The Ireland Women become the first side from the Ireland Sevens Programme to win a World Series title, as Eve Higgins pounced for a decisive 13th-minute try in an epic 19-14 Cup final victory over Australia, the current table toppers.

Having lost to the Australians in their only previous Cup final appearance in Seville two years ago, Allan Temple-Jones’ Irish side gained revenge with stalwarts Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe and Lucy Mulhall both touching down during the first half.

Earlier Mulhall had starred with two tries during an impressive 31-7 semi-final defeat of Britain, despite Ireland previously having a poor semi-final record of just one win from seven at that stage of competition.

In Sunday’s final, captain Mulhall capitalised on Charlotte Caslick’s sin-binning in the final to squeeze in under the posts just before half-time.

Ireland lead 14-7 at half-time

Ireland’s 14-7 interval lead was erased when Teagan Levi evaded a diving tackle from Higgins for a breakaway ninth-minute effort, yet Mulhall, the HSBC player of the final, and her team-mates brilliantly held their nerve in a tense end-game.

They got back on the front foot, with Béibhinn Parsons accelerating through into the opposition 22, before replacement Aoibheann Reilly fed Higgins on the left wing and she stepped inside Isabella Nasser, shrugging off her attempted tackle to score.

Mulhall pushed her conversion narrowly wide, but it was not needed in the end as Australia knocked on from the restart. Reilly got the ball out of the scrum swiftly, allowing her skipper to kick the ball dead and crown a superb team performance.

“This is massive for Irish women’s rugby”

Ireland coach Alan Temple-Jones was almost speechless:

“Playing Australia is an unbelievable opportunity for the girls. We’re extremely chuffed … lost for words. We’ve had a good focus these last two weeks. We had a lot to improve on after Dubai and Cape Town … unreal.”

The Irish captain Amy Mulhall said the victory had been “a long time coming,” before adding, “It means a lot and we’ve been on a long journey. This is massive for Irish women’s rugby; we’ll be sure to celebrate.”

Ireland now move up to fourth position in the overall SVNS standings, with Australia still clear at the top.

Men win 3rd place play-off

As well as the Ireland Women adding to the silver (Seville) and bronze (Langford) they won during the 2021/’22 season, the previous match had seen the Ireland Men overcome Fiji 24-7 in brilliant fashion to win the 3rd place play-off.

After bowing out of the Cup competition to SVNS Series leaders Argentina, they took on the Fijians without injured captain Harry McNulty, and fell behind to a Josese Batirerega try.

The talismanic Terry Kennedy hit back with two touchdowns either side of half-time, and it was Ireland who produced the stronger finish with their bench becoming a crucial factor.

Lively replacement Gavin Mullin ran in a brace of tries in the 11th and 14th minutes to seal the result and delight the vocal Irish support in Western Australia’s capital city.

It is the fourth SVNS Series medal that the Ireland Men have won – they have picked up three since becoming a core team. Their first one was secured back in London in 2018 when they were bronze medallists as an invitational outfit.

Like their female counterparts, the most recent SVNS Series podium finishes for James Topping’s side were in 2022 when they earned silver in Toulouse, and did likewise in Dubai during the second leg of the 2022/’23 season.

The two Ireland squads have certainly hit the ground running at the start of 2024, giving themselves a timely boost as the countdown continues to the Women’s Olympic debut in Paris, where the Men will compete for the second time after their maiden qualification in Tokyo.

The 2024 SVNS Series continues in February and March with a double-header in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

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1995 was when Rugby went global. The tournament was always going to be played out with the spotlight of the International media on it due to President Nelson Mandela bringing the apartheid era to an end and along with it South Africa’s sporting isolation. The Springboks had been banned from the 1987 and 1991 tournaments. Now that the apartheid era was over they would participate for the first time.

The tournament surpassed all expectations, Jonah Lomu burst onto the stage and became Rugby’s first superstar. Spoiler Alert – The home side went on to beat the All-Blacks in the final. Nelson Mandela presenting Francois Pienaar with the Webb Ellis trophy became the defining image of the tournament. So what was Ireland’s part in all of this? 

Pool stage

For the first time, Ireland were in a group that they were not guaranteed to progress from. They were drawn in Pool C alongside New Zealand, Ireland, Wales and Japan. First up were the mighty All-Blacks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. 

Ireland New Zealand

It was a World Cup debut for 20-year-old Jonah Lomu, who at 6ft 5in and weighing in at 18 stone was unheard of for a winger at the time. But Ireland were about to get an up-close glimpse of his pace and power. 

The game started well for the Irish. Former hammer thrower, Gary Halpin, crashed over for the game’s first try as Ireland took an early lead. But that would be as good as it got for Gerry Murphy’s side as New Zealand clicked into gear. Two  Andrew Mehrtens’ penalties got them back to within a point of the Irish, before a brief reprieve when New Zealand had a try disallowed due to Andrew Little having a foot in touch. Then Lomu showed his immense power bursting through three Irish tacklers to score his first of seven tries at the tournament. 

