Greatest Ireland Matches

[gfo]

Just for nostalgia's sake, I was going back over the best Ireland performances I've ever seen. It's a great way of forgetting about current disappointments.
These are all within the last 15 years or so, since that's my frame of reference for seeing matches and outside of late night re-runs on TG4, I've never actually seen older matches.

Ireland v Australia RWC 2011
Ireland v England 6N 2011
Ireland v Australia Autumn International
Ireland v South Africa Autumn International
All the 2009 Grand Slam matches
Ireland v England 2007 in Croker
Ireland v South Africa 2006 Autumn International
Ireland v Wales 2004 Six Nations (always thought this was a great performance)
Ireland v Australia RWC 2003
Ireland v France 6N 2001
Ireland v France 6N 2000 (absolute classic)

Maybe there's some I missed, and oldsters can add their favourite classics. Let's build a list of the greatest Ireland matches and remember how great we can be.

[BlueArmyOriginal]

England-Ireland 2006. Shaggy scoring in the corner for a 28-24 win in Twickenham.

Ireland - Wales 2006(7?) The match where Henson was diabolical, was our best player in a hammering and the entire crowd erupted into cat-calls every time he got the ball.

England - Ireland 2003. Ruining their RWC victory parade.

Ireland - Scotland 2000. The Renaissance.

[Grumpy Old Man]

England-Ireland 2006. Shaggy scoring in the corner for a 28-24 win in Twickenham.

Ireland - Wales 2006(7?) The match where Henson was diabolical, was our best player in a hammering and the entire crowd erupted into cat-calls every time he got the ball.

England - Ireland 2003. Ruining their RWC victory parade.

Ireland - Scotland 2000. The Renaissance.

The Twickenham game (post RWC) was 2004

I think France 2000 is probably my favourite though.

[suisse]

Was a young boy for France 2000 but will never forget it. Went over with my Dad and 12 tickets in our pockets. Couldn't even give the remaining 3 away for free.

England in 2004 was unforgettable too. The whinging at Twickenham Station after the dirty cockiness for the previous 80 mins was heart warming.

England in 2007 must be the pick of them though - however, I was not in Auckland so hard to know.

These are all wins, but some Ireland games have been memorable, even in the defeat. Ireland-NZ in 2001 was a fabulous game of rugby.

[FrankBurke]

Ireland v France 1969. My first international. Johnny Moroney had a blinder

Ireland v England 1985. Mick Kiernan. Triple Crown

England v Ireland 1996. Simon Geoghan's try.

Franc v Ireland 2000. BO'D & a brilliant try saving tackle by Dennis Hickie.

[Leinster Exile]

Ire V Aus 91 RWC......soul destroying

[Degz]

Ireland v England 2001. Woody and the slambusters.

[OTT]

Ireland v England 1993 17-3

Final game in the 5 Nations We had lost badly to Scotland and France and just beaten a bad Welsh team. England had beaten us pretty handily over the previous 5 or 6 years. I vividly remember the Munster flanker Pat O'Hara encouraging the crowd to raise the noise and Mick Galwey's try. England went in as hot favourites and we were to give it the old cliche 'blood and guts' for 60mins and then fade away. Didnt turn out that way and England not only lost the match but also a few would be Lions and Carling who was a shoe in before hand (with the media anyway maybe not McGeechan) lost out on the captaincy to Gavin Hastings.

Also the 1991 RWC match against Aus was amazing only my 3rd time at an International and when Gordon Hamilton scored that try in the Havelock Square end it was the greatest feeling ive had at a rugby match (had to watch the 2009 Grand Slam win in a pub ) till Leinster in Edinburgh '09.....unfortunately it was short lived Rob Saunders missed a kick to touch and the rest is history 18-19....but what a match. We would have had All Blacks in lansdowne in the semi if memory serves me right!! What if!

[Fred Funk]

1982
1985
1991 v Australia in RWC.
1993 Ireland v England, 17-3, Ireland ate their weetabix that morning.
Ireland v Australia Nov 2002 in the rain with 'Beautiful Day' blaring after the game. Girv's finest hour.
2007 Croke Park v England, still gives me goosebumbs.

