Ulster Rugby vs Connacht & Munster

In the Ulster management there are giggles still about the game when the long-retired Irwin flattened legendary French flanker Serge Betsen. “I was rushing across the pitch to go to the aid of Bryn Cunningham, I saw Betsen, tried to swerve away from him but my medical bag sent him flying, Accidentally, of course. “I apologised to him after the match, and he believed it wasn’t deliberate. At least I think he did,” says with an amused smile slowly crossing his lips. Truly a man for all seasons he took on a dual role as manager and team doctor with Ireland Under 21s and his counsel is sought on every issue in the game, particularly now that the collision is such a concern. For someone who never avoided contact, at any speed and from any direction, his own quiet satisfaction that his children did not pursue rugby careers is persuasive. He looks around the modern, fully equipped facilities at Kingspan Stadium with a mixture of genuine thanks and yet a yearning for those big, murky nights at a sodden, chilly Ravenhill. Philip Rainey’s last-ditch touchline penalty to defeat the touring Australians, Samoa and Canada amongst many strong outfits to leave defeated. “Good wins, great players, wonderful memories in an Ulster shirt,” he says, not ruefully but with what, for Irwin, is quiet pride. He believes in what rugby does to bring people together, and he has done much to make Kingspan Stadium a truly welcoming place for fans, of course, but for former players who had not always been acknowledged fully. “They created the memories, in a way built this stadium, and they should be able to come to a game, meet up, have a ‘natter’ and a drink together.” Irwin also brought his 1983 Lions colleagues to Northern Ireland for a reunion on the Causeway Coast, and the Ulster players who dominated in Ireland for a decade regularly convene for cheery lunches and dinners. David Irwin, ‘The Doc’, is an Ulster rugby institution. He’s worn the jersey, not just the T-shirt, played for his country and the Lions

with distinction, and always kept his friends and family close. He’s not going away, but for the service he has given at Ravenhill Park, and to the welfare of team-mates and opponents alike, the regard in which he is held in the community as a doctor and as a human being is beyond measure. He’s been touched by tragedy and instantly thought of others, typical and essentially David Irwin. Nigel Carr and ‘Chipper’ Rainey knew it before all three were caught up in a border bomb on their way to an Irish World Cup training camp. Their healthy, thoughtful demeanour today, the knowing look and laughter which arises when ‘The Doc’ comes into the room, says it all. It’s only a game, and Dr David Irwin has played it, and life, the right way. Thank you.

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