The second All-Black try arrived shortly after when Brendan Mullen saw an attempted kick on the edge of his own 22 charged down by Frank Bunce who gathered to score. Denis McBride gave Ireland a glimmer of hope with a try just before half-time after a great break from Simon Geoghegan. At the break, Ireland trailed by 20-12. 

A second Lomu try after he was put into space by Kronfeld spelled the end of the Irish challenge. Lomu was denied his hat-trick after making a dazzling break from his own 22 and bursting past four would-be Irish tacklers. Simon Geoghegan made a try-saving tackle 5 yards out only for Lomu to pop the ball up to the onrushing Kronfeld who scored.

David Corkery grabbed, what was by that stage, a consolation try for Ireland before a late try from Glen Osborne added a gloss to the scoreline that highly flattered the All-Blacks after a brave Irish performance. 

Ireland 50 Japan 28

Next up for the Irish, four days later in Bloemfontein, was a 50-28 win over pool minnows Japan. Tries from David Corkery, Neil Francis, Simon Geoghegan, Eddie Halvey and Niall Hogan as well as two penalty tries saw the Irish outscore the Japanese by seven tries to four. Paul Burke took over from Eric Elwood at out-half for this game and nailed 6 out of 7 conversions as well as a penalty.

Ireland 24 Wales 23

Ireland were back in action in at Ellis Park, Johannesburg just four days later for a Pool C decider against Wales. The Irish were quietly confident having won the corresponding Five Nations clash in Cardiff the previous March 12-16 with Brendan Mullin scoring the only try of the game.

Wales had also enjoyed an easy win over Japan, before being beaten by New Zealand 34-9 in their second pool encounter. A 6th minute Nick Popplewell try off a lineout maul, converted by Eric Elwood, gave the Irish a great start. They stretched their lead when Denis McBride race under the posts after some dubious Welsh defending. Elwoods conversion saw Ireland lead 14-0 before the half hour mark. A Neil Jenkins penalty got Wales off the mark and an Adrian Davies drop  goal just before the break left the scoreline Ireland 14 Wales 6. 

After the interval a Jenkins  penalty brought the arrears to just 5 points. But just as Irish fans started to sweat, Eddie Halvey crashed over after good work from Paddy Johns to make it a two score game once again. A Jonathan Humphries try for Wales on 73 minutes, which Jenkins converted, meant a nervous last few minutes for Irish fans. Elwood’s penalty on 78 made the game safe, before a Welsh try with the last play of the game made the final score of Ireland 24 Wales 23 look tighter than it really was.

Quarter Final

Ireland’s reward for escaping their pool was a quarter-final meeting with a French side that had  topped Pool D with three wins from three. Tonga (38-10), Ivory Coast (54-18) and Scotland (22-19) were all beaten to set up a second meeting of that year against an Irish side they had convincingly beaten in Dublin by 7-25 the Five Nations back in March.

The quarter-final took place in Kings Park, Durban and had a lunchtime kick-off at 1:10pm local time. An Elwood penalty after 2 minutes of the game gave Ireland an early lead. France answered with a kick of their own from the boot of Thierry Lacroix after 6 minutes. This patter was to be  repeated again three in the next thirty five minutes of play with three more penalties apiece for the kickers. So the scoreboard read 12-12 at the interval, but Elwood’s fourth penalty on 38 minutes  was to be the last time as Gerry Murphy’s side trouble the scoreboard as they never really got going after the break. 

Four more penalties from Lacroix as well as two tries in the last ten minutes of the game from Phillipe Sanit-Andre  and a last minute intercept try from Emile Ntamack gave the French a comfortable win in the end. Once again there was an anti-climatic feel to an Irish World Cup campaign, this time they didn’t even have the comfort of a heroic defeat to cling to.

After Ireland’s exit….

It was to be Ireland’s final game of the amateur era as within two months the game went professional. After the tournament the IRFU replaced Gerry Murphy with their first Head coach, New Zealander Murray Kidd.  

On the field South Africa completed the fairytale for the new rainbow nation. Nelson Mandella presenting the William Webb Ellis trophy to Springboks captain Francois Peinnar became an iconic image. It represented the hope of a new era for the recently unified nation

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The 2003 edition of the tournament was originally planned as another joint venture between Antipodean neighbours Australia and New Zealand. However, political squabbling prior to the of the tournament saw hosting rights withdrawn from New Zealand. As a result 2003 became the first time the Rugby World Cup was hosted by a single country. 

Ireland’s Six Nations campaign that year started well. Comfortable wins away to both Scotland (6-36) and Italy (13-37), as well as a hard fought 15-12 win over France at Lansdowne Road set up a final day Grand Slam decider at home to England. 

That encounter was memorable for the pre-match ‘Carpet-gate’ incident. English Captain Martin Johnson breached etiquette and refused to move his team to the correct position for the pre-match presentation to then President Mary McAleese. This meant that a Brain O’Driscoll led Irish side took up their position off the carpet and on the grass. Unfortunately, the performance on the day from a nervous looking Irish side was poor as a dominant English side comprehensively beat Ireland 6-42.

In the build up to the tournament the loss through injury of Geordan Murphy and Rob Henderson came as a blow to Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad. 

