Rugby Warrior

by Gerard Siggins

  As a new boy, Dylan couldn’t have expected any better than to be put on the C team to take on the Ds, but even so he was a bit miffed.

  Most of the players were a bit rusty, but Eoin’s summer spent playing Gaelic stood to him and he made a couple of good breaks and one glorious sidestepping run that resulted in a try under the posts.

  ‘Nice work, Madden,’ called Mr McRae, ‘take your kick over here by the touchline. It’s too easy under the posts.’

  Eoin was a bit irked that his good work to get under the post was being disregarded, but he didn’t complain, and walked over to where Mr McRae was standing. He placed the ball carefully, and with a short run and effortless kick, hoisted the ball high over the bar, neatly bisecting the white timbers.

  ‘Wow, I like your style,’ said Mr McRae. ‘You must practise that a lot.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ Eoin replied. ‘I kept it up over the summer down home.’

  ‘Great, that’s serious application. Now back to your position.’

  Both games were being played simultaneously, so when half-time came, Mr Carey strolled over to talk to Mr McRae.

  ‘That kid from Limerick is a pretty good scrum-half,’ he said, quietly. ‘It might be worth giving him a half on the Bs – David Vincent is no great shakes and Coonan could definitely challenge Rory Grehan for a place.’

  ‘OK,’ replied Mr McRae, ‘I agree with you about Vincent, but I think Grehan shows a bit of guts.’

  Mr Carey sent Dylan up to the senior pitch, and the new boy arrived with a grin as wide as the River Shannon.

  ‘Howya, lads,’ he said as he took his place. ‘I’m Dylan and I’m pretty good at this. Just make sure I get lots of ball.’

  The B team stared at this brash newcomer, whose cockiness seemed even more comical because he was barely up to shoulder height on any of them.

  Rory looked across at Eoin as he prepared to restart the second half. He wasn’t at all happy.

  In the next break in play Eoin put his hand on Rory’s shoulder. ‘Relax, Rory, you’re the man in possession. We all know what you can do and you have a Geoghegan Cup medal to prove it.’

  ‘Thanks, Eoin, but that doesn’t mean much when the coach was on the other side of the world when we won it,’ he replied, glumly.

  The A team found their form in the second half, and thanks to some quick passing by Rory to Richie Duffy, who made some good kicks into their opponents’ corners, they recorded an easy win.

  After the games were over, Mr McRae called the four teams around him.

  ‘Right, gentlemen, that was a very impressive bit of rugby for so early in the new season. I’m seriously impressed with how well organised you guys are, and I’m very confident we can continue our winning ways over the winter. I’ve been concentrating on the top end of the talent pool, but I am going to take a keen and close interest in how all the teams get on.

  ‘I put great store in having the right men in the right jobs on the team, so I will be talking to a few of you about maybe changing positions. But right now I just want to announce that I have selected a boy to be captain this year, and that I believe he has the ability and leadership qualities to be a great skipper. I want you all to row in behind him, and give him your support because it’s never an easy job. I’d like him to come up here and say a few words about what sort of captain he wants to be. Come on up, Eoin Madden!’

  Eoin stopped, and his mouth opened, soundlessly. He tried hard not to look across where Richie was standing, but he just couldn’t resist it and was rewarded with a thunderous glare.

  He stepped up beside Mr McRae, who shook his hand and pointed out at the seventy boys who were watching events closely.

  ‘Tell them, Eoin. You’re in charge,’ he said.

  ‘Em, em, well …’ Eoin didn’t know what to say. He looked down at Alan, Dylan and Rory, who had huge grins on their faces.

  ‘Well, thank you, sir, for giving me this big job. I’m very honoured to get it, and well, I hope I can live up to what you want from us. I hope you all enjoy playing for the school this year and work really hard in training. We have some great players here and lots of competition so I hope the Bs and Cs work hard too. I started last year on the Cs so anyone can do it.’

  He stopped speaking and walked back to where his friends stood.

  ‘Thanks, Eoin,’ said Mr McRae, ‘And now we’ll have each of the teams breaking up and working on fitness …’

  CHAPTER 14

  When training was over, Rory and Alan sought out Eoin and walked towards the changing rooms together.

