Don’t write obituary just yet

Daragh O Conchúir: “With the World Cup in mind, it’s not going very well for Ireland at the moment is it?”

David Humphreys: “It’s not but you’d rather be going badly now than going into the World Cup. New Zealand have always come into a World Cup unbeaten for a previous number of months and then they fail to deliver. At the same time, Ireland will be disappointed with the way they have performed over the last six or seven games.”

DOC: Is the player welfare programme contributing to poor form at present time?

DH: “The answer will be 12 months down the line. What they’re trying to do is get the top players to peak in 12 months’ time. Doing that means there will be some issues along the way. Unfortunately in Ireland, though our depth in terms of players is much better than it was 10 years ago, it’s still not at the level that if you lose a Brian O’Driscoll, you’ll be able to replace him at short notice before the World Cup.”

DOC: “While trying to peak for a World Cup, there are still players needing to perform now to put their hands up for places. That’s a contrasting dynamic.”

DH: “Over the past few years you could have picked an Ireland team with maybe one or two positions wrong. Now there are at least half a dozen positions up for grabs. In some ways that’s good but it also shows the transition the team is going through. There’s been a core of players that have been there since 2000, they’ve played all the way through. That’s why there’s so many players there with 80, 90, 100 caps. Ireland do have to start winning games and they know that. As a player you want to win every game. Historically it is teams that are experienced that win the big competitions – the World Cup, the Heineken Cup.

“That’s why I believe Ireland will be a big threat going into next year’s competition.”

DOC: “With momentum desirable, it’s great to have a nice handy one this weekend then?”

DH: “You see the way the All Blacks played last Saturday against Scotland… it was absolutely incredible. But at the same time this is a game where Ireland know there’s a huge amount at stake for their credibility. The players don’t want to go out and perform like Scotland performed. They’ll want to go out and perform the way they can. I’ve no doubt that if Ireland get it right, it’ll be a good game. It’s a big ask based on the way Ireland have played and New Zealand have played. But traditionally over the last few years, (in) the big games for Ireland, their big players have delivered.”

DOC: “What is it about New Zealand?”

DH: “The big advantage they have at the minute is the fact rugby is the national sport. The best athletes play rugby. For us, we’re competing with so many different sports. A lot of the good athletes play GAA or soccer. It doesn’t matter how many different combinations they have. Sonny Bill Williams comes in the door and looks as if he’s the best player in the world on last week’s performance.”

DOC: “Where once it was the Humphreys/O’Gara debate at out-half, now it’s O’Gara/Sexton. What’s that situation like?”

DH: “As an out-half, what you’re looking forward to is the chance to be in the team and about getting the confidence of playing week in, week out. Everybody strives to play the perfect game. Nobody does, or very few do, and it’s the ability to know that you can make mistakes and it’s not going to cost you your place. ROG has been around long enough and he performed very well when he came on against South Africa. Both of them are different players, they bring different things to the game. The selection, in my view, will be based on how Declan wants to play the game.”

DOC: “Who would you pick?”

DH: “Don’t even ask. I’m not even going to try to get off the fence on that one.”

DOC: “Does not having a definite first-choice general, as the out-half is, affect the team negatively?”

DH: “I don’t think so. They are players who have proven at Leinster and Munster and for Ireland that they can win games for you. It is a case of picking players on form and a lot depends on whether Declan (Kidney) is looking purely and simply to win this game or taking a 12-month view as to who will start at the World Cup.”

DOC: “Kidney has spoken about Ireland trying to develop their game. Are the tools there for that?”

DH: “Sport is about confidence. At the minute, some Irish players aren’t playing with the confidence they were 12 months ago. But because of the quality of player there, it doesn’t take a huge amount to turn that around. It takes a lucky bounce or an intercept to score under the posts and players feel like they are on top of their game again. I think our game has changed and developed enormously in the last 10 years because of the players that have come through. You play to your strengths. Maybe 10 or 15 years ago we were trying to copy the best teams in the world but Ireland now have players who can dictate the way they want to play the game. It’s about getting the best out of the players we have and that’s where Declan has been very successful time and time again.”

* David Humphreys is one of a number of Irish legends who will participate in the first ever Heineken Rugby World Cup Tour. He will join Anthony Foley, John Kelly, Marcus Horan, Keith Gleeson and Irish Examiner columnist Donal Lenihan as they follow the Webb Ellis Cup to Limerick, Cork and Dublin this month.