THERE ISN’T A moment to be wasted this week in Chicago, so we got straight down to business with a deep-dish pizza after arriving in the Windy City yesterday.
Everyone tells you to try it when you’re in Chicago and it delivered. Lou Malnati’s was the first of several pizza joints that are on the food hitlist. Ireland’s players have to keep things clean, but the travelling media can enjoy the local culinary delights.
Before gorging on the decadent deep-dish, there was time to shake off the cobwebs of the transatlantic flight. A run along the shore of Lake Michigan was beautiful. The lake is two-thirds the size of Ireland, so it felt more like trotting along a coastline.
Chicago sits right up onto the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, with skyscrapers looking out onto the choppy waters.
Memories of this great city came flooding back during a stroll along the banks of the Chicago River and over DuSable Bridge.
Standing over the river is the sleek, gleaming Trump International Hotel, with the American president’s surname looming in big letters on the facade. It’s where Ireland stayed in 2016 before they took down the All Blacks. They’re not there this time.
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The world was a different place back then. It was a few days before Trump became the president for the first time. More importantly, Ireland had never beaten New Zealand. So history was beckoning in that magical week.
This city has been good to Irish rugby so far. Joe Schmidt’s side delivered a sensational performance at Solider Field in 2016 to earn Ireland’s first-ever win over the All Blacks after 111 years of trying.
The week before the game was unforgettable. When we arrived in Chicago, their beloved Cubs were 3-1 down in the seven-game World Series, the final of Major League Baseball.
Millions of people turned out for the 2016 parade. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The Cubs would need to win the remaining three games to save it. Those of us who had never properly watched baseball before were experts and diehard Cubs fans by the Wednesday, when they won the thing.
The final game took place in Cleveland, but that didn’t matter. Chicago lost its mind. The sight of thousands upon thousands of people running through the streets, roaring in joy as they made their way towards Wrigley Field, was breathtaking. Bars all around the city were jammed every single night of the Series.
The reason for those cathartic celebrations was the Billy Goat Curse. The Cubs hadn’t won the World Series for 108 years, ever since William Sianis – the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern – and his pet goat, Murphy, were supposedly kicked out of Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.
With that curse finally lifted, it was impossible not to feel like something was brewing in Chicago for Ireland.
The trophy parade celebrations were raucous. An estimated five million people turned out. The Chicago River was dyed a brighter blue in honour of the Cubs, a twist on how it’s turned green on St Patrick’s Day. The parade rolled right past Ireland’s hotel and they must have felt something stirring as they watched from the balcony high over the city.
It was already becoming clear at that stage that the All Blacks might not be entirely focused on the job at hand. There had been a serious warning shot in Dublin in 2013, but a 28-game unbeaten streak against one nation can lead to a sense of complacency.
The Kiwis just didn’t come across as being very focused and it was clear that their players didn’t know many of their Irish counterparts.
Given the Cubs’ achievement, the rugby match went under the radar around Chicago until it was drawing a new US record crowd of 61,500 at the sold-out Soldier Field that Saturday. That remains the biggest attendance ever at a rugby game in the States.
At the time of writing, there are still resale tickets available for this Saturday’s game, ranging from around €150 to north of €2,000 for the best seats. But it’s going to be another jam-packed Soldier Field for the big event.
Soldier Field in 2016. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
There will be huge Irish support, with lots of people due to arrive from outside the States in the days before the game, while there will be many travelling to Chicago from other US cities.
Ireland also played here in 2018 against Italy. It was another fun week, albeit the match was much lower-profile. Schmidt’s experimental side gave the Italians a thumping, with Jordan Larmour scoring a hat-trick and Tadhg Beirne bagging a brace on what was his first Test start.
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So it’s two from two for Ireland in Chicago so far and they’ve been enjoying this third visit. Andy Farrell and his men arrived last Tuesday and had big training sessions on Thursday and Saturday, the latter at full match intensity as they look to build rhythm ahead of the All Blacks clash.
They’ve been using the SeatGeek Stadium to the southwest of downtown Chicago for their sessions. It’s home to the Chicago Hounds, who play in Major League Rugby, and some local soccer teams.
Lots of the Irish players were at the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey game last night, while they did a community training session with young players from the Chicago Lions, Walter Payton High School Rugby, and Hope Academy on Friday.
They’ll do their best to get out and about, experiencing this fantastic city, but taking care of business on Saturday is what this trip is all about.
