Irish stars must believe miracle is possible

IN my travels over the last three weeks I’ve come across a number of talking-points in this World Cup, not least the outstanding performances by a number of the lesser-known teams.

Tonga are still in with a chance of qualifying, all they have to do is win their head-to-head with England next weekend; Samoa have also shown up well in the same group, Fiji have made it hard for both Australia and — especially — Wales, while the likes of Japan, Romania, Portugal, Georgia and Namibia have all won friends and admirers.

And yet, if the IRB has its way, four of those teams will not have any part to play in the RWC 2011 in New Zealand which is a shame.

By far the biggest talking-point, however, is Ireland’s fall from grace.

In Marseille, in Lyon, in Aix-en-Provence, and now in Edinburgh, wonder has been widely expressed at how, in the space of less than six months, Ireland could have gone from being Triple Crown winners and Six Nations runners-up, to battling for survival against Georgia in their World Cup Pool.

Among the considerable number of travelling All Black fans I’ve met in the various cities where New Zealand have played, we’ve become something of a laughing-stock, our efforts in the various pool games derided in the various hostelries where I’ve watched the games.

This is a team supposed to challenge for World Cup honours? Rubbish — that was the almost universal reaction. The French fans too expressed their surprise — their pleasant surprise, let it be said — at our struggles, though they’ll be hoping we can turn it all around against Argentina, where an Irish victory will see France top the group, avoid a meeting with the All Blacks in Cardiff in the quarter-final.

It was the same story in Edinburgh; everywhere I go, once my accent is heard the rugby-loving Scots feel bound to comment. What’s gone wrong with Ireland, they ask? Hell, even in Inverness, where I took myself last Saturday for the 100th Camanachd Scottish Cup final (shinty, lads, and the story of that day is for another time), the Scots to whom I spoke were as interested in asking me about the Irish rugby performance as I was in asking about shinty.

So, where has it gone wrong? I’m not in touch with what’s been happening in Bordeaux, I have been following events only in the net version of this paper, so I’m at a bit of a loss as to how things actually are within the camp.

I will say this, however; now is not the time to be looking for scapegoats.

I still hold out hope, slim though it is, that we can qualify for the World Cup quarter-final.

A lot of people are saying we should just focus on trying to get a win against Argentina, restore some seriously lost pride. I don’t agree. I think Ireland need a triple focus in this game; win, obviously, score four tries for the bonus point, deny Argentina a bonus point. Do all the above, and we qualify.

It’s a big ask, without a doubt. Argentina have been magnificent to date, their tails are up, their defence is bone-crushing, their attack growing in confidence right across the park; scoring four tries against them would be a challenge even for the All-Blacks at the moment. In stark contrast, we’ve stuttered in attack, struggled in defence, had problems with our set-piece both in lineout and scrum, several key players under-performing drastically.

None of that alters what Ireland’s aims should be against Argentina, what Ireland’s aims must be.

The ramifications if we should fail to qualify are horrendous. There’s the financial loss to Irish rugby as we take the scenic route to qualification for the next World Cup, taking in the likes of Georgia, Romania, Portugal, when we should be enjoying a lucrative series against southern hemisphere sides. But, there’s the bigger loss — the loss of pride, prestige, the loss of all that hard-won recent respect on the world rugby stage.

We’re already suffering it, the jibes, the insults, the gleeful slagging.

I still believe in this team. Over the years, I’ve interviewed every one of them individually, seen them all up close and personal. I know this about them — there isn’t a harder-working squad at this World Cup, there isn’t a panel of players with more character, with more passion, with more pride in who they are, and in who and what they’re representing. And say what you like about Eddie O’Sullivan — and I’ve offered my criticisms here over the years — but there isn’t a harder-working coach.

Something has happened to the dynamics of this team over the past couple of months, something for which someone will have to account, eventually. But not yet. This week we still have hope, at least I still have hope. It will take a sporting miracle, but isn’t that why we invest so much of ourselves in sport, so that every now and then we witness just that? I’m not going to mention precedent here, because we can all instantly compile our own list. But while there’s still hope — and there is — let’s not quit. Like everyone else I have my own ideas of who should be on this Irish 22 against Argentina but no matter who Eddie O’Sullivan decides on, these guys have what it takes to do this.

They’ve just got to believe, we’ve just got to believe.

[e-mail]