Tom English - No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland

NO
BORDERS

PLAYING RUGBY FOR

IRELAND

First published in hardback in 2015

This paperback edition first published in 2018 by

POLARIS PUBLISHING LTD
c/o Turcan Connell
Princes Exchange
1 Earl Grey Street
Edinburgh
EH3 9EE

in association with

ARENA SPORT
An imprint of Birlinn Limited
West Newington House
10 Newington Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1QS

www.polarispublishing.com

Text copyright Tom English, 2015, 2016, 2018

The right of Tom English to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologises for any errors or omissions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 9781909715707
EBOOK ISBN: 9780857908445

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Designed and typeset by Polaris Publishing, Edinburgh

Printed and bound by Gutenberg Press Limited, Malta

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Diffley, Sean, The Men In Green. Pelham Books, 1973

English, Alan, Grand Slam. Penguin Ireland, 2009

Fallon, Ivan, The Player: The Life of Tony OReilly. Hodder & Stoughton, 1994

Fanning, Brendan, From There To Here. Gill & Macmillan, 2007

Foley, Anthony, Axel: A Memoir. Hachette Books Ireland, 2008

Hayes, John, My Story. Simon & Schuster, 2012

Johnson, Tony and McConnell, Lynn, Behind the Silver Fern, Polaris Publishing, 2016

Keane, Moss, Rucks, Mauls & Gaelic Football. Merlin Publishing, 2005

McBride, Willie John, The Story Of My Life. Portrait, 2004

McKinney, Stewart, Voices From The Back Of The Bus. Mainstream Publishing, 2010

OCallaghan, Donncha, Joking Apart. Transworld Ireland, 2011

ODriscoll, Brian, The Test. Penguin Ireland, 2014

OGara, Ronan, My Autobiography. Transworld Ireland, 2008

OGara, Ronan, Unguarded. Transworld Ireland, 2013

OReilly, Peter, The Full Bag Of Chips. The OBrien Press, 2004

Quinlan, Alan, Red Blooded. Irish Sports Publishing, 2010

Reason, John (Ed.), How to Beat the All Blacks: The 1971 Lions Speak. Aurum Press, 2005

Robbie, John, The Game Of My Life. Pelham Books, 1989

Scally, John, The Giants of Irish Rugby. Mainstream Publishing, 1996

Sexton, Johnny, Becoming A Lion. Penguin Ireland, 2013

Ward, Tony, The Good, The Bad And The Rugby. Blackwater Press, 1993

OTHER SOURCES

Friends Reunited, David Kelly, Irish Independent

Remembering 2007 The One That Got Away, Gerry Thornley, Irish Times

My room, your room: Mike Gibson MBE and Elaina Davis chat about life in Room Q4A, Queens College Cambridge. alumni.cam.ac.uk

Unassuming Simon Easterby, Gerry Thornley, Irish Times

Dockland Express, Peter OReilly, Sunday Times

The Day Warren Gatland Gambled On The Future Of Irish Rugby, The42.ie Rugby

An All-Time Great Comfortably At Home In Any Era, David Kelly, Irish Independent

All It Takes, 3.ie with Paul OConnell

All It Takes, 3.ie with Robbie Henshaw

Rob Kearney Interview, Tatler Man

Crotty And The Try That Still Haunts Schmidt, Ruaidhri OConnor, Irish Independent

Brian ODriscoll Interview, Newstalk Off The Ball

Brian ODriscoll: Irelands Rugby Ironman, Huw Richards. New York Times

Brian ODriscoll: He changed Irish rugbys mindset for good, Donald McRae. Guardian

One Hand On The Dimmer Switch, Brendan Fanning, Sunday Independent

Joe Schmidt Interview, Newstalk Off The Ball

From Perfect Start To Darkest Finale, Gerry Thornley, Irish Times

Ginger McLoughlin: Limericks Rugby Legend, Dave McMahon, Politico

Rugby Interview with Tom Kiernan. Politico

Green Behind The Ears, Neil Francis, Sunday Tribune

You Cant Send Me Off: Des Fitzgerald Interview, David Walsh, Sunday Times

Tamer of the Aussies: Ken Goodall Interview, Peter OReilly, Sunday Times

The Past Is Never So Easy To Forget, Irish Independent.

Matt Cooper Today FM interview with Paul OConnell, November 2015

PHOTO CREDITS

InphoPhotography:

Getty Images:

Colorsport:

Fotosport:

For Jim Beveridge he belonged to Glasgow

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

How do you go about writing a post-war history of the Ireland rugby team, a journey that begins in 1945 with Jack Kyle taking his first steps in the international game and ends, in this new edition, seventy-three years later with Rory Best leading his band of heroes to the Grand Slam at Twickenham?

The only way to tell a story like this was for me to get the hell out of the way and let the players tell it for me. An oral history, if you like.

The starting point was Kyle. I rang him and he was precisely as everybody said he would be humble, kind and compelling. Next: Jimmy Nelson, another of the storied 1948 Grand Slam team. Jimmy was ninety-two years old when I interviewed him and his joy at winning, and frustration at losing, was the same as it was all those years ago when he was setting the agenda in the middle of the Irish scrum. I spoke to Jim McCarthy the same week. Another Grand Slam winner in 1948, another rugby great, another gentleman.

Sadly, all three have passed away since I interviewed them. In 2016, a year after the original version of No Borders was published, the last surviving member of the Slam of 48 went to God. Of all the people I spoke to for this book, Bertie OHanlon was, unquestionably, one of the warmest and funniest. What a rugby legacy these men left behind.

Im indebted to so many people, but Ive got to start with all the players, past and present, who gave so incredibly generously of their time and spoke so honestly about their years in the Ireland jersey. There are 130 original interviews between these covers and I dont know how many hours of recordings. We spoke about the highs and the lows, the euphoria, the insecurity and the slapstick, but Irelands story doesnt begin and end at the whitewash on the pitch.

It veers into politics and religion and the complexities of a united Ireland team that could have buckled and broken on numerous occasions during The Troubles but didnt because of the strength of character of some remarkable men. As the Triple Crown-winning Ulster wing, Trevor Ringland, said, I refused to let symbols like flags and songs be hijacked by extremists on both sides. To me, rugby was trying to build bridges while others were destroying them. We were finding a way of working together in friendship.

On a seventy-three year journey there were bound to be gaps in the narrative. Eight years as the Irish rugby correspondent for the