O’Sullivan is expecting huge physical effort from Eagles

IRELAND, conquerors of South Africa, aim to continue their impressive momentum against the USA at Lansdowne Road this afternoon, (1pm).

Though the Eagles are 10 places below Ireland in the world rankings at 16th, the hosts will not be in a complacent mood, according to Irish boss Eddie O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan, who had a spell developing rugby stateside, knows exactly what to expect.

“They will be physical for sure,” O’Sullivan said.

“They have a big pack, a good distributor at 10 and big guys in the middle of the park. That won’t make it easy and the Americans tend to give it 110% whenever they play.

“They have a combination of pace and power and, really, we’re on a hiding to nothing in a sense.

“If we lose, we’ll be slaughtered and if we don’t win well we come in for a huge amount of flak.”

And the Irish coach points to the record books to highlight the improvements across the Atlantic.

“I’ve dealt with some of the American back room people before, especially coach Tom Billups and I know exactly what he will be trying to do. They will want to play with a combination of power and flair and they managed to do that when they lost narrowly to France a few months ago.

“That result must have made everyone aware of how much progress they have made and I, for one, was aware of where this team was going from a while back. Tom (Billups) with whom I am quite friendly, is a very clinical guy. He will get these USA guys in a good frame of mind. Respect, or lack of it, isn’t an issue. We know full well that we’re going to be in a serious confrontation this weekend.

“We could spend a fair bit of time without the ball in this match and we have got to be prepared for that.

“We are a professional team and we have got to go out with the aim of producing a professional performance from the team that’s on the pitch.

“I would emphasise that the team chosen is a good team, I have no doubts about that, and the same level of performance achieved against South Africa will be expected of them.”

Newcomers, Denis Leamy and Tommy Bowe came in for special mention.

“Tommy Bowe is a very nice, relaxed kid and, in some ways, he is so laid back he’s horizontal. I did mention to him during the week that this is test rugby and it might not be the best time to get too laid back! Denis is a bit different. He will relish the opportunity as well and will want to run at and take on the opposition.

“It will be interesting from both perspectives as to how they do but this, I feel, is the ideal time to bring them into the team.”

Their inclusion is all part of the building process according to O’Sullivan. “We’re not the finished product right now but we’re getting there.

“I have no doubt that some places are still up for grabs.

“We will see how many places are up for grabs after this match. It’s really up to the players to show what they can do and convince everyone that they can step up to the mark.”

IRELAND: G. Murphy (Leicester), S Horgan (leinster), B O’Driscoll (Leinster) captain; K Maggs (Ulster), T Bowe (Ulster), D Humphreys (Ulster), G Easterby (Leinster), M Horan (Munster), F Sheahan (Munster), J Hayes (Munster), D O’Callaghan (Munster), P O’Connell (Munster), S Easterby (Llanelli), E Miller (Leinster), D Leamy (Munster).

USA: F Viljuoen (Washington), A Lakomskis (Belmont Shore), P Emerick (Calvisano), S Sika (Brigham Young), D Fee (Chicago Lions), M Hercus (Sale Sharks), M Timoteo (San Francisco), M Mac Donald (University of California), M Wyatt (OMBAC), J Waasdorp (Warringah), A Parker (Aspen), G Klerck (Treviso), B Surgener (Back Bay), K Schubert (Cardiff) capt; T Petruzzella (California Polytechnic).