Rugby Runner

by Siggins, Gerard;

  ‘Hello, Eoin,’ said Brian. ‘I hear you’re in the middle of another adventure. But you need to be very careful now, from what William tells me those lads look like trouble.’

  Eoin nodded, and explained that he was going to tell the Gardaí, but would have to wait till after training.

  ‘Do you not have a telephone number for the police lady?’ Brian asked.

  ‘I do, of course,’ replied Eoin, puzzled. ‘But I didn’t notice you there that day?’

  ‘Ah, I get to lots of places you don’t see,’ laughed Brian. ‘I’m trying to keep you safe you know!’

  Eoin fished the card from his pocket and dialled the number. The detective didn’t answer so he left her a message to call him, and trotted back to the lodgings for breakfast.

  Training was excellent, with Neil giving his analysis of the Baby Blacks’ strengths and weaknesses and how Ireland could overcome the disadvantage of having less physical power. Eoin knew he had to play a huge game and wanted to begin concentrating on that to the exclusion of everything else – but the stupid trophy kept cropping up in his mind.

  They watched a video of the first game after lunch and discussed how they could improve. As soon as that was over Eoin sneaked around the back of the dressing rooms to make a phone call. The senior Garda, Detective Garda Sweeney, answered and Eoin told her what he had seen.

  ‘So you’re telling me you were wandering around the backstreets of Dublin at one o’clock in the morning and just “came across” these people? What are you not telling me here?’

  Eoin was lucky that the Garda wasn’t there in person or she would have seen him blush.

  ‘I couldn’t sleep so I went out for a jog. I spotted the ambulance driver and, well, I followed him,’ he lied. He hated telling fibs, especially to the police, but if he told her the truth he would probably be locked up himself and miss the World Cup final.

  ‘All right, stay where you are and I’ll come over to collect you and you can show me this garage.’

  Eoin returned to the changing rooms and dressed quickly, telling Neil that he was wanted by the Guards and would be missing for a while.

  ‘OK,’ said Neil. ‘But not too long I hope. We have a huge game tomorrow and your curfew is ten o’clock. We have a team meeting, too, at seven pm, and I expect you to be there.’

  Eoin nodded and hurried away to await the arrival of the policewoman.

  When Garda Sweeney arrived, she talked to him for twenty minutes, weighing up his story and clearly finding it hard to believe parts of it. But in the end she seemed to take his word for the important part of the tale and asked him to show her the crooks’ lair.

  As they drove down to the area she filled him in on what the police had discovered.

  ‘Your grandfather’s tip was very useful,’ she told him. ‘We found the ambulance and the fingerprints we got off it are of a man who is very well known to us. He’s not staying at his usual address however and our officers are searching for him everywhere. So it’s excellent that we know where he will be tonight.’

  Eoin had a good sense of direction and even in daylight was able to pick out the landmarks he had spotted the previous night, and guided the Garda close to the garage.

  The detective parked her car at the corner and asked Eoin to walk down the alley, and to stop and tie his shoelaces outside the door of the garage.

  Eoin did as she asked, checking while he did so that the padlock was firmly on the door.

  ‘Good man, Eoin,’ she said on his return. ‘You never know whether places like this are being watched. We’ll get a plainclothes team down to scout out the area and find who owns the garages on either side.’

  She drove him back to the Garda station. ‘Can you not bring me back to Belfield?’ asked Eoin. ‘I have a meeting soon and a big match tomorrow and I have to get back to that.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Eoin,’ she replied. ‘You’ve been caught up in what will be a major Garda operation. We will need to go over your statement again and again. And for security reasons we won’t be able to let you go back until the operation is over. We will call your parents and they will be allowed to come here, but nobody else – unless they’d like to nominate a teacher to come in and sit with you instead.’

  Eoin gulped. What would Neil say? He asked the Garda could he phone the coach but she said she couldn’t allow that while the operation was ongoing.

