Can O’Driscoll cap career with Lions captaincy?
While the deliberations of the ERC won’t have any direct affect on the tournament in 2013, there is no escaping the fact that decisions due in the next few months will shape the Heineken and Amlin Challenge Cups’ futures and have a major impact on the professional game in the Northern Hemisphere.
Despite their Grand Slam in 2012, Welsh regional rugby is in dire shape and the exodus of their best players to France is already having an impact. The Scottish and Italian sides struggled in Europe for a long time and the big hitters from the French and English domestic leagues are running out of patience.
The key to their designs on reducing the number of teams in the Heineken Cup from 24 to 20 is driven fundamentally by a bigger slice of the financial cake.
Their representatives on the ERC board, in contrast to those from the six rugby unions, don’t give a damn about the necessity to promote rugby in Scotland and Italy.
There is merit, however, in some of the refinements put forward by the Anglo-French alliance, not least the lack of a qualification route from the RaboDirect Pro12 which led to new entity Zebre walking straight into the Heineken Cup.
However the professional rugby model is still in its infancy and wouldn’t take much to derail advances made over the last decade and it’s vital to have at least one representative from all six nations in the main tournament.
For the first time since thetour to South Africa in 1997, the captaincy of the Lions for their forthcoming tour to Australia is up in the air. Martin Johnson was handed the armband 16 years ago despite not leading England at that point while in the subsequent three tours Johnson, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell were the standout candidates.
This time it is a little more complicated given that Sam Warburton and Chris Robshaw, captains of Wales and England respectively, are novices in the role and have not toured with the Lions before. They are both competing in one of the three key positions necessary for the Lions to dominate if they want to win the series. The Lions need an out-and-out open side to compete with David Pocock and Michael Hooper at the breakdown and neither Warburton nor Chris Robshaw are guaranteed of a test place.
Paul O’Connell did a marvellous job in 2009 but his injury woes rule him out of contention.
The standout candidate for me is Brian O’Driscoll. I cannot think of anyone in the tour party who would want to win a series more than him and that is bound to rub off on the other senior players in the party. The big question mark over O’Driscoll is whether or not he can recapture his form. All previous evidence suggests he just needs a run of three or four games so the Six Nations will be crucial to his challenge.
While he owned the number 13 jersey for years, if he wants to fulfil his ambition and finish his glittering career with a Lions test series win then he may have to shift to inside centre as Jonathan Davies appears nailed on at outside centre. I would never bet against O’Driscoll though and would love to see him lead a successful tour to Australia as a prelude to hanging up his boots.
We need little reminding of the fact that once Mike Ross was forced off against England at Twickenham in our last Six Nations encounter, Ireland’s scrum was taken to the cleaners. A change in the regulations now allows specialist tight and loose head props to sit on the bench which should aid Ireland’s cause. Tom Court, freed of the responsibility of trying to cover the tight head side, focused on his duties as a loose head with spectacular results.
With the massive strides taken by Dave Kilcoyne, Ireland are well served at loose head should the excellent Cian Healy pick up an injury. Unfortunately it was a very disappointing and unproductive festive period for Ireland’s latest tight head project, New Zealander Michael Bent.
Court reminded Declan Kidney what he has to offer by dismantling Bent in their head-to-head at Ravenhill. Even more disturbing was the manner with which young Connacht loose head Denis Buckley had Bent on the retreat on Saturday. Bent could do nothing against a comparative rookie and was hauled off when Leinster failed to take advantage of a five-metre attacking scrum 12 minutes into the second half with Ross introduced.
The haste with which Bent was introduced to the Irish squad after his arrival in Ireland and offered two international caps, did not sit well but if he was capable of addressing an area of vulnerability then we could learn to live with it. On the evidence so far, he has a lot of convincing to do to warrant inclusion on the bench in the Six Nations opener against Wales.
Unfortunately it looks as if an age old problem is yet to be resolved and Ross’ bargaining position with the IRFU in relation to his new contract has improved immeasurably.
The furore surrounding the demotion of Brian McLaughlin as Ulster coach after leading them to a first European final since 1999 has disappeared on the back of the impact made by his replacement, the previously unheralded Mark Anscombe. The New Zealander has taken a very good squad and made them better. The repatriation of Tommy Bowe and Roger Wilson along with the signing of Nick Williams who appears rejuvenated after an unproductive period at Munster, and the return to fitness of Jared Payne have all added to the mix. But Anscombe deserved a lot of credit for the manner with which he has instilled a new belief in the set up.
Rocked by the tragic death of Nevin Spence, the squad play for each other and their demolition of Northampton at Franklins Gardens was their most complete display of the season. However, if they want to go one better than last year then they have another big decision to make.
If the appointment of Anscombe was the bravest made by David Humphreys in his short tenure as director of rugby, he needs to recognise that to conquer Europe requires a compromise on the long-term development of Paddy Jackson at out half by shifting Ruan Pienaar to the pivotal role. That would also accommodate the introduction of Paul Marshall at scrum half and offer a better balance.
They should also go for the jugular and hand the 12 jersey to Luke Marshall permanently. That back line combination offers the best chance of competing with Clermont Auvergne, the clear favourites for the ultimate prize come next May.
