In Irish sport we’re punching above our weight… Let’s not get greedy!

So this weekend we host the French soccer team and the Wallabies in Croker in less than 24 hours…  Our sporting cup runneth over…

The success of Irish rugby is undoubtedly the sporting story of the year and the Irish soccer team are back to the brink of World Cup qualification.  It’s where we as a sporting nation feel we belong…

One thing we’re inclined to forget is that (as a “friend” said about me on my wedding day) we’re punching well above our weight.

Lets have a look… a country with the population of Greater Manchester has beaten all comers in European rugby – a Grand Slam, Heineken Cup and Magners League.  That’s picking from a tiny pool of top class players by comparison with other rugby nations. 

At the top of the decade, beating England at Lansdowne to stop them winning a Grand Slam in 2001 was enough to satisfy our appetite for ‘success’.  Now we expect to beat the auld enemy every time and be doing so on our way to our own Grand Slam!

Despite falling short of expectations for almost a decade in International football, the arrival of Mr Trapattoni has reignited our sense of entitlement to a place at the World Cup table of nations!  Sure enough, here we are on the brink once again. Has anyone looked at the team sheet?  Three world class players?  Four maybe?

If we learned anything from our recent collective ego trip (the artist formerly known as the Celtic Tiger) it’s that we as a nation should keep our greed in check.  That goes for International sporting success as well… 

Let’s look for honesty of effort and commitment… Let’s look for sporting moments that will last a lifetime… Let’s support our teams every step of the way… Let’s want to be the best and let’s want Ireland to win… but let’s not be greedy people!

Author: James Wynne is Director of Sport at Slattery Communications