15 years from now Ireland will see the real consequences of a first Grand Slam in 61 years and a first Championship in 24 years.
Success is contagious. As the grown-ups struggled through the sweetest of hangovers on Sunday morning, how many kids drifted outside, imagining the cathedral of the Millennium Stadium, 20,000 desperate Irish fans and a big ‘H’ on the back wall of the house, right between Mum’s windows?
Munster Rugby has provided the Irish public with many moments like Saturday evening. However not everyone is from Munster. Achieving success on the international stage in such dramatic circumstances transcends provincial boundaries. Everyone is allowed to tap into the moment. Everyone can feel genuine ownership of the team and plays they make. Every kid can be O’Gara or O’Driscoll or Ferris.
I do not know what future holds for Irish rugby, but I do know that the IRFU have never been in a better position to shape the image of the game and navigate its direction.
Clubs need support, mini’s need coaching and crowd control, goal-posts need painting and teams need sponsorship.
In our current economic situation, we may not have the funds to grow our game, but we do have the social capital, the hunger, the time and the fertile minds of the next generation of players to sow whatever future we want.
Players are made, not born. This grand slam success is the jackpot for rugby development in Ireland, lets not blow it in a haze of self-satisfaction and backslapping. Now is the time to act.
