Anna Caplice on rugby: Six Nations is special, Irish fans should embrace the chaos

AS the month of February falls upon us we are blessed with many reasons to be happy.

Brighter days, a stretch in the evenings, a new bank holiday, maybe Valentine’s Day if you’re lucky, but most importantly, the Six Nations.

And no fans should be happier than those in Ireland as we send our boys in green off to battle as we sit atop world rugby rankings as number one — right?

For many Irish fans, maybe the pressure is getting to us already. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the hype, the rants and raves, the discussions and debates.

It’s a side to sport that we can exercise and engage with — the public platforms for our strong opinions.

However, even off the back of a 34-10 win, many have found reasons to grumble and are seemingly unhappy with having given Wales any sniff at all at a score or the so-called “purple patch.” Have we lost that much respect for Wales that we don’t expect them to front up on their home ground, in a stadium where Ireland hadn’t won in this tournament for 10 years?

HARSH

We have become such harsh critics that no mistakes are allowed.

“He should be dropped.” I read more than once about more than one player. Let’s not forget that errors on the pitch are a product of the pressure in the game itself.

The pace of the game was outstanding and an absolute joy to watch. Would we prefer a slower, easier game with no errors at all?

Even when it seemed Ireland were taking their foot off the gas, they were rewarded when Wales tried to match their pace and put together a few fast and fancy phases only to be caught out by James Lowe giving it full Béibhinn Parson’s vibes with an almost full pitch run from an intercept. “They were lucky there.”

Yes. Luck. That thing that’s also a product of the game itself.

It’s, of course, not unique to Irish fans to make their personal selection calls public.

“Eddie out,” scream the English. Forgetting that he’s already left, with replacement Steve Borthwick off to a losing start. I’m sure they’re sharpening their pitchforks as we speak. (That was a metaphor.)

There is also much-heated debate around the ownership of their number 10 jersey. “He’s not good enough, he missed that tackle,” and many statements along the same lines.

Maybe, just maybe, allowing a player to learn from mistakes in a year when we have bigger things one the horizon, he might not miss that tackle on a warm September evening in the south of France.

I know that addressing negatives in performances is necessary to grow and build and I trust that Six Nations management will consider how exactly their team will respond. However, let’s not let the negatives outshine the positives so much that we can’t enjoy the actual rugby.

Looking at responses to Duhan Van Der Merwe’s scintillating solo run to stretch Scotland’s first-half lead, many couldn’t take their attention away from defensive errors.

“Yeah, it was good but...” 

It’s a phrase I’m sadly all too familiar with as a female rugby player.

Ask any Munster fan: What is your favourite Munster try of all time? No doubt we’ll have heaps of hands up for Peter Stringer’s solo effort in the Heineken Cup final in 2006.

I have never heard anyone say “Yeah, it was good but...”

The reality of that try was that it was a massive defensive error from the Biarritz winger to leave his wing so early with so much space unattended. An error forced through the intensity of the game, followed by a genius response.

I prefer to focus on Stringer’s play because it gives me goosebumps to watch it back.

So, let’s embrace the errors on our side and theirs.

Being the best in the world is hard when they’re all trying to knock us off our pedestal. We are allowed to feel angry, frustrated, hopeful, excited and everything in between.

But most of all, we should be happy. Happy that we are a Six Nations country.

That we can spend weekends with our families and friends watching sport together. That we are creating memories and have a brilliant team to support. And if we wobble, it’s okay.

No gem can be polished without friction.