February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Along the way, the Irish team secured the first Triple Crown win since 1985. For those readers not familiar with the history of rugby, the Crown is secured when either Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales beats the other three of its island rivals.
France and Italy don’t compete for the Triple Crown, a fact that has perhaps eroded its luster a bit down the years, but the achievement is a highly significant one nevertheless.
Irish rugby has now attained that rare plateau known as consistency. The boys in green finished as runners-up in last year’s championship, and during the subsequent World Cup in Australia came within a whisker of defeating reigning champions Australia.
The Irish proved that this performance was no fluke by defeating the ultimate World Cup winners England at Twickenham a few weekends ago. This year’s championship also saw wins over Wales and Italy. Only France managed to trump the Irish ruggers. Four out five will do for now.
Irish boxer Bernard Dunne, meanwhile, notched up another win over the weekend in Los Angeles. The up and coming featherweight has been the Irish fighter to watch in recent months and must now be considered a sound prospect for a go at a world title in the not-too-distant future.
In Florida, Irish golfer Padraig Harrington showed once again why he is considered to be always in the hunt for one of the sport’s majors. That has yet to be, but for sheer consistency over the last couple of years, it has been hard to match the Dubliner. Harrington has hit form only a couple of weeks before the Masters at Augusta. Who knows?
All in all, the past few days have been a welcome reminder that Ireland, a small country in terms of area and population, has a remarkable habit of turning out sportsmen and women who can compete with the rest of the world, and more than occasionally top it.