The Poet skilfully weaves his way through Ireland’s greatest sporting achievements to deliver a rousing message for Ireland to ‘Bring it Home’ on St Patrick’s Day
Aviva, proud sponsors of the home of Irish Rugby, have teamed up with Dublin poet and playwright Stephen James Smith to deliver a powerful, poetic good luck message to the Ireland rugby team as they seek to secure a Grand Slam against England on St Patrick’s Day.
The powerful poem meanders through Ireland’s greatest sporting moments to deliver a moving and rousing piece that wills Ireland to ‘Bring it Home’ to the Aviva Stadium, where the video to accompany the piece was both filmed and recorded.
With nods to the classic rugby poems of Invictus and Rugby Football Excursion, Smith blends his contemporary style with classic rugby poetry to compose a piece with heart and skill, perfectly capturing the performance of Ireland throughout this year’s tournament.
Paying tribute to past and present players, the poem also nods to previous sporting heartbreak, before also celebrating the Grand Slam wins of the past, including the Ireland Women’s historic 2013 efforts. The poem concludes with a rallying call to action for Ireland to ‘Slam it home’ as they prepare to face England in Twickenham on Saturday.
Stephen James Smith is best known for his poetry ‘virals’ which have amassed over 1million views on YouTube and feature best known pieces ‘My Ireland’ and ‘Dublin You Are’. This tribute to the Ireland Rugby Team is not the first time Stephen has delved into sporting success, he was also asked to perform for the successful Irish Olympic team in London 2012.
As clubs, counties, provinces unite,
We set forth on our excursion, crossing borders
And class divides ready for the fight!
A brief incursion with Wanderers from,
Sportsgrounds, Thomond, Ravenhill, Donybrook,
Trying to bring it home evoke Invictus with a bit of luck…
Bringing it home for more than an acronym IRFU,
Doing it for the crowd, me and you,
Singing voice aloud with ‘manic aggression’ and control,
We are the Best captains of our unconquerable soul.
With swirl of faces, flags and emerald jerseys,
We remind the mind of ‘the fear of god’,
The style of Kyle, BOD, Briggs
Eccentric scoring Axeled around the
Endurance of one-way thinking.
We remember the wooden spoons, Triple Crowns, knock-ons,
Knock backs, forward passed, battle cries of “I’ll play for you all day”,
We take the glory of 1948, 2009, 2013 and
We take Stockdale in the team of 2018,
Where we can all dream, even Gary Breen
of a team answering Ireland’s call,
To swing low and pluck that rose a Saxon foe,
After Azzurri, dragon, thistle and Gallic coq
Bringing it home on Paddy’s Day wont be such a shock!
Bring it back to our pantheon, our palindrome,
Sure we always say we’re “grand”…
Time to prove it and Slam it home!