Ireland fans celebrate winning the Grand Slam. Bryan Keane/INPHO

'My mum commentated over the phone as I was in the Amazon rainforest': 6 of the best rugby fan stories

We’ve teamed up with Volkswagen to find the Irish Rugby Fan of the Year and give away a money-can’t-buy VIP prize.

WE ARE HUNTING for Ireland’s most dedicated rugby fan.

The42 has teamed up with Volkswagen to find the Irish Rugby Fan Of The Year, and we’re giving away a money-can’t-buy prize that includes:

  • An opportunity to meet one of your Irish rugby heroes as you present the Try of the Year prize at the Rugby Players Ireland awards
  • A VIP weekend experience in Dublin for November’s Guinness Series, including match tickets and 5-star accommodation for two
  • A signed Ireland jersey

To be in with a chance of winning, email competitions@the42.ie
with Volkswagen Fan of the Year in the subject bar before 30th March with your best fan story.

To give you some inspiration, here are some of our favourites to date:

The Munster Miracle – Michelle Downey

A Dublin youngster gets lost in Thomond Park and finds the best seat in the house:

The42.ie / YouTube

Desert Island Disaster – Patrick Douglas

“It’s 2004 and Ireland have not won any silverware since 1985. I find myself doing charity work on a remote Island in the Indian Ocean. My only access to the outside world is the BBC world service. Realising the immensity of the occasion I knew I had to see the defining match and so I hitched a lift on a rickety old fishing boat through the night on what turned out to be a horrendous storm.

“12 hours later, still green, I set foot on land, the challenge now to find a venue. The problem was that the match was airing at 6am and nothing was open, not even the airport pub. I pounded the streets in desperation.

Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Driscol27/3/2004 Eddie O'Sullivan and Brian O'Driscoll celebrate winning the Triple Crown. INPHO INPHO

“Inspiration hit in a shopping mall where there was a TV shop displaying beautiful moving visual images in bright technicolour from every screen. I sidle up to the shop manager for a serious chat.

“The next morning at 6am I am joined by two other ocean-going Irish colleagues, who had converged from other outposts, with our noses pressed against the glass of the closed TV shop watching Ireland win the Triple Crown.”

At The Breakdown – Vicky Brennan

A last minute decision to watch Ireland play in Wales becomes quite the adventure:

The42.ie / YouTube

Mum’s The Word – Sam Brown

“I go to games whenever I can but I work overseas a lot so I have to improvise from time-to-time.

I once listened live to Ireland playing Wales from the middle of the Amazon rainforest via a satellite phone (and I dread to think how much that cost).

“My mum commentated the whole match to me down the phone and we ended up losing with one of the last kicks of the game.”

Legging It – Niall Keane

You would think that Ireland scoring a try is a good thing… but not always:

The42.ie / YouTube

Broken Dreams – Adam Burke

“I spent all my birthday money to get tickets on eBay for tickets for the Scotland game during this year’s Six Nations.

“However, I ended up not going to the game because I had a cup quarter-final with Ballinasloe against Monivea and ended up breaking my collar bone.”

That’s just a sample of some of the entries we’ve received to do date.

But remember, to be in with a chance of winning this money-can’t-buy prize, all you have to do is tell us your fan story in an email to competitions@the42.ie
with Volkswagen Fan of the Year in the subject bar before 30 March.

Volkswagen has been a proud sponsor of Irish Rugby since 2011. For more details on the competition and prize visit:

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