Ireland must not get bogged down against weakened Fijians

IT’S when you examine the clubs of the Fijian players in this evening’s Guinness Series international against Ireland at the RDS that you appreciate how short they are of the quality needed for success at the highest level.

True, there are a couple from Gloucester and one or two from Saracens, Clermont Auvergne and Toulon, but for the most part they are drawn from teams many of us have never heard of and others plying their trade in the lower regions of leagues in France, England and back home in the South Sea Islands.

Sadly, once again some clubs have made it difficult for their coaching team of Glen Ella, a member the famous Ella rugby family that illuminated the scene back in the late 1970s and early 80s, and former All Black captain Mike Brewer, to put out a side of the strength of that which defeated Wales 38-34 in the World Cup two years ago.

It is a shame that players like Napolioni Nalaga, Vilimoni Delasau, Sireli Bobo and Maleli Kunavore, among others, are not available and certainly this evening’s game will be all the poorer for their absence.

To compound concerns about their scrummaging, Scarlets prop Deacon Manu, who made an impressive debut against Scotland last week, is unavailable because of a complication with his wife’s pregnancy.

Nor will they will be helped by the awful weather that has swept the country over the past week or so and will probably leave the RDS pitch very much on the heavy side. As Ella commented after last week’s 23-10 defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield played in very similar conditions: “We’re not good mud runners.”

When it comes to the sevens game, they have few peers but there is unlikely to be any chance for them to display those particular skills today considering the less than favourable weather forecast.

Nevertheless, Declan Kidney enthused: “The pitch is in excellent condition and a credit to the ground staff here. Hopefully the weather that prevails in other parts of the country won’t hit us because that would be a difficult thing to overcome. If it happens, it will be there for them the same as us and we’ll just work our way through it.”

Furthermore, given Fiji had played only six matches since the 2007 World Cup, they didn’t perform too badly in Edinburgh with even the Scots admitting that Graeme Morrison’s decisive try was very much on the dodgy side. They should be all the better for that outing and having had another week together to hone their undoubted footballing skills.

Brewer went so far as to claim that “when we had a little bit of stability, we cut the Scottish team open.” They have demonstrated many times in the past that they are capable of doing just that, and there is no more electrifying sight in world rugby than the Fijians when they click into top gear.

Ireland will be anxious to ensure that doesn’t happen and while Kidney made eight changes from the side that gained the late draw against Australia, he certainly couldn’t be accused of fielding a XV short in experience and achievement. The one new cap is out-half Jonathan Sexton, who has fully merited the honour after all he has achieved in key matches with Leinster over the past eight or nine months.

He will certainly hope that the weather forecasters have got it wrong because a war of attrition up front will do nothing for his ambitions to establish himself as his country’s heir apparent to Ronan O’Gara.

Much the same applies to scrum-half Eoin Reddan, even if he already has 16 Irish caps to his credit. Shane Horgan and Gordon D’Arcy will hope to use the occasion to stake their claims for inclusion against South Africa next week.

And if the trend of the game sees Ireland gaining a clear advantage entering the final quarter or so, there is every chance that hooker Sean Cronin will be handed a first cap and that Tony Buckley will also get some game time after a long injury lay-off.