Irish bruises worn as badge of honour

IRELAND’S heroic U21 players took their bruised bodies to a health club in Glasgow yesterday for a brief respite after the pounding of the last couple of weeks.

Yet, the demands of five games in 20 days seems a small price to pay for the glory of winning their way to the final of the IRB Under-21 World Championship, a feat hailed in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

Few expected Ireland, seeded seven, to make it to the semi-finals. Nobody, not least Australians, believed it possible for them to go even further.

Australia were stunned by the ferocity and skill of the Irish at Hughenden on Wednesday, but it didn’t surprise coach Mark McDermott.

McDermott has been in the job only a short time, successor to Mark McCall, now coaching Ulster. He is thankful for his inheritance:

“There really wasn’t much work to be done after Mark’s departure, just a bit of fine tuning to prepare for a competition which is very different from a Six Nations tournament.

“The manner in which you qualify is different and the burden of playing so many games in a short space of time certainly is. It comes down a bit to managing the resources, making sure that hard work is tempered with periods of rest to allow the players recover from what can best be described as pretty strenuous activity.”

They have also been remarkably injury-free. In the four games played all but one of the squad (winger Tommy Bowe) has been available for selection.

On Sunday they take on holders New Zealand but they’ve had a taste of what to expect in terms of physical confrontation, in the form of Tonga, Argentina, France and Australia.

McDermott and his assistant, Pat Murray, have no fears: “They’ve been there, done that, taken on the big guys and won. It’s another challenge, another day but the lads won’t go out there fearing for their lives. It’s nice to be underdogs even if our results suggest we should not be rank outsiders.

“This is cup rugby,” declared the coach. “Cup games always throw up surprise results. Nobody outside the squad thought we would beat Australia, but we were quietly confident. We had plenty of opportunity to see the way they played, what they did well and not so well. We worked on their weaknesses but also put together a pretty convincing performance as well.”

Murray believes Ireland turned the corner when they defeated Argentina: “That game was important, not because we won but because we won by beating a much bigger and stronger team. Our pack took a battering for 50 minutes but battled back in the last 30. That’s a sign of resilience and was a huge boost for us.

“Our second half display against Australia was magnificent. The forwards took total control, wrestled away all the possession and kept them on the back foot. It was an easier win than you might expect but it was fully deserved.

“Australia were taller and heavier and had a lot of pace out wide, but our defence was top class when they came at us. It should also be remembered that we scored three tries to one and that two of them were scored by backs in the corner. That should be enough to suggest we have a bit of quality in the backs as well.”

Although that quality was again evident on Wednesday, a key to the victory was the solid partnership forged by Tomas O’Leary and Gareth Steenson at half back.

Murray agrees: “If you don’t have good halves, then you’re likely to struggle. These two have been pretty good. They’re not flash, not shapers, but they usually do everything right and take huge pressure off the players around them because they take responsibility for what has to be done.”

O’Leary, delighted to be back in the number nine jersey instead of the 11 shirt he mostly wears with Cork Constitution, is also pleased.

As he headed for yesterday’s recovery session you sensed he’s not going to be happy with a runners-up medal: “It’s been good. We’ve got to the final. Now we just have to perform one more time. If we do, we must have a decent chance.”

Ireland truly believe in themselves, even against the best in the world.