Answering Ireland's Call
On the bedstand: Just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeComing through the speakers: Head On (Hold on to Your Heart) by Man Man
Our arrival date in Dublin coincided with the start of the Six Nations Rugby Championship. It was the ultimate in answering Ireland's Call.
I didn't know what the Six Nations Cup was at the time. Heck, I don't think I'd ever watched a full rugby match to tell you the truth. I've now watched five rugby matches, all of them as an Ireland fan. The Boys in Green won four of them. They also walked away with the 2014 Championship. A convenient time to become a fan!I asked Andrew, a colleague at work, to explain the rules of the game when I first arrived. "A bunch of guys pummel each other for 80 minutes. Somewhere in the scrum, there's a ball. That's about it." He wasn't far off.There was no lack of green throughout the country on gamedays. Bars were packed, as if another excuse was needed to drink in this country. Every bar provided a different experience, from the packed house at Searson's with Brian, to the casual feel of Odessa with the MeetUp group. The last match at the Swan is what sticks out the most though.The packed house gathered around the couple of TVs that sat over the bar. I don't think the TVs are hooked up to the sound system, so the only volume from the sets came from whatever speakers were attached to them. Drinks were flowing as Ireland, though never in the lead, always maintained a sense of control. Then, it happened. Ireland pissed it away in the last two minutes. A try from France that was eventually (and correctly) overturned. Ireland was Six Nations Champion! The bar erupted!Amid the excitement, Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland's star player, gave a post-match interview. It was his 141st and final match with the national team. With the aforementioned sound situation, the entire pub went silent to hear what BOD had to say. You could have heard a pin drop. The interview concluded, the men wiped the tears from their eyes, and the party, which happened to share the weekend with St. Patrick's Day kicked-off.And that's how I became a rugby fan.