Let the games begin

MAKE no mistake, it’s been a bad six months for rugby on this side of the equator.

The Lions tour, which promised so much, given the financial commitment and levels of preparation, turned out to be a massive let down. The result of the Tri-Nations, while confirming New Zealand’s status as the number one side in world rugby, also showed that South Africa were not far behind in terms of quality and skills. Even standard bearers, France, failed to win any of their three tests against South Africa or Australia over the summer.

Nowhere was the consequence of this fall from grace more pronounced than in the announcement of the International Rugby Board short-list for player of the season. No northern hemisphere player need apply. New Zealand offered three outstanding candidates in Richie McCaw, Daniel Carter and captain Tana Umaga, while South Africa’s flying sensation Brian Habana and towering lock Victor Matfield made up the other nominations.

Over the past few seasons, Ireland has been spoiled with Keith Wood, Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy all receiving nominations in successive years. Even at U-21 level, the impressive new Leinster No 8 Jamie Heaslip was a notable inclusion two years ago.

The poor selection policy, which undermined any chance of Lions success, was highlighted further when Andy Robinson announced his England squad for the forthcoming autumn internationals. No less than five Lions, including four who featured in the test series, failed to make the squad. For Will Greenwood, Julian White, Graham Rowntree, Ben Kay and Andy Titterall, this represents an amazing fall from grace.

At least with the return of the Heineken Cup and the autumn internationals, an opportunity for redemption beckons. The Celtic League, which seems more competitive this season, has proved a valuable preparation ground for Europe. With the World Cup now less than two years away, the time has come for fresh Irish talent to emerge and challenge for places on the international front.

In this respect, it will be interesting to watch the progress of Ulster young guns Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Matt McCullough and Neil Best when they face the likes of Biarritz and Saracens over the coming weeks. The fact that Ulster kick off their campaign against Benetton Treviso at home affords them the opportunity of easing their way into the tournament.

The Leinster players must feel a sense of Groundhog Day given that they face both Bourgoin and Bath in the pool stage for the second successive season. Last year, a mix of quality play behind the scrum and good fortune enabled them to emerge unbeaten from their pool to qualify for the knock out stage as the number one seed. Recent evidence would suggest that they might not be as fortunate this year.

Bath, their opponents on Saturday, are still smarting from the two narrow defeats to Brian O’Driscoll’s men last year. Munster’s recent demolition of the Leinster forward unit again suggested they are under-powered to survive the questions that Bourgoin are likely to ask later in the competition. To have any chance of progressing, Leinster must open with a victory. Bath continue to experience difficulty in scoring tries and if Leinster can reduce their penalty count and deprive Ollie Barkley of kicking opportunities, they should win, but it will be close.

While Munster have also successfully integrated bright young talent in Tomas O’Leary, Ian Dowling and Barry Murphy in this season’s Celtic League, it is very much a case of the tried and trusted when they launch their campaign against Sale on Friday night. The only exception to this is a new midfield combination of Trevor Halstead (subject to injury) and Gary Connolly. O’Leary is also sure to feature in some capacity. This game presents the biggest challenge for the Irish teams this weekend and could well be the clash of the opening round. Both sides have enjoyed a positive build up to the tournament and top the Celtic League and Guinness Premiership respectively.

Three years ago, Munster were slightly undercooked when they opened their campaign away to Gloucester and were severely punished. At their best, Sale are capable of inflicting similar damage. The presence of six Lions in their squad will ensure that Ronan O’Gara and company will have plenty of inside information to share with their team mates beforehand.

In recent seasons, coach Philippe Saint-Andre has imported a number of his fellow countrymen to add a hard edge to Sale up front. In Sebastian Chabal, Jason White and Andrew Sheridan, they have an abundance of bull-dozing ball carriers. As a result, their outstanding back three of Steve Hanley, Jason Robinson and Mark Cueto have been causing havoc from broken play.

Yet the one thing they lack, which Munster have in abundance, is a well of experience that has been generated from participating in European competition since its inception 10 years ago. Comparatively speaking, Sale are novices at this level.

On the Lions tour, Charlie Hodgson and Ronan O’Gara were the best of the four out-halves selected by a mile. Yet neither started a test. Hodgson is a better player than he was given credit for in England’s stuttering Six Nations campaign last season and proved it in New Zealand. O’Gara was afforded little game time down under and will relish the challenge that this head-to-head presents.

Given the recent spate of injuries that Declan Kidney has had to endure, opening this campaign with an away victory would prove an outstanding achievement.

Every year, it becomes increasingly difficult for our teams to prosper beyond the knockout stages, due primarily to restricted budgets. The quality and strength in depth of some of the French squads in particular is mind blowing. Nowhere was this seen to greater effect than in the clash of last year’s European finalists Stade Français and Toulouse in Paris last Saturday night. In front of a world record crowd of 78,000 for a club rugby game, the creativity and skill levels of both teams were spell-binding. By a way of comparison, the Guinness Premiership clash between Leicester and Newcastle was cynical, boring and bereft of inspiration.

On the evidence of the early season performances, the French once again remain front-runners to retain the Heineken Cup. They have at least three sides capable of winning it.

With 12 games to whet the appetite this weekend, it will be interesting to see how performances in the domestic leagues compare with the higher intensity that is sure to prevail. The long journey to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium next May is about to begin.