Pool A

Ireland were drawn in Pool A alongside familiar foes – hosts Australia, Argentina and Romania. Ireland had faced all of those nations in the 1999 World Cup, while Namibia were the fifth team in the pool.

11th October 2003: Ireland 45 Romania 17

Ireland enjoyed a comfortable opening round win over the Romanians in Gosford. Tries from Shane Horgan, Keith Wood, Victor Costello and  a brace from Denis Hickie as well as four conversions (Humphreys 3, O’Gara 1) and four penalties from the boot of David Humphreys ensured Ireland picked up a bonus point win. The bonus point system was a new addition for the Pool stages in 2003.

19th October 2003: Ireland 64 Namibia 7

A comprehensive 57 point win for O’Sullivan’s side against tier 2 Namibia in a rain soaked Sydney set a new Irish record score at a World Cup. Alan Quinlan set the tone with the first of ten Irish tries after just 2 minutes, breaking off the back of a maul to score his first of two tries in the game. Eric Miller also grabbed a brace, while Girvan Dempsey, Denis Hickey, Marcus Horan, Guy Easterby, Shane Horgan and John Kelly all got in on the act. Ronan O’Gara added seven conversions. Indeed, but for the slipper conditions caused by the deluge the margin of Ireland’s victory would have been far greater.

The hapless Namibian’s would go on to create some unwanted World Cup history in their final pool game as they fell to Australia by a record margin of 142-0. Surpassing the previous record set in South Africa in 1995 when New Zealand beat Japan 145-17.

26th October 2003: Ireland 16 Argentina 15

Ireland gained a measure of revenge for their 1999 defeat to Los Pumas in Lens with a narrow win over the Argentines in Adelaide. Alan Quinlan’s try midway through the first-half, which came against the run of play, was to be the games decisive score. Keith Wood set up the try after stealing a lose line-out ball and bursting up the field, before off loading to Quinlan who raced over. For the unfortunate Tippearay man it also signalled the end of his tournament. He injured his shoulder in the act of scoring that try. Despite that score Ireland only held a single point lead at the break !0-9. Argentina had two Gonzalo Quesada penalties and a Ignacio Corleto drop goal to show for their first-half efforts. For Ireland David Humphreys had converted the try and also kicked a penalty.

Just before the hour mark a second drop-goal put the Argentines ahead, but two penalties from substitute out-half Ronan O’Gara, who was introduced in the 56th minute, put the Irish back in control.  A third Quesada penalty with five minutes to go brought the margin back to a single point. Plenty of nail-biting ensued, but the Irish held out til the final whistle.

The win for O’Sullivan’s side ensured progress from Pool A, while the result also meant an early return home for an Argentine side who had already lost to Australia by 24-8 in their opening match.  

1st November 2003: Australia 17  Ireland 16

The pool decider was played in front of a partisan home crowd in the Docklands stadium in Melbourne. Eddie O’Sullivan opted to start O’Gara ahead of Humphreys due to the formers impressive substitute cameo in the previous game. Ireland found themselves 8-0 behind after the opening 12 minutes. An early drop-goal from Australia’s diminutive scrum-half George Greegan was followed shortly after by the games first try from flanker George Smith. But Ireland responded positively and battled their way back into contention. Two O’Gara penalties narrowed the gap, a Elton Flatley penalty left the half-time score reading Australia 11 Ireland 6.

Another Flatley three pointer push out the lead again to eight, before a moment of magic from Brian O’Driscoll saw him somehow defy gravity and squeeze over in the corner despite the attention of two Wallaby defenders. O’Gara’s magnificent touchline conversion brought it back to a one point game. Australia responded quickly and added another Flatley penalty, but in the last thirty minutes it was all Ireland. An O’Driscoll drop-goal on 67 minutes reduced the gap to the minimum again (1:25.00 in the video). Shane Horgan almost scored from an O’Gara cross field kick (1:16.00), while O’Gara himself curled a long range drop goal effort just wide of the posts. Humphreys entered the fray for the final quarter of an hour and hit an even later effort just wide to the right of the Aussie posts. But the match winning score never came and a crucial George Smith turn-over at the death allowed Greegan to boot the ball to touch. Top spot in the pool gave the Aussies a quarter-final meeting with Scotland, while for Ireland it meant a meeting with old foes France.

9th November 2003: France 43 Ireland 21

Ireland returned to the Docklands in Melbourne fully of optimism after that strong second-half showing against the hosts. Eddie O’Sullivan’s side had a good track record against the French and had won three of their previous four meetings. However, the French had been impressive in the pool stages and romped to victory in all their Pool B games. Fiji were beaten 61-18 in their pool opener, Japan were dispatched 51-29 by a second string side, they then hammered Scotland 51-9 before their midweek side accounted for the USA by 41-14. 

Ireland were aware of how costly their slow start had been in their last game against Australia. O’Sullivan wanted them to try and set the tempo early on. However, the previous clash had taken a heavy toll on the Irish team and their play lacked the aggression and tempo of a week previous. The French pack got on top and Frederic Michalak  directed the play from an armchair seat. 

