THAT WAS ALAN MURDOCH writing in The Independent in January 1995, after Ireland had lost their 5 Nations opener to England.
Days later, in the same newspaper, a letter from a reader was published. Under the headline, ‘No question of identity’, Martin J Carey from Kirkby in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire – responded.
Identity has always been a thorny subject in Irish sport. For the ‘outsiders’, will they ever be Irish enough? And what does their presence in a team do to the aspirations and development of those with a stronger, more pure Irish lineage? Ultimately, is it unfair?
But we struggle with it. We go back and forth. We remember the iconic moments, the iconic players. Who put the ball in the English net? Irish heart and all of that.
There’s the moment in Tony Cascarino’s autobiography ‘Full Time’ where he confides in Andy Townsend that due to his mother having been adopted, he didn’t qualify to play for Ireland. Townsend’s response is revealing.
“No-one is going to accuse you of not giving your best”.
Effort. Spirit. How important are those aspects to ‘Irishness’?
Last February, it was an anthem. South African born and raised and a former Springbok, there was CJ Stander belting out Amhrán na bhFiann before Ireland faced Wales. He’d been practicing for weeks. And we loved it.
Source: Dan Sheridan; ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Pride. Emotion. How important are those aspects to ‘Irishness’?
Rugby’s residency rule has been a multi-layered topic of discussion over the last while. A player can live in a country for three years and then become eligible to represent his adopted home. Lashed by some, others have stood up for it.
Luke Fitzgerald has spoken about being ‘pissed off’ that ‘guys from another place’ jumped in front of him in the queue.
But, understandably, Johnny Sexton has been more diplomatic.
“I’ve played with three guys that weren’t born here”, he said last year.
Ireland have been here before, though in a slightly different way.
In the 1991 Five Nations, Ireland took on Wales at Cardiff Arms Park. From the seven players in the backline that afternoon, none were born in Ireland. Jim Staples was born in England, so too Simon Geoghegan. Jack Clarke was born in Zimbabwe. David Curtis was born in South Africa. Brendan Mullin was born in Israel. Former Wallaby Brian Smith was at fly-half. And captaining the side was 22-year-old Rob Saunders, who was born in Nottingham, to Scottish parents.
Source: James Meehan/INPHO
“I moved to Ireland when I was three”, Saunders tells The42.
It’s come full circle for Saunders now. His youngest son, Niall, was brought up in England and is currently with Harlequins but there was never any doubt about which country he aligned himself with. He’s been capped by both the Ireland U19s and U20s in recent seasons.
“My whole family is Irish, Irish blood”, he said last year.
“Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to play for Ireland, always since I have touched a rugby ball.”
His father backs up the claim.
“There is zero doubt in his mind: he is Irish”, he says.
For Niall, it is slightly strange because he actually qualifies for Ireland through my wife who was born in Belfast. She had to produce her birth certificate when Niall was picked underage by the IRFU. And he was christened in Belfast, all of his cousins and aunts and uncles are from Ulster”.
Saunders excelled at London Irish – a hotbed for similarly-minded players who felt a strong affiliation with the green shirt.
One of those was Paul Burke who would make his Irish debut in 1995. Again, despite having been born in England, his sense of identity was never a complicated thing.
“I always regarded myself as being Irish”, he says.
“My Dad is from Galway and my Mum is from Kildare. They moved over here when they were 18 and settled but I was brought up in a very Irish household. All my immediate family are Irish. For me, declaring for Ireland having played for England up until U21 was a very easy decision for me. At London Irish I progressed through all the age-groups to play in the first-team with the likes of Simon Geoghegan and Jim Staples, Neil Francis was there, David Curtis, Rob Saunders, Gary Halpin. So there was a good crew of Irish-born players as well as English-born. It never really bothered me. I got the mickey taken out of me sometimes because of my English accent but I always felt very Irish in the way I was brought up and I always had that burning ambition to play for Ireland”.
A burning ambition. Is that the key to identity? If so, how do Burke and Saunders feel about the current residency situation?
“I’m a bit old-school”, Burke says.
Shane Howarth was a former All Black but went on to play 19 times for Wales. Source: Tony Marshall
“If you’re born there or if you’re parents are from Irish heritage, by all means you have every right to play for your country. The three-year residency rule…there’s talk of extending it to five and I’m in favour of that.
Saunders echoes the sentiment.
“If you’re talking about playing for a country, there has to be something inside you that makes you have that identity to play for ‘your country’”, he says.
“I’m not sure if Nathan Hughes, who’s from Fiji, feels very English after three years. That’s probably a little soon. The Vunipola brothers came across as young kids. Their father was a Tongan international and played in south Wales and they were brought up in England. That’s a legitimate pathway”.
Saunders didn’t play in the professional era while Burke was part of the transition, winning caps between 1995 and 2003 and turning out for the likes of Munster, Leicester and Harlequins at club level.
Source: Morgan Treacy/INPHO
Both feel that the shift to professionalism and the ruthless grind that goes with it has led to certain elements getting lost in the mix – including the sore topic of identity.
“I think the whole area of project players and residency has gone a bit crazy”, Saunders says.
In terms of the wider issue of getting capped, Burke falls short of saying the experience has been devalued but feels the advent of the professional game has led to more players getting international opportunities.
“There are so many more people now who have international caps than back in the amateur era, mainly because the only reason you’d get on the pitch then was if there was an injury”, he says.
“So, many talented players only got a handful of caps because if there wasn’t an injury they didn’t play. Now, you can come in for two minutes at the end of a game or be part of a tactical substitution. It’s great for the game and it unites the group of 23 players and you always know you’re going to get minutes. Back in the early and mid-nineties, I think I sat on the bench for 15 or 20 games and never got on. And not that you’d devalue caps now – playing for your country is a fantastic achievement – but there are a lot of players who have a lot of caps but, if you add up all their minutes, it probably wouldn’t come to more than three or four games.
That’s just the way the professional era has gone now”.
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