Flying high in The Green House
Ever since that exceptional night in Auckland two weeks ago there has been a growing sense that Ireland can finally begin to exorcise the demons of repeated disappointment and failure at Rugby World Cups and deliver on the quality and excellence that has defined Irish rugby on both the provincial and international front for over a decade.
Yesterday’s vital pool game against Italy offered a stepping stone to greater things or the potential for the greatest party poop of all time. Otago’s impressive new indoor arena was nicknamed ‘The Green House’ long before the massive Irish support base began to roll into town on Friday and Saturday and such was the impact of the Irish fans here, never was a stadium more aptly named. There was just no way Ireland could fail to perform in such an emotionally charged atmosphere and victory has delivered the squad’s minimum goal of reaching a World Cup quarter-final for the first time since 2003 and the fifth in Ireland’s RWC history.
The reward for topping Pool C for the first time ever at a World Cup is a date with Wales in Wellington next Saturday, 6am Irish time. Should we dare to dream?
With Dan Carter sadly lost to the All Blacks cause, anything is possible from here on in. The hard work has been done. The team are in excellent nick and confidence is buzzing. Inevitably injuries will take its toll and, sadly, it looks as if Rory Best is in serious trouble with a shoulder/collarbone injury. With Jerry Flannery already lost to the cause that is a worry and Sean Cronin may be called upon to perform miracles. Such is the nature of big tournaments: heroes emerge overnight.
The Italian Job was always going to be a difficult one for Ireland to negotiate given the Azzurri harboured a genuine belief they could win on the back of that narrow defeat in the Six Nations in February, not forgetting their passion to perform for coach Nick Mallett, for whom defeat signalled his last game at the helm.
Italy made such an issue about the scrum coming into this game that if Ireland managed anything approaching parity in that area you felt the psychological damage to the Italians would be massive. In that context the loss of Martin Castrogiovanni after only 30 minutes had a major impact on the game, notwithstanding the fact Ireland had scrummaged well up to the point of his departure. The knock-on effect of having to shift Salvatore Perugini from loose head to tight head to accommodate the introduction of Andrea Lo Cicero enabled Mike Ross to do even more damage. Cian Healy was also superb, and survived some brutal attacks by the Italians.
On the front foot, off scrum ball this Irish back row were devastating and even the mercurial Sergio Parisse had to bow to the magnificence of Sean O’Brien, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip. Italy are an incredibly difficult side to play against and it always takes time to break them down. Ireland knew that from past experience and in the circumstances managed the game well. As always Ronan O’Gara was calmness personified and in an indoor arena that tested Jonny Wilkinson’s place-kicking expertise to the full, O’Gara converted six from seven — the miss rebounded off the post.
That offered Ireland some breathing space in the opening period when their commitment and physicality at the breakdown was nowhere near what we had seen against Australia. In addition they failed to protect hard-won possession and turned over the ball too easily at times. When they did manage to get O’Brien and Ferris running off line-outs at the Italian midfield they caused havoc, with another barnstorming O’Brien run setting up a perfectly legitimate try for Tommy Bowe, which referee Jonathan Kaplan incorrectly disallowed.
The problem for Ireland in that opening half was that Italy refused to kick for touch denying Paul O’Connell a lineout platform to launch their strike moves. That changed after the break and four line-outs — as many as they had in the entire first-half — in 12 minutes helping Ireland to manufacture 17 points, including two great tries from Brian O’Driscoll and Keith Earls. Game over.
ITALY knew that too, and decided to take retribution on a number of Irish players with Healy, Gordon D’Arcy and Rob Kearney all being taken out off the ball. The citing officer will be busy after this one and in the circumstances Ireland did very well to hold their discipline. With one mass, off-the-ball brawl in the final minutes taking place off camera, one sincerely hopes that no Irish player was sucked into something that could compromise his involvement against Wales next week.
NY citing must be made within 36 hours of the completion of the game and it will be a major surprise to me if at least two Italian players — hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini, who definitely made contact with Healy’s eye, and Parisse, who body checked D’Arcy off the ball — are not summoned to account for their actions.
Ireland appear to be getting better and better as this tournament progresses and their attacking structure and lines of running in the second half were outstanding. Rob Kearney is now fully up and running after his injury travails and his solidity under the high ball coupled with his improved counter-attacking have made a big difference. Earls and Bowe are playing off him and both are working harder off their wings and being rewarded for their efforts. O’Driscoll and D’Arcy also made a big impact. Donncha O’Callaghan also did incredible work in the tight, giving everything he had while his life partner O’Connell was everywhere.
It really has been an extraordinary weekend of rugby here in New Zealand with Tonga’s win over France, Georgia’s magnificent achievement in pushing Argentina all the way, England’s struggle to subdue Scotland and Carter’s untimely injury confirming that the margins that divide between the top teams is minimal. This World Cup is wide open and Ireland depart for Wellington today with a familiar foe standing between them and the rarefied atmosphere of a World Cup semi-final. The windy city had better be prepared — the Irish are coming.
