Hayes ready for Romania

IRISH prop John Hayes has been cleared to make his comeback against Romania in Saturday’s Pool A World Cup opener after spending the last seven months on the sidelines.

Hayes has not played since March because of a calf problem but Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan is keen to get him back on the field as quickly as possible.

“He has to have a first game back sometime and he is on track to start next week,” O’Sullivan told a news conference.

“Match fitness is a bit of an issue and front-rowers tend to need game time, but he is still our starting tight-head and he is going to be crucial.”

O’Sullivan said he would have a full compliment of players to select his team from even though prop Marcus Horan failed to complete Monday’s training session.

“Marcus Horan has a slight strain in his quad but is no concern, he should be fine. We just took him off as a precaution,” O’Sullivan said.

Friday’s Pool A tournament opener between champions Australia and Argentina is a game which holds huge interest in the Irish camp. An Argentine victory would skew the balance of the pool, but Eddie O’Sullivan is keen to stress that worrying about the outcome of the game is an exercise in futility.

“I don’t think we should really concern ourselves with it,” said O’Sullivan. “The only thing we have control over is the games we play, we have no control over anything else. Whatever happens happens, we’ll see the outcome of the game and take it from there. We’re really going to just focus on our own job this weekend, which is Romania.”

However O’Sullivan hopes for a low-scoring tournament opener, with bonus points for four or more tries a factor for the first time.

“As a general rule you’d want your opponents to score less points than more, but I think you can tie yourself in knots about it. At the end of the day what happens next Friday will happen, it’s a waste of energy to be worrying about it.”

The Irish management plan to watch the game on television rather than attend proceedings in Sydney in the flesh. Many Australia pundits have predicted in recent days that there could be a shock on the cards and the Irish coach doesn’t disagree with his viewpoint.

“I think Argentina will be throwing the kitchen sink at Australia in the first game,” said O’Sullivan. “Anybody would in the first game, I think Romania will throw the kitchen sink at us as well and I think that’s to be expected. I think Argentina are pretty dangerous and if they get it right on the day they can beat anybody in the world. Nobody’s more aware of that than ourselves and Australia.”

The Wallabies will be without centre Stirling Mortlock for the Argentina clash. He has been laid low for the last two days with a bout of gastroenteritis and failed to make a sufficient recovery by yesterday’s deadline.

Jones will spend the evening pondering whether Mat Rogers or utility back Matt Burke will fill in for Mortlock.

“We’ll just have to have a look at the balance of the team and how we want to play the game so we’ll have to make a decision between those two,” he said.

Jones’ final choice will be revealed at the Wallabies’ Coff’s Harbour base today and could see Joe Roff return from injury, with winger Lote Tuqiri squeezed on to the bench.

Ireland trained yesterday at the Central Coast Grammar training pitches as the rain trickled down once again. The level of security surrounding training sessions has been beefed up in recent days, and yesterday six security guards and a rottweiller protected the grounds of the college from any unwanted intrusion.

Meanwhile, veteran lock Olivier Brouzet has been ruled out of France’s World Cup opener with Fiji in Brisbane on Saturday.

Brouzet has been suffering with a shoulder injury and although he would have been risked if the problem had surfaced at a later stage of the competition, coach Bernard Laporte has decided not to take any chances.

“Olivier is fine but it would seem more prudent to give him another week to get stronger,” said Laporte, who added that Brouzet would be available for the second game against the United States on October 15.

It is the second blow Laporte has suffered to his selection plans, with prop Sylvain Marconnet also out after failing to recover from a thigh strain.

However, France are still hopeful that centre Xavier Garbajosa will play after recovering from leg bruising.