01.01.70
JOHN O'SULLIVAN
HE IS a mother and ancestor, rolled into one. He is a confidante. He is a handyman. He provides a shoulder to lean on. He drives a unsullied van. He is the lost-and-found property office. He offers an escape clause to the neglectful. He is Dixie’s fella, who loves all music but will genuflect to the Beatles and Christy Moore.
He has been moulded by the 1960s and loves to invest time at the bar in Lakelands, home of his beloved Terenure College, and Inishbofin. He is a reformed hooker, universal straight, that is to say to the hearts and minds of those with whom he works. He is the good-natured punchline to many a hands-on joke played by the players.
He is the bagman to the Ireland rugby party, a duty he’s discharged since 1994 by his own recollection. Some day he hopes to become a baggage adept. It’s his aspiration. But most of all he is the incomparable Rala.
Here he outlines his role with Ireland in the set up-up to a match and for these abstract purposes, the fixture takes place on a Saturday afternoon at the Aviva Circus (3pm) and the squad are based at Carton House.
Source: Irish Times