Heineken Cup Final 2012 = This is my 1999!

On the Saturday in question back in 1999 as Harry Williams prepared his Ulster players to take on Colomiers in their biggest game ever, I was getting ready for work!

Around me my family were sitting down getting comfortable to watch the game. I had friends and club mates at Lansdowne Road cheering on the White Knights. As for me, I had to make do with walking into my local Tesco store to work my normal Saturday evening shift. That afternoon I would have given anything to be at Landowne Rd to cheer on Ulster, even to have stayed at home and watched the game with my family would have been brilliant but I had no such luck.

Since then I have had the been lucky enough to watch Ulster in some fantastic games and also be present at some big results in the Heineken Cup (first win on English soil against Bath jumps to mind). The thing is, nothing can match the only game I wanted to be at. Everybody remembers where they where when Ulster won their first European Cup, their local rugby club, bar or even lucky enough to have been on the South Terrace at Lansdowne Road, unfortunately I was working on the chilled aisle of my local Tesco!

After going over all this above I am not actually going to be able to make it to Twickenham for the final (even though it is less than 8 miles away) but I am going to do something else that I really wanted to do that Saturday afternoon 13 years ago. I am going to sit down with a few beers in-front of the TV and take in every single second of what happens in the game and the build up to it.

Do not get me wrong, I love going to live matches and if circumstances were different I would be at this final. But then there is the other side of watching a big match, the one that only a TV can bring you and that is the close up coverage of every angle of the game. Sometimes I want to be able to talk in detail about a scrum going down, a missed tackle or a world class try being scored without saying "I couldn't really see it right from where I was sitting" and only the TV coverage can bring you that.

Over the past 13 years since the 99 final was broadcast, coverage of rugby from around the world has improved more than 1000% and with that breakdown of the game and what happens during it. We can see within a few seconds of a try being scored for example just how it was scored, the lines players ran etc. to make it happen and sometimes, that is better than being there.

On 19th May at 17:00 I will be perched on the edge of my sofa for what will be the most exciting 80 minutes I will experienced as a rugby fan. It was great to watch Ireland win the Grand Slam in 2009 surrounded by friends at my local rugby club back in Ireland but there is something a little but extra special to be able to watch your provenance/team in the biggest club competition in the rugby world!

On the 19th May NOTHING will stop me watching my "1999 European Cup Final"!

International Rugby

When I last wrote a Blog I was still in New Zealand enjoying what I can only describe as the best World Cup to have ever been played out! I will never forget my time in there, I watched top class rugby, met some interesting people and had a fantastic time seeing what the people and the country of New Zealand had to offer!

Since I have got back I have only had the chance to see one match and that was the Leicester Ulster match at Welford Rd in the Heineken Cup, it was a nice weekend away but the result did not go Ulsters way unfortunately. I suppose we cannot win them all.

This Blog is not about the domestic leagues, European competitions or club rugby per-say but about International rugby and it's effect on the Northern Hemisphere season.

I read the following article yesterday and felt pretty annoyed: http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/157226.html. The reason behind this is that I believe playing Internationals during the  normal season when the clubs are still playing in their leagues is one more thing that sets rugby apart from some other sports, like soccer.

Since I can remember the 6 Nations and the Autumn Internationals have been to me an intricate part of the season. Those teams which have more International players than others have their squad's stretched allowing for fringe players to come in and experience the action at 1st XV level and maybe even give the coach a bit of a nightmare when the regular starting player returns. For the teams with fewer Internationals it is a chance to go up against the bigger teams and maybe get the vital win that they need to stay up. In the days before professionalism it was a chance for International teams to meet and bound, players who would normally be spread out across the country back together, with the introduction of professionalism and regular training weekends for International squads this is no longer a big issue but it also means there should be even less complaining about International players being away from their clubs.

With squad sizes now on average around 35/40 players there are more than enough players to cover when International players are away, even taking into account a bad run of luck with injuries clubs do have other teams 2nd XV etc. that they can call from.

In short I cannot see any reason why a club chairman should come out and criticise what has been the "norm" now for a long time. I can understand his frustration in the way that a normal business owner would not like 5/6 of his best employees all disappearing for over a month together but we need to remember that at the heart of it rugby is a sport with a long tradition behind it and not just a vehicle in which to make money.

The Southern Hemisphere has gone around it differently but look at the problems that cause's when complaints about the Super Rugby season starting to soon and being played is extremely warm conditions and then in a World Cup year the Tri-Nations (now The Rugby Championship) is changed and fixtures dropped. We have none of this in the NH

I am all for embracing new technologies and new ways to improve a sport but when it comes to changing something which I see as institutional then leave it alone! It is part of the sports heritage!

Somebody Pinch me!