  ‘But the coach will go mad,’ he said. ‘We’ve the final tomorrow and I have to be at the meeting…’

  ‘I’m sorry, Eoin,’ she replied. ‘Perhaps I could send him a text message, but we can’t allow you to contact anyone who was involved in the rugby that day – they could be witnesses or involved in the case.’

  Eoin’s head fell. This was a disaster. He should have kept his nose out of the whole mystery. He turned to face the wall and fought back the big tear that was trying to break out and run down his cheek.

  Chapter 41

  The hours dragged, and there was little to do in the Garda station except watch news channels on TV and read the newspapers. Some of them had articles on the Under 16 World Cup and he was delighted to see his own name cropping up every time Ireland was mentioned.

  ‘Teak-tough number ten’ was how one reporter described him. ‘Midfield dynamo’, wrote another. Was that a compliment? He made a mental note to check those terms out in his dictionary when he got home.

  The guards brought him sandwiches, and later a burger and chips, but after one bite Eoin remembered he was still expecting to play in the World Cup final in a few hours, and that chips probably weren’t the best fuel for him, so he ate the burger, but not the chips.

  A teacher arrived from Castlerock with a message that his parents would see him tomorrow, but Eoin told him he would be OK on his own and the teacher returned to the waiting room to mark a pile of Christmas exam papers.

  It was after midnight when Detective Garda Sweeney returned with a dark fleece for him to wear. ‘It could get cold out there,’ she told him. ‘We’ll need you to sit in the back of a Garda car and identify the men as they go in. Zip up and let’s go.’

  Eoin followed her outside and sat in the car while the rest of the unit assembled.

  ‘The rest of the plainclothes team are down there already,’ she told them. ‘Our job is to identify the men, hopefully catch them in the act, secure their arrest, and return this trophy to its rightful owners.’

  Down at the alley, Eoin sat in the plain, unmarked car parked fifty metres away, checking both entrances using the wing mirror. About 12.50am he noticed a man walking towards him who kept checking over his shoulder that he wasn’t being followed. Outside the garage he stopped again, checked both ways, but didn’t see anything amiss and opened the lock to let himself in.

  ‘That’s one of them,’ said Eoin.

  Soon after the second man arrived, and right on one o’clock the ambulance driver sneaked silently along the street and slid sideways under the shutter.

  ‘That’s them all,’ Eoin confirmed, and Garda Sweeney relayed the message via her walkie-talkie.

  Nothing happened for a minute or so, but Eoin tried hard to remain calm when William just floated out through the metal door. He was waving wildly at Eoin and pointing at the sparks which were starting to fly out through the cracks in the garage door. Eoin pointed the sparks out to the detective who immediately called out ‘Go!’

  What happened next was a blur to Eoin. From all parts of the street emerged Gardaí wearing blue jackets. Garda Sweeney banged on the shutter and immediately a group of four guards carrying guns lifted the shutter and raced in.

  Eoin braced himself to hear shots, but none came, and after a very long minute the trio were led out one-by-one, handcuffed behind their backs and heads bowed. A Garda van sped around the corner and the men were lifted into it while the armed guards stood watch.

  As soon as they had been taken away the detective returned to the car where Eoin had watched all the action unfold.

&nbs
p; ‘OK young hero,’ she grinned. ‘The good news is the men have been detained and the mission has been a success. But it was a close one. They had the blow torch fired up and were just about to melt the handle off the trophy. Do you want to see it?’

  Eoin nodded.

  ‘Well I’m afraid it’s a crime scene now so I can’t admit you, and you can’t touch it before the fingerprint team has finished either. But come over here and take a look.’

  He followed her down to the garage he had spied on the night before and peered into the darkness. The garda torches lit up the corners as the detectives went about their work, but Detective Sweeney shone hers onto the table. There, no worse for its adventures, sparkled the William Webb Ellis Cup.

  Chapter 42

  The teacher drove Eoin back to the accommodation block just after two o’clock in the morning, but he found it very difficult to sleep. His mind raced as he went over the dramatic raid and he shivered when he replayed seeing the sparks and the damage the blow-torch could have done to the beautiful trophy.

