You'll Never Beat the Irish...except when you do

One can't have attended any sporting event with a large number of Irish people in attendance without hearing the chant "You'll never beat the Irish." But as Jerry said to George when he kept using that Susan expression "You can stuff your sorrys in a sack mister", I don't know what that means. For one thing, given Ireland's less than 100 percent success rate in sporting endeavours, it's demonstrably false. But that doesn't stop the shouters. I suspect I could find examples any week but since it's Cheltenham week (horse racing), that means the main practitioners are in western England, as evidenced by this account from the Irish Times:

The monarchy turned up for Day Two at Cheltenham, but nearly everything else went in favour of the Republic. The Tricolour and the chant "You'll Never Beat the Irish" were seen and heard at the festival after red-hot favourite Moscow Flyer flew to victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. (March 13)

A similar confidence was present regarding the Irish contender, Beef or Salmon, in the Gold Cup but this time we got our falsification, with the London Times telling it like it is:
Once the inflated reputation of Beef Or Salmon, the Irish novice, was punctured by a heavy fall at the third fence, the race was a dream sequence for supporters of the 13-8 favourite.

Finally, the doctrine of Irish infallibility is in full swing for our rugby match with Wales on March 22, with everyone already looking forward to the following weekend's match against England. But even if we lose the match, I fear that we'll never lose the chant.