Did that really happen? Was I dreaming? NO! Ireland 15-6 Australia

I have to say that I really did think that we had it in us to beat Australia but to be at Eden Park and watch the performance live in front of me, I did not think that we would dominate them as much as we did.

The performance aside it was a fantastic weekend in Auckland! Just walking around the city you could see the amount of Irish support that was about, there were Irish fans from New Zealand, Australia, all around the world and of course our own island, it made for a great scene. I do not think that I could have escaped a green jersey if I wanted to.

We decided to walk to the game along the “Fan Trail” which was about 4 KM long with entertainment and bars along the way, I have to admit though after a heavy Friday night the bars were the last thing on my mind but the craic that was had by everyone when we stopped was great. Nearing the ground the weather set in and we were worried that it would be a wet old Saturday night but thankfully for all it blew over as the sunset.

As Eden Park filled up it seemed that the Irish were out numbered by the Aussie fans which I did have to admit I expected but as I wrapped up against the cold I never noticed the green support slipping into the ground but as the atmosphere built so did the sea of green. I have not had the chance yet to get to the new Lansdowne Road but I would expect that when I do I might be a little disappointed as Saturday night was indeed a massive “home” game for Ireland.

Nothing could burst my bubble after the game, my hang-over had gone and I was on a massive adrenaline high, the stadium was awash with green and the singing would have lifted the roof, if indeed Eden Park had a roof.

This was what the Rugby World Cup is all about, this is why I decided to come to New Zealand!

There were three words said by everyone after the game, can you guess what they were? It was simple, “I was there!”

If the rest of the tournament is as good as that one game, well, we are all in for a treat.

COME ON IRELAND!l

And so it Begins!

And so it begins!

Well I made it safe and sound to New Zealand after what could only be called a very long and tiring flight where no sleep was taken (well maybe a couple of hours!).

Landing in New Plymouth we could see that the small town was very excited to be hosting the World Cup with nearly all the shops having Ireland, USA, Russia or Wales flags and colors in their windows and this only helped with getting us over the jet lag which I was determined not to suffer from!

As the “handles” of Tui's followed at the hotel with the rest of the tour party the decision was made to stick around to watch the England Argentina game. It was a tough old game to watch, one because we all wanted to see Argentina win and secondly because the beer was not helping with the tiredness, but we made it and the jet lag was over come!

After the excitement of landing day came game day and with the fact that the hotel across from ours was the Ireland team hotel, where just the day before we watched as some of the boys come and go on some hired bikes everyone was in a very excited mood!

Making our way to the ground by private bus rather than walking we got there I plenty of time before the gates opened and so when they did it was straight to the bar where the (very expensive) beer was flowing. With the wind and rain coming and going we knew that it was going to be a night when the elements could cause a few problems for both teams but hoping that Ireland having the experience of them we did not worry to much.

Taking my seat on the try line I got settled down with my four pack and a few “Ireland” supporters around me. This is when the World Cup started for me truly. There were Maori's and other New Zelanders in Ireland tops as well as USA and other Ireland fans, the banter was good and the game was under way, that was until just a few minutes in when the chanting started!

I have no problems with soccer fans supporting rugby teams, the more the better I say when it comes to supporting ones home country in the Rugby World Cup but when you try and turn it into a soccer game, give up and go home I say! There was no need for the Ole chants to start just after kick off, I see no problem with the good old chant of “Ireland, Ireland, Ireland!” and with the beginning of a “Mexican” wave after only around a couple of minutes after kick off I was starting to doubt some of the other “Ireland” fans were really supposed to be there.

The game itself was very badly affect by the weather as expected but I, and the rest of my tour party, did not think that this could be used to help justify the performance. Ireland looked very lacklustre and at times they seemed to let the pressure of getting the win get to them. We all knew that the win was a must and I was hoping that I would witness a complete Ireland domination which would include scoring enough try's to get the bonus point and help to boost the teams confidence but unfortunately it was not to come.

Now I have moved onto our second hotel and the build up to the Australia game has begun I have forgotten about the USA game and am now trying to build am image of how the game will play out in Auckland with what I think a team of; Keaney, Bowe, Trimble, O'Driscoll, Darcy, O'Gara, Reddan, Court, Best, Ross, O'Connell, O'Canahal, Ferris, Heslip and O'Brien will start.

Now, until Auckland!

One week till D-Day!

As the teams start to arrive in New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup kicking off on the 9th I am starting to think about my own trip down to the land of the long white cloud and the surprises that it has in store for me and J.

With Ireland's performances in the warm-up games a bit below power to say the least you would probably forgive me in saying that on Saturday evening my thoughts started leaning towards how I was going to come back from the World Cup and face my mates questioning and mocking me about why for the second successive tournament Ireland were knocked out at the group stages. This is not unrealistic when you consider that we have the Tri-Nations champions Australia in our group along with an Italy team that run us very close in the 6 Nations and if we get beat by these two teams then we would find it very difficult to progress out of the pool!

