Normality and rugby

In the review of the up-and-coming Heineken Cup final, I made the observation that the sports media have been unused to writing about Ulster given the lack of success in recent times. Player profiles by sports journalists seem to fall into 3 topics; the faith of the players, the foreign players, and the faith of the foreign players. Now the social commentators have started as well, except they only have one topic – rugby and that protestant/catholic thing in the …

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Leinster would probably win 9 times out of 10, but…

The first ever all-Irish Heineken Cup final kicks off at 5pm, Saturday 19 May in front of a capacity 81,000 Twickenham crowd: Leinster v Ulster. Ulster? Well, yes, Ulster. The absence of Munster at the most significant game ever between two Irish provinces has left some journalists struggling for content, unaccustomed as they are writing about Ulster. However judging by Munster’s humiliating exit from the Pro12 League semi finals, the press will needs to get used to the new world …

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