Staunton set to replace Murphy

AN ACHILLES tendon problem could rule Geordan Murphy out of Ireland’s second test with New Zealand on Saturday, and the way is open for Jeremy Staunton to make a long awaited return.

Staunton has not been named in the squad, but is poised to pounce should Murphy be ruled out. A vacancy has been left to allow Murphy, whom Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan believes will be fit, to recover over the next couple of days.

Should the Leicester player make it, it’s likely that Staunton will have to wait a little longer, and Denis Hickie should be added to the list of substitutes.

The exclusion of Staunton from last week’s opening game was a contentious issue, but O’Sullivan defended the decision by stating that the former Munster and now Wasps player hadn’t had enough time with the squad to justify his inclusion.

Instead, O’Sullivan made contingency plans in the event of injury to Ronan O’Gara by deciding to move Murphy to out half and replacing him at number 15 with Girvan Dempsey, who would also have been entrusted with the goal-kicking duties.

If Murphy proves his fitness, it’s certain that the same thinking will prevail, and that will mean Ireland starting this second test with the same 22 players that were on duty in Hamilton.

O’Sullivan has no particular reservations about that, even if the All Blacks might deem it a sign of weakness.

The Irish coach views it quite differently. He is happy that there are no serious injury problems and is confident that the players involved last week can lift their performance to another level.

“We have picked our team; it makes no difference what side the All Blacks come up with because it’s going to be very tough anyway.

“They will try to wear us down, but I’m sure, like every New Zealand side, they will try to vary the ways they try to do that. We will have to concentrate on our own performance, and it’s clear that we need to improve.

I believe we can improve, and I believe we’re capable of winning if we perform to the top of our form,” he said.

O’Sullivan has had plenty of time to assess last week’s performance and agonised over one incident he believes turned possible victory into defeat.

“I think the crucial turning point, and I’m not apportioning any blame, was the intercept that turned into a scrum and then turned into a penalty for them. That gave New Zealand the opportunity to go back in front, and it was a key moment,” he said.

“Had we retained that ball, we probably would have scored from there, and it would have been a very different game. There were other things; our scrum was under a bit of pressure early on, but it settled down because we sorted out the engagement process. It certainly wasn’t as catastrophic a situation as some people suggested.

“There were times during the game when I felt we were under pressure, but when I looked at it again, I thought we coped with the pressure very well,” he said.

His biggest concern this week is to ensure Ireland’s discipline improves.

“That’s an area that worried me, particularly in the latter stages of the game. We defended really well for long periods, but a lack of discipline undid us near the end. We did well for long phases but then gave away the penalty; that’s the worst possible sin, because if you’re to give away a penalty, I think you should do it after the first phase of play rather than beating yourself up through eight or nine phases and then coughing up the penalty.

“I think we had the best record in the Six Nations from a disciplinary point of view. We were under pressure on Saturday, but we still let ourselves down.”

Lack of accuracy in pinning back New Zealand to their own territory was another factor in Ireland’s defeat, said O’Sullivan.

“In that department, we got better as the Six Nations went on, but you have to step up again when you’re playing New Zealand. You’ve got to be clinical against these guys, but these are things that you can work on,” he said.

“It just requires a bit of work and I believe we have the personnel capable of doing that. There was nothing I saw that can’t be fixed, so that we can put in another good performance.”

With Auckland gripped by stormy conditions — electricity in the city region was knocked out for several hours on Monday — O’Sullivan hopes the weather will settle down.

He admitted: “There was perhaps a time when Ireland might have been happy to play in wind and rain and try to keep the score down.

“That’s not the case any more. We want to play rugby, want to prove that we can win games by playing good rugby.”