Wednesday, October 05, 2011
I ARRIVED in Wellington with the Irish team on Monday morning to be greeted by gale force winds and torrential rain.
Now I remember why touring New Zealand in the height of their winter in May and June was never that appealing. It rains a lot in this country and that can have a demoralising effect on any touring party.
The 1977 Lions tour was particularly grim, summed up perfectly by a letter home from Leicester and England hooker Peter Wheeler: "It only rained twice this week, once for four days and once for three". Despite the fact that Ireland’s opening three pool games against the USA, Australia and Russia were played in wet and windy conditions, other than that, the weather has been pretty good. Then again they are well into their spring down here.
However, it is no coincidence that Ireland played some of their best rugby at this World Cup in the indoor arena in Dunedin last Sunday and their display in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, scoring 17 unanswered points to put the contest against Italy to bed, has really forced people in this neck of the woods to sit up and take notice.
That said Wales seem to be the northern hemisphere side attracting most attention, in part because one of their own, Warren Gatland, is at the helm. They like the expansive style the Welsh are developing and Gatty is being spoken up as a potential All Black coach of the future.
While Ireland’s win over Australia was universally greeted, there was as sense in some quarters here that they caught the Wallabies cold on a wet night and strangled them with some old fashioned boot, bite and bollick.
Of course, it was far more sophisticated than that and it is now being appreciated that this is a very rounded Irish side with the facility to play in a number of different ways.
That will be key when Declan Kidney sits down and works out how Ireland are going to approach next Saturday’s quarter-final as Wales are a completely different outfit to play against than the Italians last weekend. More on that Friday.
With eight teams left in the tournament, 40 games played and just eight contests to be decided, we have arrived at the business end of this World Cup.
From here on in there is no margin for error, no back door in terms of qualification, just win or go home.
The pool stages proved a resounding success with Georgia’s gallant showing against Argentina and the Tongan’s amazing win over France last weekend underlining once again the importance of the Tier 2 nations to the competition.
In addition, Romania, Japan, Russia, Canada and America all had their moments with the Russians scoring some spectacular tries.
It is only a matter of time before their two wingers, Vladimir Ostroushko and Denis Simplikevich, join full-back and former Leinster academy product Vasily Artemyev on a professional contract somewhere in Europe.
While Namibia found the going tough the team that really disappointed were the Fijians after their heroics in reaching the quarter-finals at the expense of the Welsh four years ago.
They barely fired a shot at this tournament and their defence was abysmal.
The scheduling of some of the pool fixtures was a big issue and one that, in my view, cost the Samoans dearly.
They showed against South Africa last Friday in Auckland what a quality outfit they are but suffered badly by having only a four day turnover before their two biggest games against Wales and the Springboks.
By way of contrast Wales and South Africa each had an eight day turnaround before playing Samoa. That is plainly wrong.
The biggest talking point of the last four days has revolved around Dan Carter’s torn adductor longus tendon in his left groin. The whole of New Zealand is now expert on that part of the anatomy but are equally powerless to do anything about it.
Carter is not only a massive loss to the All Blacks but to the tournament as a whole. A soccer World Cup without its Maradonas or Messis just simply wouldn’t be the same and its rugby equivalent is no different.
I watched Carter closely in the opening game when he paved the way for that comfortable win over Tonga and for me he is the best player in the world. Life however goes on and New Zealand — the team and the nation — must cope with its loss. There is a massive amount of pressure now on the young shoulders of Colin Slade and it is questionable whether he has the temperament or skill levels to cope with that.
All recent evidence suggests that he is competent but not spectacular. Put it this way, I would have Jonny Sexton or Ronan O Gara ahead of him any day.
To add salt to the wound, it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the New Zealand press that his natural understudy, Nick Evans, is the inspiration behind Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins who top the Aviva Premiership with a 100% record. Evans scored 20 points for Quins in their win over Sale Sharks last Saturday. Graham Henry didn’t need that and the policy of the NZRU in not selecting overseas players will be lacerated if the All Blacks fail to deliver.
The collapse of the French has been greeted with shock in these parts but comes as no surprise to those of us who have watched Marc Lievremont tear the heart out of Les Bleus over the last few seasons.
I am a massive fan of French rugby and take no pleasure in witnessing their demise here.
Pride alone will spur a response against Martin Johnson’s England on Saturday but one wonders if too much damage has already been done to French morale at this stage.
While Carter may be the best player in the world, the New Zealand Herald has given the accolade of most influential player of the pool stages to Ireland’s Sean O’Brien.
That is a measure of the impact he has made and given the quality of back row forwards in the tournament alone — Sam Warburton, Sergio Parisse, Jerome Kaino, Heinrich Brussow and David Pocock — it is a magnificent tribute. Rory Best and Paul O’Connell also feature in many commentators team of the pool stages with the Irish supporters above and beyond anything in best fans category.
Here’s hoping the chase for more tangible rewards for the Irish begin here in the Cake Tin — as Wellington’s new regional stadium is known — on Saturday evening.
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