Lansdowne fear factor Ireland’s trump card

IN THESE troubled times it is the practice for teams and athletes to check with their governments if overseas travel to a sporting event is a safe or sensible course of action.

With this in mind it might occur to England rugby coach Clive Woodward to look up the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for the latest travel advice on visits to Dublin this weekend. Because if Lansdowne Road were a country you would be sure that any foreign government would advise its sporting ambassadors to give it a wide berth.

That was certainly the thrust of the distinctly undiplomatic advice given by former England forward Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph last weekend. The policeman capped 22 times by his country at lock used his column to describe Lansdowne Road as a dump, a disgrace and far and away the worst international stadium of the Six Nations.

There was a time of course, when visitors came away from the place as deluded as the courtiers paying homage to the Emperor's New Clothes in the Hans Christian Anderson folk tale. They mistook the uncovered and irregular terraces at either end of the ground for whimsical examples of Irish charm. And when the trains upset their concentration as they rumbled under the West Stand, it was a case of the earth moving rather than a cause for annoyance.

But that was then, when Murrayfield, the Arms Park, Twickenham and the Parc des Princes were dumps as well. These days, there is no hiding place for Lansdowne Road in the company of Stade de France, the Millennium Stadium and the redeveloped Twickenham and Murrayfield.

But what Ackford, probably quite rightly, finds unacceptable, others are only too pleased to give thanks.

French star Thomas Castaignede is certainly one who believes that the dilapidated state of Ireland's stadium and the atmosphere it generates will act as a huge advantage to the home side when they face England there on Sunday afternoon with the Grand Slam on offer to the winner.

"The narrow margin in Cardiff reflected the fact that Ireland simply are not the same side away from home," he said. "At Lansdowne Road, you feel they are capable of dying on their feet.

"What's more, when England come visiting, they will know just what is at stake: victory but not a win like any ordinary one.

"For the World Cup I'd tip England as a better all-round side than Ireland but in a one-off at Lansdowne Road it is not the same. When you go through the gates there as the away team, you lose 20% of your strength. The place is that powerful." The England camp knows that only too well, of course. Woodward has seen his side blow the Grand Slam at Lansdowne Road already, in October 2001 when the match had been held back to the autumn due to the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak. Keith Wood's momentous try and Peter Stringer's tap tackle were legendary components of that 20-14 Irish victory but so was the stadium packed with Irish fans willing team to stop an English clean sweep.

That was England's last defeat and they have won their 16 Tests since, including wins home wins - last autumn over Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

So both Woodward and his captain Martin Johnson have been keen to play down the relevance of the venue for this most important of meetings between the two sides.

Johnson believes the team with the mental toughness to cope with the pressure-cooker atmosphere will be celebrating the Grand Slam on Sunday night. "I think the balance of brain and brawn has to be correct," Johnson said.

"The team to handle the occasion, beforehand and on the field, will come away victorious. We've been here before and lost the final game, Ireland haven't.

"We've learned to expect the hype and pressure and learned from our mistakes. Ireland haven't," he added.

Woodward, meanwhile, says his men can now cope with playing away from their fortress in south-west London.

"It's a very different ground to Twickenham," he said, "but that's the beauty of playing international rugby and adapting to the conditions.

"This is an extremely tough bunch of players mentally and the bottom line is that it's the same pitch wherever you are.

Except at Lansdowne, Clive; except at Lansdowne.