Once Oliver Mange crossed for the games first try it was clear there was only going to be one winner in this mismatch. By half-time the game was as good as over, France lead 27-0 by the break and it was clear that the second half would merely be a damage limitation excercise. 

Second Half

Shortly after the restart twenty one year-old Michalak, who was metronomic in his kicking all day, sent over a 42nd minute penalty to increase the French lead to 30 points. It was a sign of how bad Ireland were  when 35 year old prop Jean-Jacques Crenca ran in the fourth French try and at 37-0 after just 48minutes it was in danger of becoming Ireland’s worst World Cup performance ever.

O’Sullivan replaced Ronan O’Gara with David Humphreys after this score. O’Gara later said it was the only game he was ever glad to be taken off in. The change of out-half help Ireland lift their tempo and a great break trough the midfield from Kevin Maggs off a lineout move saw Ireland get their first score of the game on 52 minutes. With renewed impetus after the try Ireland had a sustained period of pressure and this led to a Raphael Ibanez yellow card and another Irish try off the resulting 5 yard scrum. Victor Costello broke off the back and crashed the ball up, Peter Stringer then whipped a quick ball out to Humphreys, who then dinked a little kick behind the French line. Brain O’Driscoll reacted quickest and using all of his speed and dexterity touched the ball down inches before the dead-ball line (1:20:30 in full highlights). With the final play of the game O’Driscoll crashed over for his second and Ireland’s third try after a quick tap and go penalty from Guy Easterby was recycled just short of the line by Humphreys to the on-rushing O’Driscoll who barrelled over to score.

The Irish performance over the last half-hour of the game when they outscored the French by 21-6 only added to the sense of frustration after the game. It was to prove an inauspicious end to the decorated career of Irish Captain Keith Wood who retired after the game. France went on to lose their semi-final to England, who then beat Australia in the final thanks to a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal in the last minute of extra-time. 

Irish World Cup Squad 2003

Forwards (17)

Simon Best (Ulster/Belfast Harlequins), Shane Byrne (Leinster/Blackrock College), Reggie Corrigan(Leinster/ Greystones), Victor Costello (Leinster/St. Mary’s College), Simon Easterby (Llanelli), Anthony Foley(Munster/Shannon), Keith Gleeson(Leinster/St.Mary’s College), John Hayes (Munster/Shannon), Marcus Horan (Munster/Shannon), Gary Longwell(Ulster/Ballymena), Eric Miller (Leinster/Terenure College), Donncha O’Callaghan(Munster/Cork Constitution), Paul O’Connell (Munster/Young Munster), Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster/St. Mary’s College), Frank Sheahan (Munster/Cork Constitution), Alan Quinlan (Munster/Shannon), Keith Wood (Munster/Garryowen).

Backs (13)

Jonathon Bell(Ulster/Dungannon), Girvan Dempsey (Leinster/Terenure College), Neil Doak (Ulster/Belfast Harlequins), Guy Easterby (Rotherham), Denis Hickie (Leinster/St. Mary’s College), Anthony Horgan (Munster/Cork Constitution), Shane Horgan (Leinster/Lansdowne), David Humphreys (Ulster/Dungannon), John Kelly (Munster/Cork Constitution), Kevin Maggs (Bath), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster/Blackrock College), Ronan O’Gara (Munster/Cork Constitution), Peter Stringer (Munster/Shannon).

Geordan Murphy and Rob Henderson were original part of the squad, but were injured in the build-up to the tournament.

Origins of the Rugby World Cup

1987 Rugby World Cup

1991 Rugby World Cup

1995 Rugby World Cup

1999 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

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The 1991 tournament was originally supposed to be hosted solely by France. This soon changed due to political wrangling and horse-trading between the Five Nations sides. Political and financial wheeling and dealing led to Marcel Martin of the FFR (Fédération Française de Rugby) declaring that the French were incapable of hosting the tournament on their own. As a result, the games were shared out between the five home countries. Each of the unions got a share of the pie. 

From an Irish perspective, this was positive news, both financially for the IRFU, and also for the national team. They would now play two of their pool games at their home venue. Landsdowne Road was also nominated to host a quarter-final and semi-final for the tournament, while Ravenhill would host the pool match.  

Pool Two

Ciarán Fitzgerald’s side were drawn in Pool 2 alongside Scotland, Japan and Zimbabwe. Ireland easily dispatched Zimbabwe in their pool opener by 55-11. In a one sided match they were 33-0 ahead at the break before taking their foot off the gas somewhat in the second half. They ran in eight tries to Zimbabwe’s two. Tries from David Curtis, Simon Geoghegan, a brace from Nick Popplewell and four tries from no.8 Brian Robinson as well as four conversions and five penalties from Ralph Keyes gave Ireland a 44 point win. (A Try was still worth 4 points at the 1991 World Cup, the change to five points didn’t happen until an IRFU board meeting in April 1992).

Three days later Ireland were back in action against Japan. Two tries from Connacht back row Noel Mannion and one apiece from fellow back rower Pat O’Hara and full back Jim Staples along with two conversions and four penalties from Keyes saw Ireland win by 32-16. 

