The absence of any Ulster players in Ireland’s match day 23 raised a few eyebrows. The quiet rumblings turned to anguish when statistician Stuart Farmer pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that, in the history of Ireland Test matches, on only four previous occasions had there been no Ulster clubman in an Ireland match day squad.
The first occasion came in 1882 when a Belfast-born player representing Dublin University made the cut.
In 1997, three Ireland squads saw a group of five Ulstermen playing their club rugby in England involved. Defeats to New Zealand and Italy, plus a win over Canada each saw five of the following in a match day squad, players rotating depending on the game: Paddy Johns (Saracens), David Humphreys, Mark McCall, Kieron Dawson (all London Irish), David Erskine (Sale Sharks), Jonathan Bell and Allen Clarke (both Northampton Saints). All were born in Ulster, apart from Erskine, who was born in London but grew up in Bangor.
Friday was the first time no Ulster clubman or player native to the province featured in an Ireland Test squad.
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Ulster fans are not averse to blaming bias among the blazers down in Dublin for a lack of representation in the national side. This time, while impossible to speak for an entire fanbase, the reactions under Farmer’s tweet speak to a resigned acceptance; no Ulster player can feel aggrieved having missed out on Friday’s 23.
Iain Henderson is always there or thereabouts for Ireland, but was the odd secondrow out given Joe McCarthy’s form. Tom O’Toole didn’t do enough to squeeze past Finlay Bealham, while Tom Stewart and Nick Timoney were facing uphill battles to battle past the more experienced duo of Rónan Kelleher and Jack Conan.
Things quickly change. Italy this week could see rotation and a swift return to Ulster representation. Yet given the mire of negativity surrounding a team struggling for form, Friday’s historic first was a stark indicator of just how far the northern province has fallen this season.
By the Numbers: 3
The number of away wins in the opening round of the Six Nations. This is just the fourth time in championship history every game on a given weekend featured victory for the away sides.
Playoffs bound
Both Irish sides have qualified for the playoffs of the inaugural Celtic Challenge.
The Wolfhounds, helped by a hat-trick from Old Belvedere’s Katie Corrigan, scored six tries on their way to a 36-24 victory over Welsh side Gwalia Lightning at Energia Park. Corrigan added to her four-try tally in the last outing to take her record to seven tries in her last two matches for the Wolfhounds.
Railway’s Katie Heffernan and Blackrock’s Christy Haney also crossed for scores, alongside Cooke’s Niamh Marley as the Leinster/Ulster crossover side secured top spot in the final league standings.
Victory for the Wolfhounds ensured that the Clovers, the competition’s other Irish side, also reached the top-three playoffs despite a 35-21 defeat to Edinburgh away in Hive Stadium.
UL Bohs wing Chisom Ugwueru crossed as one of three first half try-scorers as the Clovers took advantage of an Edinburgh yellow card 12-21 at the break. However, the Irish side failed to score after the break as the hosts replied with three tries and a series of penalties to take the win.
With the Wolfhounds finishing top, Edinburgh in second and the Clovers in third, all three will compete across two matches each in the playoffs. The games start on February 17th with the Wolfhounds in action. The AIL returns the week before and does feature a round of matches on the opening weekend of the playoffs.
Visualisation
Some might say running around a field shouting at imaginary props makes you a madman.
Others call it visualisation, an ever more popular psychological tool used by people in high performance sport. Acting out what you intend to do makes success seem less daunting, if the mind has already experienced what positive outcomes are supposed to look like, so the theory goes.
In the new World Rugby documentary, Whistleblowers, focusing on the men and women in the middle during last year’s World Cup, a scene featuring Australian referee Angus Gardner has gone viral.
It is a well-shot, cleverly edited window into Gardner’s preparation. Footage of him refereeing an imaginary game on an empty pitch is interspersed with clips of Gardner in action during actual games in France.
“Guys, really good work on the last scrum, it was good height,” says Gardner to no one in particular, before the shot changes to him penalising a Scottish scrum for collapsing.
“I jump on a pitch and picture a few scenarios, ref a few phases, go through my processes. Like a scrimmage situation but without players,” explains Gardner.
“[I] go through the call, what do I like to say? ‘Okay boys, knock-on there, we’re going back for the penalty.’” He also gives the imaginary captain a warning for repeated infringements in the 22, threatening a card.
In the documentary, the Australian’s colleagues see the funny side, pointing out that in his imaginary match, Gardners made no errors and faced no backchat from players.
Despite any potential ridicule, the clip offers an interesting look at a sports psychology tool which is becoming ever more popular.
Word of Mouth
“It’s probably one of the worst 40-minute performances in my whole rugby career as a coach.” Warren Gatland on Wales’ opening half that left them 0-20 down at half-time vs Scotland.
