Ireland play their home games in strip comprising green shirts with a badge containing the shamrock, the national flower of Ireland. The green shirt has had some distinguished past and present players pull it on to represent their country, just a few are; Willie John McBride, Mike Gibson, Tom Kiernan, Tony O'Reilly, Gordon D'Arcy, Reggie Corrigan, Anthony Foley, Denis Hickie, David Humphreys, Eric Miller, Ronan O'Gara, David Wallace, Geordan Murphy, Peter Stringer and of course the amazing Brian O'Driscoll.
error message from ebay is:The Irish Rugby Football Union was formed in 1879 when the Irish Football Union and the Northern Football Union agreed to merge and change their name and status to cover the whole country, north and south. Ireland along with Wales and Scotland were founders of the International Rugby Board (IRB)in 1886. Ireland play their home internationals at Croke Park in Dublin.
Another of the nations with a small playing base, the move to the creation of provincial sides and the Magners league have produced a string of top class players. These players have advanced the cause of the national side and Ireland can boast a consistency that keeps them amongst the elite nations. They have still retained their fire and pride in putting extreme pressure on the opposition be it home or away.
19861986 was a dismal year for the men from the Emerald Isles. Coached by Mick Doyle they started their 5 Nations campaign with a comprehensive 29-9 loss to France in Paris, before being edged by the Welsh in Dublin. They improved somewhat in losing 25-20 at Twickenham and then hosted Scotland in the final game, coming agonizingly close but losing 10-9 to finish winless and dead last on the table. | 1992-93Ireland endured another winless campaign in the 1992 5 Nations, losing by a point to Wales in their opening game before being thumped by England and France and comfortably beaten by Scotland. In 1993 the Irish welcomed a new coach, Gerry Murphy, in to the head role, and the side immediately improved, winning two games from four, including a cherished victory over the English, lifting themselves from the bottom of the table in the process. | ||
1994-96Ireland finished fourth in the 1994 5 Nations, winning one game, drawing another and losing two. They repeated their fourth place finish in 1995 before heading to the World Cup in South Africa, where they were joined in a challenging group by New Zealand, Wales and Japan. In the crunch game of their group they edged the Welsh 24-23, setting up a date with the French in the Quarter Finals, where they were eliminated 36-12. In 1996 they slumped to last place in the 5 Nations, beating Wales but losing their other three games. | 2000Coached by New Zealander Warren Gatland Ireland were competitive in the inaugural year of the newly expanded Six Nations, bouncing back from a comprehensive loss at Twickenham to soundly beat Scotland at Lansdowne Road. They easily accounted for newcomers Italy before achieving a famous victory in Paris, beating the French 27-25. They finished on a disappointing note the following week, being beaten at home by Wales, 23-19. | ||
2002-04This was a rich period for Irish rugby, with a 3rd place finish in the 2002 Six Nations showing how much promise the side had. The following year they improved to second, losing only to eventual winners England, before heading to Australia for the 2003 World Cup. Drawn in Pool A with hosts Australia, Argentina, Romania and Namibia they won their crunch match against the Pumas by the narrowest of margins, 16-15, to qualify for the next stage. Here their run came to an end in Melbourne at the hands of the French as they lost 43-21. The following year they bounced back, again finishing second in the Six Nations behind France. | 2005-06In 2005 the Eddie O’Sullivan coached side began their Six Nations campaign with comfortable wins over Italy and Scotland and a gutsy victory over the English before the wheels came off with losses to France and Wales, the two sides who ended up above them on the final table. In 2006 they improved to second on the table, with wins over everyone except France, the eventual winners, who they lost to in the second round, 43-31 in Paris. | ||
2007Like the previous year the Irish won all but one game in the 2007 Six Nations, and like the previous year that game was against France, who again went on to win the title, with the Irish finishing runners-up. Later in the year they took part in the World Cup, where they were drawn in a challenging group alongside hosts France, Argentina, Georgia and Namibia. In a disappointing display from the second best side in the Six Nations they slumped to losses against both France and Argentina, bowing out of the competition before the knockout phase. | 2008-09On the back of a poor display at the 2007 World Cup Ireland under-performed in the 2008 Six Nations, with a narrow win over Italy giving an insight in to how much the men in green would struggle. They did record one more win, over Scotland, but finished in 4th on the ladder. But, led by inspirational captain Brian O’Driscoll the Irish bounced back stunningly in 2009, winning all five of their games to claim their first Grand Slam since 1948. The venue for their home games was also significant, with the famous Croke Park being used after fire caused significant damage to Lansdowne Road. | ||
2011Brian O’Driscoll’s side failed to assert dominance in any of their games in the 2011 Six Nations, with all but their last game against England being decided by 6 points or less. Victory in that game against England, the eventual winners, saw them edge past Wales in to a third place finish before they headed to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup. The Irish caused one of the biggest boilovers of the competition when they upset the Australians in pool play, effectively changing the face of the entire tournament. That result created a Northern Hemisphere/Southern Hemisphere split in the knock-out rounds, with the Irish bowing out to the Welsh 22-10. | 2012Ireland opened their 2012 Six Nations campaign with a narrow loss to eventual winners Wales, then comfortably beat Italy and drew with France. Their rollercoaster form continued with a resounding win over Scotland and a demoralizing loss to England, before they headed back to New Zealand for a three match series against the All Blacks. After being definitively outplayed in the first game there came painfully close to an historic first-ever win over the ABs in Christchurch, only to be denied by a Dan Carter dropped-goal at the death. The world champions rubbed salt in their wounds the following week, sending the tourists home with a 60-point pasting. |