by Ultán Corcoran

Ireland is a nation that continues to have an evergreen love affair with sports. Although not always rosy, recent decades have witnessed a lot of success across several fronts. Having demographically surpassed the five million mark for the first time since the mid-19^th century famine, we’re still minnows when compared to other nations. However, in a sporting context we punch well above our weight.

From Katie Taylor to Conor McGregor, Rachel Blackmore to Roy Keane – superstars endlessly drip fed onto the world’s main sporting stages. As for our team’s supporters, we’ve developed quite a strong reputation. Take the Irish soccer fans who were awarded the Medal of the City of Paris for exemplary sportsmanship in EURO 2016. Or when McGregor’s fans flooded the Las Vegas Boulevard ahead of his UFC 194 title fight. However, one sport has catapulted Ireland to lofty levels of glory in recent years: rugby.

Yet, in terms of popularity, it ranks behind sports like Gaelic football, hurling, and soccer. But has Irish rugby’s sporting fortune garnered more attention for itself? I live in Phibsborough, Dublin. Far from a rugby stronghold when compared with that of Gaelic games or soccer with Na Fianna and Bohemians FC on its doorstep. But I decided to conduct a 35-participant strong straw poll amongst people in their 20s and 30s. With the aim of seeing if Ireland’s recent rugby successes have impacted or influenced people’s views on the game.

STRAW POLL:

Q: Rank your interest in club and international rugby on a scale of 1 (no interest) to 5 (strong interest).

A: Over 50% of participants ranked themselves at four – Reasonable interest.

Q: What’s your earliest memory of Irish rugby?

A: Some participants mentioned the first Ireland game they attended. For others, individual moments like Shane Horgan’s 2007 try against England in Croke Park’s Canal End which hosted home games in the Six Nations that year. However, over 40% alluded to Ronan O’Gara’s drop goal in the Ireland v Wales Six Nations game in 2009. This sequence clinched a first Irish Grand Slam title in 61 years.

Q: Does Irish Rugby’s recent successes encourage your level of interest and support?

A: Close to 70% of responses indicated a clear yes. Reasons behind this include increased publicity regarding the team, and the enjoyment garnered from watching a winning Irish side.

It comes without surprise that the national games which make up the GAA rule the sporting roost in Ireland. It’s a symbol of pride and passion in most towns, villages, and cities across the country. Football is the world’s most popular sport. Given our proximity to England at its Premier League, as well as Irish ties to Celtic in Scotland, it naturally comes second. While the Republic of Ireland national team has encountered less success in recent decades, its glory years immortalised the sport here forever.

The period between 1986 and 2002, often referred to as “the golden generation”, sparked excitement in Ireland. With three World Cup tournament qualifications, and one European Championships, the Irish public greatly celebrated these achievements. An estimated 500,000 people took to Dublin’s streets to congratulate Jack’s Army on their return home – that famous Irish team who reached the quarter finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Pandemonium at its finest, us Irish have always been rightfully guilty of succumbing to the magnetic force of success. While there always were staunch football fans in Ireland, it’s safe to assume those Irish teams forged a lot of new ones too.

What is commonly referred to as ‘fair-weather support’ in sports worldwide, some people will naturally gravitate towards glory. This is not to say they should’ve been fans ahead of the upwards curve. But perhaps they may not have supported a team if not for said success. Irish international rugby has seen a rise in glory akin to the Irish football sides of old.

One could say modern Irish rugby came of age in 2009. Having never won a Six Nations since the addition of Italy in 2000, the Grand Slam winning side of 2009 changed that. They’ve added three more titles since, one as recently as 2018. Multiple player inclusions in the British & Irish Lions tours, test series victories away to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand have all been achieved since that iconic 2009 title-clinching O’Gara drop goal. Lest we forget it took 111 years to get our first win over the All Blacks. Both Jonathan Sexton and Josh van der Flier have picked up World Rugby Men’s Player of the Year accolades in 2018 and 2022 respectively. But does this resonate with fans in the same way Irish Football’s golden generation of the 80s and 90s did?

An interesting observation from poll responses presents questions over club rugby’s marketability. Those poll participants who ranked themselves at four – reasonable interest, stated their attention peaked for international occasions like World Cups and Six Nations. Club rugby seemingly left in the cold. Yet, our four provincial teams, Leinster, Munster, Ulster, and Connacht equally boast strong to moderate levels of success. While at the same time make up national team numbers who wear the green jersey.

Maybe this neglect of our provincial sides will change soon. Formula 1’s support has soared recently thanks to behind-the-scenes access and documentaries. Perhaps Netflix’s newly announced series on Irish Rugby, scheduled for release in 2024, will cast rugby’s popularity net even wider than before. Although not entirely conclusive from the relatively small sample, it’s fair to say sporting success draws eyes and ears. Correlation between title-winning moments and appetite for success is apparent amongst the younger generation. The 2023 Six Nations is underway as this article goes out. The Irish team are favourites to win the title. Andy Farrell’s charges sit pretty, ranked as World Rugby’s Number 1 side.

There’s the small matter of a Rugby World Cup in 8 months’ time too. Maybe, just maybe, this Irish Rugby team will pull crowds akin to the Italia 90 masses onto the streets in a not-too-distant future. Some old heads, but many new.