The Scots had home advantage at Murrayfield for the pool decider between the two sides. Scotland had also enjoyed one sided wins in their other matches, running in a combined fifteen tries in their 47-9 win over Japan and 51-12 victory against Zimbabwe. 

It was Ireland’s third game in nine days, but there was no shortage of motivation, as the winners of this game would clinch pool 2 and secure an easier route to the semi-final. Thanks to Western Samoa’s shock 16-13 win over Wales at the Cardiff Arms park earlier in the tournament the little Pacific nation had already sealed the second qualifying spot form Pool 3 and would face the winner of the Pool 2 clash between Scotland and Ireland, while Australia who topped Pool 3 awaited the second place side from our pool.

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The first half went well for Fitzgerald’s men and three penalties and a sweetly struck drop goal from Ralph Keyes off his left foot saw Ireland lead 12-9 at the break. Scotland’s first half points came from two Gavin Hastings penalties and a Craig Chalmers drop goal. Keyes extended that advantage to six points with another penalty after the resumption. However, that was to be the last score for Ireland as the Scots dominated the remainder of the game. Tries from Gary Armstrong and Graham Shiel saw the home-side win by 24-15.

Another crack at the Aussies in a quarter

Thanks to the way the schedule fell Ireland had eight days to recover from that Murrayfield defeat before hosting the hotly fancied Aussies at Lansdowne Road. The southern hemisphere nation were considered to be fitter, faster, stronger and better drilled and were expected to advance easily to the semi-finals. They had a team full of household names such as Tim Horan, Phil Kerins, John Eales, Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh & David Campese. Incidentally on the Australian bench that day was Ireland’s current high performance director David Nucifora.

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The match started along expected lines as David Campese waltzed in for an early Aussie try after 16minutes which duly converted by Michael Lynagh and Ireland were 0-6 behind. However, Australia failed to build on their early lead and in a repeat of their 1987 meeting scrum-half and captain Nick Farr-Jones had to be replaced inside the first twenty minutes after picking up a recurrence of a knee ligament injury. 

A Ralph Keyes penalty halved the deficit for the Irish on 24 minutes and then another strike from Keyes levelled up the game at 6 apiece before the break. 

A penalty from Lynagh edged Australia back in front early in the second half,  but the Aussie’s couldn’t pull away from a tenacious Irish side, who’s ferocious tackling and superb work rate constantly disrupted the flow of the Australian side. A Ralph Keyes drop goal, this time off his right foot, levelled up the game at 9-9 after 50 minutes. 

A second David Campese try after a nice loop move by Jason Little off the back of a scrum gave the Australian’s the lead once again and after Lynagh converted they were ahead by 6 points, Ireland then had their best spell of the game as Jim Clarke was twice denied in the corner by last ditch Campese tackles. Another Keyes penalty ate into the Australian lead and Lansdowne erupted on 74 minutes, when Ireland took the lead for the first time in the match after Ballymena flanker Gordon Hamilton burst onto a pop pass from Jim Clarke to race home from 40 meters out. 

After Keyes converted Ireland had a scarcely believable 18-15 lead against their highly rated opponents as the clock ticked into the last five minutes. But just as the Lansdowne Road faithful started to believe that their side were on the brink of history, a last minute Michael Lynagh try broke Irish hearts.

After Ireland’s exit…..

So for the second tournament in succession, albeit in very different circumstances to their previous hammering in Ballymore in ‘87, Ireland had lost out to the mighty Australians at the quarter-final stage. The Australian team were relieved to survive such a close shave and they would subsequently go on to lift the trophy after a 12-6 win over England in the final at Twickenham. 

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Despite the origins of the game dating back over 164 years and the governing body the  IRB being formed in Dublin in 1886, we had to wait until 1987 for the first formally organised Rugby World Cup to take place. 

There are many political and sporting reasons why the event took one hundred and one years to organise. 

The Origins

Allegedly, the origins of the sport began in the town of Rugby in the English Midlands in 1823, when a certain young gentleman by the name of William Webb Ellis decided to pick up the ball and run with it. The rest, as they say, is history. The trophy that the twenty best teams in the world will compete for in France over the next two months bears his moniker as a testament to his legacy.

Before 1885 the laws of the game were still somewhat up for dispute. After a contentious try in a game between England and Scotland, the English claimed that as they founded the game they should be the final arbitrator of any disputes. Unsurprisingly this was not acceptable to the home unions of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The trio met in Dublin in 1886 to formalise the rules and set up the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), the English RFU eventually relented and joined in 1890.

The Split

During the next decade, the game underwent a form of civil war as the ruling bodies of the game wished to remain amateur, while a large portion of the players in working-class regions wished to be compensated for loss of earnings due to matches clashing with their normal working hours. This led to a split within the game which became known as ‘the great schism and led to the creation of two separate codes, Rugby League and Rugby Union. 

Global Spread

The spread of the game internationally was due largely to the British Army and British Navy. Teams were established in British colonial outposts. The spread to other countries by ex-pats was somewhat slower. In the commonwealth countries of Australia, South Africa and particularly New Zealand the game spread quickly, while in tropical areas such as India and the West Indies, the slower tempo of Cricket was more suited to the climate.

