Emotional Boylan expresses pride

A passionate Sean Boylan reminisced about Ireland's last victory on foreign soil and the legacy of the late Cormac McAnallen when speaking following his side's International Rules series win over Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground earlier today.

Ireland's last International Rules title win was back in 2004, with McAnallen playing a considerable role in that victory, and Boylan was delighted that the cup named after the decorated footballer was hoisted by a fellow county man and former team-mate of his, following today's 57-53 second Test win.

'Lads, can I just say, to me this is an extremely nostalgic night,'
Boylan admitted afterwards.

'To see Sean Cavanagh going up there tonight, the last time Ireland won that series out here Cormac McAnallen was playing out here with the light of heaven on him.'

And the Meath native, who guided the Royal county to Leinster and All-Ireland successes during a golden era in the 1980s and 1990s, felt that this win was up there with all those other successes.

'For Sean, as his neighbour, friend and a Tyrone man, to have three of his colleagues here lifting the Cormac McAnallen Cup, to me has to stand right up there with anything I have been fortunate enough to have been associated with before.

'Some of us have been very fortunate in our lives to have been
associated with many great events - none more so than for me than tonight.

'In some way to play a small part in helping these lads to achieve the honour of representing their country and representing it in such a wonderful way.'

Boylan added: 'If somebody said to me or my late father or to anybody else that I would have the honour of managing an Irish team, I never would have believed that.

'I would have loved to have been a great player, and there's many a lad like me that would have loved to be a great player.

'I was never fortunate to have been but I was lucky enough to have an awful lot of people around me like Anthony (Tohill), the 'Bomber' (Eoin Listen), Hugh (Kenny), Sean (Walsh) and the lads.

'I was just lucky to have so many great people around me.'

And the Dunboyne herbalist feels that this victory has now created a legacy for other players and officials to aspire to and follow.

'It creates the opportunity for other players coming after the lads,
to maybe play with them. Other people to manage the team after myself, to give them that honour of representing their country - that's the most important thing in the world.

'It didn't matter who won or lost, as I said at the start. Football
won out there tonight and that is the greatest thing of all.

'If Australia had won out there tonight, there wasn't a man in the
Irish team that you could say let the side down because they all
contributed so much to it,' he added.