  ‘That’s amazing, Eoin,’ said Alan.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Rory, ‘it’s great news. I suppose my place will be safe on the first team now!’

  Eoin stopped and looked at Rory. ‘Sorry, Rory, you can’t presume that. The coach will pick the team, but although I’ll probably have a say, I just can’t show you any favours. We have to pick the best team.’

  Rory bit his lip and glowered, before jogging ahead of the other pair.

  ‘I knew that was going to be trouble,’ sighed Eoin. ‘Dylan wasn’t bad today, but I’d definitely stick with Rory for the moment. I hope Mr McRae agrees with me.’

  At that moment, Dylan caught up with them. ‘Well, skipper, what did you think? I’m pretty good, amn’t I?’ he asked, buzzing around the pair like an oversized wasp.

  ‘Yeah, you’re really good,’ admitted Eoin, ‘but like I told Rory, I won’t be picking the teams. Everyone’s just got to work hard in training and I’m sure Mr McRae will be fair.’

  ‘OK, I can handle that,’ said Dylan. ‘Rory’s a nice guy but I’m definitely better and I haven’t played for more than a year. A bit more practice and I’ll be ready to take him.’

  ‘Well, if that’s what you think,’ muttered Eoin, ‘but keep me out of it. I have to live with the two of you.’

  Alan piped up, ‘Don’t worry, Eoin, I certainly won’t be pressuring you for a place on the first-fifteen. I dropped the ball every time it came to me on the Ds. I’ll be lucky if they ask me back to training …’

  ‘It takes all sorts, Alan, and the crack is good down on the Cs and Ds,’ said Eoin, consoling his pal. ‘You never know when a dose of the measles might break out and you’ll find yourself on the Junior Cup team.’

  Alan went white. ‘Oh no, you don’t think that’s possible, do you?’

  ‘It’s possible,’ said Eoin, ‘but there’s about a hundred and fifty lads who’d need to be sick before they’d have to call on you!’

  Eoin ducked as Alan aimed a playful slap at his head, and dodged into the dressing room before the wounded winger could try again.

  Later, after tea, Eoin and Alan wandered down to the common room to watch a soccer match on TV.

  ‘Mr Lawson says he’s more of a soccer man – do you think he was talking about starting a team?’ asked Alan. ‘I reckon I’d be a lot better at that than rugby.’

  ‘Well, why don’t you ask him?’ said Eoin. ‘But I’d say McCaffrey and the rest of them wouldn’t be too keen on anything that might distract from rugby.’

  ‘Still, there’s a load of guys interested in football, and if they can’t get on any of the three league and cup teams, it wouldn’t cut across,’ argued Alan. ‘I’m going to ask Mr Lawson in the morning.’

  ‘OK,’ said Eoin, ‘but I won’t have time to play that AND rugby––’

  ‘Who asked you to?’ butted in Alan. ‘We’d need to have a hundred and fifty guys down with the measles before you’d be selected for the Castlerock United FC first eleven!’

  ‘Aha, you got me there,’ laughed Eoin, ‘got me good.’

  CHAPTER 15

  Next morning, Mr Lawson was in a very good mood when he walked into the First Year classroom.

  ‘Right, boys,’ he beamed, ‘today is the day we decide on our projects for the Young Historian competition. I presume you have all decided what your subject is going to be?’

  He was greeted by five rows of faces that each s
tarted blank, then turned pink, before ending with expressions which told of various degrees of panic.

  ‘Ah, I understand. OK, well let’s work out a few ideas and we’ll have you all sorted before the class is over. Who prefers Irish history?’

  A handful of hands went up, and after Mr Lawson made a few suggestions the boys agreed on the individual subjects for their projects.

  He worked his way around the class, eventually ensuring all the boys had a topic to work on. The last name on the list was Eoin’s and Mr Lawson stood by his desk.

  ‘Right, Madden, what’s it going to be? You haven’t shown any interest in any of the characters or events we talked about up to this.’

  Eoin stared back at the teacher. He had missed most of the class daydreaming – his new responsibility and the return of Brian had distracted him from the lesson.

