The Nurse Was a Prop-Rugby Musings of an American Fan: Ireland Defeat the All Blacks in an Epic Match in Chicago 40-29

I always enjoy a trip to Chicago. I lived in the Chicago area from the time I was 10 until I was almost 15, and my wife, my kids and I lived in Chi-Town from 1992-1993. What's not to like? Deep dish pizza, Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches and the Chicago style hot dog.

The Chicago Deep Dish Pizza-a work of art!

Taking a picture with a green screen while wearing a green shirt-gives ghostly appearance.

Oh yeah, since AIG is based in Chicago and they give an awful lot of money to the New Zealand Rugby Union, it also means that Chicago has now hosted the All Blacks twice in the past couple of years. Two years ago, my buddy Tom Daniels and I were there to watch the All Blacks take on the USA Eagles which showed just how far behind the Kiwis we really are in rugby.

It was an Amazing atmosphere with the largest crowd to ever see a rugby match in the USA

Ireland was to put up a better match against the mighty men in Black, but not many people really gave the Irish much of a chance of actually beating the All Blacks. In 111 years of matches between these two nations, the Irish Men's top side had never beaten the All Blacks. I think most of us in the record breaking crowd of 64,000-the largest crowd to ever see a rugby match in the United States-really just wanted a competitive game. What we ended up witnessing was an epic piece of history as the Irish played an amazing first half of rugby. They controlled the ball, and took advantage of a 10 minute All Black sin bin to race off to a 25-8 half time lead. The Ireland forwards did an amazing job in the scrums, line outs and at the breakdown.

The Irish Forwards dominated in the Line outs, as well

Ireland would end up scoring the match clincher off this scrum deep in Kiwi territory

The crowd was buzzing at half time, but the Kiwis that were sitting near us were still pretty confident that the All Blacks had enough skill and power to over come the 17 point deficit.

In the second half, the All Blacks attacked the Irish with all they had-when they had the score to within 4 points, more than a few green clad fans thought that Irish hearts would be disappointed again. The Irish kept their composure and were able add a late try and then to hold on for a 40-29 win-their first ever-against the All Blacks. It's not often where the Kiwis get defeated in a match where they score 4 tries, but that was the case in this emotional match.

Even at the beginning, when the All Blacks did their Haka, the Irish formed themselves in a number 8 to pay homage to former Munster and Ireland great Anthony Foley, who recently passed away at the tender age of 42. He wore the Munster jersey 200 times and was capped 62 times for Ireland.With all of the Munster players in the Irish line up, and what a respected player he was for Ireland, It was a very touching stand by the Irish as they faced the Haka.

The only thing that made witnessing this epic match even better, was that I was able to share this experience with my wife, my son Ian, my daughter Rachel, my friend Tom Daniels and my Grandson Duncan. He's only 8 years old, and I don't know how much of this game he will remember, but I know it will always stick with me.

My wife, my grandson, me, my son, my daughter and Tom fuel up before the game in Chicago

With my Grandson Duncan

With all of the fan support that came from all over the USA and all over the World, it just made for an unbelievable atmosphere. Of note, to show you how Rugby fans are just a cut above the rest, I had at least 8-9 All Black fans on Saturday walk up, shake my hand and say good game when they say me clad in my Ireland Jumper.(Scots-Irish DNA-along with some German and Swedish) It's hard to imagine any other sport or any other group of fans who would show as much class as the All Black fans, who did not whine or make excuses about missing players or calls made by the French Ref. This is what makes rugby so great.