Justin Bishop

By Gary Watton
April 16 2013

The men in green must have been glad to see the end of this decade. They ended the 1990s by failing to qualify from their group in the Rugby World Cup tournament, after a narrow defeat at the hands of an improving Argentina. There were some green shoots of recovery, however. Brian O'Driscoll won his first caps in the summer of 1999 in Australia, already on the verge of slipping into superstar mode. Meanwhile, for all their woes, Ireland did have a powerful scrummaging front row that found favour with the rugby experts. The unit comprised such formidable gents as Peter Clohessy, Reggie Corrigan, Nick Popplewell, Paul Wallace, and Keith Wood.

IRELAND 9 FRANCE 10; 6th February; at Lansdowne Road

15 O'Shea

14 Bishop

13 Maggs

12 Bell

11 Dempsey

10 Humphreys [3 penalties]

9 McGuinness

8 O'Cuinneagain

7 Miller

6 Costello

5 Davidson

4 Johns (c)

3 Wallace

2 Wood

1 Clohessy 

A second-half try from Emile Ntamack and a penalty miss from Humphreys condemned Ireland to another narrow defeat.

WALES 23 IRELAND 29; 20th February; at Wembley

15 O'Shea

14 Bishop

13 Maggs [TRY]

12 Bell

11 Woods

10 Humphreys [2 drop goals, 3 penalties, 2 conversions]

9 McGuinness

8 Miller

7 Ward

6 O'Cuinneagain

5 Davidson

4 Johns (c)

3 Wallace

2 Wood [TRY]

1 Clohessy 

Both teams shared four tries, but David Humphreys defeated Neil jenkins in the kicking duel by nineteen points to fifteen.

IRELAND 15 ENGLAND 27; 6th March; at Lansdowne Road

15 O'Shea

14 Bishop

13 Maggs

12 Henderson

11 Dempsey

10 Humphreys [5 penalties]

9 McGuinness

8 Costello

7 Ward

6 O'Cuinneagain

5 Davidson

4 Johns (c)

3 Wallace

2 Wood

1 Clohessy 

Leading eleven points to nine, the visitors achieved one try in each half, but were then ambushed by Wales at Wembley!

SCOTLAND 30 IRELAND 13; 20th March; at Murrayfield

15 O'Shea

14 Bishop

13 Maggs

12 Bell

11 Dempsey

10 Humphreys [2 penalties, conversion]

9 McGuinness

8 Miller

7 Ward

6 O'Cuinneagain

5 Davidson

4 Johns (c)

3 Wallace

2 Wood 

1 Clohessy 

Cammie Murray grabbed a double, as Scotland scored two tries in each half for another routine home win against Ireland.