British & Irish Lions
• British & Irish Lions tour Australia in 2013
Ireland Rugby
It’s all over………………. Wow!
It was close, so close we all dared to whisper that Ireland might just win the championships – we whispered it quietly for some 80 minutes, before being cruelly denied it in the dying seconds by an event completely outside of our control.
In a thrilling game against Italy, Ireland won 51-24 leaving France to need 24 points difference over Scotland to clinch the championship, and it all looked on, until the 79th minute when Elvis Vermeulen’s try went over the line.
Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan admitted losing the championship right at the death was very cruel.
“It’s pretty tough to take, but that’s the problem when you kick-off early,” he said.
“We didn’t have a crystal ball, while France knew what they needed to get the job done. We gave it our best shot and it makes for great excitement, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“It would have been nice to have been in France’s position and known what score we needed to get to win the title.”
O’Sullivan had no complaints about the staggering of the matches for television purposes with so much at stake.
“They make the draw at the start of the championship and you just have to get on with it,” he said.
“There’s always a risk of this kind of drama unfolding on the day. But we all know that and there’s nothing we can do about it.
“That’s the way the cookie crumbles. It just didn’t go for us today.
“If France had won by 40 points it would have been easier to swallow, but not so when it was that close.”
Dempsey and Hickie scored two tries each, with Easterby, D’Arcy, Horgan and O’Gara all getting one. Italy got just two through Marco Bortolami and Roland De Marigny – while Pez kicked 12 points.
D’Arcy, Ireland’s player of the tournament said the conceding of the two tries in the second-half which turned out to be crucial was painful.
Italy captain Bortolami said Ireland would have been worthy winners of the competition.
“I think Ireland are the best team in the tournament,” he said.
“They may have lost to France, but they have played the best rugby.”
Their coach was equally quick to praise the Irish
“All we can do today is compliment a great Ireland side that played better rugby than us,”
England of course stepped out at 17:30 needing to win by an almost certainly improbable margin of 57 points in Cardiff. They didn’t even come close, losing 27-18 in Wales only win of the tournament.
The Six Nations organisers waited until the end of the Cardiff game before handing the cup to the French at the Stade de France with only a few officials in attendance. Coach Bernard Laporte had already left the stadium.