With all this in mind I spent Saturday night in the company of good friends with very little talk of the game which had taken place earlier that day and this I think was a good thing. I woke on Sunday a bit bleary-eyed and proceed to read the match reports and watch the interviews from Saturdays game and, to me anyway, it seemed that just like the rest of us the media, the management and the team itself were a bit taken aback by what had happened. Is this the same group of players who in March completely out classed the same team, England, in the same stadium? The answer quite simply is yes, and that is why we were all so shocked.

As the day progressed I started to get a few texts from J asking if I had received the parcel he had sent to me with my World Cup goodies in it, I hadn't at this stage so my excitement began to go up a bit thinking about the "kit" that was about to arrive along with e-tickets, full tour schedule etc. To be honest, I was starting to feel, in my head at least, a bit like one the 30 guys selected to play for Ireland in the World Cup it self.

Monday morning arrived and I nipped downstairs to the concierge to see if they were there to pick up my stuff and to my delight they were! I rushed back up to my apartment and ripped into the box to revel the goodies inside. There was a t-shirt, a polo shirt, a fleece, waterproof coat and a beanie hat, all with the official Rugby World Cup branding on them inside a neat little kit bag. All the kit was matching and seeing it all laid out on my sofa I could help but think that I was part of a team!

The team I am part of has a massive part to play, just like the Ireland back-room staff look after the players every needs helping them focus solely on the game at hand. I am part of the Ireland travelling support, people from all over the country (and in my case London) coming together to make the trip to the other side of the world to cheer on our team. When Ireland step out on to the pitches in New Plymouth, Auckland, Rotorua and Dunedin it will be our job to make sure that each of those stadiums becomes an Ireland home game! We are there to represent out country as people as well and even though we have come off the back of a few bad results we can just take a look at the positivity shown by the players as something to lift us!

A lot has happened to me in the past week and in another weeks time I will have reached D-Day and along with a few others will be heading to Heathrow airport were I will meet my travelling companions each of us making the trip for their own reasons but all with the one goal in mind, to make sure our boys in green get the best damn support that any travelling Ireland team have had anywhere!

COME ON IREALND!

My Rugby World Cup

With the start of the Rugby World Cup just over a month away my excitement is building. Last week I received my final match day ticket for the Ireland vs. Italy match in Dunedin and that was the key to my kid like excitement going through the roof.

In 2005 my friends and I decided that we were going to go the Lions Tour of South Africa in 2009, make it our once in a life time trip, no holds barred, great rugby, great country and great times. Unfortunately the trip never came to fruition and we all sat at home watching every last minute of every game on TV. But when the final whistle of the last Test match blew I knew that I had one last chance of a trip of a life time; the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand! This would be even bigger than the Lions tour; this was the ultimate rugby tournament taking place in a country where rugby is just the way of life. I could not think of anywhere else I should go for my dream rugby trip.

And so the planning began, dragging in my mate Jonny we set about planning how, when and where we would be going, how we would be getting about and how long we would be staying. From the start I wanted to take the full two months of September and October off, getting to New Zealand in plenty of time for the opening ceremony and then taking the time after the tournament was over to visit other parts of the South Pacific. Slowly but surely thou this idea came to an end, as I could not afford to take the time off work and the price for my once in a life time trip was rocketing.

Our plans changed and we decided that we would just attend the Ireland pool matches which would give us around a month in New Zealand. We applied for and got the tickets and it was then time to start looking into our travel. The last few months of 2010 were spent trying to get a prices for flights to New Zealand and getting quotes for camper-vans and car hire companies, looking into youth hostels, hotel's and camp sites. With Jonny back home in Ireland and myself based in London it was hard to try and work things out and therefore it was decided that when I was home over the Christmas holidays the two of us would sit down together and once and for all get things sorted or at least know which direction either one of us had to go to get the trip sorted. When I arrived home my Dad had been doing a bit of research of his own and had looked into a sports travel companies offering deals to the RWC for each of the home nations, this was something that we had thought about but had considered too expensive after a sitting down with a few beers and a few glasses of wine everything seemed to point in the direction of going with the sports travel company. Everything was there for us, flights to and from New Zealand, internal transfers, accommodation etc. All we had to do was the pay the money.

It was settled, as long as the company allowed us to use are own tickets we had already purchased we would go with them and sure enough, little under a month later our names were down and it was all steam ahead for the Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.

Over the next couple months I am going to try and blog as much as I can about the buildup too and of course the trip itself. I hope that you all will be able to enjoy this trip with me.

Tim Barker Interview

Tim Barker Interview