Six Nations 2007 Official Thread

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Scritto da: clyve.50 25/02/2007 10.55
E va bene a forza di starvi dietro è andata a finire che mi sono guardato il rugby
Il momento più emozionante è stato cmq vedere gli inglesi sul campo del Croke Park con tanto di God save the Queen, mi è corso un brivido lungo la schiena!

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A tale proposito posto questo articolo.
Fonte: Irish Independent

Hatred kicked into touch

THEY played God Save The Queen at Croke Park yesterday. And the World did not stop turning.

More than 7,000 English fans sang their national anthem with gusto and pride.

And from 75,000 Irish supporters which included The President Mrs Mary McAleese and An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, there was the respectful silence that we always knew there would be.

Not a single boo or cat call, not a single derisory whistle.

This was a great occasion and those bigots who tried to drive a political wedge between Irish and English rugby fans got the answer they deserved - complete and utter indifference.

The much-hyped protest outside Croke Park if it could be called such, was a damp squib attended by some 150 misguided souls

They included a hard core of Republican Sinn Fein and various hangers-on included a large number of teenagers.

They were outnumbered by print and broadcast media, stewards and gardai.

The only hint of dissonance at Croke Park came when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern kissed McAleese on the cheek in the preliminary moments before the playing of God Save The Queen. It was the moment as the crowd didn't know whether to cheer or jeer.

The English XV were greeted with a standing ovation from both sets of supporters as they ran onto the hallowed turf of Croke Park to the sound of Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for the Common man.

Mrs McAleese was greeted warmly by the players and some of the palpable tension of the pre-match nerves dissipated amid genuine smiles.

The 60-strong combined Army No 1 band and the Garda band provided a rousing rendition of both anthems starting with God Save the Queen. There was some tension as if 82,000 were praying that no-one would try to make a name for themselves with an unseemly outburst.

It didn't happen. The conclusion was greeted with strong applause.

Then of course our own anthem - never sung louder on even the most passionate of All-Ireland Sundays.

Ireland's Call lifted the roof and the hairs stood up on the back of the neck.

What happened next? Oh yes, there was a game of rugby.

The result was immaterial really.

This was a day when Ireland grew up.

All the talk of protest and old GAA greats handing back their medals faded into insignificance.

It was a moment to savour for those who have fought for reconciliation, another important milestone in the growth of a nation.

This was more than a rugby match between Ireland and England, it was a defiant symbol of a new maturity and a confident battle cry that we will no longer be prisoners of the past.

The eyes of the world were on Croke Park and the stadium was a sight to behold.

Security was tight in the run-up to the historic clash at the HQ of Gaelic games, 87 years after the Bloody Sunday Massacre in 1920.

On that day at a challenge match between Dublin and Tipperary, the British army and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) fired shots into the crowd of 5,000, killing 14 people, including a woman and two young boys, as well as Michael Hogan who lined out that day for Tipperary.

The murders were considered a straightforward reprisal for the murder of 14 British agents by IRA men under the command of Michael Collins earlier that day.