A Gleam of Sanity, in all the Muck

Maybe we won't disgrace ourselves as a nation on Saturday after all. The great Keith Duggan has a lovely piece in this morning's Irish Times about an All-Black visit to Ramelton in Donegal yesterday. The All-Blacks were paying tribute to Dave Gallaher, whose family emigrated from Ramelton to Canterbury in the 19th century. Gallaher returned to the British Isles as captain of the New Zealand "Invicibles" touring side of 1905, who won 35 of the 36 matches they played. Gallaher, who died in 1917 in Belgium in the Great War, remains a hero among his own, as the speeches by Sir Brian Lachore and Tana Umaga indicate. Thanks be to God, sighs a relieved Spailpín Fánach.