Niall nails message for Ireland

YOU must play for the full 80 minutes.

That will be the message from Niall O’Donovan when the Ireland squad next meets up. One of rugby’s finest forward coaches and assistant to Eddie O’Sullivan, O’Donovan believes they have lost out in too many matches over the past couple of seasons by starting games badly and finishing one or two in similar fashion, not least the heartbreaker against France at Croke Park.

The popular view that Ireland’s impressive Six Nations campaign entitles them to be regarded as one of the favourites for the Webb Ellis trophy sits nicely with O’Donovan, who is a great believer in player self-confidence. But to suggest he is satisfied with progress to date would be seriously wide of the mark “These guys are setting high standards for themselves in every facet so they were disappointed at not winning the Six Nations,” he accepts.

“It’s not just about winning but winning well and doing things right. They’ve looked at the games, they know where they can improve. Can they improve enough for France, for Argentina? If they can do that, they’ll be fine. Two years ago, we were supposed to be the worst team in the world, now we’re supposed to be the best. The truth, probably, is that we’re somewhere in between.

“International rugby is fickle in that you can go out and make two mistakes and they cost you the game. .

“It’s the small things, the attention to detail that matters most — like the restart against France . The game was won. We were in control unless something freakish happened — and it happened. If we learned anything from it, it’s you have to play for 80 minutes. That’s the key.”

The coaching staff and the players have moved on, their sense of well-being not improved all that much by the early elimination of Munster and Leinster from the Heineken European Cup. There seems to be a view this will favour Ireland’s World Cup prospects but it’s not shared by O’Donovan.

“I don’t buy into that at all,” he said. “Guys need to be playing at the highest level on a regular basis. For players to come from club rugby or Magners League or whatever to international rugby is a big jump. The longer they’re playing Heineken Cup the better for themselves and the national team.”

I put it to Niall that there is always the danger of injury to key players. And, of course, the game has gone so physical and the season so long and arduous that burnout is a serious threat.

“No matter what panel you pick, 10% will disappear because of injuries but what’s worse to me is if they’re not battle hardened and ready for action,” he replies. “We have to be ready to hit the ground running over in France. We can’t afford any slip ups in any games, even the two starters, we have to win those and win well and be ready to go into the France and Argentina games confident in ourselves.”

While he wants the players battle-hardened going to France, and a way of doing that is bringing them to Argentina for the summer tour in late May and early June, there is the danger of injury coming off a particularly arduous and demanding Six Nations campaign.

O’Donovan says their system is prepared for this. “We have a proper build-up going into every season with the 10-week break at the start and getting the guys back into the gym at the right time, doing their power, their speed in the gym and building on to the rugby,” he says. “Then, guys must have holidays. So it suits us that, while we’re away in Argentina, to have those who worked hard during the year go on their break and when we come back, they’ll already have started their pre-season for the World Cup.

“They’re better off taking a break because they’ve had a lot of rugby. The New Zealanders were given the proper pre-season schedule this year to make sure they were fitter, stronger, faster. I thought they were spot-on. We’ve been doing it for the past two or three years and it’s the right thing to do”.

O’Donovan recently returned from a reconnaissance mission to Argentina. He is satisfied with what he saw but is aware the Pumas have approximately 300 players in Europe, with the majority in France. In other words, they should feel perfectly at home come World Cup time. “It suits them to be playing the World Cup in France,” he said. “They have training camps there and in Switzerland. So we’re not just playing France at home but Argentina at home as well, and both in Paris.”

No doubt about it, it’s the toughest pool of all with absolutely no guarantee of a place in the last eight. But that applies also to France and Argentina and so makes for a truly fascinating scenario come September.