Rugby at the Olympics

In 1900 Rugby was introduced at the second running of the modern Olympics. This was thanks in no small part to the lobbying by the father of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. It helped that the Baron was a huge rugby fan. De Coubertain himself refereed the first-ever game in the domestic French Club Championships in 1892. Only three countries sent teams to the games held in Paris. 

France, Germany and Great Britain contested the games and the French went home with the Gold medal. 

Rugby wasn’t part of the 1904 games in St.Louis, but returned for the 1908 games in London. There were also only two teams this time around Australia and Great Britain. The Wallabies lifted the title. It was 1920 before Rugby was included again and an American side made up of players from Stanford, Berkeley and Santa Clara Universities lifted the crown in Antwerp, Belguim. The 1924 Olympics games was, to date, the last time rugby was included as a 15 a-side game. The US defeated the hosts France in the final in front of 21,00 in Colombes and the disgruntled locals invaded the pitch on the final whistle. 

 In 1925 Baron Pierre de Coubertin stepped down as head of the Olympic movement, the IRB had never encouraged their members to participate in the games and the lack of support led to the end of the sports involvement with the Olympics until the sevens version of the game was reintroduced in Brazil in 2016. 

The ‘Originals’

Around the same time as the Olympic Games was being revived, rugby-playing countries began to send representative sides on ‘tours’ to other rugby nations. The most famous of these sides was the 1905 ‘Original All-Blacks’ led by Donegal man Dave Gallaher. Born in Ramelton, as David  Gallagher he moved to New Zealand with his parents while still a child. In 1895 he joined Ponsonby Rugby club and went on to play in New Zealand’s first-ever test match, against Australia in Sydney in 1903. 

The ‘Originals’ played 35 games in the British Isles, France and the USA during a span of six months from September 1905 to January 1906. They lost only one of these (0-3 against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park) and scored 976 points while conceding only 59. Their 15-0 win over England at Crystal Palace drew a then record crowd estimated to be 100,000. It was during this tour that they picked up the All-Blacks tag. 

Disputed governance globally

The logistics of long-distance travel in the early part of the century were slow and costly. Touring teams went from one hemisphere to another for long spells. They needed to play multiple games to justify the travel. The success of both the Olympics and FIFA’s football World Cups had shown that the public interest was there for major sporting events. However, the politics of the governing bodies and the fact that Rugby was played at different times of the year in the two different hemispheres delayed the development of a Rugby equivalent.

The ‘Home Unions’ of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales had been slow to include other countries in the governance of the game. They felt that they were the guardians of the amateur principles upon which the game was founded. 

Despite the success of various southern hemisphere touring sides, it wasn’t until 1948 that the Australian Rugby Union, New Zealand Rugby Football Union and South Africa Rugby Board joined the IRFB. The French Federation joined in 1978 and it wasn’t until after they had already held the first World Cup in 1987  that Italy, Argentina, Canada and Japan were invited to join in 1991. 

Plans for a World Cup

Harold Tolhurst, a former Australian winger and a test match referee, was among the first to formally propose a  Rugby World Cup. In the early 1960’s he suggested that Australia host a month long tournament to find a world champion between the four sides from Great Britain, France, South Africa, New Zealand and the hosts. But in 1968 the IRFB stated that they forbade their member countries from participating in any such tournament. As recently as 1983 the IRB (International Rugby Board) stated that ‘the concept found no support’. Among the principal objections was the fact that the IRB did not want such a tournament to be run by commercial operators as they feared this would encroach on their ‘amateur ethos’.

But as Bob Dylan might have said, the times they were a-changin’. The 1981 Springboks tour to New Zealand saw riots outside the grounds as the Apartheid regime came under the spotlight. Isolation from the rest of the rugby world led the South African board (SARB) to propose a professional game. Meanwhile, there was a dispute in Australia as nine members of their squad to play New Zealand refused to travel. They argued that the daily allowance offered was too small. In 1983 David Lord, an Australian entrepreneur, proposed a professional league along the same lines as Kerry Packer’s successful Cricket league.

The increasing commercialisation and popularity of other sports in traditional rugby areas as well as the advent of sports television and the associated earning potential led the power brokers of the game into a rethink. At a meeting in 1984 it was agreed to conduct a feasibility study into holding a Rugby World Cup. The feedback this time was positive and at a meeting held in Paris in 1985 a vote was taken. The ‘Home Nations’ were still initially opposed, with the southern hemisphere powers and France in favour of a global tournament.  After an initial tied vote, John Kendall-Carpenter of England was won over and changed his vote as did his Welsh counterpart on hearing of the change, so it was now a 10-6 vote in favour of a World Cup. The tournament was to be held jointly by Australia and New Zealand from 22 May – 20 June 1987.

In part two of the story I’ll take a look at Ireland’s record in the first World Cup in Australia in 1987.

