For Robbie Henshaw it was ‘Galway Girl’. Jordi Murphy belted out ‘Teenage Dirtbag’. Stephen Ferris recalls having to sing ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ theme tune.
When Joey Carbery made his Ireland debut, and beat New Zealand, he stood in front of the squad and sang the Friends theme tune ‘I’ll be There For You’.
Initiation songs after Ireland debuts are a long-held tradition and four Ireland newbies – Darren Sweetnam, Adam Byrne, Chris Farrell and Bundee Aki – all kept to it during the November internationals. Byrne went for Will Smith’s Fresh Prince ditty while Sweetnam, the Dunmanway native, went down a more traditional route.
“I only have one song,” he joked, “and that’s Country Road. I’ll try bash out the chorus!”
The initiation song is also alive and well at provincial level. Following a brace of tries on his Leinster debut, it was a matter of trying to hold Kiwi winger James Lowe back.
Leinster backs coach Girvan Dempsey told reporters:
“James is full of energy, absolutely full of energy. He just bounces into the place in the morning and just loves the game. He loves training, he’s vocal in meetings, he’s happy to share and he’s settled in really well. It’s brilliant, he’s a great addition to our squad.
“He has settled in really well. He is one of the guys straight away, straight into the dressing-room singing a song after his first cap.”
Asked what his song was, Dempsey confirmed it was ‘Colt 45’ by Afroman. It’s certainly not John Denver…
Having only appeared for the Maori All Blacks, Lowe will be eligible to play for Ireland once he satisfies World Rugby’s three-year residency rule. Even if that rule changes to five years, Lowe will have arrived in time to qualify for Ireland by 2020.
So, all going well for Lowe, he could be singing Colt 45 after making his Ireland debut in the 2021 Six Nations.
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