Stringer’s magical milestone almost lost in the stampede

AMID all the excitement surrounding the win over South Africa, and the reshuffling of manpower to face the USA, the fact that Peter Stringer reached the magical 50-cap milestone against the Eagles has been all but forgotten.

For the scrum-half’s critics - of which there have been more than a few - that would perhaps underline their argument that the 5’7” Munster man is a lightweight in more ways than one.

It’s been a familiar argument ever since the player made his debut for Ireland against Scotland in 2000, but yesterday Eddie

O’Sullivan and Brian O’Driscoll were keen to redress last Saturday’s oversight of Stringer’s auspicious occasion.

“For any player to reach 50 tests for their country is a huge honour and it is a bit unfortunate for Strings to have been on the bench because it’s such a proud moment when you get to lead the team out on your 50th test,” said O’Driscoll. “It did slip us by, although it was mentioned in the speeches afterwards. Strings can be a low-key player like that though, so it might be the way he wanted it to be.

“I don’t see why he couldn’t win another 50 caps as well.”

O’Sullivan concurred. “Peter has done brilliantly since he came on the scene five years ago. I saw the re-run of the Paris game in 2000 recently where Brian scored the three tries and there were a lot of new caps around at the time. A few of them looked like schoolboys.”

And the Irish boss is quick to silence some of the critics who have pounced on Stringer. “Maybe it’s because of his size but aspects of Peter’s game have been criticised in the past, but his ability to release the ball quickly to our back line has always been a crucial aspect to our game.

“More than anyone I know, Peter punches above his weight in international rugby. You see him standing beside the likes of Paul O’Connell and the size of him, but Peter is as vital a cog in our machine as any of those other lads.”

The criticisms continue to land in Stringer’s direction though, the view being that, superb a passer as he can be, his armoury is otherwise empty.

However, true it might have been in 2000, that complaint is no longer valid according to O’Driscoll.

“I think Strings has developed his game hugely, particularly in the last year. He was perhaps getting some stick in the media saying he is very one-dimensional (and) that he only has his passing game.

“The way he’s played for Munster with the sniping in the Ospreys game, scoring a try again at the weekend, shows that he’s trying to mix his game up well.

“He’s taken a bit of pressure off his (number) 10 with his box kicking so he’s developed a good all-round game. He needed to do that because everyone knows his capabilities (as) a passer. He’s certainly one of the best in the world at passing a ball but it’s great to see him diversifying.”

The posse against Stringer has usually been lead from elements of the cross-channel media but, as ever, when the Irish coach has something to say he falls back on statistics and specifics. “For me, the irony of it is that, for a player who ‘doesn’t make breaks’, he was the man who darted across for the winning Triple Crown try against Scotland earlier this year,” said O’Sullivan.