This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/mar/21/ireland-six-nations-paul-o-connell-scotland-england-wales
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Paul O’Connell’s cool head leads Ireland through Six Nations furnace | Paul O’Connell’s cool head leads Ireland through Six Nations furnace |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Three hours after the whistle, the celebrations finally began. By then it was night. Murrayfield was three-quarters empty but the West Stand was full and illuminated by the lights of thousands of mobile phones, all held aloft to capture photos of the little piece of sporting history unfolding on the stage in front. Soon enough fireworks filled the sky, and spotlights backlit the champagne spray bursting out of the bottles held by the players. The party was late starting and for a time no one had been sure whether it would take place at all. Which only made it all the more fun in the end. “The most strange and bizarre way to pick up a trophy,” said Paul O’Connell. “But incredible.” | Three hours after the whistle, the celebrations finally began. By then it was night. Murrayfield was three-quarters empty but the West Stand was full and illuminated by the lights of thousands of mobile phones, all held aloft to capture photos of the little piece of sporting history unfolding on the stage in front. Soon enough fireworks filled the sky, and spotlights backlit the champagne spray bursting out of the bottles held by the players. The party was late starting and for a time no one had been sure whether it would take place at all. Which only made it all the more fun in the end. “The most strange and bizarre way to pick up a trophy,” said Paul O’Connell. “But incredible.” |
| O’Connell and his players had spent most of the time since the end of the game milling around Murrayfield, first in the tunnel, then at a dinner, watching England’s match on the TV screens inside the stadium. Thousands of their fans were grouped all around, in the bars, or the narrow entry ways into the ground. Only those in the front rows were close enough to catch a glimpse of the screens and see exactly what was happening at Twickenham but their cheers and sighs spread all around, leaping from one band of fans to the next, alerting everyone to the ebbs and flows of England’s game. How they suffered. How they celebrated. | O’Connell and his players had spent most of the time since the end of the game milling around Murrayfield, first in the tunnel, then at a dinner, watching England’s match on the TV screens inside the stadium. Thousands of their fans were grouped all around, in the bars, or the narrow entry ways into the ground. Only those in the front rows were close enough to catch a glimpse of the screens and see exactly what was happening at Twickenham but their cheers and sighs spread all around, leaping from one band of fans to the next, alerting everyone to the ebbs and flows of England’s game. How they suffered. How they celebrated. |
| O’Connell reckoned that England’s win was “the performance of the championship”, that they “deserved a share of the spoils”. Magnanimous, that. Ireland were magnificent. They won the title with one of the great performances in their history, a 30-point victory that equalled their biggest ever win against Scotland. A little background here, to give a sense of the scale of the task facing them at the start of the match. | O’Connell reckoned that England’s win was “the performance of the championship”, that they “deserved a share of the spoils”. Magnanimous, that. Ireland were magnificent. They won the title with one of the great performances in their history, a 30-point victory that equalled their biggest ever win against Scotland. A little background here, to give a sense of the scale of the task facing them at the start of the match. |
| At Murrayfield, Ireland had won by that many points or more only twice before. The last of those was in 2005. In six games here since, they had lost three and won three, and the biggest of the victories was by only seven points. And while this Scotland side had lost all four of the games they had played in this Championship so far, the combined margin of defeat was only 25 points. So Ireland put more on them in 80 minutes than England, France, Italy, and Wales had between them in 320. | At Murrayfield, Ireland had won by that many points or more only twice before. The last of those was in 2005. In six games here since, they had lost three and won three, and the biggest of the victories was by only seven points. And while this Scotland side had lost all four of the games they had played in this Championship so far, the combined margin of defeat was only 25 points. So Ireland put more on them in 80 minutes than England, France, Italy, and Wales had between them in 320. |
