Earls: Ireland won’t repeat World Cup mistakes
Munster’s rising star is untainted by criticism of Ireland’s poor form four years ago — he hadn’t yet made his international debut — but he is well aware that his senior colleagues want to put the entire debacle behind them.
Some of those involved in the ill-fated French odyssey even refer to it as “that tournament”, said Earls: “Generally, the lads don’t like to be reminded of it.”
Irish coach Declan Kidney won’t reveal his final squad until the end of August, but Earls feels privileged to be in the running for a spot.
For the next fortnight, in advance of a succession of four preparation games for the world cup, it’s all systems go in advance of the big tournament.
Earls believes Kidney and his coaching team will not make the same mistakes as Eddie O’Sullivan, who will prepare the American Eagles for a tournament game against Ireland on September 9.
“From what I can gather, there was a lot of concentration on conditioning and the guys were away from home a terrible lot in the build up to the tournament, including three weeks in Poland,” he said at a press conference to promote Adidas’s new Munster jersey.
“We’re getting through a lot of work but we’re also getting home a bit and the mood in this camp is certainly good; we’re getting the best of both worlds.”
Earls also hailed the IRFU for organising four warm-up games in August against quality opposition; Scotland, France twice and England.
“It’s great to have games in the build up. Normally when you come back for the start of the season, you need at least a couple of games to find yourself again and for the team to hit the right form together. You can do all the pre-season work you like, but nothing beats match-fitness.
“Four games against good opponents should give us the required base to hit the ground running when we do get to New Zealand. It will also allow for the coaches to bring a competitive edge to the squad,” said Earls, as he specifically noted the huge competition that exists now in the back division.
“I mean Geordan Murphy and Rob Kearney will be back, while Felix Jones and Conor Murray could challenge as well. It makes it interesting and it certainly will keep everyone on their toes to try to match the challenge.”
Earls won’t be involved with Munster until well after the start of the new season, but it won’t be much different to last season when, because of injury, he was unable to play his first match until well into October.
Things won’t be quite the same within the province following the retirements of Alan Quinlan, Barry Murphy and Ian Dowling for various reasons.
“They’ll be missed, each of them for their own reasons, but I suppose we have to get on with it,” said Earls.
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