Roman conquest may not be enough

IF CONTROVERSY is your thing, last weekend provided enough talking points to keep you going for weeks to come.

England’s victory over France has also ensured that this season’s Six Nations reaches a climax on the last day of competitive fare. The marketing gurus can’t believe their luck.

If Ireland’s below par performance in Edinburgh was mirrored by the low key reaction to the presentation of the Triple Crown silver salver, the last minute injury to Ronan O’Gara was calculated to dampen spirits even further. While there is no question that O’Gara was left motionless and for a split second in some danger, I cannot believe that any player would deliberately set out to choke him. If that was the case, then professional rugby has reached a new low.

While Eddie O’Sullivan felt duty bound to highlight the incident, the whole thing could have been defused immediately if the Scottish player in question clarified his involvement and confirmed that there was no deliberate intent to injure the Irish player. Incidents like this (Brian O’Driscoll’s spear tackle in New Zealand immediately springs to mind) tend to drag on without any benefit to the game or the individuals involved.

The other issue which dominated the headlines over the weekend was the decision by referee Chris White to call full time having indicated to the Welsh players that sufficient time remained for one last line out. This is another incident where supporting officials overstepped their brief. What is clear is that the television match official Geoff Warren having confirmed that ten seconds remained in the game forced the ref’s hand by calling time.

However the rule book stated that the referee is the sole arbiter of time and White erred by not exercising that option. To his credit he has come out and acknowledged this fact with an apology. White is an excellent official and to me has become the victim of circumstances. The most disappointing thing about this particular incident is that it overshadowed another highly abrasive and competitive performance by Italy.

The question now is whether the Azzurri will be satisfied with their unprecedented success this season, or whether they have the mental resolve to produce another performance of quality against Ireland in Rome. What is clear is that under former French coach Pierre Berbizier, Italy are now playing to their strengths, have reduced their error count and have improved discipline. That said Mauro Bergamasco would surely have spent time in the sin bin had the touch judge seen his punch on Stephen Jones.

Otherwise, his performance was incredible; having played in his normal back row position for the opening 20 minutes, he performed exceptionally well in the centre for the remainder of the game when deputising for the injured Gonzalo Canale. While he has previously been capped on the wing, to survive in midfield against James Hook and Tom Shanklin was a major achievement. It also says something about Italian strength in depth that Berbizier was forced to make that change on the back of just one injury.

Italy’s resources are now stretched to the limit as a result of injuries to Canale, Martin Castrogiovanni and the loss of Bergamasco to the citing officer. While these losses are considerable, they are balanced somewhat by the fact that another hand injury has deprived Ireland of the services of Paul O’Connell.

The loss of the Munster second row and probably Marcus Horan will ensure that the Italian pack will once again focus on Ireland’s front five as a means of producing a shock victory. This will come as no surprise to Eddie O’Sullivan or Niall O’Donovan.

The blueprint for an Irish victory on Saturday has already been provided by the opening game of this year’s tournament when France defeated Italy in Rome by 3-39. On that occasion, the French mixed their tactics perfectly by tying in the Italian forwards up front with an effective driving maul and producing quick ball to expose the Italians out wide. On that occasion, however, they were aided by Berbizier’s bizarre decision to hold back his first choice front row for the second half. Given that the French enjoyed a 23-point lead at half time the decision backfired badly.

Italy also learned from that experience. Aware of the dangers posed by the Welsh back three of Shane Williams, Mark Jones and Kevin Morgan, Italy reduced the width of the pitch by five metres. While the Welsh management spotted this prior to kick off, they were powerless to do anything as it is only a requirement of the laws that the dimensions of the pitch are within certain guidelines. With the potential that Ireland has out wide you can be sure that Berbizier will attempt to narrow the pitch even further on Saturday.

England’s victory on Sunday has thrown a lifeline to Ireland and the opportunity of a first championship success since 1985 will elicit an improved performance. While Ireland have secured three Triple Crowns in the last four years all previous triumphs coincided with winning the championship. It is incredible that the recent successes have been insufficient to win the overall tournament.

The danger for Ireland is that they focus too much on the points and lose sight of wining the game. It is important they build a score with a view to dominating the final 20 minutes when their conditioning comes into play.

While France will have the advantage of knowing exactly what they need to do against Scotland, they will be under more pressure to produce from a demanding Parisian audience, seething after the Twickenham capitulation. If Ireland get their approach and execution right then all the pressure will be on the French. At that stage it’s just a question of sitting back and waiting to see what unfolds at the Stade de France.

However the odds favour the French, particularly if David Skrela is passed fit.