THE FARE ON offer in front of them wasn’t up to much, so Ireland’s supporters took matters into their own hands yesterday in Olympic Park, quite literally.
The crowd at Olympic Park yesterday before the game. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The Mexican wave flowed around the stands with Ireland just seven points ahead of Italy, thousands of fans seemingly oblivious to the nervous tension as the momentum swung towards Jacques Brunel’s side.
Who are we to tell people how to support their team? The green army made a party of the event, although the best of the atmosphere was before and after the actual game.
The fanzone alongside the stadium was more like a music festival in the hours leading up to kick-off, while the masses of Irishmen and women gleefully chanting ‘You can shove your chariot up your arse’ behind the stands afterwards was a highlight for some.
With less than expected to celebrate in Ireland’s performance, many Irish fans instead turned their attention to saluting the failure of Stuart Lancaster’s side the night before in Twickenham.
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A portion of the English support disappointed themselves by leaving the famous London venue before that Australia game had even ended, while the booing of Lancaster when he was interviewed pitchside post-match was jarring.
An Ireland fan looks on nervously. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
There had been genuine nervousness across the course of the day leading up to English rugby’s worst nightmare. We were taken aback by the lack of singing and excitement on the train from Richmond. Even a pleading ‘Come on England!’ from the man on the tannoy barely mustered a response.
In fairness, the noise during proceedings on the pitch was close to deafening. It wasn’t enough to carry Lancaster’s boys home. Instead, they limped off the pitch after a second failure on their home patch, a blow that looks like ending Lancaster’s tenure.
The English press have been ruthless, with extensive coverage of where England have gone wrong and what they need to do next. Lancaster staying the course of his contract until 2020 has not been given any airtime. He’s a goner.
Immediately post-match, the England head coach was asked if he’d step down. It’s a strange thing watching a man who knows his job is basically untenable trying to put a brave face on it.
A classic jersey in the crowd. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
No one enjoyed it, but at the same time there was a shameful thirst to see Lancaster come under pressure. It was fascinating to note the emotion briefly crack through his quiet voice as he apologised to the nation’s rugby fans, including those brave souls up in the stands who had booed him.
Getting out to Olympic Park next morning, with the sun splitting down, was a relief. The stadium itself is an odd one, flat and wide and with the seats a good distance back from the pitch.
It takes some of the small sense of intimacy usually involved in watching live sport out of the equation, and it was an unpleasant 80 minutes or so. Ireland were calm about the performance afterwards, although tomorrow morning’s video session won’t be pretty.
The post-match refreshments in Stratford were as merry as ever, ironic singing of ‘Swing Low’ breaking out every half hour. A pair of New Zealand fans in their black jerseys drew the eye; they had been through their own scare on Friday night.
Joe Schmidt’s men took to the road again this afternoon as the rain fell on London, their big green bus setting off in the direction of Celtic Manor, which lies around 30 minutes outside of Cardiff.
This World Cup has been like a summer tournament so far thanks to the unseasonal good weather, but the wintry rainfall today is more along the lines of what was expected.
The World Cup trophy was at Olympic Park yesterday. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
The hope is that it doesn’t bring about a change in the style of rugby we’ve been offered up to this point, but we will see the upcoming games tightening up, certainly from Ireland’s point of view.
Sunday’s meeting with France is the one we’ve all been waiting for ever since this pool draw was made. It will be interesting to see how Cardiff deals with the massive influx of Irish and French support that is coming its way.
Onwards to the next leg of Ireland’s World Cup odyssey.
Letter from London: Ireland's fans gleefully hail England's chariot halting
Murray Kinsella reports from London
THE FARE ON offer in front of them wasn’t up to much, so Ireland’s supporters took matters into their own hands yesterday in Olympic Park, quite literally.
The Mexican wave flowed around the stands with Ireland just seven points ahead of Italy, thousands of fans seemingly oblivious to the nervous tension as the momentum swung towards Jacques Brunel’s side.
Who are we to tell people how to support their team? The green army made a party of the event, although the best of the atmosphere was before and after the actual game.
The fanzone alongside the stadium was more like a music festival in the hours leading up to kick-off, while the masses of Irishmen and women gleefully chanting ‘You can shove your chariot up your arse’ behind the stands afterwards was a highlight for some.
With less than expected to celebrate in Ireland’s performance, many Irish fans instead turned their attention to saluting the failure of Stuart Lancaster’s side the night before in Twickenham.
A portion of the English support disappointed themselves by leaving the famous London venue before that Australia game had even ended, while the booing of Lancaster when he was interviewed pitchside post-match was jarring.
There had been genuine nervousness across the course of the day leading up to English rugby’s worst nightmare. We were taken aback by the lack of singing and excitement on the train from Richmond. Even a pleading ‘Come on England!’ from the man on the tannoy barely mustered a response.
In fairness, the noise during proceedings on the pitch was close to deafening. It wasn’t enough to carry Lancaster’s boys home. Instead, they limped off the pitch after a second failure on their home patch, a blow that looks like ending Lancaster’s tenure.
The English press have been ruthless, with extensive coverage of where England have gone wrong and what they need to do next. Lancaster staying the course of his contract until 2020 has not been given any airtime. He’s a goner.
Immediately post-match, the England head coach was asked if he’d step down. It’s a strange thing watching a man who knows his job is basically untenable trying to put a brave face on it.
No one enjoyed it, but at the same time there was a shameful thirst to see Lancaster come under pressure. It was fascinating to note the emotion briefly crack through his quiet voice as he apologised to the nation’s rugby fans, including those brave souls up in the stands who had booed him.
Getting out to Olympic Park next morning, with the sun splitting down, was a relief. The stadium itself is an odd one, flat and wide and with the seats a good distance back from the pitch.
It takes some of the small sense of intimacy usually involved in watching live sport out of the equation, and it was an unpleasant 80 minutes or so. Ireland were calm about the performance afterwards, although tomorrow morning’s video session won’t be pretty.
The post-match refreshments in Stratford were as merry as ever, ironic singing of ‘Swing Low’ breaking out every half hour. A pair of New Zealand fans in their black jerseys drew the eye; they had been through their own scare on Friday night.
Joe Schmidt’s men took to the road again this afternoon as the rain fell on London, their big green bus setting off in the direction of Celtic Manor, which lies around 30 minutes outside of Cardiff.
This World Cup has been like a summer tournament so far thanks to the unseasonal good weather, but the wintry rainfall today is more along the lines of what was expected.
The hope is that it doesn’t bring about a change in the style of rugby we’ve been offered up to this point, but we will see the upcoming games tightening up, certainly from Ireland’s point of view.
Sunday’s meeting with France is the one we’ve all been waiting for ever since this pool draw was made. It will be interesting to see how Cardiff deals with the massive influx of Irish and French support that is coming its way.
Onwards to the next leg of Ireland’s World Cup odyssey.
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