Life is grand

St. Patrick’s day yesterday was absolutely massive. I was part of Waterford’s St. Patrick’s Day parade onboard the ACSE boat which was a new and fantastic experience for me. Then it was off to the pub to watch Ireland hammer Italy in their Six Nations game. The 51-24 result meant France had to score 24 points more than Scotland in the following Six Nations game. That seemed a big ask and with Scotland doing well out of the gates we all thought Ireland had a good chance of winning the championship. France though started pulling ahead and at one point looked good to win. Somehow though Scotland pulled a try back and left Ireland in the lead. The pub went wild, celebrations about to begin when France in the last move of the game went over the line. But a Scottish defender had an arm under the ball and not even on the replays could anyone see if the ball was down. Somehow the TV ref gave the try and France won.

I have to say I haven’t felt that gutted over a sport’s result since South Africa failed in a Cricket World Cup years ago against Australia.

The day wasn’t over though and we happily watched Wales beat England.

Then the most amazing thing happened; Ireland beat Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup. Ireland beat Pakistan, who are ranked fourth in the world. Absolutely incredible. Easily the biggest shock of the CWC so far and probably for the rest of the tournament.

A pretty incredible day.

I had a strange dream last night. First I was watching a game of rugby which turned into a game of soccer where I was a striker on a minor club team up against a Premiership team. We were holding our own until the groundskeeper started spreading a thickening agent on the grass. This confused the Premier boys and allowed me to score the only goal of the match.

Once that was done we walked out of the stadium and into central London to find the wreckage of a score of airplanes scattered about. My two companions were commenting on how tragic these events from 6 months ago were. Walking past one plane, which had crashed under an archway between Nelson’s column and Buckingham palace, I told them I was on it at the time of the crash but had walked away unhurt. They barely registered the comment and yet kept on talking about the tragedy.

England 13, Ireland 43. What a match, what a day.

I took a 40 minute walk home in the rain yesterday evening after the shocking France vs. Ireland Six Nations match. To swing from the joy of Ronan’s 4 point gap-making penalty in the third-to-last minute to the gut-dropping try in the second-to-last minute by the French is an intense experience.

Either team deserved to win that match. Based solely on the first half France were brilliant but a Rugby game is 80 minutes long, not 40 and Ireland earned respect by clawing back. Games with 1 point differences are always great and this was a great game, best of the Six Nations by far.

Croke Park was a big part of the game too and having been there once myself I know it must have been a thunderous experience. Well done to Ireland for moving forward in that regard. Ireland should beat England in two weeks time at Croke Park and that will be a magnificent sight.

The fourth player in the game was not to blame, for he refereed very well for 90% of that game, but the two decisions against Ireland were felt very hard. What if? What if.

As the French say, C’est La Vie.

There are only two things I can say about this past Saturday’s Ireland vs. South Africa Rugby match; I am embarrassed by my team and well done to the Irish for playing so well.

Was that Springbok Rugby?

9 tag rugby games later and The Shellakybookys show how much fun they had. We beat the Wallace Warriors last night and claimed the Grade C Bowl cup for 2006.

We have all had a great few weeks in the ITRA league.

As you can see we took some beatings but began to start winning with 4 straight wins at the end. A pity the final two games were not league games (one was a semi-final and the last was the final) as we would have posted higher on the league had they counted.

All the same we had a blast and will be back next year to challenge for the top cup.

The team from the TSSG will have to figure out what to do next as we will miss our weekly practice and game.

Thanks to the ITRA and other organisers for a great event.

What a weekend. I am wrecked but happy. Munster winning the Heineken European Rugby Cup on Saturday was brilliant. Jammed into the Three Shippes pub in Waterford along with hundreds of red garbed Munster fans going crazy. This was after being out till 2am the night before as we gave an Irish welcome to Jessica from Canada who will be sailing with us in Genoa. The rough weekend weather made the Saturday sailing great. I took a breather on Saturday night before working on the boat all Sunday with its four-seasons. The water was freezing as we hauled her out and I am thankful for a perfectly placed buoy that saved me from a dunking in the harbour. Then it was off to Fi’s place where we laughed ourselves to death with probably the best Top Gear episode ever shown. Watching Clarkson and co. build and drive amphibious cars was classic. I haven’t laughed that hard in years. All capped off by more drinks at Uluru and then Jason’s place till 1am as we said fairwell to Jessica.

The mad bit is that this coming weekend will be even larger as we head down for the Baltimore Seafood Festival. My liver is booking a ticket to Anywhere Else But There as we speak.

And if you happen to see a dreadlocked Canadian in Dublin airport immigration who responds to the name of Jesus then please give us a call. Poor bugger, welcome to Ireland.