For further reading on the history of the Rugby World Cup and the origins of the game take look at the following links:

https://web.archive.org/web/20060414193531/http://www.worldcupweb.com/WCrugby/history.asp

https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/1987-rugby-world-cup/the-world-cup-is-born

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gallaher-s-great-legacy-brought-home-at-last-1.547030

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup

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Ireland have never entered a World Cup tournament in such a promising position. The grand slam was secured with a victory over England at Lansdowne Road on the 18th of March. They are the number one ranked side in the world and are unbeaten in 13 matches. Despite all that, there is a nagging feeling that our quarter-final curse will strike again. As a nation our track record at the sports premier tournament is unfortunately one of underachievement. 

In this series, I’ll take a look back at Ireland’s track record at the previous nine tournaments. For the sake of context, I’ll first take a look at why the sport took so long to organise a global tournament. Over a hundred years passed from the formation of the International game until the first World Cup was held in Australia in 1987. 

Then in the following nine parts, I’ll go tournament by tournament looking at each from an Irish perspective.

Origins of the Rugby World Cup

1987 Rugby World Cup

1991 Rugby World Cup

1995 Rugby World Cup

1999 Rugby World Cup

2003 Rugby World Cup

2007 Rugby World Cup

2011 Rugby World Cup

2015 Rugby World Cup

2019 Rugby World Cup

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The Ireland squad will depart Dublin for their base camp in Tours on Thursday next, as preparations step up a gear for the Rugby World Cup Pool B opener against Romania in Bordeaux on Saturday, 9 September (Kick-off 2.30pm Irish time).

Sexton is one of three Ireland players set to appear at their fourth Rugby World Cup, with the captain having featured at the 2011, 2015 and 2019 editions alongside Conor Murray and recent Test centurion Keith Earls.

Experienced Players

There is a wealth of Rugby World Cup experience throughout the 33-player travelling squad, as Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson, Robbie Henshaw and Peter O’Mahony prepare for their third Rugby World Cup. Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Dave Kilcoyne, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier were all involved in Japan four years ago.

18 players making Rugby World Cup debut

The remaining 18 players in Farrell’s squad will be making their Rugby World Cup debuts in France. Forwards Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Jeremy Loughman, Caelan Doris, Rob Herring, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Tom O’Toole and Dan Sheehan and backs Ross Byrne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe and Jimmy O’Brien all earn selection following Ireland’s recent Bank of Ireland Nations Series wins over Italy, England and Samoa.

Ireland’s Rugby World Cup Matches

Ireland open their Pool B campaign against Romania at Stade de Bordeaux, before playing on Tonga in their second outing in Nantes on Saturday, 16 September (Kick-off 8pm Irish time).

Farrell’s side then go to Stade de France in Paris for games against defending champions South Africa on Saturday, 23 September (Kick-off 8pm Irish time) and Scotland on Saturday, 7 October (Kick-off 8pm Irish time).

Credit: Irish Rugby TV/IRFU.

“Hugely Exciting” says Farrell

Commenting on Ireland’s squad announcement, Head Coach Andy Farrell said: “It has been a difficult selection process over the last number of weeks because a squad of 43 players have worked extremely hard throughout an eight-week pre-season period, with the group pushing each other on the pitch and becoming very close off it.

“As coaches, we are pleased with our 33-player selection and believe we have chosen the right group to represent Ireland in France. It is a hugely exciting time for the group as we prepare to depart for Tours and finalise our preparations for our Rugby World Cup opener against Romania.

“We look forward to the challenges ahead, knowing there is a huge level of support for the team from across the four Provinces, from all those in green around the world and from the thousands who will be in France backing us throughout the tournament.”

Honour for Sexton to captain Ireland

Ireland captain Jonathan Sexton added: “It is a great honour to lead this group of players to the Rugby World Cup. We have been open and honest about our ambitions for the weeks ahead and with a strong body of work behind us in pre-season, we are looking forward to travelling to France this week to fine-tune our preparations.

“We are under no illusions of the size of the task ahead, starting with Romania in our Pool opener. We will take each challenge as it comes, leaning on the experiences and lessons we have learnt as a group over the last four years, and with our supporters travelling in numbers, we will be working hard to make this a tournament to remember.”

Credit: Irish Rugby TV/IRFU.

Ireland’s Rugby World Cup campaign is live on RTÉ and Virgin Media.

Ireland Squad – Rugby World Cup 2023

Forwards (18):

Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University)(13)
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)(32)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(41)
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)(39)
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(31)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(67)
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)(74)
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(37)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)(21)
David Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians)(52)
Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen)(3)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University)(3)
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(96)
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(11)
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(54)
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(55)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)(18)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(52)

Backs (15):

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(47)
Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD)(21)
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon)(12)
Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(6)
Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster)(100)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(26)
Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)(16)
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers)(64)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(31)
James Lowe (Leinster)(21)
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)(13)
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen)(106)
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas)(6)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(51)
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(captain)(113)

Ireland Fixtures, Rugby World Cup 2023:

Pool B:
Ireland v Romania, Saturday 9 September, Stade de Bordeaux (2.30pm Irish time).
Ireland v Tonga, Saturday 16 September, Stade de la Beaujoire (8pm Irish time).
Ireland v South Africa, Saturday 23 September, Stade de France (8pm Irish time).
Ireland v Scotland, Saturday 7 October, Stade de France (8pm Irish time).

