When rugby answered 'Ireland's Call'

Ireland hope to end their Rugby World Cup quarterfinal curse when they face New Zealand on Saturday, and before the game their players will stand shoulder to shoulder to sing "Ireland's Call", but it's a song which is not the official Irish anthem.

The national anthem is "Amhran na bhFiann" (The Soldier's Song) but for a team representing the whole island, the anthem often caused debate.

Ireland was partitioned in 1921 with the southern 26 counties then becoming the independent Irish Free State, later the Irish Republic, and the northern six remaining under British rule.

Soccer was unable to remain united. A number of disputes alleging Belfast bias led to a split in 1921, and there were now two separate associations.

The Irish Rugby Federation (IRFU), however, was able to agree on issues such as where games would be played, the anthem, and they introduced their own flag.

Many other sports have maintained one governing body, including cricket, hockey, basketball and tennis.

Originally, when Ireland played rugby in Dublin the Irish anthem was played, and "God Save the King" was used in Belfast.

As no games were played north of the border between 1954 and 2007 the debate subsided somewhat, at least until 1987.

This was the year of the first Rugby World Cup, but in April, as players from Northern Ireland travelled to Dublin for training they were caught up in an IRA bombing, which ended the playing career of Nigel Carr.

When Ireland arrived in Australia and New Zealand for the tournament, the IRFU decided against using the Irish anthem, but players complained that they would be the only team without one.

A recording of an old Irish ballad, "The Rose of Tralee", was found, and as the crackly cassette version played over the speakers before their opening game with Wales, the Irish players huddled almost in embarrassment.

They lost that game, and while nobody blamed the song choice, it was never heard again at an Ireland international. For the rest of that tournament Ireland were once more without an anthem.

NEW SONG

Before the 1995 World Cup, the IRFU finally addressed the issue and commissioned Phil Coulter to write a song. "Ireland's Call" was born, which spoke of the four proud provinces of the country, but without reference to war and bloodshed.

Since then, both the national anthem and the new song were played at home games, with only "Ireland's Call" used at away games.

Replacing a national anthem could never hope to meet with immediate approval, and for a long time this song about standing tall saw many sit in stony silence before it slowly gained popularity, and finally came of age in 2007.

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) had a rule banning 'foreign' sports from its grounds, and Croke Park is the stadium for Ireland's national sports, Gaelic football and hurling.

That stadium witnessed a massacre by the British Forces in 1920 when they opened fire at a hurling game, and 14 people died. So when the GAA opened its doors to rugby, and soccer, it was a major milestone.

The arrival of England's rugby team in 2007 and the playing of "God Save the Queen" was seen as the real watershed moment.

The Irish crowd stood respectfully for the visitors' anthem and applauded afterwards, and following a powerful version of Ireland's anthem came a spine-tingling rendition of "Ireland's Call", finally sung loudly and proudly.

It will surely be sung with a similar passion on Saturday night, and if Ireland make it to a World Cup semifinal for the first time, this Irish team will certainly have answered "Ireland's Call".