Irish rugby ends 2004 in perhaps its healthiest state ever. The country’s first Triple Crown in almost 20 years was achieved with a brand of fast, flowing rugby that saw Ireland’s back-line confirmed as the most exciting in the Northern Hemisphere. Winning the three autumn internationals without our best player of the Six Nations Tournament, Gordon D’Arcy, while successfully introducing some new faces into the squad, most notably Johnny O’Connor, proved a fitting end to a very satisfying year.

It didn’t start as brightly, however, with Leinster limping unconvincingly out of the 2003/04 Heineken European Cup (not helped by the paperwork error which kept Felipe Contepomi out of the team).
Munster, having overcome Stade Francais in the Quarter Finals, were themselves narrowly beaten by eventual winners Wasps in the Semi. This, allied to the fact that the national side lost 35-17 to France in the first Six Nations Game of the year in Paris, lead to widespread predictions of doom and gloom, with only George Hook’s Dunphy-like vitriol to lift the spirits.
Thankfully, it didn’t work out like that. A 36-15 home victory over a resurgent Welsh team was followed by the taming of Clive Woodward’s World Cup-winning England side (albeit missing one Johnny Wilkinson), in a fully deserved 19-13 victory in Fortress Twickenham. Home wins over Italy and Scotland followed, the latter ensuring our first Triple Crown since the heady days of 1985. The Championship, however, eluded Ireland again, thanks to Les Bleus’ three-point win over England.
A disappointing summer tour to South Africa saw Ireland slump to two consecutive defeats at the hands of the resurgent hosts, who duly went on to win the Tri-Nations. However, the autumn internationals showed that Eddie O’Sullivan truly has this team moving forward with back-to-back wins over the Sprinkboks, the USA and Argentina. The latter was a decidedly ill-tempered game, thanks to the Pumas’ ‘win at all costs’ mentality which seems to regard trying to maim your opponent as part and parcel of the game of rugby.
Hopefully, 2005 will see one of the provinces repeat Ulster’s feat of a few years back and lift the Heineken trophy, while maybe Eddie O’Sullivan’s mob can go one better than 2004 and bring home a Grand Slam and Six Nations Championship.