THERE WERE ECSTATIC highs and gut-churning lows when Ireland’s association and rugby football teams set up shop on Jones’ Road.
A decade on from the last rugby fixture played in Croke Park, how well do you remember that glorious period of cross-sport co-operation?
What was number one in the Irish charts when Croke Park last hosted rugby?
Telephone -- Beyonce and Lady GaGa
Gave it all away -- BoyZone
California Gurls -- Katy Perry
Ice Ice Baby -- Jedward
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Which of these players did not play for the Republic of Ireland at Croke Park?
Wes Hoolahan
Stephen Ireland
Lee Carsley
Sean St Ledger
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Can you name the first rugby union try-scorer when Croke Park opened its doors to the Six Nations?
Brian O'Driscoll
Vincent Clerc
Sebastian Chabal
Raphael Ibanez
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And the first Irish try-scorer?
Brian O'Driscoll
Shane Horgan
Ronan O'Gara
Girvan Dempsey
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Can you recall dastardly scorer of the winning try in the first rugby match played in Croke Park?
Christophe Dominici
Vincent Clerc
Yannick Jauzion
Sylvain Marconnet
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Two months after rugby was played under the Hogan Stand, football took its turn. Who was the first goalscorer at Croke Park when Republic of Ireland hosted Wales?
Ryan Giggs
Stephen Ireland
Robbie Keane
Robert Earnshaw
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Steve Staunton's Ireland managed to keep it tight in the early days at Croke Park, who scored the first goal for a visiting team?
Stelios Okkarides
Lukasz Podolski
Ryan Giggs
Martin Skrtel
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Whose last-gasp strike then saved Ireland from an embarrassing defeat in that game?
Robbie Keane
Steve Finnan
Stephen Hunt
Stephen Ireland
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Cyprus were beaten at Croke Park in Giovanni Trapattoni's first competitive win. Can you remember where Ireland, in unusual circumstances, opened the qualifying campaign?
Mainz
Maribor
Manchester
Madrid
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The most famous Croke Park moment was surely the landmark Six Nations win over England in 2007. What was the final score?
43-13
35-7
19-16
15-0
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Who was the gracious England captain that day?
Martin Johnson
Martin Corry
Lawrence Dallaglio
Andy Farrell
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Ireland played 14 rugby Tests at Croke Park. Can you guess how many losses they suffered?
Zero
1
3
4
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Trapattoni's first loss in charge of ROI was a very well-attended, high-scoring friendly against which country?
Germany
Italy
Poland
Slovakia
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Against then World Champions Italy in 2009, whose outstanding (and out of character) curling effort gave Ireland the lead?
Aiden McGeady
Liam Lawrence
Richard Dunne
Glenn Whelan
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Which of these players did not score a try in the win over France that kick-started the 2009 Grand Slam?
Brian O'Driscoll
Gordon Darcy
Jamie Heaslip
Tommy Bowe
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One rugby match over the three-year period was not an international Test, but a European Cup semi-final. Who won it?
Munster
Leinster
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One non-Gaelic Game has been played at Croke Park since March 20 2010. Who won that one?
Notre Dame
Chicago Bears
Penn State
UCF
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Who scored the only goal when Brazil visited Croker in 2008?
Marcelo
Julio Baptista
Robinho
Luis Fabiano
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On this day 10 years ago, Ireland's rugby team lost their final Croke Park match. Who scored the dramatic late penalty?
Dan Parks
Chris Patterson
Stephen Jones
Gavin Henson
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Events in the days that followed cast a far longer shadow, but who scored the last goal in a soccer match played at Croke Park?
Thierry Henry
Zinedine Zidane
Nicolas Anelka
Lassana Diarra
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You scored out of !
John Hayes' salty tears
Lap up the salty goodness, you've earned it with that quiz performance.
You scored out of !
Trap's sharp suit
Impressive display, but you struggled to apply the finishing touches.
You scored out of !
The 2008 trough
Listen, it was a tough time for us all. There's signs of better days to come.
