Alan Good
IT began with respectful silence, but ended with howls of derision. Croke Park has been very good to Irish rugby, but the behaviour of the native support at the death in Saturday’s defeat to Scotland meant the game left GAA headquarters under something of a cloud.
It won’t be remembered in the greater scheme of things, but the chorus of boos which greeted Scotland’s Dan Parks as he lined up what proved to be the winning penalty wasn’t becoming of the crowd.
The supporters’ frustration was palpable; the momentum had appeared to swing Ireland’s way after Tommy Bowe’s try, but the Scots had continued to stifle and Parks was given his opportunity to win it with three minutes remaining.
And for sure, he took his sweet time lining up the ball, extracting every precious second from the situation to ensure Ireland would have minimal time to hit back if he landed the kick.
Nonetheless, silence and respect for the kicker has become a staple of Irish rugby support. It’s something for which we are admired around the world, even if it is rarely observed by fans of the national side with quite the same respect as the Thomond Park faithful.
The crowd were entitled to made their feelings known as Parks ambled around before finally setting himself, but as soon as he had begun his routine, silence should have prevailed.
Instead, we got something like what you’d hear in the south of France, as Croke Park lost its collective manners.
It was a curious point of discussion among punters afterwards. Many acknowledged a clever piece of gamesmanship from Parks — who said afterwards he wasn’t unduly bothered by the hissing in any case — while admitting that had it been Ronan O’Gara or Jonathan Sexton lining up a potentially match-winning kick, they’d have silently prayed for them to take as much out of it as possible.
In one sense, Scotland had learned their lesson from the shell-shock of their defeat to Wales earlier in the competition. That day, Mike Blair was derided in all quarters for failing to thump the ball out on the full from the restart after the Welsh had drawn level — and we all know what happened next.
Others raised the question of a need to stop the clock for shots at goal, with a separate timer for the 60 seconds the kicker has to execute his routine — not the worst suggestion ever made. But while the current rules prevail, we must take this one on the chin.
Vats of ink were spilled back in 2007 to laud how Ireland had matured and progressed as a sporting nation, by according God Save The Queen respectful silence when England first pitched up at GAA headquarters. Trite and all as that was, what a pity we couldn’t keep our mouths shut this time around too.
