Author name: Mike O'Sullivan

As I write New Zealand are preparing to play Argentina in the Semi Final of the Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks are hot favourites and although not by any means a rugby expert, even I find it hard to imagine them losing but then as I and you both know, life if nothing if not full of surprises! As the tournament winds down to a close many here will look back with a sense of what could have been, had we beaten the All Blacks, there is little doubt that at least a place in the final would have been ours. 

In some ways the fact we lost that game by the narrowest of margins and a roll of the dice really doesn’t offer much consolation to both team and fans who felt this could be our year. As New Zealand, Argentina, South Africa and England prepare to slug it out for rugby’s most coveted prize Andy Farrell and his men begin the process of licking their wounds and going again. It is a story familiar to all of us. They say art imitates life; well, so does sport.

 We’ve all felt, and will again the pain of defeat, the pang of regret and the yearning for what might have been. Who hasn’t had that feeling? Who has not regretted a split second decision, a rash choice?

Life is full of regrets, of missed opportunities, of plans that didn’t work out, of “ what ifs”. That they happen is inevitable, that they define us, that they weigh us down along the journey; is not. That’s why we are already looking forward to the next rugby world cup!