Ireland took on the might of England on Saturday at Musgrave Park in Cork. The final score was 48-0 but that only tells the half of it. It was a brave and positive performance for Ireland, especially amid frustrating media reports suggesting Ireland forfeit the game, and the wider context of the strained relationship between the IRFU and the Irish women's rugby team.
The Daily Telegraph raised many eyebrows in this country when it reported 10 days ago that unnamed higher-up in Irish rugby said 'who gives a f*** about Irish rugby''.
A number of people who definitely do give a f*** about Irish rugby, and attended the game in Cork with the hopes of holding out signs that proclaimed exactly that: I give a f***.
Among them were Cara Murphy and Caoimhe Morris, who's well-known in Irish sporting circles. Morris is the co-director of the Irish Strength and Conditioning Network, and is hugely involved in basketball and rugby coaching, among other things.
Come find us in Musgrave park and get an #IGiveAFuck sticker! pic.twitter.com/nqakKuk3fe
— Caoimhe Morris (@CoachCaoimhe) April 22, 2023
Will be handing out stickers today, come find me if you want one! pic.twitter.com/HUR5qIBq6q
— Cara ✨ (@Caragracemurphy) April 22, 2023
On her Twitter, Morris says she was stopped from entering the ground with the signs by steward, and they confiscated. Sinead Kissane of the Independent and others reported that security staff were confiscating
Security staff at Musgrave Park collecting sheets of paper with #igiveafuck typed out on them pic.twitter.com/EJl9bZW5i4 — Sinéad Kissane (@sineadkissane) April 22, 2023
">signs ahead of kickoff
It was an incident after the game that has garnered a lot of attention in the aftermath of the protests. The Telegraph reported on an unusual detail after the game. involving Murphy and security. Here's how Fiona Tomas in the Telegraph explains it, after catching up with Muprhy
After the match, they mingled with players. Murphy whipped out one of her posters she had kept hidden under her coat and asked an Ireland player to sign it. The player had already begun scrawling by the time a security guard jumped in and took it away.
The IRFU's reasons for not allowing the banners, as communicated to Sinead Kissane and others, were two-fold. Firstly there was a large presence of children at the game, and the signs contained a swear word. They also said there was anti-littering policy at Musgrave Park.
An IRFU spokesperson had more detail for Sinead Farrell of the42:
Everyone has the right to protest. We mightn’t agree with it but, of course, everyone has the right to protest. The manner in which it was done wasn’t appropriate in an environment such as this. The other issue was, and we don’t know the exact legalities, but there are broadcasting implications if foul or abusive language is filmed. There are potential fines then as well.
It's unclear why a security guard felt like the need to confiscate a poster after the game had already been played and the crowd had begun dispersing.
Morris tweeted last night to say the point of the protest was to let the Irish players know that they had support.
For the record, to all those criticising - our intention was to show support for the players
• We knew it’d never be shown on tv, but that’s ok. We wanted the players to know that we support them
• It would have all been a non-issue had security not intervened https://t.co/EddFRY0qnX— Caoimhe Morris (@CoachCaoimhe) April 22, 2023
It's safe to say that has been communicated. There were lots of positives on the field for Ireland yesterday, but this Six Nations has again brought up some very serious issues for Irish women rugby's players. Sene Naoupu said it best on the BBC yeseterday:
Brilliant from former Irish player @SeneNaoupu on BBC on the issues in Ireland.
“I was asked this last week and it raised some emotional trauma for me. I’m not long out of the game - it’s a systematic issue that has been holding us back for so many years.”— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) April 22, 2023