  ‘Well, is there anyone in history that you’d like to research?’ asked Mr Lawson.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ said Eoin, thinking quickly. ‘I was reading about this famous Irishman who was killed during the First World War and I thought he might be interesting.’

  ‘Hmmm, that can be a very good period to research,’ replied the teacher. ‘What’s your character’s name?’

  ‘Dave Gallaher,’ said Eoin, ‘He played rugby for New Zea—’

  ‘I know exactly who he is,’ interrupted Mr Lawson, ‘And I agree he was a very interesting man. But whether he is a suitable case for study I’m not so sure. It’s not a sports-essay competition.’

  ‘I’ve already dug out his book in the library,’ said Eoin, hoping his apparent enthusiasm might encourage the teacher.

  ‘Really? All right, but keep the rugby part of this to the minimum,’ he said. ‘It’s not a sports-writing class we’re doing. Stick to his life story and his time as a soldier.’

  ‘I will, sir. When is the project due?’

  Mr Lawson returned to the top of the class.

  ‘Now, young men, your attention please. You have all agreed on the subjects you are going to research. You will have five weeks from today to compile your information, and then we will spend two weeks writing up your essays. The closing date for the competition is just after the Halloween break, so I want you to kick into this as soon as possible. I’m delighted to see that at least one of you has already started his work,’ as he turned towards Eoin and beamed.

  Richie Duffy snorted as the rest of the class stared at Eoin, who blushed.

  ‘Crawler,’ hissed Ollie Flanagan.

  ‘All right, enough of that,’ said the teacher. ‘There’s nothing wrong with a bit of enthusiasm for the subject. Now, we’ve only got five minutes left, so does anyone have any questions?’

  ‘Sir, sir,’ said Alan, sticking his hand in the air. ‘Do you remember in your first class when you said you might do something about us not having a soccer team in Castlerock? Well, are you going to?’

  ‘We-e-e-ll,’ hesitated Mr Lawson, ‘I’d have to ask the headmaster about that first. Are many of you interested in football?’

  Almost all the hands went up.

  ‘OK, well I don’t want it to get too big. Maybe we’ll just start it for the guys who don’t play rugby. Leave it with me.’

  CHAPTER 16

  Rory was still in a foul mood over the threat to his place on the first-fifteen. He was still talking to Dylan, but was now blanking Eoin, which perplexed the new captain.

  ‘I don’t know what he expects me to say or do,’ Eoin complained to Alan on Sunday morning as they lounged around in the dorm. ‘I can’t pick the team, and Mr McRae has very strong views on what he wants. And Mr Carey has been raving about Dylan every time I’ve seen him.’

  ‘Just stay out of it, Eoin,’ said Alan. ‘Rory can be very selfish at times; it’s best to let him stew on this till the first team is picked.’

  ‘I know, I know,’ said Eoin. ‘Anyway, change the subject. Did I tell you what happened when I went over to the library a couple of nights ago?’

  ‘No,’ replied Alan.

  ‘I got out that book by Dave Gallaher, the guy who I’m doing the project on. It’s an ancient book, but I couldn’t believe it when I opened it and saw that it used to be owned by Brian Hanrahan!’

  ‘Who’s Brian Hanrahan?’ asked Alan.

  ‘Brian. The old player. The ghost,’ said Eoin.

  ‘Wow, that’s a coincidence. It’s more than a coincidence – it’s downright spooky.’

  ‘Yeah, but as soon as I opened it, who appeared behind me but Brian himself––’

  ‘You saw a GHOST? In CASTLEROCK?’ spluttered Alan.

  ‘Yeah, he didn’t stay long because that Mr McDonagh disturbed us. I’m going to see if he’ll come back now. Want to come over to the library?’

  ‘Of course!’ said Alan. ‘Let me get my hoodie.’

  The pair jogged over to the library and Eoin asked the librarian for the rugby book.

  They wandered down to the back of the room, trying not to look too obviously suspicious. Eoin laid the book on the table and opened it at the title page.

  ‘That’s amazing,’ said Alan. ‘Now how do you make him appear?’

  ‘I dunno.’ said Eoin, ‘He just did, last time.’

  ‘Maybe he won’t appear because I’m here?’

