“SHE TANNED MY back, and I tanned hers.”
Clean, non-snorer, non-sleepwalker… These are some of the essential qualities of every good roommate.
And in the case of Hannah O’Connor and Eimear Considine, who were paired up as hotel roommates ahead of Ireland’s clash with Wales at the Aviva last weekend, there’s one more quality to add to that list: a steady and skilled hand for applying fake tan.
“We had a good tanning routine,” says Eimear of her pre-match partner, with Hannah adding that she’d give Eimear “a good solid 8/10 as a roommate” (because “there’s always room for improvement.”)
Despite that high score, the pair’s room-sharing harmony was briefly threatened by talk of Hannah’s very early wake-up time:
“There were rumours that she’s a very early riser,” says Eimear. “There was none of that this time around. We got great sleeps.”
And Hannah reckons she’s identified the source of the inaccurate claims:
[Ireland international] Laura Feely started those rumours, saying that I wake up at half six and throw on Ireland AM!
Hannah was a guest on this week’s episode of The Front Row, The42′s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness, on which Eimear is a regular panellist. The pair were joined by comedian Seán Burke and The42′s own Murray Kinsella.
Tanning routines and wake-up times aside, the show’s main point of discussion was Ireland’s 27-19 defeat against Wales in one of the opening matches of the Women’s Six Nations at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium last Saturday.
It was a disappointing start to Ireland’s Six Nations journey, especially given that the team were leading 14-5 at half-time, before being taken down by a series of Welsh tries in the second half.
But even with the result, there were still plus points to be taken from the day, says Eimear – in particular, the buzz of playing in front of a home crowd for the first time in two years:
You step off the pitch and these little boys and girls are looking for your autograph. They did not care that you lost that game. They’re just so proud and so happy… The wins really matter, but there’s more to it.
With the squad headed for Toulouse later this week to take on France in round two of the tournament, there’s still much to play for, and the Ireland squad is determined to make this next match count, says Hannah:
We’re not there to make up the numbers in the competition. We do have a point to prove to ourselves… [and we want] to show what we’re capable of.
The Front Row, in partnership with Guinness, will be delivering chats, laughs and rugby analysis throughout the Women’s Six Nations. To get the latest episodes in your feed, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And you can listen to this week’s episode below.
Listen to The Front Row in partnership with Guinness:
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