It’s funny how a newly opened or even a refurbished ground takes a while to assume a character of its own. The stands having barely been opened by a combination of politicos and sporting dignitaries, invariably players representing the home team speak of making it “a fortress”. Sometimes that happens straight away or over a period of time, and sometimes not at all.
"Fortress Aviva" is not something that would have seemed likely in the over-priced re-opening of the revamped Lansdowne Road in November 2010. That botched four-game series after the four-year relocation to Croke Park led to vast swathes of empty seats for all but the New Zealand game. Regardless of the results – Ireland lost to South Africa and New Zealand while beating Samoa and Argentina – that series scuppered any hopes of the renamed ground resembling even a sand castle, much less a fortress.
By the time Wales won there in the 2012 Six Nations, it's still hard to credit that Ireland had won three and lost nine of their first dozen fixtures at the Aviva. Following that autumnal 2010 campaign, the only other win in the ensuing five games at the venue was, naturally enough, over England. Akin to 2001, the sight of the red rose and the thought of Martin Johnson's team claiming the Grand Slam on the final weekend in 2011 brought out the best performance of that campaign by home team and crowd alike as Ireland won 24-8.
Very often the unique circumstances of a fixture – be it timing or opponents or whatever – can bring new life to a venue and establish some sort of benchmark. The feeling, or hope, in the aftermath of that rousing afternoon was that a fortress had been born. But it was not to be. Even England would win at the Aviva later that year.
After the Joe Schmidt era kicked off in November 2013 with a win over Samoa, a week later Australia punctured the mood with a 32-15 win which, of course, was compounded by Ireland's utterly heartbreaking last-ditch 24-22 loss to New Zealand after they had led 19-0 at the end of the first quarter. And, ironically, a fortress was born out of a defeat.
Deflating
There were a myriad of factors at work that day, starting with the haka. Jamie Heaslip and other Irish players had dared to speak publicly of how utterly deflating it was to emerge from the dressing-room and see vast numbers of empty green seats, especially in the upper east stands. Those rallying calls, coupled with supporters wanting to witness the haka (for all the reservations about it, it is the sport’s greatest prematch pageantry) ensured everyone was in attendance when the teams emerged.
And then the script unfolded in a manner no one could have dared forecast. Ireland were, after all, 10/1 underdogs with Paddy Power to register a first win over the All Blacks, while Richie McCaw’s awe-inspiring team were 1/20 to record a 14th-straight win in the calendar year.
Ireland's ferociously hard carrying and clearing out from the off led to Conor Murray's sixth-minute try. And then one by Rory Best in the 12th minute. And then Rob Kearney's 60-metre intercept try crowned the first quarter. The crowd hadn't had an opportunity to draw breath. The game and atmosphere alike had been set for an extraordinary 80-minute rollercoaster.
Benchmark
That day exploded the myth that Sunday games essentially can’t work, and set something of a benchmark; on and off the pitch. The defeat meant that of Ireland’s first 18 games at the Aviva, they had won just seven, drawn one and lost 10.
Yet Sunday’s win constituted Ireland’s eighth victory in a row at the ground, and it’s as if the memory still lingers, in the minds of the players especially, who never want to revisit that hollow feeling again. In contrast to the fraught endgames against Australia or France, admittedly, it helped that Ireland had a two-score lead, but it was as if the memory of those wins had exorcised a ghost. There was a relative calmness among the crowd that Ireland were going to see this through. Among his many achievements, Joe Schmidt has helped to change the Irish sporting psyche. We are almost becoming comfortable, or secure, with the role of serial winners. That’s very un-Irish.
High stakes
Hence, this was as much of a landmark win as it was a landmark performance, and the stakes only heightened as the match reached its finale and Ireland were sometimes obliged to defend desperately. Had England somehow completed their comeback, it would have ended Ireland’s nine-game winning streak while extending England’s winning run over Ireland to five games, leaving England with home games against Scotland and France with which to claim a first Grand Slam since 2003, and all this in a year when the teams could conceivably meet in a
World Cup
semi-final.
Instead, Ireland made it a record-equalling 10 wins in a row; leaving this squad truly on the threshold of history with a two-year body of work to surpass anything any Ireland team has achieved before. England and Ireland will still meet in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham but regardless of that result, rather than England having a five or six-game winning run over potential semi-final opponents, Ireland will have beaten every side in the world’s top 10 bar New Zealand (that one just won’t go away) under Schmidt’s watch.
They have also recorded back-to-back wins over both of their main World Cup pool rivals, France (who will be stronger and better prepared in an early-season World Cup, even under Philippe Saint-André) and Italy, as well as possible quarter-final and semi-final opponents. That’s no bad thing.
