There was plenty of confidence amongst Irish fans going into Sunday’s Aviva Stadium showdown with England.
And why wouldn’t there have been? Ireland won the Grand Slam this time last year and they’d won 12 games on the bounce on home turf leading into this one.
There have been barren years and they’ve suffered through them but these are the good times and long-suffering Irish rugby supporters have waited long enough.
England have had the upper hand on us more than we have them so surely, a bit of friendly slagging and banter between the old foes just comes with the territory.
Former England winger Ugo Monye didn’t seem to expect it, however. He was speaking on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast recently when he said he was “annoyed” and “fed-up” at the attitude in Dublin pre kick-off.
“I love Ireland, really like Dublin, really like the people but by the time kick-off came, I was actually a bit annoyed, I was pretty fed-up actually. Getting off the plane, getting a taxi, creating a bit of small talk, a guy says what’s your score prediction, I said, ‘I think England are going to win,’ and the guy laughed at me,” he began.
Monye went on to claim that this arrogance was all over Dublin prior to the game.
“I though, hang on, we’re talking about an England team that are pretty good and they’ve a pretty decent team, so laughing, speak to reception, the chambermaid, speak to a person down the cafe and in the restaurants and the bars – everyone’s laughing – I did a few Q and As corporate and when I said we were going to win, they were just laughing.
“I just thought, hang on a second, forget what’s happened in Europe, forget what’s happened last year. I was thinking, you don’t win a game based on what you did last year, you win it based on part of the preparation for the week and what you deliver at 4.45. I just looked at the teamsheets and I was like, we’ve got a good team…quit the laughing, it got me quite punchy so I was more than delighted to win.”
Not like the English have ever had a problem with getting carried away with themselves.
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