We arrived in time to see Johnny Sexton and Joe Schmidt collect their awards and shake some hands as they headed off early to Carton House.
The Rugby Writers of Ireland awards ceremony took place at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday evening and the setting brought back all those memories of the win over New Zealand, four days previous.
The heating lamps were out over the Lansdowne Road pitch and there was a stillness out there. The place was not rocking and heaving any more, but all you had to do was look at certain parts of the pitch to bring it all back.
“That’s where Stockdale scored his try,” I told my wife.
“That’s where Toner put in this HUGE hit on Retallick!”
She allowed me to indulge myself and, having next to no interest in rugby, did a good job in pretending to care about my recollections of just about where everything happened during Ireland’s 16-9 victory over the All Blacks.
We stood near the back of the room and I pointed out a couple of towering figures – Andy Farrell and Leo Cullen – before I came across Claire Molloy chatting to former Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan. This was the most excited I got.
“That’s Claire Molloy. Ireland’s best player. Probably their best ever.”
Molloy turned 30 in the summer and I have been following her career for the past seven seasons, but her sporting journey began way before that. Back in 2005, at the age of 16, Molloy lined out for Galway in the Ladies National Football League final.
It was at Cardiff University, where she began studying to become a doctor, that Molloy started playing rugby. She was a dual sportswoman for a couple of years before, spurred by her Ireland debut in 2009, she eventually opted for rugby.
She was three years on the scene by the time I first reported on her on Ireland duty, out at Ashbourne RFC. She was the best player on the pitch in those Six Nations games, against Wales, Scotland and Italy, and that has often been the case in the years since.
There was a Six Nations Grand Slam, in 2013, a first ever win over New Zealand, at the 2014 World Cup, and another Six Nations title in 2016. Lately, though, Ireland have struggled. England and France are back and bossing it while Ireland appear to be losing ground on the world stage.
Through this period of change, and heartache, Molloy has been as good as ever. She remains Ireland’s brightest spark and an inspirational force in a transitional team. On Wednesday, she was named Women’s Player of the Year at the Guinness Rugby Writers of Ireland awards. It is the third time she has taken home the prize.
“Claire Molloy is a class individual,” Ireland Women’s head coach Adam Grigg said. “You even look at what she has to do in terms of her work schedules (as an A&E doctor) and then even playing for Ireland. The performances she puts in for us are huge.
“Even this weekend, she’s got 63 caps at this point. You look at some of our other caps where there’s only 10 or 15 caps. Someone with that experience, who has been in it before, is huge to us. She’s really good at driving the girls on and making sure we’re in the right head-space. Again we’re going to ask that from her this weekend as well.
“She knows this environment, she knows a lot of the players, because she’s played over in England for so long. Again, her experience will be huge for us. Losing Ciara Griffin to injury, we’re going to look for Claire to step up in terms of a leadership role as well.”
Molloy’s focus was on the England game too. She was grateful for the award but conscious that her year could end on a higher note if she helped Ireland to an unlikely win over England at Twickenham.
Honoured last to receive the Guinness rugby writers award last night and for everyone's kind words, @guinnessrugby @AVIVAStadium. Back at it again, opportunity for us to improve this Saturday v @EnglandRugby at Twickenham. 1745 KO, free entry #timetoworkhard #showup #20×20 https://t.co/K7yFJom7ZN
— Claire molloy (@claire_mol) November 22, 2018
On Saturday, with free entry allowed to supporters who wanted to file into Twickenham after the men’s match between England and Australia, Molloy registered another fine outing in green.
Ireland were playing their second Test in six days and that sorely told in the final 15 minutes but they brought serious fight and guile to London.
England went 15-0 up but tries frok Eimear Considine and Lauren Delany just before the break left it at 15-10. Lydia Thompson got England’s opening score of the second half before Molloy responded for the visitors with a well-taken score in the corner.
That left it at 20-15 but it was as good as it got for Ireland. England coach Simon Middleton was able to bring on Marlie Packer, Katy Daley-Mclean and Rachel Burford and the hosts’ relentless pressure paid off.
37-15 was the final score as Ireland conceded three unanswered tries at the end, and Katy Daley-McLean kicked the first successful conversion of the evening.
Molloy gave it her all again, as she has been doing for the past nine seasons. What Ireland need is a lot more to step up and back up the Galway native in 2019 and beyond.
