BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: Disappointment is best measured by expectation

Back in 1986 when Meath beat Dublin in the Leinster SFC final I wasn’t old enough to be properly attuned to the comings and goings of the world.

Though time would decree it was quite the sensation at the time. Yes, we had lifted the Centenary Cup in 1984 and given the boys in blue a right rattle in that term’s provincial decider, but in the interim the Royal County had been humiliated by Laois and compared to ‘a bunch of auld women’.

Ten years thereafter, a Meath team was similarly written off against the Dubs. Except this time Alan Hansen’s infamous jibe about “never winning anything with kids” was the snide remark of choice before the 1996 Championship began.

Remember, there were those who fancied Carlow to take Meath out in the first round of the Leinster SFC, given that Sean had given seven U-21 players their debut as part of the rebuild required after Dublin inflicted on us what for me will always be the most upsetting day endured in Croke Park as a Meath supporter.

That we all know how the rest of the ‘96 campaign turned out is for once not the seminal point here. Rather, that it’d be hoped most would agree that ‘96 was the most satisfying of all the All Irelands the Royal County has garnered during my lifetime.

Not only because of all the unwarranted bovine excrement flung our way because other people couldn’t finish what they started. Also, however, and more importantly, because it was so unexpected.

It doesn’t quell the pain of the fact scandalous refereeing did us out of an almost certain All Ireland the following year. But what didn’t break us made us stronger.

Turning attention to Ireland’s latest ‘heroic’ failure on a rugby pitch (which will of course be airbrushed over due to the obligatory rose tinted lenses required in analysis of this team), they were encumbered by exactly what Meath didn’t have in ‘96 - expectations.

Notwithstanding the fact how the World Rugby rankings are arrived at is a confusing anomaly, the fact is they have come up short in multiple World Cup knockout matches and again most recently, in the first real clutch affair of the post-Sexton era, they came up short.

Not for a second is the suggestion that there has been a diminishment in the ability of the Irish players - after all within the last few seasons they have beaten all the other so-called ‘top’ teams around them - South Africa, New Zealand and France. Each one a merited victory too. Yet, a bit like beating a Dublin team in the O’Byrne Cup, it’s what you do when the fat’s really in the fire which makes the difference.

And, though it makes me nauseous even thinking about it, when it was all on the line (literally) against the All Blacks last winter and again opposite the swinging chariots, Andy Farrell’s charges were unable to close out the deal.

So, if a deficiency in football ability is not to blame - which it can’t be when you think of the same players extricating their posteriors from similar close shaves with the bacon slicer in provincial kit - what is it?

The only reason I can arrive at is an issue around composure and/or game management.

How else to explain a player of Conor Murray’s - albeit ageing - class doing the exact opposite of what he would have done in the red of Munster? That is to say, keep ball in hand, work it through a few more phases and by then the clock would have gone into the red. Mind you, how the Garryowen man is in the squad ahead of Craig Casey is equally as baffling.

Now, because elements of the rugby fraternity think their dung smells like Lilac, there have been and will be multiple autopsies as to where it all went wrong and they’ll just stop short of a National day’s mourning.

The verdict is very simple folks - the better team won on the night. Ireland had plenty of chances to have business well and truly taken care of before Marcus Smith dispatched the late winner but couldn’t take them.

That said, it’s just as well for Ireland Steve Borthwick didn’t change his fly half earlier because it was only the profligacy of George Forde and Elliott Daly from dead balls which kept Ireland in the game for as long as was the case.

Anyway, if Farrell can somehow lift his crew in time for Scotland, there’s still the not insignificant matter of a Six Nations Championship there for the taking. That said, either before or after, Andy could do worse than give somebody like Caroline Currid a call.

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Staying along similar lines, one wonders what constitutes realistic expectations for the Meath senior footballers - men and ladies at this point in time. Well, for the lads, though it might be an unpopular view, consolidation in Div 2 represents achievement enough in itself.

Of course I’d love to be able to say I think we’ll beat Longford, beat Dublin and win the Leinster Championship, but in reality this Meath team aren’t at that juncture in their journey yet.

Progressing? Yes, absolutely, but, with two rounds of the National League still to go and at least four Championship matches ahead of them, regardless of how results go, the experiences they will encounter along the way will bring them on immeasurably.

Indeed, it could be said to be a very similar situation for the ladies. With two rounds of their league campaign to go, they, mathematically at least, could still make the Div 1 final.

And, in their first year with new manager Shane McCormack and a team in transition, maintenance of top flight status would be a solid platform. Then, with a few of those who are currently absent back and a bit of luck, they are only a hare’s breath off those who would be considered to have passed them out.

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By the time you are reading this, at least a couple of days of the Cheltenham Festival will have concluded. Hopefully that will mean plenty of filler for this column next week. However, in the meantime, it must be acknowledged that several local operators demonstrated that there is still room for ‘ordinary’ people in racing too.

Over the last while, trainers Chris Timmons, Tommy Coyle, Eddie Cawley and Keith Clarke have all been among the winners. Great, reassuring and encouraging to see. One team’s selling handicap is another’s Cheltenham Gold Cup.