Why Eddie’s revising his thinking

FROM the moment IRB chairman Syd Miller plucked the names of France and Argentina to join Ireland in Pool D, it was clear that Eddie O’Sullivan’s side had a battle on their hands to progress to the next phase.

What we failed to appreciate at the time was the competitive challenge that Namibia and Georgia would also bring to the table.

Namibia made every effort to spoil Ireland’s opening bow in this year’s tournament with a display of intense commitment and no mean skill last Saturday. If any of the Irish players watching Tuesday night’s fascinating game between Georgia and Argentina were anticipating an easier ride tomorrow, the performance of the former Russian state scuppered that notion.

While Ireland were fortunate to avoid both France and Argentina in the opening weeks of this tournament they have also been dealt a favourable hand by facing Georgia only four days after the massive physical collisions that characterised their match in Lyon.

From day one, I have espoused the view that this World Cup has left many of the home nations under-cooked in terms of match practice. I was wrong. In comparison to the southern hemisphere’s big three, they are red raw.

Ireland’s disappointing performance in the opening game has now forced O’Sullivan to adopt a very short term attitude in terms of selection. His team announcement was extremely bad news for at least six of the World Cup squad who can now forget about any game time in this tournament, barring injury or suspension. O’Sullivan has now revised his thinking to the point where getting out of Pool D appears the sum of Irish ambition.

On any tour or tournament of this nature, the worst place for a player to be is on the outside looking in. Until you actually tog off, you feel more like a glorified supporter — without the social privileges.

O’Sullivan contends that the players are used to this from the Six Nations when he regularly announces squads of 30. Those circumstances, however, are entirely different. Once the match day 22 is announced, the additional players are released from camp and in many cases, they play for their provinces in the Magners league.

Throughout the summer, all the debate surrounding squad selection and the ramifications of a split between forwards and backs of 17-13 or 16-14 was based on the premise that the majority of the squad would get game time in an attempt to spread the load. One of the principal lessons learned from the 2003 World Cup campaign was that the management stuck too rigidly to the same side for the opening games against Romania and Namibia. As a result, the team were out on their feet before half-time in the quarter-final.

With huge scrummaging tests awaiting against France and Argentina, there was surely a case for resting John Hayes for tomorrow’s game and freshening things up in the forwards by introducing Jerry Flannery and Neil Best. Alan Quinlan could have been accommodated in the bench to add further impetus for the final quarter.

Last weekend’s match and the events in Lyon, when Argentina barely scraped a vital bonus point with a try in the 80th minute, have sparked a reality check within the Irish camp. In the opening game against Namibia, Ireland made the cardinal error of attempting to put width on their game without establishing the basics up front.

With exciting potential behind the scrum there was a feeling that Ireland could score at will. However, unless you get the foundations of your game established, you will struggle — even against the less established sides. With the opportunity of playing on a world stage and enjoying the fanatical support of the neutral local support, the likes of Georgia and Namibia are raising their game to unprecedented levels.

The injection of IRB cash over the past six months which has enabled them to prepare on a more structured basis is also bearing fruit, especially for the opening sequence of games.

I have no doubt that by the time they play their last two pool games, the physical intensity of the tournament will have taken its toll and they may not be as competitive. That however is no consolation to Ireland.

I FULLY expect to see a positive reaction from this Irish team tomorrow. You can take it, given the physical intensity of the Georgians against the Pumas, that Ireland will be far more conservative in their approach. Last Saturday Ireland won despite enjoying only 40% territory and conceding a massive 38 turnovers. Ireland must address this issue from the start and one can expect to see Ronan O’Gara play the corners with far more regularity in the opening half hour.

The other area which was ruthlessly exposed against Italy and Namibia was the failure of the Irish pack to clean out the opposition at the breakdown. This is creating serious problems for Peter Stringer and is enabling the opposition defence to realign and close the space available to Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll in midfield.

Against Argentina, the Georgian defence was excellent from the set piece but after a number of phases, tended to bunch, leaving huge space in the wide channels. If Ireland approach this game properly then there will be ample opportunities to expose that weakness as the game progresses. The key to exploiting it is improved ball retention.

After the intense build up to this competition, there was a terrible feeling of anti-climax for both players and supporters in Bordeaux last Sunday night. I fully expect that Ireland will hit the ground running tomorrow producing a bonus point victory as they build for the vital game against France in Paris next week.

The task facing Ireland is straightforward. Beat Georgia and France and we’re assured of making the knock-out stages, even before we face Argentina in the last game.

France are in disarray but they’re somewhat fortunate to be leaving the claustrophobic surroundings of their training camp in Marcoussis to venture into the heart of the game in the south of France in Toulouse. They will dispose of Namibia with far greater ease than Ireland, purely because they have to.