Few grounds for optimism

THE EMOTIONS among the Irish supporters in the Stade Chaban Delmas on Saturday night were varied. Shock, embarrassment and anger were chief among them although to hear the side booed off the pitch by a section of the crowd was very disappointing.

The sense of annoyance and disillusionment became all the greater with the management’s claim they believed Ireland had actually improved on the previous game against Namibia.

Quite frankly, it’s impossible to understand how Eddie O’Sullivan and company could come to that conclusion after they had achieved a fortuitous victory.

“Our set piece was very good, we retained all but one of our line-outs, took a lot of Georgian line-outs and we were excellent in the scrum,” O’Sullivan maintained.

O’Sullivan accepted “we are not where we want to be” and that is some understatement given that Ireland almost certainly need to beat France and Argentina to emerge from Pool D.

The mathematics may say otherwise but that is the reality and if they can’t dismiss two minnows of the game in Namibia and Georgia, then they have no hope at all against teams of far greater quality.

“We certainly have a mountain to climb,” agreed the coach. “I admit we have a lot to improve on. I know there is disappointment out there and I can understand that. Maybe there is an element of trepidation in the team because they are not playing well and that often brings its own pressures.

“People beforehand suggested we were capable of winning the World Cup. We agreed with them only on the basis that we would play the type of rugby we were playing in the Six Nations. We all know if we can get back to there as a team, we can take on anyone. We’re not there by a long shot and the way we’re playing now, our job is solely to get out of the pool. I am an optimist and I think this team will improve.”

To what extent is the big question. Georgia were the only team in the game in opening 10 minutes or so but typically of a limited side relying almost entirely on their forward pack, they failed to make any impression on the scoreboard.

And when a Paul O’Connell line-out take on 17 minutes led to a try after a rolling maul for hooker Rory Best and Ronan O’Gara converted, the trend seemed to have swung Ireland’s way.

On the contrary, the Georgian pack that bore all the appearance of eight night club bouncers refused to roll over. They regained the initiative to such an extent that David Wallace was forced to kill the ball on the ground and was yellow carded for his troubles. Out-half Merab Kvirikashvili knocked over the resultant penalty leaving Ireland a mere four points ahead at the interval.

It had been a desperately poor performance for the opening 40 minutes but worse was to follow.

O’Sullivan sent out the same 15 players for the second half, underlining once again an apparent misplaced sense of loyalty. He brought in Jerry Flannery for Rory Best on 54 minutes only because the Ulsterman dislocated his thumb. By then, though, the Georgians had taken the lead when a long, easily read pass by Peter Stringer intended for Brian O’Driscoll was intercepted by right winger Giorgi Shkinin who galloped away from 65 metres for a try that Kvirikashvili converted.

Incredibly, Georgia were 10-7 ahead and yet again Ireland faced World Cup humiliation. That could quickly have soared to 17-7 had the Georgian hooker Goderdzi Shvelidze not overthrown at a line-out on the Irish line allowing Wallace to scamper away and relieve that threat.

They were punished immediately when the recently arrived Flannery produce a sublime pass to send Girvan Dempsey over.

O’Gara converted to make it 14-10. There were still 16 minutes, in other words plenty of time for Ireland to tack on the two tries they desperately needed for a bonus point.

Instead, Georgia virtually camped on the Irish line. There were at least four occasions when they tried to steamroll their way over only for a dogged defence to barely keep them at bay. The neutrals in the 36,000 strong crowd roared them on with unceasing chants of “Georgi, Georgi” and cheered them on their “tour d’honneur” at the final whistle.

Ireland, for their part, once more slipped away quietly with heads down but still well able to hear the catcalls and boos of their bitterly disappointed and angry fans.

GEORGIA: O. Barkalaia; G. Elizbarashvili, R. Gigauri, D. Kacharava, G. Shkinin; M. Kvirikashvili, B. Samkharadze; M. Magrakvelidze, G. Shvelidze, A. Kipaliani, I. Zedginidze, M. Gorgodze, I. Maisuradze, R. Urushadze, G. Chkhaidze.

IRELAND: G. Dempsey; S. Horgan, B. O’Driscoll, G. D’Arcy, D. Hickie; R. O’Gara, P. Stringer; M. Horan, R. Best, J. Hayes, P. O’Connell, D. O’Callaghan, S. Easterby, D. Wallace, D. Leamy. Replacements — J. Flannery for R. Best 52 mins, S. Best for Hayes 65, N. Best for Easterby 71; I. Boss for Stringer 69.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England).