Wednesday, September 21, 2011
THE World Cup has been turned on its head and Ireland are the talk of New Zealand.
After what happened in Eden Park last Saturday, if the IRFU applied to host the 2019 tournament they would probably get unanimous support from the IRB. The Irish are so popular at present — their magnificent supporters as much as the team — anything is possible.
The IRB will certainly thank Brian O Driscoll’s men for setting the World Cup alight and for rewriting the script for the next few weeks. With one giant stride and Australia re-routed down the side of the draw containing fellow Tri Nations contenders New Zealand and South Africa, the cosy cartel that looked certain to produce the two finalists has been smashed apart. They now have to get their heads around the fact that one of our own Six Nations sides are on course for the final on October 23 — and that could be anyone of Wales, France, England or Ireland.
New Zealand were banking on an explosive encounter with France next Saturday night back in Eden Park but now fear Marc Lievremont will put out a weakened side to ensure finishing second in pool A. In the circumstances who could blame him? Indeed the side named by Lievremont yesterday has a decidedly under strength look about it, especially with Morgan Parra starting at out-half for the first time in his career. What a game to start experimenting in. Looks suspicious to me.
This is a tournament where the only prize that matters is being presented in just over four week’s time. The hosts are also concerned that if the French send out an under strength side against them next weekend, history could well repeat itself with the All Blacks reaching the knock out stage of a World Cup without the benefit of any meaningful challenge. Already even John Kirwan’s Japan have sent out their seconds against them.
While it was widely anticipated Ireland had a massive performance in them, it is significant that it came against a Wallaby side that has frightened Irish players, despite their status as Tri Nations champions. Circumstances decreed this game was tailored for Ireland if they could maximise the return from the areas where they held a distinct advantage. The most obvious one of those was the set piece. The scrum was a revelation and the front-row of Cian Healy, Rory Best — who enjoyed his best outing in a green shirt — and Mike Ross were superb.
As a collective, however, the Irish eight were magnificent. The timing of their engagement in the scrum, the collective force of the hit and the effectiveness of transferring the weight of the back five through the front-row was technically perfect. Full marks to Greg Feek, Ireland’s scrum coach, for extracting the last ounce out of an area that hasn’t always produced when it mattered most.
With that platform the Irish back-row were up and running and when Stephen Ferris and Sean O’Brien are offered a licence to carry ball at the opposition, only positives will accrue. It says everything about the performance of those two that Jamie Heaslip is operating in their slip stream. Now if he can recapture the form that he showed on the 2009 Lions tour of South Africa then Ireland could really go places.
Having witnessed firsthand the arrogance of some of the Australian players at a pre-match press conference when they repeated the usual platitudes about the fighting Irish and spoke in glowing terms about Brian O’Driscoll, it’s self-evident Ireland’s talismanic captain was the only player on their radar. Despite all his exploits, Paul O’Connell barely registered with any Wallaby players bar the second rows and neither O’Brien nor Ferris warranted any mention. They know who they are now.
Australia, for all their individual brilliance, have flaws. Their midfield of Pat McCabe and Anthony Fainga’a had just 15 caps between them and are still a work in progress. They haven’t progressed much since they lined out together in Thomond Park against Munster last November and I could not believe that Wallaby coach Robbie Deans failed to switch Adam Ashley-Cooper into midfield and introduce Drew Mitchell on the wing until the last five minutes. I guarantee you now he will make that call for their next big outing. With 174 caps between them O’Driscoll and D’Arcy had a vital edge in midfield.
Without question, Declan Kidney has something special which is difficult to quantify. His record is remarkable and he has now presided over the most significant win in Irish rugby history. What is also clear is that he had been preparing for that game against Australia for over a year and everything came to fruition on the night. The challenge now is to reproduce that form, the portents are good.
There will be a number of changes for Sunday’s game against Russia and Kidney, who always emphasises the importance of the squad, will lean on players like Leo Cullen, Denis Leamy, Ronan O’Gara, Shane Jennings and Andrew Trimble to lead the way the next day. Players like Ferris and Rob Kearney have more game time under their belt and it would make sense if they got another 50 minutes on Sunday. The core of the side can now be rested with a view to winning the pool by beating Italy in Dunedin on Sunday week and should be perfectly honed in terms of match fitness by the time the quarter final arrives.
At this stage it looks like Ireland will meet Wales in Wellington, with a first ever appearance in a World Cup semi final at stake. After the August disappointments that is a remarkable scenario. It is fair to say Wales, in a far more challenging pool than Ireland, would also have settled for that and will be thrilled that Ireland’s win has sent the Wallabies off in the opposite direction.
Warren Gatland will be mindful, however, that his side face another potential banana skin against Fiji, who knocked them out of the World Cup four years ago, and still have a bit of work to do. Kidney, of course, will say the same thing about Italy and he is right. Thankfully the fact that game is two weeks after the heroics of Eden Park should allow sufficient time for the players to get their feet back on the ground. It has been a great few days to be Irish in New Zealand but here’s hoping that it is about to get even better.
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