Cape Town win ‘tossed a giant log on the fire that fuels the white-hot competition between the Irish provinces’
Fist fights on the training ground as the old dog that is at the head of the pack puts a challenging puppy back in their place are not unheard of. More often there is a culture of mentorship and support from a senior player to a junior with the pecking order kept in check during full-body contact sessions.The motivation that underpins the performances can be traced back to childhood dreams when a young player watches a match and whisper to themselves: “I want to wear that jersey.
As sports psychologists tell us, those who are fully committed to “what” they want to achieve, can withstand almost any adversity on the road to “how” they get there. The Irish players understand their “what” and the interprovincial rivalry provides the “how”.Munster's Jack Crowley kicks the winning drop goal against Leinster in the United Rugby Championship semi-final at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin in May.
This season, in all but three games Leinster dominated all who came before them in commanding displays of supreme rugby. Then the game rose up, like the untameable creature that it is, to remind us all that nothing across its vast and complex ways of being played is totally predictable. The variables in rugby are too vast and complex to ever be mastered.
As a result, the other Irish provinces have circled the date on their calendar when they will face the champions and are scheming to take their rugby scalp.Among this mix of healthy, and at times cruel, competition the cream, as they say, has risen to the top. These blood-deep rivalries have empowered Andy Farrell to name a squad for the World Cup that has a real chance of success.
A success that started with a young player’s dream. Who first learned how to compete for selection and then competed to win. All the time learning, growing and striving. Fighting for a day when all the work, pain, frustration and heartbreak, that every player must endure, earns them the right to be part of a team that steps up and takes its chance to lift a trophy.
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