Horan taunts insulting

‘ONE swallow never made a summer’ ought to be the viewpoint of the Irish front-row forwards as they measure up to what could be a decisive element of Saturday’s Six Nations clash with England at Croke Park.

Leicester’s defeat of Munster in the Heineken Cup at Thomond Park and the manner in which they won the battle up front caused Welsh coach Gareth Jenkins to radically alter his front-row for their Millennium Stadium meeting with Ireland. Jenkins was convinced that his namesake Gethin Jenkins and Chris Horsman would clean out Marcus Horan and John Hayes come scrimmage time. Their failure to do so and the manner in which the tables were turned played a key part in Ireland’s win.

France were also thinking on similar lines to Wales. They have a battalion of great props at their disposal and used Pieter de Villiers, Sylvain Marconnet and Olivier Milloud at Croke Park. Once again, the Irish held their own and the anticipated French supremacy in this area didn’t materialise.

In spite of the advice and indeed criticism being fired ad nauseam in his direction over the past few days, this point may not have been lost on England coach Brian Ashton. Perhaps he felt in sticking with his captain Phil Vickery at tight head prop and leaving Julian White on the bench that his prospects of a famous win at Croke Park would be better served. That in spite of what the English pundits have to say, Horan and Hayes wouldn’t be as soft a touch as they were perceived to be against the multi-national Leicester front-row.

The omission of White has gone down particularly badly with a couple of analysts in the English media. They have dismissed Horan and Hayes as second-raters and not in the kind of language that goes anywhere near paying the kind of respect due to practitioners of the front-row art who command 114 international caps between them.

Based on the Munster-Leicester game, the so-called experts refer to “the mauling” that Munster took at the hands of White and co. We are told that “the man who squirmed most opposite White was Horan.” We are informed that had White been pencilled in from the start by Ashton that “Horan would already have endured a dreadful five days of doubt.” Another dart winging its way towards the Munster and Ireland loose head referred to “White’s fearsome demolition of Horan” and the writer cannot understand why White wasn’t starting “against an opponent whose weakness is so obvious.”

The saga goes on and on with such comments as “they buried Munster” and how “John Hayes was that day’s other prime victim.” Why, it is demanded, isn’t White being allowed “to bend and buckle Ireland.”

Another contributor to the same organ accuses Ashton of “missing a trick in not bringing in White to try to terrorise Marcus Horan and the Irish scrum as he terrorised Horan and the Munster scrum in the Heineken Cup.”

Now, nobody is suggesting for a moment that Leicester didn’t give the Munster scrum a hard time that fateful evening in Thomond Park. The Tigers targeted an area where they believed Munster were vulnerable, made their point in a telling manner and so fashioned a famous and historic victory.

However, to write in such derogatory terms about players of the calibre of Marcus Horan and John Hayes is grossly insulting to a pair of wholehearted, genuine players without whom Munster and Ireland would be in grave trouble, is manifestly insulting and unjustified. Quite clearly, Irish forward coach Niall O’Donovan, who knows infinitely more about Horan and Hayes from his days with Shannon and Munster than both a former England out-half and a man whose knowledge of the dark art of front-row forward play is less than apparent, took the lessons of the Leicester game to heart.

Whatever remedies were required to prevent a repeat have been implemented as Wales and France discovered. It may well be that England’s Phil Vickery and Perry Freshwater will reopen old wounds — metaphorically speaking— ! but let’s wait and see and not jump to conclusions just yet.

Eddie O’Sullivan announces his XV today with most attention focused on the wing, hooker and blind side wing-forward positions. With Brian O’Driscoll and Peter Stringer restored to fitness, it’s a given that they will be back at second centre and scrum-half respectively. The near certainty is that Shane Horgan will revert to the right wing in place of Geordan Murphy. Denis Hickie should retain the number eleven jersey ahead of Andrew Trimble with Murphy likely to start on the bench.

Neil Best will probably fill a similar role with Simon Easterby at six while Rory Best is expected to retain the hooking berth ahead of Jerry Flannery. His scrummaging prowess is a key factor in the Ulster man’s favour. Let’s hope he and his front-row colleagues can send a clear message to certain quarters at Croke Park on Saturday.