Ireland's Rugby Giants: Bill Mulcahy

At school Mulcahy was dubbed ‘Wigs’, apparently because of his habit of doodling wigwams on his books during the less inspiring moments of the school day. The nickname followed him to Dublin and into the Ireland and Lions changing rooms. On leaving his alma mater Mulcahy went to UCD to study medicine – when his rugby permitted!

He made his debut for Ireland in 1958 against Australia. Other new boys against the tourists that day were David Hewitt, Ronnie Dawson and Noel Murphy. Quite a quartet! They were delighted to be part of such a momentous occasion when Ireland famously defeated the boys from Oz 9-6. This was the first occasion that this had happened against any major touring team. All four of them became Lions within twelve months on the 1959 tour to New Zealand and Australia. Master organiser Dawson’s talents and leadership qualities were quickly recognised and he was named as the tourists’ captain. With hindsight it would be easy to say that picking the four of them was at best good judgement by the selectors and at worst inevitable.

But just over twelve months into their international careers facing the All Blacks, while obviously appealing to four fit young men, remained a daunting task. Suffice to say it was a sharp learning curve! Even the normally unflappable Dawson was surprised by his appointment as captain. Legend has it that when he opened the letter telling of his selection he was so delighted to be going that he actually missed the end of the sentence which said he was to be captain. Typical of the self-effacing nature of sporting heroes from that era, it never occurred to him that a rookie would be given the skipper’s job. Recalling that time years afterwards he suggests that he was “basically a greenhorn”.

Mulcahy played in two Tests ‘Down Under’ and then four years later in South Africa in all four. By that time his second row partner was the man who would become known as ‘The Lions King’, the incomparable Willie John McBride.

Willie John admired his team mate’s qualities on the pitch. He remembers him from those days as being, “an excellent rucking, mauling and scrummaging type of player. He was not especially tall but strong as titanium.”

Bill went on to captain Ireland. In the early Sixties that role was more akin to that of head prefect than the ‘hands-on working in tandem with the coach’ position it is now.

Mulcahy preferred to take a democratic approach to the job. He was always keen to hear the views of others when the players gathered in Dublin the evening before the game. He once famously asked for their input ahead of a game at Lansdowne Road against France in 1962. From the depths of the changing room in the bowels of the famous old stadium an experienced voice rang out: “I suggest we spend the first twenty minutes kicking the shit out of them and trying to upset as many of them as we can. If they start to fall out among themselves that is the way to beat them.”

This plan was adopted. It was as successful a strategy as Chamberlain’s acquisition of a piece of paper from the man he called Mr Hitler. France won the game 24-5, their highest score and biggest-ever points margin for a victory by Les Bleus in Dublin up to that time. Hardly one of the highlight’s of Bill’s thirty-five-cap career. But then the French were never his favourite opponents. During his eight years as an Ireland international Bill was on a winning side against them only once. That was in the 1958-59 season when Ireland secured a 9-5 victory in Dublin.

From the Appletree Press title
Ireland’s Rugby Giants by Ivan Martin

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