect by the capacity crowd, which in turn prompted Martin Corry to leave the English line and applaud the supporters. Amhrán na bhFiann was sung so lustily it made the hairs stand on the back of your neck, as did much of the 80 or so minutes that followed.
Paul O’Connell had captained the team in the absence of an injured Brian O’Driscoll in the historic defeat to France a fortnight before.
“We were very aware of the history and tradition on Croke Park and how difficult it had been to get to play there,” said O’Connell this week. “We were very grateful to the GAA to be allowed to play there, conscious to represent the game well there and to do well there. I think we have and hopefully we can finish well there at the weekend.”
Against England, O’Connell and co were in inspired form. “The big memory would be the first English game there, particularly after the French defeat. The anthems were incredible – very, very emotional for everyone involved. That would be the big standout moment.”
It has been the stuff of dreams really. The crossover between Gaelic games and rugby has probably never been so pronounced. With the seasons also largely leading into the other, many a young kid’s early dreams would have flitted between the two as well.
As Geordan Murphy put it this week: “I always said when I was a young fella I wanted to play rugby for Ireland at Lansdowne Road and I wanted to play Gaelic football for Kildare in Croke Park. Obviously I never got to play for Kildare but I did manage to play in Croke Park.”
He is one of only 43 players who will be able to tell their children and their grandchildren they were able to play for Ireland at Croke Park. It promises to be a more select group with each passing year.
“We feel extremely privileged to be allowed on to the hallowed soil of the GAA,” admits Brian O’Driscoll. “I certainly grew up playing a lot of Gaelic football in my youth, as a supporter of the Dubs, watching early games or more in the third week in September, or the hurling final.
“I think every Irish person is aware of their heritage and the GAA is huge part of that. It’s been an absolute honour to play in Croke Park over the last four years.”
It transpires too that the feeling is mutual. On the generally accepted premise of a rental fee of €1.5 million per game, not alone have the GAA made an estimated €21 million from the 14 rugby matches played at the ground (and another €15 from the FAI’s tenancy), but it’s been a mutually beneficial and largely harmonious relationship.
“We’ve enjoyed it to be honest,” admits Páraic Duffy, the GAA’s director general. “Number one, it’s coincided with a very good period for the Irish team and it’s been very nice to host the Irish team at a time when they’ve been so successful. Last year, winning the Six Nations and this year, hopefully winning the Triple Crown, it’s been a great time to have the rugby team there.
“We’ve had a very good relationship with the IRFU. A lot of the supporters probably go to Gaelic games as well, especially those from Munster. There’s a lot of similarities and very often you’d see or hear the same people who go to Ireland games or our games.
“People in the GAA have been very happy for the (Irish) team and there’s been absolutely no negatives about it at all. In many ways we’ll be sorry to see them go.
“There’s been a great buzz around the place when the big matches were on. Virtually every game they’ve played has been a full house and there’ll be a certain sadness, I suppose, now that it’s come to an end.
“I don’t mean from a financial point of view either,” added Duffy. “I think the relationship with the IRFU has been top-class, and I certainly get on really well with Phillip (Browne). It’s been a very, very good relationship . . . And we all hope it finishes up on a winning note.”
Duffy agrees the relationship has increased the profile of the GAA and Croke Park.
“It’s been good for the association. It has allowed us to showcase the stadium to a much wider audience and we welcome the very positive comments we’ve got from players and people like Declan Kidney . . .”
Now too, there are sports fans from Britain, France, Italy and the southern hemisphere who’ve either been to Croke Park or know of the ground who would never have heard of it otherwise.
“Because of the profile it has got from rugby games it has certainly increased the numbers of overseas visitors. We’ve had more people visiting the stadium than ever before and that’s directly due to the rugby games.”
The problem for the IRFU henceforth is that, with their return to Lansdowne Road/Aviva Stadium, their capacity will drop from 83,000 to 50,000. Aside from less people being able to attend Irish rugby internationals and the IRFU’s loss of revenue, there’s also the millions which will be lost to the economy in these hard-pressed times.
While a Heineken Cup rematch could be staged at Croke Park, Ireland won’t return to Jones’s Road for international matches. When the GAA initially opened its doors, it was for the period in which the Aviva stadium was being built, but if the union knew what they know now, chief executive Philip Browne admitted in the Ireland-Italy match programme, things may have been different.
“If we had known in 2005 that Croke Park might be available for certain matches after the Aviva stadium was built, well then we might have built something less substantial or less sophisticated. We took decisions based on the facts that were in front of us as they were presented to us in 2005.
“The only way we can make the stadium wash its face is to play matches in it. People need to understand that. You can’t just pull down the shutters and say we are going to play somewhere else.”
There may be fears in GAA circles that the availability of Croke Park might add to a player drain due to the increased attractiveness and success of Irish rugby.
However, as sons of players who represented Ireland, the likes of O’Driscoll and Luke Fitzgerald (who played both football and hurling until he was 13) would assuredly have gravitated full-time to rugby in any case. The only player from a GAA background who consciously opted for rugby to be a professional sportsmen was Tomás O’Leary. And as with Eric Miller before him, O’Leary has designs on one day returning to play hurling for Erin’s Owen.
With familiarity too has come a strong home advantage. Ireland played France, a Grand Slam-winning Welsh side and New Zealand in their opening six games, but since losing those three, Ireland have put together a seven-game unbeaten run at Croke Park.
In an era when putting boot to ball has never been more pronounced, so it’s been that being able to catch a ball has become a core skill like never before. “Most of the Irish guys who play in the back three have all played a bit of (Gaelic) football and it is very good (for rugby),” says Geordan Murphy.
“They always ask me in England ‘how come you can catch?’ and I say ‘it’s bread and butter to a young Irish fella. They think nothing of catching a ball over their head’. That’s a skill that can transfer across pretty easily.”
Also fittingly therefore, it’s fair to say that no Irish team has ever been more infused by Gaelic games than this one.
