Haka, meet Fields of Athenry.
Well, it was good whilst it lasted. Before the rugby started, it was great actually.
New Zealand made mince meat out of Ireland with 40 ruthless minutes in Japan but, for a moment, we could believe.
As the All Blacks went into Haka mode and brought the legendary custom back in front of green jerseys again, the Irish fans in the stands were defiant.
A powerful version of Fields of Athenry belted out over it as the fans stood tall together and tried to hijack the Haka with a spine-tingling rendition.
It wasn’t the reason the All Blacks came out and hammered Ireland then – that would be patronising to New Zealand to say that.
They were fired up as it was and they were better. Way better.
But we’ll always have Fields of Athenry.
Irish fans belting out the Fields of Athenry during the Haka
Absolutely iconicpic.twitter.com/bfTT2yUBYr
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 19, 2019
