Black October

October 31st, 1978. Does that date mean anything to you? It will if you’re into rugby. More specifically if you’re from Limerick. Because on that historic day Munster beat the All Blacks. “No, they hammered them!” says playwright John Breen whose play Alone It Stands has this sub-title – lest you forget – ‘Munster 12 All Blacks 0’. He certainly remembers October 31st 1978. Not that he was at the game. But his dad had a pub in Limerick where a lot of rugby players would hang out and he “absorbed a lot of rugby by osmosis.” And he played “fairly badly” for Garryowen, in his day.

“It’s very hard to be from Limerick and not be very interested in Rugby in that some of the time it’s all people talk about, as if you were born with a rugby ball in your hand” he says.”And in Limerick rugby is truly an inclusive thing, whereas in other parts of the country it’s exclusive. Because the history of rugby is different in Limerick than it is in the rest of the country. Elsewhere it is associated with fee paying schools. But rugby in Limerick was started off by the soldiers in the barracks and the cockers. They set up two blue collar teams. Then you had Garryowen and some of the other teams that were associated with the fee paying schools and the white collar side of things. So rugby is very much part of Limerick culture in general. In that way it’s a very positive thing that’s come out of Limerick”

To off-set all the negative readings of the city, no doubt. But back in ‘78 John was only 12, so he was far more interested in the Holloween bonfire than the game. This aspect of his biography features in the play.

“And the reason I wrote the play was because it was 1999, the 21st anniversary of the game, I’d never written anything before so I went for this, to celebrate the event” he explains. ”Let’s not forget that on that tour the All Blacks beat everybody. They beat England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales. Then Munster beat them 12 nil! It was like David and Goliath! Totally unprecedented. And the reasons are that Munster had a very special team. A great combination of talents. Thirteen of them went on to play for Ireland. But really they just wanted to win more than the All Blacks. And this world class victory was long before Jack Charlton, U2, Riverdance, and Irish Oscar winning movies, so, in that sense alone, it is something that should be celebrated.”

Fair enough. But how do you make a drama of a rugby game? Particularly when, in the title of your play, you give away the score!

“That was the problem!” John responds. “So what I did was invent characters, like two guys looking for tickets, one fan whose wife goes into labour during the game and he should be at her side. But the single fact that made me decide to write it was that when I was researching it I discovered that the captain of the Munster team was a guy called Donal Caniffe, and his father died during the game. So he comes off after the greatest sporting victory of his life and gets this phone call. When I read that I realised ‘this is a story that must be told’.”

And so it is in Alone It Stands. But John stresses that the play is “primarily a comedy” and a “feel-good” night out. Which may be why it has been so successful during its run in places like Waterford and – you guessed it – Limerick.

“It meshes about four or five stories and it isn’t just about a rugby match, it’s about life, kids building a bonfire, two teams, a father dying and, ultimately, how a game of rugby can bring people together. And that, as I say, is basically what rugby has done – historically – for Limerick. So, needless to say, it went down a treat when we did it in the concert hall in Limerick. The Munster team even came to see it before they went out to Toulouse and had that great victory. And most of the original team have seen it too. But I really do think it appeals to people because, at the end of the day, it makes you feel good. It is a celebration on every level.

Alone It Stands is at the Gaiety Theatre until

July 22nd