Hayes can still make impact at World Cup, insists Smal

IT MAY well be that he is limited to a watching brief this weekend as Ireland go in search of the southern hemisphere win they so crave, but John Hayes has been backed to prove the doubters wrong and go all the way to next year’s World Cup.

Ireland’s most capped player will be 37 by the time the finals roll around in New Zealand next September but national team forwards coach Gert Smal remains confident time will not fully catch up with the Munster tight head in the meantime.

“The challenge is up to him,” said Smal yesterday. “I don’t want to say that certain guys are assured of a place in the World Cup. They must fight for it and the more they fight for it, the better they will play and the better the competition then it’s all for the better for Irish rugby, even within the system.