You scored out of !
Out-Stan-ding
I thought you said, 'you're the boss, you're the gaffer and what you say goes'?
Excellent analysis of all the pieces of the jigsaw of moves leading to great tries
Great analysis as always. What an atmosphere yesterday. Delighted for Sexton and Healy!!! What a Six Nations send off
@Kenneth O Connor: Healy not getting a run was disappointing and strange
@Noel Lynn: He did… only about 4 minutes but he did play.
Yesterday(and last week) should put to bed any doubt about Conan’s value. Every bit as effective as Doris imo.
@Gary Donlan: doris level ahead
@Gary Donlan: I’m a big, big fan of Conan – he’s an outstanding player – but I’d have to acknowledge that Doris is at the very top of the global tree. And he has so much more to grow, being so young. Arguably a future World Player of the Year nominee, if not winner.
I see lots of people saying how England really used line speed yesterday to get in Irelands face, that’s not what happened at all. England played a soft drift defence, not putting too much pressure on the first carrier / passer, and not committing too many men to the breakdown, opting to be more disruptive and messy rather than look for turnovers. It was an interesting tactic and one that threw a lot of the Irish players off, particularly Furlong who takes the first pivot option quite often. Ireland will need to learn how to adapt to it by World Cup, I can’t imagine South Africa or France would try it, they would trust their line speed, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Scotland or even New Zealand thought about using it.
Great analysis there. It shows really how intelligent this group are. Dorris, JVF,, Aki, Sexton, Hansen running subplots and dummies lines and how they build a try 3 phases out. To have so many on the same page is extraordinary and as Farrell said, they will get a lot better over the next few months with more time collectively in camp.
Roll on the WC
It was squeaky bum time for much of the game. England gave it everything. Ireland found a way to win. Work done with decoy runners is magnificent. Enjoy, upwards and onwards to France
That was some offload by Conan for sheehans try.
Sheehan is a pure speed merchant
@Gary Galligan: He’s a 4×4 at full speed.
On the strike plays which Ireland use we have seen a few of these in this 6 nations I believe they have only used a small number of these in this 6 nations and there are many more which they had no need to use and they are been reserved for the later stages of the world Cup.
I would imagine when Farrell and his team review this game they will be a little concerned. Obviously the short term gain here, winning a grand slam, is brilliant. But there was a lot of pressure going into the game and we did not handle it well. Ultimately a red card may have won it for Ireland and whether you agree or disagree with the card the nature of it shows it can how easily happen under current rules. (There was at least 1 red card possibility for us that was missed by the ref and TMO). This team will ultimately be judged on how it performs in the World Cup. When they meet Scotland on the 7th of October it will more than likely be a knock out game. The pressure on them will easily be as intense as yesterday, probably more so. They will need to be a lot better. If we don’t make it out of the group, this Grand Slam will lose a lot of it’s shine. Of course hopefully by the time we meet Scotland SA will have 2 losses so it won’t matter :)
@Pud: OTOH, the experience of yesterday, a real pressure cooker, will stand to them. Plus, those guys played a lot of intense rugby over a short period of time. Some were definitely not at their best, following injuries (Furlong, for example, looked rusty; Henshaw wasn’t fully up to speed; Ringrose in and out). Farrell took some risks, playing guys like Porter, VDF, Keenan, Hansen and others to their limits (Keenan looked tired yesterday, as did others). The player management plan for the RWC needs to cater for the interactive effects of physical endurance and how it affects mental/emotional resilience. I’m pretty confident they’re on top of that. And again, all the players will be better for the experience of this 6N.
@Pud: South Africa then Scotland…followed by France or New Zealand…three massive banana skins….I don’t think if we are stopped before semi final, yesterday’s outstanding achievement will be diminished….cruel world cup draw.
Herring sealed victory over the All Blacks with a similar try in the third test .. hooker is definitely a position we don’t need to worry about… bench again made the difference yesterday
Murray Kinsella, single handedly helping other teams work out Ireland!!