LONG READ ‘The mood was less ebullient. Irish rugby is not as imperious’

I have spent parts of the past two seasons writing and speaking about Sam Prendergast needing to add timber to his frame. At the Rugby Players Ireland Awards, I was reminded how tall that frame is.

I was hovering at a bar inside Aviva Stadium, ahead of the main ceremony, when Prendergast strolled by. The Leinster out-half is 6ft 4in and had a clear view over most heads. He has an impressive cut to him. In modern rugby, though, the 22-year-old still needs to add a few kilograms.

With Munster in South Africa ahead of their United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Sharks and competitive matches wrapped for Connacht and Ulster, it was Leinster that got the focus at the awards. Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber’s men are back at the stadium on Saturday afternoon for their URC last-eight clash with Scarlets, but allowed Dan Sheehan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Prendergast out for the night.

The Leinster trio were joined by Caelan Doris, encumbered by heavy-duty bracing around his injured arm and shoulder, yet still looking resplendent in a black-tie tuxedo. The apparatus helping to secure Doris’ arm was a stark reminder that rugby players are human, even if they tower above the general population. There were other reminders, too.

For much of the past decade, these awards have been a night of celebration and merriment. Plenty of back-slapping, trophy wins to reminisce over and lofty goal-setting. The Six Nations has been won five times in the past 11 years, including two Grand Slams. We’ve had eight league wins spread across three provinces, a Champions Cup for Leinster (2018), Women’s Six Nations title (2015), three U20 Six Nations Grand Slams, and both the men and women’s Sevens teams have qualified for the Olympics. The men still have not breached the World Cup quarter-final barrier but, in 2024, followed their latest exit by retaining the Six Nations.

The mood around this season’s awards was less ebullient. Leinster and Munster are still in the URC hunt, but something feels different. Irish rugby is not as imperious.

That such a sizeable chunk of the Ireland team is made up by Leinster players that keep discovering new ways to get their Champions Cup hopes crushed is a concern.

The words ‘fallow season’ were mentioned. Ireland captured the Six Nations Triple Crown but the two games that followed it – a sound defeat by France and a shaky win over Italy – have unsettled those that follow the game closely. That such a sizeable chunk of the Ireland team is made up by Leinster players that keep discovering new ways to get their Champions Cup hopes crushed is a concern. Ireland Women finished third in the Six Nations but two of their best players, Erin King and Dorothy Wall, have already been ruled out of this summer’s World Cup. Just a fortnight ago, the IRFU announced it was axing the Men’s Sevens team, less than a year after they represented Ireland at the Paris Olympics.

It was rightly pointed out that high points for Irish rugby, this season, have included that Triple Crown, the women’s team beating New Zealand and 15 Ireland players making the British and Irish Lions squad. Rugby Players Ireland chief executive Simon Keogh remarked that a Triple Crown win, not so long ago, would have led to ‘Italia ’90-style celebrations’ across the country. The Irish public expects more. It is an off-shoot of sustained success.

Former Ireland internationals Barry Murphy and Andrew Trimble were on hosting duty again and, perhaps sensing bruised egos, dialled back their usual roasting, rollicking patter. The pair have drawn great mileage from Johnny Sexton in recent years. Trimble returned to that well, noting how Sexton spent the past year at a glass bottle company only to land a coaching job with Andy Farrell’s Lions. “He’s been coaching for about five minutes… It’s like Katy Perry going to space for 11 minutes and thinking she’s an astronaut,” Trimble joked.

Awards were handed out to Dan Sheehan (Try of the Year) and Erin King (Women’s XVs Young Player of the Year) before there was a break for starters and top-ups. When Trimble and Murphy returned to the stage, the former Ulster star was bold enough to joke, “Jordie Barrett was down as a starter, but Leo Cullen wanted him for dessert!”

Two moments offered stark jolts about Men’s Sevens players needing to seek alternative employment after the union decided it would be shuttering the programme.

That gag drew laughter from pockets of the room and elicited groans from the Leinster loyalists. Maybe too soon to rib them about Barrett not starting that gut-wrenching Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton Saints.

Two moments during the night offered stark jolts about Men’s Sevens players needing to seek alternative employment after the union decided it would be shuttering the programme.

Dylan O’Grady won Men’s Sevens Players’ Player of the Year. He will be the last recipient of that accolade for the foreseeable future. “I’m totally proud of the lads and the fight we’ve shown this year, when our backs have been against the wall,” he commented. Asked by Murphy if he had time to make a plan, once the Sevens season wraps, O’Grady said, “I’d love to keep pushing on (with rugby) but what will be, will be… I’ll be scrapping for anything.”

Later in the night, Ireland Sevens captain Mark Roche told Trimble: “I’d say, with rugby, it’s probably the end of the day for me now. Sad to see it go but I’ll hopefully get to stay in the game through coaching.”

It was left to Paul Wallace to lighten spirits with some lovely Jim Telfer stories from the 1997 Lions Tour to South Africa, before the hosts located some of the impending 2025 tourists. Bundee Aki recalled how nervous he was before finding out he would be a two-time Lion. “I was quite lucky that the backs were named in alphabetical order,” Aki commented. “I knew if my name wasn’t the first one up, I was in big trouble.”

“It’s a very special moment,” Trimble replied. “Everybody, I’m sure, who experiences that moment will remember it forever. I mean, I will never forget the moment I didn’t get picked for the Lions!”

If Aki was the older, more experienced Lion, Sheehan and Gibson-Park were the newbies with much to learn. “You’ve been there and done it,” said Trimble. “If it’s Lion King, that makes you Mufasa. So, I guess that must mean Jamison and Dan are Simba and Nala.” Disney fans in the audience roared their approval.

Retiring Munster and Ireland loosehead Dave Kilcoyne had the crowd rolling with some brilliant tales from his playing days, and the nights out, in between. Impersonating detectives during his college’s ‘Rag Week’ might have been pushing the youthful boundaries, until Kilcoyne explained that he was 28 at the time, and three days out from a big game against Leinster. “I was the lead detective,” he recalled. “The Commissioner!” It was all going well, and several crates of beer had been requisitioned, until the real police officers showed up – “The Commissioner has been Commissioned!”

The Irish aura is fading. Some silverware – won by either Munster or Leinster – would be a welcome stir.

The sight of Doris taking to the stage to accept the ‘Moment of the Year’ award – for the Triple Crown win – gave the audience a jolt. As much as Doris put a brave face on his shoulder injury and the rehab road back, everyone in the room knew he should have been fielding questions about the upcoming Lions tour.

Aoife Dalton targeted mighty World Cup deeds as she picked up the Women’s XV Player of the Year prize. Tadhg Beirne passed on his thanks from South Africa after he was announced as a popular Men’s XV Player of the Year.

Beirne is one of the 15 Irish Lions in the 2025 squad, and the sole Munster representative. Despite a string of excellent performances, in red and green, Beirne has lost 11 of the 25 games he has been involved in.

The Irish aura is fading. Some silverware – won by either Munster or Leinster – would be a welcome stir.