O’Kelly content to cap England win with Italian lesson

MALCOLM O’KELLY reaches another milestone in his already distinguished Irish rugby career at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

O’Kelly joins rugby legend Willie John McBride as Ireland’s most capped second row, when he hits the 63 cap mark, seven years after winning his first against New Zealand.

McBride required 13 years (between 1962 and 1975) to attain the figure.

O’Kelly, keen to play down the statistic, quipped: “I dare say if Willie John was playing in the present era he would be gone well past the 100 mark. They just didn’t have that many games back then.

“There is also the not unimportant issue that he played on three Lions tours and captained them on one. You could say I have two more to go to come even near matching him.”

And he hopes to someday meet his hero.

“I was there when he gave a pretty emotional speech to the Lions before the third Test in Australia a few years back but never actually got to talk to him. Maybe some day ... ”

2004 has been a strange season for the Leinster and St Mary’s player. Less than a month ago he was mulling over his future after a poor opener against France and the subsequent arrival of Donncha O’Callaghan into his second row berth.

“The future didn’t look that bright a few days afterwards. Donncha got in ahead of me and probably deserved it, although I wouldn’t personally have agreed at the time.

“Somebody must have been looking down on me because I came into the Welsh game from the bench and had a bit of a run at it. Donncha was still out for the English game so I had an opportunity to take.

“Rugby is a strange game at times, particularly for guys in the second row. Sometimes you get an opportunity to shine, other times you don’t. I was lucky to get back for part of the Welsh game and fortunate that everything appeared to go right in Twickenham.”

Though hailed for a try-saving tackle on English hooker Mark Regan, O’Kelly tried to deflect the credit.

“Yes, I was happy with that tackle and the importance of it only sank in afterwards. But really, this was a team victory. It wasn’t about one tackle, it was about a lot of important tackles and probably more about a very accomplished team performance.

“Everyone was up for it, everyone did the jobs expected of them so there was a lot more to it than my moment of glory near the end.”

With O’Callaghan back on the bench, O’Kelly admits that the pressure has been nudged up a notch.

“Basically, if you’re playing well, then you answer some of the questions posed by the coaching team. It’s about staying ahead of the opposition and that’s what I’ll be trying to do.”

And he issues a word of warning for those still basking in the glory of the England victory.

“These guys are physical,” he says of the Italians. “They will try to bash you up and they will succeed a lot of the time. They really go for it and now that they appear to have matched their enthusiasm with a lot of skill, they will be very difficult to beat. We will be up for it, we’ve got to be up for it, just as much as we were against England.”