Rugby Spirit by Gerard Siggins Read Free Book Online

dressing rooms, on either side here, when it’s near kick-off time.’
    Eoin noticed how some of the guys were wide-eyed with wonderment, one or two even practising their strut along the tunnel, lost in some long-held dream that they might take that same walk some day when the stadium was full.
    There was none of that nonsense in Eoin’s head, just a growing boredom and the growing realisation that he probably didn’t like rugby at all.
    ‘Keep up, Mr Madden,’ said Mr Finn, ‘We’re going into the players’ area now. It’s very impressive.’
    The group walked into the home dressing room and took a seat on the long benches around the walls. The guide showed the boys the DVD screen where last minute tactics could be explained, and they were suitably impressed by the enormous shower and bathing area.
    ‘There were five shower heads between the team when I last played here,’ smiled Mr Finn, ‘And only two of them produced warm water.’
    The guide showed them into another part of the players ’ area – a huge room with a floor covered in artificial grass. ‘This is where players can practise last minute line-out calls, or even do some kicking,’ she explained.
    Even Mr Finn’s eyes widened at this extraordinary facility.
    ‘What will they think of next?’ he wondered aloud.
    The boys took it in turn to squeeze through the narrow door into the warm-up room and, as Eoin had been in the first group, he wandered around outside waiting for the rest of the party to finish.
    He realised that he hadn’t exchanged a single word with anyone on the trip, as his only current friend, Rory, was back at school with a high temperature.
    He rambled down a corridor looking for the bathroom , but after taking a couple of turns he realised all the doors looked the same and he wasn’t sure which way to go next. He tried a couple of the doorknobs, but the rooms were locked.
    Eoin noticed the last door on the corridor had a white square on the door with a red cross in the middle, which he worked out was the First Aid room.
    He tried the handle and the door opened, and he went straight to the lavatory. As he washed his hands he heard a noise behind him and turned quickly.
    Sitting on the treatment table was a young man wearing a black, red and yellow hooped jersey and black shorts. He was holding his head in his hands and what Eoin could see of his face looked very pale.
    ‘Hello, are you OK?’ asked Eoin.
    The man lifted his head and stared at Eoin.
    ‘Who are you?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m Eoin. I’m here on a school tour and just got lost. Are you injured?’
    ‘I suppose you could say that. I got a knock to my head a while ago. It still hurts. What school are you from?’
    ‘Castlerock,’ said Eoin.
    ‘Ahhh, Castlerock,’ said the man, ‘Had a few good games against them in my school days. Good team, theywon everything for years.’
    Eh? He must be confused after that knock on the head, thought Eoin.
    ‘Where are you from?’ asked the man.
    ‘Ormondstown,’ said Eoin, ‘It’s in Tipper—’
    ‘I know exactly where it is,’ he replied, ‘Sure amn’t I from Clonmel myself? I thought I recognised your accent. Do you play rugby up in Castlerock yourself?’
    ‘I do, but I’m not sure I like it very much. I’ve just started and they promoted me from the Cs to the As after one game. I haven’t a clue what’s going on half the time and when I do something wrong everyone blames me.’
    ‘Ah sure, didn’t the same happen to me when I first came up to school. I had a brother who was pretty good – he went on to play for Ireland – and everyone thought I was going to be a natural. I never even saw a game of rugby down home in Clonmel before I was picked on the school team. They made a right fool of me.’
    ‘How did you get around it?’ asked Eoin.
    ‘I worked at it, learned everything I could about the game and practised on my own whenever I could.’
    ‘I’m not sure I want to go through all that…’