Rugby World Cup 2019 – Let the Games Begin

(The 72,330 capacity International Stadium in Yokohama which will host the finalon the 2 nd of November)With just three days to go to the Rugby World Cup in Japan excitement levels aresending the barometer soaring. With so many sports to choose from in asaturated market in Ireland, it is only in Spring once a year, and Autumn everyfour years that rugby becomes the biggest show in town. To me, the World Cup islike any great theatrical play. There are many plots and subplots in a narrativethat always throws up the odd revelation or two. You need not look any furtherthan the last edition in 2015 when this year’s hosts, Japan, shocked the world onthat super Saturday when they beat South Africa 34-32. This being arguably thebiggest upset in the history of the competition.Similar to any good performance, there is of course our protagonist. From ourpoint of view, it is of course Ireland who are looking to banish the hoodoo ofnever getting past the quarter-final stage of the competition. Ireland go into theWorld Cup as the number one team in the World but not as the favouritesaccording to Head Coach Joe Schmidt, who departs after the tournament. Yes,anytime Ireland are involved in a play like this it is usually in the form of a tragedy,similar to those written by the great William Shakespeare, a man who I believewould enjoy rugby given the emotional highs and lows that are experienced bythe audience watching around the world. Ireland’s fortunes have never beengreat, we’ve had the national anthem fiasco in 1987 (it’s a long story), heartbreakat home in 1991 against Campese and his world beating Australian side, dare wemention ‘ la terrible année’ of 2007 when we didn’t even get out of our group? Inthe most recent instalment in 2015, we were once again left with the feeling ofwhat might have been, when a depleted squad where outclassed by Argentina 43-20. Ireland like so many times before had headed into the competition with highhopes but were left to rue the absence of key players in that quarter-final defeatwith Joe Schmidt stating afterwards that his goal for the next four years was addstrength and depth to the squad for a second shot at redemption.Act II. Although there is a sizeable time difference between here and Japan, thetournament organisers have been relatively kind with the stage times for Irelandwith the earliest kick off being at 08:15 against the hosts Japan on September 28 th .Who are the antagonists in Ireland’s latest shot at glory? One could argue thatthere are four teams who are most likely to stand in Ireland’s way, those beingWales, England, South Africa and New Zealand. All four teams have interestingrelationships with Ireland to say the least. Ireland and Wales has become one ofthe biggest rivalries in rugby since Warren Gatland took charge in 2008 afterhaving an acrimonious split with Ireland in 2001. England are well….England andNew Zealand is the team who have traditionally been the standard bearers ofWorld rugby, and Ireland only managed to beat in 2016 for the first time after 111years of trying. But perhaps the most interesting of them all is South Africa, whocontain the subplot of Rassie Erasmus, who spent one season coaching atMunster during 2016/17. The conspiracy theory here is that he may have spent aseason at the province just to gain as much inside information as he can whilealso bringing three Munster coaches with him to the Springbok job. This isincluding the recent arrival of former Munster attack coach Felix Jones who spenta brief period with Ireland during their tour of Japan in 2017. Joe Schmidt hasadmitted that he is concerned by the appointment saying “he’s seen everythingthat we deliver and he would have a great knowledge of even the language weuse in our camp, so it’s awkward for us.”What about the supporting cast? Look out for the hakas of the Pacific Islandnations such as Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, while France as always will live up to themost over used phrase in rugby “ You never know which French team will turnup”. The hosts, Japan take on Russia in the first game on Friday and the nativesare sure to be the talk of the tournament, at least for the group stage. TheJapanese, known for being so humble, appear to be tearing up the scriptsomewhat with Kiwi-born Captain, Michael Leitch stating that “we want to winthe World Cup.” Suspiciously interesting.Now that I have set the scene, I will let our friend Mr Shakespeare have the lastword. “All the World’s a stage, and all the men and women are players: they havetheir exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his actsbeing seven ages.” Seven games to win the World Cup. It’s showtime!