All Blacks to blast through the back

FORMER Irish coach Warren Gatland believes Ireland’s back-row could run into trouble when they meet the All Blacks in Hamilton on Saturday.

Gatland views Ireland’s trio of Denis Leamy, Simon Best and David Wallace as inferior to All Black opponents Richie McCaw, Marty Holah and Rodney So’oialo.

“It’s not so much that they are short of skill; far from it, but Ireland will really be playing without a specialist open-side flanker, while New Zealand have two in McCaw and Holah. Because of that, they’re going to have to do an awful lot of work to gain parity at the breakdown, and that’s a crucial area these days,” says Gatland.

“It’s very often where games are won and lost. David (Wallace) is a very good player, a superb link man and he revels in taking the game to the opposition. But, by his nature, he doesn’t forage naturally on the deck and Ireland might pay the price.”

Another area that should concern Ireland, suggested Gatland, will be their ability to defend through the number 10 route.

“Ronan O’Gara is nothing but brave, but I reckon the All Blacks are going to attack in that area and it will come down to brute force.

“Graham Henry (the New Zealand coach) has picked fairly robust, speedy and aggressive backs, and they will be happy to take Ireland on in the physical stakes for starters, try to tire them out and then cut loose,” he said.

But Gatland wasn’t totally pessimistic in his views of the visitors.

“I was a bit surprised how bullish they are since they arrived, the type of confident talk they have come out with. It’s obviously a sign of changing times, and based on pretty good achievements over the last six months or so. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s unlike Irish teams of the past, who probably played themselves down rather than up.”

And he was not surprised that Munster will provide seven of the eight forwards following their recent Heineken Cup win. Gatland was in charge of the Wasps team that beat Munster in a semi-final in Lansdowne Road a couple of seasons ago and knows how much it means to a team to take the top prize in Europe.

“To win the Heineken Cup was nothing less than Munster deserved after all their years going so close. I was surprised because I didn’t think they had the team capable of doing it at the start of the season.

“But they got better as the tournament progressed and took some pretty impressive scalps along the way.”

There is no doubt in his mind, the back row reservations apart, that Ireland will test the All Blacks up front.

“I think too much has been made of a potential weakness in the Irish scrum, their line out is certainly one of the best in the world and they have the physical attributes to match their quality set piece play.

“It will be an interesting night if they can scavenge for possession on the deck,” he said.

Ireland’s second row star Paul O’Connell is in no doubt that Ireland will be capable of fighting successfully for possession in every area of the pitch.

He singled out Leamy and Wallace for special mention and also noted Best has been a tireless worker for Ulster.

“I think it’s a very good combination and I wouldn’t have any worries about them,” he said.

O’Connell is also comfortable that Gatland and others had noted the air of confidence in the Irish camp. “It’s certainly not over-confidence because we know we are facing the best team in the world at this point in time.

“But there’s a lot of experience in this squad; guys have been through the mill together, through really tough games and have been able to win.

“We had chances to beat the All Blacks in November, but didn’t take them and paid the price.

“It all comes down to Saturday and if we’re good enough on the night, then we’re in with a shout,” he said.

O’Connell insisted no comparisons should be made between last year’s Lions tour and Ireland’s trip.

“They’re two very different tours. A lot was made last year in dealings with the media between Clive (Woodward), the Lions coach, and Alistair Campbell (the Lions media guru), but this is different.

“There’s no bluffing going on from us, we’ll just show up on Saturday evening, give it everything we have and if we play to our potential, we have a chance of winning. This game won’t be played through the media.”