Irish caps ‘demeaned by sub parade’

THE SIX stood waiting to pounce, hoping the play and the clock would stop long enough for them to pick up another cap before the final whistle.

Their luck was in and out trotted Donncha O’Callaghan, Frankie Sheahan, Victor Costello, Guy Easterby, David Humphreys and Kevin Maggs.

The game was halfway through its 79th minute - and even then there was more game time left than when Sheahan and Gary Longwell were drafted in at the death against Italy a week before.

Both got the same number of caps in that game as those who were out there for the full 80 minutes.

Can this be right? Surely, it demeans the value of the Irish cap when people are being called in reward for sitting there all afternoon and training hard during the week. Reward? They’re all professionals and know that this type of honour has to be fairly gained on the field of play. Training hard all week? Surely that’s what they are paid for.

Furthermore, today’s players can win all the caps they want because there are a lot more matches in the modern system.

And here’s an example of just how things have changed since the game went professional:

Current players: Malcolm O’Kelly, 64 caps in seven years, Ronan O’Gara, 43 caps in four years, Peter Stringer, 46 caps in four years, Girvan Dempsey, 46 caps in seven years, Brian O’Driscoll, 50 caps in six years.

Now look at past players: Mike Gibson, 69 caps in 16 years, W.J. McBride, 63 caps in 14 years, Fergus Slattery, 61 caps in 15 years, Tom Kiernan, 54 caps in 14 years, Donal Lenihan, 52 caps in 12 years.

Good luck to today’s players. But to see a half dozen players line up as they did on Saturday with the game all but over leaves a sour taste with many. It’s a subject that has concentrated the minds of many Irish fans throughout the season, so I asked Eddie O’Sullivan, the Irish coach to air his views.

“There are a number of dimensions people don’t see,” he responded. “One is that you often bring fresh players on because you need fresh legs. You can do that with 10 minutes, even five minutes to go. If you’re in the middle of a tournament, a key player can get injured in the first minute or the 81st minute so if you’re happy enough that you have the game in the bag, you often take out a key player to avoid the risk of injury. Also, it’s good experience for players to get on the pitch.

“People disagree with it in principle but once it’s allowed, I think any coach will manage his squad to the best of his ability and get the best out of it. Obviously, coaches should be free to use a system that allows for the introduction of a fresh body at any time. That was done in proper circumstances on Saturday when Marcus Horan came in on the hour for Reggie Corrigan. And a coach would also be wise to bring in a player who, if needed, could change the strategical approach to a certain game. That was done in the critical World Cup game against Argentina in Adelaide when Ronan O’Gara replaced David Humphreys and helped turn the proceedings.

“I think we have to view caps differently nowadays,” he argued. “When we had the Five Nations, there were four games and maybe one in the autumn and you had a chance of five or six Tests a year. We have just gone into our 13th Test since last September. So if you see the toll a Test takes on a player, it’s a different landscape. We’re playing a lot more games. By the time we get our summer holidays, we’ll have 15 Tests played this year, 14 last year, so it’s a different world than it was back 10 or 15 years ago. It’s a professional game and I don’t think it demeans a cap. A cap is a cap. A sub coming on with two minutes to go can make a try-saving tackle just as easily as the guy who went off.

“So I think we have to change our mind set about this. As Brian O’Driscoll explained, when people got 50 caps before, it was very special, but it is also very special now. People get them sooner but they’re not going to be around as long as before because of the pressure they go through. Things have changed and I think we should move on in that area.”

Meanwhile, the Munster players have returned to the provincial scene to prepare for Saturday week’s clash with Stade Français at Thomond Park. There is good news on the injury front according to Alan Gaffney, with Marcus Horan having shaken off a troublesome shoulder knock and John Hayes over a hip problem. Peter Stringer insists he won’t be unduly bothered by a sore hand and shoulder.

Before switching off their Six Nations exploits, all were adamant that the national side has to move on from here.

“Playing the way we did against Scotland gives us confidence and means we can set higher goals,” said Anthony Foley. “When you’re setting goals, they have to be realistic. When you win stuff, you can go higher still and they become more realistic and that’s what we’re about. It’s about building on this and moving on to next year. We’re looking forward to going to South Africa and taking them on. It’s not an easy place to go but we’ll be going with a lot of confidence.”

Stringer regularly refers to the belief that now exists. Declan Kidney insists that comes with winning on a regular basis and it should convince each and every player that every side - from England to New Zealand - is there to be beaten. “We’ve set ourselves standards and look to progress. Gone are the days when we had the underdog tag. We’ll be favourites in more and more games and we have to be able to respond.”