On a warm early October evening last Thursday 6th October 2005, warm enough for the assembled Ulster supporters to have arrived in their Ulster jerseys and Lions shirts. They were in Madison’s Hotel, Belfast to hear from one of the legends of the game of rugby football as he calls it, ruminate on his career and on the game in general. This was no sentimental, nostalgic trip down memory lane though there where moments of fond remembrance for bygone era that has vanished with the advent of professionalism in rugby. A unique insight into what went wrong for the Lions of 2005, (they didn’t play as a team), helped illuminate the evening and give it a contemporary feel.
In Northern Ireland and in rugby terms the Province of Ulster, we have, over the years, produced more than our fair share of sporting superstars. We are in sporting, geographical and numerical terms a tiny nation and yet have produced men and women, sporting icons whom would easily walk into a world XI, world athletics team and world rugby XV. Some have lived easily with the mantle of greatness but others have not fared so well, the self destruct button being pushed with grim results. It is from rugby in the Province of Ulster, a small tightly knit sporting community, that we have produced a true pantheon of the greats.
At least two players, Mike Gibson and Willie John McBride would be in most rugby aficionado’s all time world XV. Others like Jack Kyle & Syd Millar are up there with the best in the game. These are men who wear the mantle of rugby sporting greatness in their own way with consummate ease. Mike Gibson will be remembered for his ability to make space for himself on the pitch or if he didn’t have space he could make the ball do the work for him. These are not my words, but the words of his contemporary Willie John when he talked on Thursday night about backs like Gibson and some of the other rugby immortals such as Barry John, Gareth Edwards and JJ Williams whom he played with in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Jack Kyle too could be described in this same hall of perpetuity as a great 10.
Indeed Jack Kyle was the first to be welcomed into the room in Madison’s to standing applause from the assembled throng. There was nothing artificial about this, many in Madison’s wouldn’t have been born when Kyle played the game but you have to believe the words of contemporaries that he was a great player. Kyle appears to me at least, not knowing him, to be a quiet unassuming man who has chosen to let his rugby do his talking on the pitch. Not so the main guest of the evening, Willie John McBride. That is not meant as a disrespectful comment. He too arrived to standing applause.
I have heard the stories and seen the videos of the 1974 Lions tour to South Africa. There are the tales of the pipe smoking Willie John in his cardigan in the hotel lobby, all hell breaking loose, the manager of the hotel having a nervous breakdown, Bobby Windsor with the fire extinguisher and the SA cops on the warpath. There is the famed 99 call and the fists flying on the pitch which you can see on video. Somehow you began to wonder where did the truth end and the mythical legend take over.
On Thursday night in the basement of Madison’s Hotel, with its low arched brick ceilings and slightly tacky 70’s mirror walls the pivotal figure of the mythical legend sat on a high stool with microphone in hand and told us how he saw it.
To be there and hear Willie John McBride describe his career and the moments of joy and of course regret is altogether a different experience from the tales in books and even the videos of the games. There is a sincerity and belief, that what you are hearing is as he sees it and time has not altered his perception of events. He seemed I thought, slightly surprised himself at the length and of course breadth of achievement in his rugby career. Some rugby players talk of having been there and done that and getting the Tee shirt. This is one player who you could truly say has got the Tee shirt, many times over. His career at Provincial, International and Lions level lasted roughly from 1962 until 1974 and included five Lions tours. From the times when he finished work and got on the Heysham boat in the evening and headed for Yorkshire to play for Ulster to the 4 months of touring South Africa touring with the Lions there is a wealth of stories to be told each one humorous and sometimes with a message. Willie John hit the New Zealander Meads, (another true all time rugby great) during a match, and was cautioned by his team mates. Do you know who that was you hit they asked him, it didn’t matter, he had earned Meads respect. He talked of Meads ability to be in your face all the time, they had a mutual respect for each other and later in the evening when asked, who was the best player he’d ever played against, he nominated Meads.
As he talked McBride sometimes stood up to demonstrate how this or that incident occurred during a match and it was almost as if he was still there contesting the game. That is why it is so much more of an experience to hear him at first hand. ‘I couldn’t do now what I did in my rugby career then, he said. ‘The gym, what’s in a gym?,’ he asked scornfully. So how did he train then? It is of course a fact that he went head to head with some of the greatest players in the game and lived to tell the tale and there is no doubt he had to be physically fit to do that. Working on a farm, his day job, of course was the key to the longevity of his rugby career as it gave him a natural fitness.
Amidst the humorous stories there were also moments of passion and a twinge of sadness for a lost era. He talked about players like Gibson, Barry John, JJ Williams, Gareth Edwards and he was in awe as a forward of their ability to create space for themselves on the pitch. He spoke also of the friendships which have lasted 30 years since that Lions tour of 1974 and the camaraderie it engendered which remains strong to this day. There lies beneath the extrovert persona and tough character a softer and gentler man. He was giving up his time on Thursday evening to raise money for the wooden spoon charity and apart from the money taken at the door, (approx. £480) the auction of various memobralia accrued another £4000 plus.
The legend fully stood the test of the evening and emerged with enhanced credibility and the supporters club have taken another giant step towards establishing themselves on the rugby supporter’s stage with a well organised evening of fulfilment from a supporter point of view. If there is a time when the supporters club looks back at where it all began then perhaps one warm October evening in Madison’s will be seen as a truly legendary event.
Matt McCullough will remember the evening when he received his supporters player of the season award for 2004- 2005 from McBride and came away with a watch presented by McNeely’s and will be the owner of a handsome looking Sloan sculptor, presumably until he wins it again next season or someone else does. The event seemed to rub off on Matt as he went on to get a deserved MOTM against Connaught last night. Before the lack of characters in the game these days were lamented, Matt was explaining to the audience about a certain Mr. Harrison and his influence on the Ulster squad. Perhaps all is not lost on the character front as a certain Mr. Harrison seems to be doing his best to bring his own brand of humour and bon mot to Ulster rugby...
A few punters at the back of the room will have been a trifle nervous during the auction, as misplaced brush of the hair might have earned them memobralia to the tune of a few hundred quid. The Original Kimble kept his pint firmly clasped to his chest as the auctioneer rattled of the figures.
‘250 quid at the bar,’ he rasped.
‘Come on’ he cajoled, ‘this is an item worth having, ‘300 at the back of the room’, as shadowy signs kept him busy toting up the figures.
At the end of the evening when all was said the done, the books had been signed, the questions answered, the photographs posed with the great man, he walked off into the still warm evening air, satisfied I think and we the humble punters who had paid our few quid and some of us a couple of hundred more, we had gained an experience that perhaps money can’t buy. A legendary evening with a legend. ….and what of Jack Kyle? He sat quietly through the evening, he too signed autographs and posed for pictures. Willie John occasionally referred to him with respect.
Respect too to the URSC committee, they know who they are, those hard working volunteers who organised this event and to Madisons for hosting it, well done. I hope this is a little bit of insight to a great evening.
