“Rugby has the most interesting story to tell of all the sports”
All the major Irish team sports wrestle with their relationship with the country in a way that isn’t unique to Ireland but is certainly peculiar in its relentlessness and refusal to settle.
Hurling brings out the self-congratulation; Gaelic football the self-loathing. Football and rugby are often viewed in comparison to Gaelic games, with the historic accusation, implied or explicit, that these games — and more importantly — those who played them — were somehow less Irish.
For Liam O’Callaghan, author of the new book Blood and Thunde, rugby has the most interesting story to tell of all the sports
His book makes a compelling case for his point of view, spanning as it does how rugby was seeded in Ireland, the political tensions, its role north and south and the class element which ultimately may be more important than the nationalist position. He speaks with Dion Fanning.