  ‘Well, he did say that he had never been seen by anyone in over eighty years, so maybe there’s something about me that means I can see him. But only when I’m on my own.’

  ‘But what about the final?’ asked Alan. ‘There were thousands there that day and you were still able to see him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Eoin. ‘I don’t make up the rules of this.’

  They tried shaking the book, or rubbing it, but still there was no sign of Brian. Eoin shrugged his shoulders and headed back to the counter.

  ‘Ah, thank you for that, young man. Will you be needing it again?’ asked the librarian.

  ‘I will,’ replied Eoin. ‘I have to do a project on the writer for the Young Historian Competition.’

  ‘Hmmmm,’ said the librarian. ‘I have to go away for a few weeks, and I’m not sure how often the library will be open in my absence as it relies on voluntary work. But you have been very careful with this book and I’m sure you will continue to do so. I will sign it out to you for the term of my absence – no one has looked at it in decades so I’m there won’t be too many complaints,’ he grinned.

  Eoin and Alan wandered back to the dormitory, where Rory lay moping on his bed with his earbuds in. They gave him a nod, which he barely returned.

  Right behind them, Dylan bounced into the room, looking very happy with himself.

  ‘Howya, lads,’ he roared. ‘All looking good for the game next week? When’s the team getting picked?’

  Rory took the buds from his ear and stood up. ‘It will be out soon enough. They’ll pin it on the noticeboard downstairs. And maybe you could get someone educated to read it out for you, you Limerick skanger—’

  With that, Dylan leapt across the room like an angry wolf. He grabbed Rory by the throat and roared in his face.

  ‘Who’s a skanger, who’s a skanger?’ he yelled.

  Eoin pulled at Dylan’s shoulder. ‘Get off him, Dylan, NOW!’

  Dylan turned and sneered at Eoin.

  ‘You’re all the same when you’re up here, Madden, aren’t you. No time for the boys from back home, eh?’

  Dylan let go of Rory, and turned to walk away. ‘Don’t EVER call me that again, Grehan, or I’ll rip you to pieces. And you know I can.’

  As soon as Dylan left, Rory lay down on his bed, plugged his music into his ears and turned away from his friends.

  CHAPTER 17

  Eoin was annoyed after the row in the dormitory, so he decided to make his escape. He grabbed The Complete Rugby Footballer from his locker, and left without a word.

  He was angry with both of his friends, but knew that his position as captain meant he had to stay out of their conflict.

  He growled at a junior-
school boy who got in his way as he walked out the door, and broke into a trot as he headed for the furthest, quietest corner of the school grounds. It was here, on the banks of a bubbling stream, that he had found the herb that helped him recover from injury before the final last season.

  Eoin sat down on a rock and opened up the book, scanning a paragraph or two before he realised he wasn’t taking in anything that he had read. He needed to relax. He closed his eyes, just letting the sounds of the water wash over him on the mild autumn day. His peace was soon interrupted by a strange voice.

  ‘Hello, son, I think I recognise that book you’re reading. Where did you ever get that old thing?’ asked a man who was standing on the other bank of the tiny stream.

  Eoin looked closely at the man, who had a thick black moustache and seemed to be wearing a heavy woollen uniform.

  ‘It was in the school library. I’m doing a project on one of the authors,’ he explained.

  ‘Well, that’s very amusing.’ the man replied, ‘And is it Billy Stead you’re doing your pro-ject on?’

  ‘Eh, no, it’s the other one, Dave Gallaher,’ said Eoin, ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Because, little fella, standing here in front of you is Company Sergeant-Major David Gallaher of the Twenty-Second Reinforcements – reporting for duty.’

  Eoin stared, not quite sure what to say next. He already suspected he had some sort of ghost-seeing power, and wasn’t as rattled by this apparition as he would have been a year earlier.

  ‘I thought you looked a bit familiar,’ he started. ‘Are you really Dave Gallaher?’

  ‘Well I used to be,’ the stranger replied. ‘I suppose I’m what you’d call a ghost now … Where exactly am I? Your accent is familiar, but you’re definitely not from Belgium.’

  ‘No, you’re in Ireland. This is a boarding school called Castlerock College. It’s in Dublin.’