Playing the waiting game

AT 11am on Sunday at the team hotel in Dublin, Eddie O’Sullivan will name his 30-man World Cup squad and bring the guessing game as to its composition to a close.

Mick O’Driscoll, like many others, is one who will be left speculating this week. And like many fringe players amongst the group of 37 back in camp in Dublin since yesterday, he is hopeful an opportunity to impress the boss one more time may arise against Scotland on Saturday.

The Munster man is one of the many players in the second row/back row areas where competition for places has been extraordinarily intense, not just this year, but even going back prior to the 2003 World Cup.

The great imponderable is whether O’Sullivan will travel to France with an extra specialised back-row forward or one that can also pack down at lock.

Mick O’Driscoll, more recognised as a lock, is versatile enough to play in the back row while Alan Quinlan, nominally a flanker, can comfortably slot into the second row.

It’ll all be O’Sullivan’s call in five days time. He intends taking four locks and five back rows to France. The definites are Simon Easterby, David Wallace, Denis Leamy and Neil Best (back rows) and Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan and Malcolm O’Kelly (locks). That leaves O’Driscoll, Quinlan, Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip, Keith Gleeson, Trevor Hogan and Leo Cullen fighting for two places. It’s why there’ll be an extra edge at training this week.

“Every one here expects that they’re going to go to the World Cup,” says O’Driscoll. “That’s the way you have to be because if you’re not like that, you’re only wasting your time being here. I suppose it does make things more intense particularly this week because the squad is being announced on Sunday. It’s the last opportunity for guys to show up for a World Cup spot. That’s the reality of it.”

The dynamic at training will be pretty interesting this week. Those who think they’re on the periphery might be forgiven that if, for a few more days, they became more selfish and looked out for number one in a bid to impress O’Sullivan. But this might compromise the needs of the squad and rugby is all about 15 players working in tandem in a match situation. O’Driscoll implies that rugby players don’t all of a sudden divert from that way of thinking in pursuit of individualistic goals.

“Whatever team you’re put with in training, you have to work with that team and with that group of lads. Whether you’re with the guys from your own province or guys from another province, it doesn’t matter — you just work for that group of individuals who you’re with at the time. You have to do that.

“Sometimes you have to selfish about it at this level and hope for the best on a personal level but then also, after that, on a team level. And for all the guys in the squad, you just hope that everyone gets a fair chance.”

It might be felt that those working diligently to win a World Cup squad place would talk amongst themselves and discuss their performances in training off the park. O’Driscoll offers an interesting insight into life off the training paddock.

“We’ve got all the coaches there for that like Steady (Graham Steadman) and Bryan (McLaughlin) – we can sit with them in the evening times after training. Training is always recorded so we can go in and talk through things with them and see how things went and see if you can improve on a daily basis if needs be. That’s a great help.

“But I don’t think guys really will speak to each other about it. Some days you might, some days you mightn’t. You try and work with the coaches — they’re the guys who can help you more I suppose than your own guys. But if there’s something that you think you can learn off one of your team-mates, then you’ll certainly ask.”

O’Driscoll is at a loss to explain why the competition for places always seems to exist from numbers four to eight. “I don’t know — it’s just the way things have been in Ireland for a while. It’s same for the guys in the back three – there’s competition for those guys as well. There’s competition everywhere, but at the minute there are a lot of back rows and second rows. There are six back rows and eight back rows here so there are going to be some guys very disappointed and some guys who possibly would’ve thought they were going to make it, that are going to be disappointed. Unfortunately that’s the way it is.’’!!

He is hopeful of an opportunity to line out against Scotland on Saturday, and understands that will bring its own pressures as well.

“If you get an opportunity you have to take it. If you get your opportunity and you play well, the chances are you’ll make the squad. If you don’t get an opportunity, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not going to get into the squad. But it certainly would be an easier position to be in to have the opportunity of playing at the weekend rather than not.”