In Ireland, Paddy's Day isn't really just a day; it is extended as long as possible. Since it fell on a Thursday this year, many schools and workers took Friday off as well, giving everyone a chance to recover from their Paddy's Day shenanigans and to enjoy a long weekend. Continuing the weeks theme of everything Irish, I attended a Six Nations rugby match on Friday night. Six Nations is an annual rugby tournament between Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, and France that lasts for five weeks and garners national attention on the Emerald Isle. I would equate their passion for rugby with the American passion for football; games are on once a week and during that time, all that matters for the audience is beer, tackles, and victories. There are separate women's and men's tournaments and a teammate of mine from NUIG actually plays for Ireland. The women had a match set against England on Friday night in Ashbourne, so a bunch of us got a bus and made the trip out to show some support. Ashbourne is on the outskirts of Dublin, so it took nearly three hours to get to the field, which was in the middle of nowhere and had very little seating. But, there was a sideline pub. Shocking, I know.
On the bus ride up, we put on face paint, sang, and took lots of pictures to pass the time. When we arrived, there was a pretty big crowd and the teams were warming up on their respective sides of the pitch. We found a spot along the field barriers and stayed there, in the cold rain, throughout the match. Ireland ended up losing something like 29 - 0, but it was still really cool to see someone I practice alongside play in a national match. The crowd didn't seem disappointed either, they continued to sing and cheer all the way until the end, showing serious dedication to their country and their sport. After the game, we quickly went back to the warm bus to make the long journey back to Galway. The game hadn't started until about 7:45, so we didn't end up leaving until nearly 10. Most of us slept on the ride back, tired from Paddy's Day antics and a long day traveling back and forth to the rugby match.
UMass girls in matching rugby shirts
"Team America"
Yesterday following the women's match against England, the men were set to play the Brits at 5PM in Dublin. Unlike women's matches, the men play in the Gillette-sized Aviva Stadium in front of over 50,000 fans. Tickets cost hundreds of Euro, so while I would have loved to go, it was more financially sound to watch from a pub in Galway. I made my way downtown in the early afternoon with my friends Katie and Fiona to grab some lunch and find good seats in the Skeff, a pub that takes .50 off of the cost of a pint with each try that Ireland scores. A bunch of people met us there and by the time the match began, there was barely standing room. It was in the pub that I got a sense of how die-hard rugby fans are in Ireland. They sing and cheer as if they were at the stadium themselves; belting out the national anthem and "Ireland's Call" alongside the team. Yesterday's match was particularly important for two reasons. The first was that due to the long history of tension between Ireland and England, many Irish do not like the British and are happy to see them lose at everything: wars, rugby matches, etc. The second was that if Ireland proved victorious, then they would ruin England's perfect record thus far in the tournament. To everyone's surprise, Ireland did in fact win and the pub was crazy. Beers were 2 Euro off, many hugs were exchanged, and shouts for Ireland were being yelled everywhere. I was happy for the fans, for the team, and that I was able to take part in the celebration.
Love and rugby country,
Haley
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