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Chicago has been Ireland's happy place. Can they make it three from three?
THERE ISN’T A moment to be wasted this week in Chicago, so we got straight down to business with a deep-dish pizza after arriving in the Windy City yesterday.
Everyone tells you to try it when you’re in Chicago and it delivered. Lou Malnati’s was the first of several pizza joints that are on the food hitlist. Ireland’s players have to keep things clean, but the travelling media can enjoy the local culinary delights.
Before gorging on the decadent deep-dish, there was time to shake off the cobwebs of the transatlantic flight. A run along the shore of Lake Michigan was beautiful. The lake is two-thirds the size of Ireland, so it felt more like trotting along a coastline.
Chicago sits right up onto the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, with skyscrapers looking out onto the choppy waters.
Memories of this great city came flooding back during a stroll along the banks of the Chicago River and over DuSable Bridge.
Standing over the river is the sleek, gleaming Trump International Hotel, with the American president’s surname looming in big letters on the facade. It’s where Ireland stayed in 2016 before they took down the All Blacks. They’re not there this time.
The world was a different place back then. It was a few days before Trump became the president for the first time. More importantly, Ireland had never beaten New Zealand. So history was beckoning in that magical week.
This city has been good to Irish rugby so far. Joe Schmidt’s side delivered a sensational performance at Solider Field in 2016 to earn Ireland’s first-ever win over the All Blacks after 111 years of trying.
The week before the game was unforgettable. When we arrived in Chicago, their beloved Cubs were 3-1 down in the seven-game World Series, the final of Major League Baseball.
The Cubs would need to win the remaining three games to save it. Those of us who had never properly watched baseball before were experts and diehard Cubs fans by the Wednesday, when they won the thing.
The final game took place in Cleveland, but that didn’t matter. Chicago lost its mind. The sight of thousands upon thousands of people running through the streets, roaring in joy as they made their way towards Wrigley Field, was breathtaking. Bars all around the city were jammed every single night of the Series.
The reason for those cathartic celebrations was the Billy Goat Curse. The Cubs hadn’t won the World Series for 108 years, ever since William Sianis – the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern – and his pet goat, Murphy, were supposedly kicked out of Wrigley Field during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.
With that curse finally lifted, it was impossible not to feel like something was brewing in Chicago for Ireland.
The trophy parade celebrations were raucous. An estimated five million people turned out. The Chicago River was dyed a brighter blue in honour of the Cubs, a twist on how it’s turned green on St Patrick’s Day. The parade rolled right past Ireland’s hotel and they must have felt something stirring as they watched from the balcony high over the city.
It was already becoming clear at that stage that the All Blacks might not be entirely focused on the job at hand. There had been a serious warning shot in Dublin in 2013, but a 28-game unbeaten streak against one nation can lead to a sense of complacency.
The Kiwis just didn’t come across as being very focused and it was clear that their players didn’t know many of their Irish counterparts.
Given the Cubs’ achievement, the rugby match went under the radar around Chicago until it was drawing a new US record crowd of 61,500 at the sold-out Soldier Field that Saturday. That remains the biggest attendance ever at a rugby game in the States.
At the time of writing, there are still resale tickets available for this Saturday’s game, ranging from around €150 to north of €2,000 for the best seats. But it’s going to be another jam-packed Soldier Field for the big event.
There will be huge Irish support, with lots of people due to arrive from outside the States in the days before the game, while there will be many travelling to Chicago from other US cities.
Ireland also played here in 2018 against Italy. It was another fun week, albeit the match was much lower-profile. Schmidt’s experimental side gave the Italians a thumping, with Jordan Larmour scoring a hat-trick and Tadhg Beirne bagging a brace on what was his first Test start.
So it’s two from two for Ireland in Chicago so far and they’ve been enjoying this third visit. Andy Farrell and his men arrived last Tuesday and had big training sessions on Thursday and Saturday, the latter at full match intensity as they look to build rhythm ahead of the All Blacks clash.
They’ve been using the SeatGeek Stadium to the southwest of downtown Chicago for their sessions. It’s home to the Chicago Hounds, who play in Major League Rugby, and some local soccer teams.
Lots of the Irish players were at the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey game last night, while they did a community training session with young players from the Chicago Lions, Walter Payton High School Rugby, and Hope Academy on Friday.
They’ll do their best to get out and about, experiencing this fantastic city, but taking care of business on Saturday is what this trip is all about.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All Blacks chi town Chicago History Ireland New Zealand