43-13 WE BEAT ENGLAND

My hands are raw from high-fiving with Christopher, my throat is ripped from too much screaming (and I’ve gotta preach tomorrow morning), my pulse has spent far too long in the red zone, and I’ve run up a massive mobile phone bill from countless texts, but boy was it worth it!

43-13. Say it again. 43-13.

Thanks to the BBC website for a much happier photo of Rog who was magnificent today.

But this was so much more than a game, and I’m thrilled that we won both on and off the pitch. The reception afforded the British national anthem by the crowd at Croke Park was wonderful and a sign that we’re maturing as a nation. I’m so so proud to be Irish tonight. It’s a long and painful history but there are growing signs that we are moving on.

But we’ll never be world beaters, despite today’s record victory over England. And I’ll tell you why. Boyhood friend Andrew Mc sent me a text message from Scotland, where he watched the game. He said, ‘It was worth it to lose to France 2 weeks ago to savour this!" (by which he meant beating England).

The sad thing is, I agree!

Now, if only Wales can do us a favour in Paris……