Bloody Aussies...

Yesterday I went to Croke Park to watch the Irish take on the Aussies in a chaotic little sport the creation of which must have involved some fascinating - and if the way it is played is anything to go by - heated negotiations: International Rules.

The Irish got a second half whipping despite 82,000 spectators cheering and singing them on (Ok well I guess some of those were Aussie types...damn them and their sporting prowess...), when they seemed to lose the ability to do even the basics of the sport...ya know: pass, tackle, score, run, jump...that kinda craic...

However, what got the headlines today, and what I will remember the event for, was not the weird little march the Garda band led the two teams on round the pitch pre-anthems, not the half time show's, albeit awesome, Fields of Athenry sing along led by a leather jacketed joker with a microphone (His performance consisted of not just sing-along leading but also wonderful "Who's in from Offaly?" shout outs) NOR EVEN the humiliation felt at being crushed like bugs in the one sport we are supposed to excell at (And the one we use to explain why we don't excell at all the others... "Why aren't we better at soccer/rugby/athletics/water polo? Well, it's cus all our best atheletes are playing GAA...")

No, the reason this match will be remembered, and why you could have heard me laughing hysterically during much of the first quarter of the game, was the absurd levels of violence that were on display. There were tough tackles. Sure. One guy got knocked unconscious and taken to A&E. But plenty of sports see touch tackling and the resulting injuries. What I have NEVER seen before are full scale brawls take place with so little action taken by the referee BEFORE THE GAME HAD EVEN STARTED!!!

Mental.

At one point a big ruck started after an Irish guy had committed GBH on an Aussie with a tackle...fists were flying, people were being pulled to the ground and one Irish player leaped through the air, hurdling another of his team, to attack an Aussie who had looked at him funny... We watched, amazed (and to be honest we bayed for a little blood) but then we realised that although probably three quarters of the men on the pitch were embroilled in some sort of violent activity, the other quarter were still playing...

The Irish goalkeeper looked up to see three men from down under running at him, ball in hand. Unfortunately his defense had their hands full to his right, trying to strangle some ignorant Aussies. The Australians scored. And...summing up the bizarre nature of this sporting occassion...despite the fact that surely none of the officials were watching, too busy as they were trying to keeping the maiming to a minimum...The goal stood.




It was a cultural experience for all concerned and much credit must go to my Aussie friend Samara for not lording it over the rest of us too much for the rest of the day...



...The more I think about it the more I wish Chris Tapp could have been there with us...I think introducing him to this particular sport would have been hilarious...