[olaf the fat]

Ireland V France 09. Two good teams both playing well

[Hippo]

Ireland v France 1969. My first international. Johnny Moroney had a blinder

Me too!

[simplythebest]

France 2000, and the introduction of (as GT would say) some bloke called O'Driscoll.

[johng]

Ireland v France 1969. My first international. Johnny Moroney had a blinder

Me too!

Yiz bleeden aulfellahs! I was in senior infants that February.

[JohnB]

Ireland vs France 1975 - Willie John McBride's last game at home for Ireland and he scored the winning try!
Ireland vs Wales 1982 - Ollie Campbell was magnificent that day.
Ireland vs England 1987 - 17- 0 and England were lucky to get the Nil!
Ireland vs England 1993 - We tackled them to a stand still. Flankers McBride and O'Hara were great and Gaillamh got the try at the last.
Ireland vs Italy 2000 - 60 points in our first victory over Italy in 4 matches.
Ireland vs Australia 2002 - Our first victory over a SH team in 23 years - 18-9 to us in the pouring rain.
Ireland vs Australia 2006 - Horrible conditions. We played all the rugby and outscored them by 2 beautiful tries to nil. Really thought we'd win the 6N that season.
Ireland vs Italy 2007 - St. Patrick's Day in the Roman sun. We scored some wonderful tries but why, oh why didn't Leamy kick that damned ball off the pitch at the end!!
Ireland vs France 2009 - Revenge in Croker and tries for Heaslip, Darcy and BOD. What a game!

Maybe not our greatest matches but certainly some of the ones it gave me great pleasure to attend.

[johng]

Ireland vs France 1975 - Willie John McBride's last game at home for Ireland and he scored the winning try!

I was at that as a kid. I think it was his only try for Ireland. Me and a mate were standing beside Eamonn Andrews with his little red book at pitchside. He ran on to say "And now, Willie John McBride.....This is your life"

[JohnB]

It was the first international rugby match I attended. Great stuff altogether.

[cormac]

Ireland vs France 1975 - Willie John McBride's last game at home for Ireland and he scored the winning try!
Ireland vs Wales 1982 - Ollie Campbell was magnificent that day.
Ireland vs England 1987 - 17- 0 and England were lucky to get the Nil!
Ireland vs England 1993 - We tackled them to a stand still. Flankers McBride and O'Hara were great and Gaillamh got the try at the last.
Ireland vs Italy 2000 - 60 points in our first victory over Italy in 4 matches.
Ireland vs Australia 2002 - Our first victory over a SH team in 23 years - 18-9 to us in the pouring rain.
Ireland vs Australia 2006 - Horrible conditions. We played all the rugby and outscored them by 2 beautiful tries to nil. Really thought we'd win the 6N that season.
Ireland vs Italy 2007 - St. Patrick's Day in the Roman sun. We scored some wonderful tries but why, oh why didn't Leamy kick that damned ball off the pitch at the end!!
Ireland vs France 2009 - Revenge in Croker and tries for Heaslip, Darcy and BOD. What a game!

Maybe not our greatest matches but certainly some of the ones it gave me great pleasure to attend.

some fine games in there, but the pedant in me is forced to point out that we'd ended our losing streak to Italy the year before the 6N officially started.

[sid]

Just watching that 2004 game vs England now. Think I only heard it on the radio at the time. We're all over them in the first 15

Must have been the 2006 one I was thinking of where they bulldozed over our line early on and then we took over. That was an enjoyable win too.

[JohnB]

Cormac

I yield to your pedantry. All I could remember as I posted was that we kept losing to them when they had the great Dominguez at outhalf. They should really have been allowed into the 5N quite a few years earlier. I recall Horgan standing up the Italian winger for a try and running it in from half way up the field on the left wing as I watched it. Oh and I also recall the slagging a friend of mine got for wearing a bright orange kilt to the game though for some reason he kept insisting that it was a saffron kilt not an Orange one!

John B.

[Degz]

I was at the Italy match in '99. Lovely sunny day if I recall.