  He eventually dozed off, but woke again at six-thirty. He stared at the ceiling and thought about the day ahead. The first game against New Zealand had been a bruising affair, but the Irish boys had really come together as a team and Neil had worked out some good plans.

  About seven o’clock he heard the other boys stirring so decided to get up and get an early breakfast. As he dressed, Paddy sat up in bed, stretched and yawned.

  ‘Eoin, it’s great to see you. What time did you get in at?’

  Eoin told him, and briefly explained the night’s events.

  ‘I’m going down for an early breakfast,’ he added. ‘Didn’t get much food last night and I want to see Neil.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Paddy. ‘Have you not seen Neil yet?’ He bowed his head.

  ‘Why?’ asked Eoin. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Oh nothing,’ replied Paddy, blushing. ‘Neil said he wants to see you first thing though.’

  Eoin made straight for the breakfast room and found Neil eating at a table with the other coaches.

  ‘Ah, Eoin,’ said Neil. ‘Can I have a word?’

  Eoin followed the coach out into the corridor.

  ‘I’m afraid I won’t be using you in the starting fifteen today,’ began the coach.

  ‘But…’ started Eoin, before Neil raised his hand. Eoin stared at the floor.

  ‘We made strict curfew rules for this competition and we can’t change them now just because it’s the final, and just because it’s you.’

  ‘But the guards wouldn’t let me leave,’ said Eoin.

  ‘Look,’ he went on, ‘I don’t know what you got yourself caught up in, but we needed you at the team meeting and when you didn’t show we had to change our plans. You were a key member of the team and we just couldn’t go ahead without you. I have picked Paddy at out-half and we’ll have you on the bench in case there are changes needed. Again, I’m sorry to have to do this but if I allowed one rule to be broken then respect for all the others would go.’

  ‘OK,’ replied Eoin, looking Neil in the eye. ‘I see your point. Thanks.’

  He went back inside and collected his breakfast, and as he sat down Paddy arrived.

  ‘Oh, Eoin, I’m so sorry. Neil told us not to tell you until he talked to you first.’

  ‘It’s OK, Paddy, seriously. Don’t worry about it.’

  Eoin didn’t enjoy his first proper meal for twenty-four hours as he was constantly interrupted by boys commiserating with him. Others had heard the reports of the cup’s discovery on the news and wanted Eoin to give them the inside story.

  ‘Is there a reward?’ asked Dylan.

  Eoin laughed. ‘I never asked,’ he confessed. ‘But I’m not surprised you wanted to know.’

  ‘Well, don’t forget all the help me and Alan gave you. That cup must be worth millions.’

  Eoin chuckled, and laughed again as he heard Dylan telling the lads at the next table that he would be getting a half-a-million euro reward.

  The boys were ferried down by coach to the RDS Stadium two hours before kick-off. To warm-up they had a few stretches and a run-around on Leinster’s home pitch in front of the empty stands before going back inside to change.

  Eoin sat quietly, not getting involved in the chats with Sam and the centres like he usually would. He felt a bit of an outsider, and was angry that he had missed out on such a big game. He didn’t think Neil was being fair, but clung to the coach’s promise that he would get a run if necessary.

  As kick-off neared Neil spoke, keeping his message simple and doing his best to calm the boys’ nerves. Because he was off the team, Eoin wasn’t nervous at all, which made him feel a bit strange.

  He patted Paddy on the shoulder as they left the dressing room – even in the circumstances he was delighted that it was his friend who was getting a chance to shine, and told him so.

  ‘Och, I don’t know Eoin,’ replied Paddy. ‘There’s a few lads there looking at me funny. They know I’m not as good as you.’

  Eoin joined in the kick-about on the pitch, and waved at his family as they took their place in the stands. As the players were running through their drills the loudspeaker crackled into life and the match announcer welcomed the supporters to the Royal Dublin Society grounds.

