Focus on victory, not points

IRELAND’S Eddie O’Sullivan was the latest coach to sing Italy’s praises yesterday and he clearly meant it when he admitted that he very much feared the Azzurri in today’s final match of the RBS Six Nations Championship at the Stadio Flaminio.

Amazingly, and much to the annoyance of the Italian federation, Irish fans will outnumber the Italians something like 3 to 1, so there is likely to be a strange atmosphere in the small but atmospheric stadium 3km north-west of the city centre.

“The Fields of Athenry” will dominate today and that’s a big plus in Ireland’s favour as they go in search of a first championship since 1985. Many believe they should throw caution to the wind and go all out for a big victory margin given that the opportunity of capturing the title comes around so rarely.

However, O’Sullivan won’t countenance such thinking, claiming “it would be fraught with danger”.

Although England are still just about in contention, the prize essentially rests between France and Ireland who are tied on six points, but with the French four ahead in points scored difference. They also have the advantage of kicking off against Scotland in Paris after the Ireland-Italy game and will know exactly what’s required to retain the title.

I go along with those suggesting O’Sullivan’s men should go down the Jack Charlton route today and “give it a lash.” After all, they boast arguably the best back division in the world with Ronan O’Gara, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Shane Horgan playing out of their skins. The loss of Paul O’Connell will hurt the Irish performance in what is sure to be a bruising battle up front. However, the absence of the suspended Mauro Bergamasco is a bigger loss to the Italians simply because they don’t have a capable replacement.

Nor should it be overlooked that a couple of world-class props, Martin Castrogiovanni and Andrea Lo Cicero, are absentees, so the Azzurri pack may not function as normal.

The weather in Rome is tailor made for Ireland’s star-studded attack with the forecast predicting a cloudless sky and temperatures in the high 60s by the kick-off time of 1.30 (Irish time).

With Marcus Horan back to lend his remarkable footballing skills to the cause and livewires like Denis Leamy, David Wallace and Donncha O’Callaghan in terrific form, Ireland could really prosper if they go into it with a positive, attacking mindset.

“The chance of the championship is there but you won’t achieve it by talking about it”, cautioned O’Sullivan. “It’s very easy to set goals. The hardest part of goal setting is realising them. If you go into a game with the notion of scoring points and margins and stuff, you just end up in trouble. You have to and play the game in quarters, win the first, the second, the third and the fourth, break it up into blocks and try to win each block.

“A certain amount is outside of our control. You accept that, once you lose one of the games. On any given weekend, anything can happen. I have too many things going on in my head without wasting time on that stuff. Control what you can control.”

You could hardly argue with his rationale but that might also be to underestimate the experienced Irish team. Nobody is suggesting they should go out and play sevens rugby, but because we like to think they are so good, we want them to be given their head.

For instance, if they are four or five points ahead entering the final quarter and are awarded a kickable penalty, should they not go for the seven pointer? I would have thought so – but not the man who calls the shots.

“What you do is put two scores between yourself and the opposition so you take your points”, Eddie declared. “It’s easy to sit on that side of the table and trot out all sorts of theories and possibilities and maybes. That’s speculation. I have to deal with the here and now. There is a Test game to win and it’s going to be a dogfight. If we give ourselves a good platform, then we can have a big performance and off a big performance we can win the game and how much we win it by will depend on that performance.”

My great fear is that Ireland may miss out on the championship by a few points because they didn’t go for the jugular early enough.

To go into the World Cup as European champions would be a nice psychological boost and it can materialise with an adventurous but sensible approach this afternoon.