O’Donovan hails Horan’s return

ASKING a coach to compare players can be like asking a father to choose his favourite child.

Not yesterday in Lansdowne Road where forwards coach Niall O’Donovan openly admitted the expected return of loosehead prop Marcus Horan for Simon Best would strengthen Ireland’s chances against Italy tomorrow.

“Based on this morning’s performance, he (Marcus) should be okay,” said O’Donovan prior to the team’s flight to Italy. “Simon did a fine job there last week against Scotland. He worked very hard all around the pitch but Marcus brings a little extra to the side.”

Horan’s recovery from the calf strain that sidelined him in Edinburgh is a timely fillip given the reputation of the Italian forwards and the absence of Paul O’Connell from the second row.

The Irish scrum had been regarded as an Achilles heel before the Six Nations began and, though that theory has been largely rubbished, an Italian team in Rome with two wins on the spin will be the final arbiters.

“The Italians are rated as one of the best scrummaging units in the world,” said O’Donovan. “You only have to go back a few years here in Dublin when they started a match by not kicking the ball ten metres so they could start off with a scrum.

“They feel their scrum is better than ours but we have come a long way this year. We have taken every challenge on a weekly basis. We have managed well and there is no reason why we can’t do it again at the weekend.”

The only other change to the team that edged past Scotland last weekend is in the second row where Mick O’Driscoll will play a familiar role in stepping into the shoes of the injured Paul O’Connell.

Equalling O’Connell’s effectiveness at the line-outs and in open play will be one thing, but matching the Limerick man’s leadership abilities is quite another, as O’Donovan concedes.

“Paul would be a loss to any side in the world. He’s a world class player who leads from the front. That’s the beauty of rugby. You are never guaranteed to have your best team on the field on a regular basis.

“Micko has great pedigree as well and I would expect him to do a top job for us over the weekend. He’s a very intelligent player, a good line-out player. I have no problems at all with him slotting in.”

Though scores — and lots of them — will probably be required if Ireland are to pip France for the title, O’Donovan was preaching the need for patience, caution and solidity at yesterday’s press conference.

Last week, O’Donovan felt Ireland overplayed the ball in their own half and the consequence of that should be Ronan O’Gara putting boot to ball with more frequency tomorrow.

“If we go in thinking we have to run in points against Italy we will lose the game. We have to plan to beat them. When it comes to the last 20 minutes we can decide whether we have to look for extra points or not.

“You look at what happened the last few weeks with Wales and Scotland — this is a very good side we are coming up against. They are based in Rome for the last few weeks. They are sitting there waiting for us to arrive.”

Though defensive coach Graham Steadman was fulsome in his praise for the likes of Alessandro Troncon, Mirko Bergamasco and Kaine Robertson he couldn’t avoid describing their offensive shape as merely “methodical”.

However, there have been signs Eddie O’Sullivan’s side have become over-reliant on Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy to provide the line breaks.

O’Donovan begged to differ but held his hands up — as O’Driscoll did earlier this week — when it was suggested that the stellar back line hasn’t delivered the expected deluge of tries.

“It’s just clinical finishing. We broke Scotland enough times in the first 20 minutes to put away the game and make it safe for ourselves. The longer they actually stayed in the game, the more it turned into a dogfight.”

Italy too will be keen to take the game away from the open field and into the back alleys where close combat and brute strength trumps speed and agility.

“They are very aggressive in what I would call their forward movement,” said defensive coach Graham Steadman. “They are also very aggressive down the passing channel, which is why we saw one or two intercepts against Scotland. We’ve got to be smart with our possession and execution because they will feed off any errors in that area.’’

Ireland’s final game in the U-20 championship at the Santa Colombo Stadium in Benevento today will be broadcast live on the RTÉ website www.rte.ie at 1.30pm.