  Here are the teams for day’s game, he announced, reading through the New Zealanders first. Then he came to the Irish team:

  ‘Backs… Matthew Peak, Kuba Nowak, Sam Farrelly, David Bourke, Ollie McGrath, Paddy O’Hare and Sam Rainey. Forwards… James Brady, Ultan Nolan, John Young, Jarlath Vasey, George Savage, Oisín Deegan, Charlie Bermingham and Noah Steenson.’

  Eoin looked up to where his family were sitting and shrugged his shoulders. Even from that distance he could see they were surprised, maybe even shocked. With a heavy heart he turned, put on his tracksuit top, and took his place on the bench.

  Chapter 43

  Just as in the Pool game, Ireland were quickly made aware of the power and strength of their opponents, but this time the referee was ready and flashed his yellow card for the first serious offence. The penalty gave Paddy a chance to get points on the board. With the ball inside the 22 and straight back from the left-hand post, it couldn’t have been easier for him, but he hooked the kick and the ball flew harmlessly wide.

  Eoin bit his lip and ignored the mutters from Rory and Dylan on the bench, with whom Neil’s selection had not gone down well.

  ‘Shut it, Dylan,’ he whispered. ‘Let’s get behind the lads.’

  But the grumbling grew louder as it became obvious that Paddy was having a nightmare. He hurried his kicks and failed to find touch, and whenever he decided to run he hesitated and was buried by black-clad tacklers.

  Eoin felt desperately sorry – Paddy didn’t want to be there and would prefer to have been playing in the centre. But if Ireland’s out-half wasn’t on top form then the game would be over before it got going.

  Just before half-time Paddy tried to get the ball out to his centres, but a slow pass allowed a speedy Kiwi to charge through the middle and dispossess David. In the blink of an eye he was running under the posts and finally getting the scoreboard moving.

  The two-point conversion went over just as the half-time whistle blew and Neil, with a serious expression, raced ahead of his team into the dressing room.

  When Eoin got there the coach was in deep conversation with the rest of his staff, pointing to his iPad and making urgent hand gestures. He allowed the team to get their drinks and sit down before he spoke.

  ‘I’m delighted with much of what we did out there – the way you battled and kept your discipline,’ he said. ‘It was a pity they scored before half-time because you deserved to be on level terms at the very least. But I think the main problem was at my end in the selection of the team and I’m going to make a change to redress that balance. I’m going to bring Eoin on at out-half, and slot Paddy in at inside centre.’

  There was silence among the team, although a few
of the boys nodded. Paddy grinned across at Eoin, who offered a thin smile in return. He was glad Paddy wasn’t being blamed for the setbacks and would still get a chance to play.

  The announcer was informing the crowd of the changes as the teams ran back out on to the pitch and Eoin was pleased to hear a large cheer when his arrival was revealed.

  ‘OK, Sam, let’s get this show on the road,’ he grinned.

  The New Zealanders gave him a warm welcome, a late tackle leaving him flat on his back. One of their props leaned over him and grinned in his face.

  ‘You back for more punishment? Watch out for the next one.’

  Eoin said nothing, deciding he would concentrate on remembering that prop’s face so he could wave his winners’ medal in it at the end.

  Chapter 44

  Eoin got his chance to start showing the Kiwis that they had crossed the wrong player when Ireland were awarded a penalty kick on the ten-metre line. There was a strong wind gusting down the ground, but he found his range instantly and brought the score to 7-3.

  The Baby Blacks obviously expected to be miles ahead by that stage and grew impatient that Ireland’s defence was holding firm. Eoin floored the right winger with a crunching tackle as he tried to break on the outside and the Kiwi took exception to it. He stood up quickly and swung a punch at Eoin’s head, but the Irishman was expecting it and ducked, and the blow landed square on the nose of the prop who had been sledging him earlier.

  ‘You’ve broken it, you drongo!’ he roared, clutching his face as the blood started to flow.

  Eoin fought hard to keep his face showing concern, but broke into a grin when Sam winked at him.

  ‘What are you laughing at?’ roared the prop, by now covered in blood.

  The All Black medic arrived and told the player he would have to leave the field, and the referee issued the same instruction to the winger.