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Ryan made his international debut at the age of 20 against the USA in New Jersey in 2017.  He won his 51st cap for Ireland against Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Round three of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations in what was his seventh occasion captaining the senior national team. 

For Ireland he played a central role in the 2018 and 2023 Grand Slam successes along with the Triple Crown secured in 2022. He started all three Tests against New Zealand in July securing a first Series win in Aotearoa. Ryan also played in four of Ireland’s matches at RWC19.

At Leinster, James Ryan has he won a Heineken European Champions Cup (2018) and four PRO/URC titles (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), and has made 71 appearances for Leinster scoring four tries.

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It will be the seventh occasion that James Ryan will take the captain’s armband and he will be partnered in the second row by Iain Henderson, who makes his first start for Ireland since the final game of last year’s Championship against Scotland.

Ronan Kelleher is retained at hooker having come off the bench against France with Andrew Porterand Finlay Bealham either side of him in the front row. In the back row, Jack Conan comes in at number eight with Caelan Doris switching to the blindside flank and Josh van der Flier at openside.

Craig Casey and Ross Byrne are set to make their first Six Nations starts and Bundee Aki is introduced to the midfield having started from the bench in the opening two rounds. Garry Ringrose is set to make his 50th appearance for Ireland while the back three of Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Mack Hansen is unchanged from the opening two rounds.

Dan Sheehan has returned to fitness to take his place among the replacements alongside Dave Kilcoyne, Tom O’Toole, Ryan Baird, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley and Stuart McCloskey.

The match will be broadcast live on RTE and ITV television and on RTE and BBC NI radio.

IRELAND team to play Italy – Round 3, 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championships, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Saturday 25th February, 2023, KO 14.15 (IST)

15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 27 caps
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 11 caps
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 43 caps
11. James Lowe (Leinster) 17 caps
10. Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps
9. Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 9 caps

1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps
2. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 19 caps
3. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 29 caps
4. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 70 caps
5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps (c)
6. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 25 caps
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 47 caps
8. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 35

Replacements
16. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 14 caps
17. Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 50 caps
18. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 6 caps
19. Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 8 caps
20. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 91 caps caps
21. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 102 caps
22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution) 2 caps
23. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 11 caps

2023 Guinness Six Nations Fixtures & Result

Wales 10 IRELAND 34
Principality Stadium, Saturday 4th February 2023

IRELAND 32 France 19
Aviva Stadium, Saturday 11th February 2023

Italy v IRELAND
Saturday 25th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)
RTE TV / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

Scotland v IRELAND
Sunday 12th March 2023, KO 15:00 (IST)
RTE TV / BBC / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

IRELAND v England
Saturday 18th March 2023, KO 17:00 (IST)
VIRGIN / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio

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Following strong performances in Toulouse and London in May, James Topping’s side currently sit fifth in the World Series standings heading into the finale of the 2022 season at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Squad arrived yesterday

A 15-player squad, captained by Billy Dardis, arrived in Los Angeles yesterday to finalise preparations for the first LA Sevens since 2020.

Eight Olympians are included in the travelling squad, while Ireland U20s Grand Slam winger Chay Mullins and Leinster duo Andrew Smith and Niall Comerford add further World Series experience to the ranks having featured strongly over the course of the 2022 season.

Terry Kennedy will be looking to continue his rich vein of form having been one of the standout performers on the World Series, with the 26-year-old leading the try-scoring charts with 47, nine ahead of Australia’s Corey Toole and Marcos Moneta of Argentina.

This weekend, Ireland will have one eye on building towards the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, which takes place between 9-11 September.

Ireland’s Group

Ireland have been paired in Pool C alongside France, Wales and Fiji, with all the action live from LA on the World Rugby stream here.

Topping’s side open their LA Sevens campaign against France on Saturday (6.48pm Irish time), before facing Wales (10.09pm Irish time) and Fiji (2.05am Irish time) early the following morning Irish time.

“A pleasing World Series season so far”

Commenting ahead of the tournament, the Ireland Head Coach said: “It has been a pleasing World Series season for us so far, particularly as we’ve introduced a number of new players onto this stage since the turn of the year, and the squad are motivated to finish as strong as possible in LA.

“It was a big achievement for the group to reach our first World Series final in Toulouse in May and coming off the back of a Rugby Europe campaign in June and July, we are excited to return to action this weekend. We are also building towards the Rugby World Cup Sevens and performing well in LA will be an important stepping stone for us towards Cape Town.”

Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad, LA Sevens

Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)
Niall Comerford (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
Billy Dardis (Terenure College RFC) (capt)
Ed Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s College RFC)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
Matt McDonald (IQ Rugby)
Harry McNulty (UCD RFC)
Bryan Mollen (Blackrock College RFC)
Chay Mullins (IQ Rugby)
Aaron O’Sullivan (Blackrock College RFC)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)
Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Leinster).

Ireland Sevens Schedule, LA Sevens

Saturday, August 27:
Ireland v France, 10.48am local time/6.48pm Irish time
Ireland v Wales, 2.09pm local time/10.09pm Irish time
Ireland v Fiji, 6.05pm local time/2.05am Irish time

Sunday, August 28:
Play-off matches

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