| Through the first four rounds, Joe Schmidt had his side playing a cagey sort of game. They had only scored four tries in four games. Scotland had scored five, and made many more clean breaks and off-loads along the way. After Ireland’s 23-16 defeat to Wales, Schmidt may have changed up his side’s style anyway. But now he had no choice. Ireland had to find another way to play. They needed to cut loose. And so they did. | Through the first four rounds, Joe Schmidt had his side playing a cagey sort of game. They had only scored four tries in four games. Scotland had scored five, and made many more clean breaks and off-loads along the way. After Ireland’s 23-16 defeat to Wales, Schmidt may have changed up his side’s style anyway. But now he had no choice. Ireland had to find another way to play. They needed to cut loose. And so they did. |
| A turn-over in the first minute led to lineout, and the ensuing knock-on to a scrum. From there, the ball flickered across field to the left wing. Another pass from Robbie Henshaw, and Luke Fitzgerald would have been through. But it didn’t happen. Then a series of drives came up short. Cian Healy, Conor Murray, Devin Toner all took a crack. But Scotland held firm. And then, at last, a gap opened up in front of – who else? – O’Connell. He collapsed into it, coming down like a felled tree. It was, astonishingly enough, his first try in 66 matches, since the autumn of 2006. Perfect timing on his part. If Ireland had failed to score in those opening minutes … well, that’s the least of the many little imponderables, behind Jamie Heaslip’s tackle on Stuart Hogg just as he crossed the try-line, which hit him just hard enough to make him spill the ball before he got it down. Point is, O’Connell’s opening try was worth five points but the confidence it gave his team counted for so much morethan that. | |
| Fitzgerald, playing his first Test in two years and making his first start in four, was superb on the left wing, where his intricate interplay with Henshaw bamboozled the Scottish defenders over and again. They turned Dougie Fife inside out. Healey, too, was brilliantly bullish in the loose. But man of the match was Sean O’Brien, who played like a safari park rhino charging the fences in a final bid for freedom. He scored Scotland’s second, peeling off the back of a lineout, stepping half way around Fife, then shrugging off his half‑hearted tackle. And then he got their fourth too, smashing his way through – you’ll never guess – Fife again. Poor man. But it all started with O’Connell. What a magnificent, bloody-minded beast he is, a man who has experienced enough disappointment in his career to know just how important it is to take the chances when they come. “In his 101st cap,” Schmidt said of his skipper, “he was the guy he has been for the other 100 caps, he is a leader, he doesn’t know when to quit, and I think that was something we could see today.” Each time O’Connell got the ball, he would dip his great cannonball head, pump his legs and batter great holes in the Scottish line. And each time, you could hear roars of the Irish fans rise in volume, and see how his actions seemed to spur on his team-mates. | Fitzgerald, playing his first Test in two years and making his first start in four, was superb on the left wing, where his intricate interplay with Henshaw bamboozled the Scottish defenders over and again. They turned Dougie Fife inside out. Healey, too, was brilliantly bullish in the loose. But man of the match was Sean O’Brien, who played like a safari park rhino charging the fences in a final bid for freedom. He scored Scotland’s second, peeling off the back of a lineout, stepping half way around Fife, then shrugging off his half‑hearted tackle. And then he got their fourth too, smashing his way through – you’ll never guess – Fife again. Poor man. But it all started with O’Connell. What a magnificent, bloody-minded beast he is, a man who has experienced enough disappointment in his career to know just how important it is to take the chances when they come. “In his 101st cap,” Schmidt said of his skipper, “he was the guy he has been for the other 100 caps, he is a leader, he doesn’t know when to quit, and I think that was something we could see today.” Each time O’Connell got the ball, he would dip his great cannonball head, pump his legs and batter great holes in the Scottish line. And each time, you could hear roars of the Irish fans rise in volume, and see how his actions seemed to spur on his team-mates. |
| At the same time, he kept his cool when others were losing theirs. In the second half, Jonny Sexton seemed almost too pumped up, and missed two simple kicks at goal. It said plenty about O’Connell’s canny game management that he kept choosing to let Sexton and then Ian Madigan take such shots, when a rasher man may have gone for the corner, chasing tries. | At the same time, he kept his cool when others were losing theirs. In the second half, Jonny Sexton seemed almost too pumped up, and missed two simple kicks at goal. It said plenty about O’Connell’s canny game management that he kept choosing to let Sexton and then Ian Madigan take such shots, when a rasher man may have gone for the corner, chasing tries. |
| In the chaos of the occasion, he was the old head, the calm hand, and in the end, a worthy champion. | In the chaos of the occasion, he was the old head, the calm hand, and in the end, a worthy champion. |