Short-term pain well worth it

THIS is a time to accentuate the positives and from an Irish perspective there were plenty of those to cling to despite a second defeat in a row for a team struggling to find its feet with the World Cup looming.

Declan Kidney is prepared to suffer some short-term pain in the hope that Ireland’s ambitious programme of games against quality opposition will pay dividends in New Zealand next month.

Phase one of Kidney’s plan has been completed, with 33 players having experienced game time in the outings against Scotland and France.

Inevitably, some have enhanced their chances of making the plane to New Zealand while others have failed to grasp the moment. Kidney now looks poised to select his strongest combination and the one, barring injury, most likely to face Australia over the course of the next two games against France and England at the Aviva Stadium. The objective must be to register two morale boosting wins and rediscover the cohesion and understanding that permeated through the side in that comprehensive win over the English last March.

The balance of the squad will feature in the third warm up game against Connacht, with the majority of the front line troops also likely to get another 50 minutes of action against USA in the World Cup opener in New Plymouth before that crucial Test against the Wallabies in Auckland. All the main hitters should just about be primed for action then.

There is no perfect solution in the race to accumulate the requisite amount of quality game time from a northern hemisphere perspective given the unsatisfactory scheduling of the World Cup late in the year but Kidney may have found the right balance. That will be proven one way or the other over the course of the next two months.

GIVEN our track record against the French on their patch — one win in 20 contests since 1972 — Saturday was always going to prove a very difficult assignment. One had to be in Bordeaux to fully appreciate the heat and humidity that hung over the Stade Chaban-Delmas like a suffocating cloud and for Ireland to finish stronger than their hosts was a tribute to the conditioning work undertaken over the summer period.

The opening 20 minutes tested Irish resolve to the full and another pummelling at the hands of the French on home soil looked the likely outcome. How Ireland managed to escape to the sanctuary of their dressing room at half time only 10 points in arrears was a victory in itself and offered hope against a mentally frail French side that have experienced embarrassing defeats in the past year.

Ireland just about survived that opening 40 minutes due to some incredible heroics in defence, in particular from Andrew Trimble, who was marvellous throughout, and by the decision of the French management to alter the structure of their midfield by withdrawing the impressive Maxime Mermoz due to injury and replacing him by shifting their regular out-half François Trinh-Duc to inside-centre introducing David Skrela at 10. That facilitated Ireland and robbed the French of some of their creative midfield flair.

If Ireland’s scrum was instrumental in stemming the tide in that opening period with some outstanding work from Mike Ross and Cian Healy, their lineout experienced a total malfunction, producing a shocking 40% return at a time when the visitors badly needed possession.

The introduction of Paul O’Connell 10 minutes into the second half was central to the fightback, with the former Lions captain giving a new meaning to the term ‘impact substitute’. Hesitancy and indecisiveness were instantly replaced with direction and defiance. Nowhere was this more evident than in the quality lineout ball delivered and in the dogged determination displayed by the Limerick man at restarts. If he can build on this cameo appearance then Ireland’s World Cup chances have taken a massive step in the right direction.

However, problems persist in certain areas and when Ireland were chasing a draw at the death their scrum and lineout let them down.

Once again Tony Buckley, who experienced game time on both sides of the scrum when introduced off the bench, was put under enormous pressure, while Jerry Flannery looked calmer and more assured than Rory Best. Flannery’s re-emergence over the last two weekends is hugely encouraging and he now needs as much pitch time as possible.

Given that Ireland will certainly take three hookers to the World Cup, he is definitely worth the gamble despite the lack of match action he has had over an injury-hit two seasons.

Ronan O’Gara also showed that he is not prepared to go quietly and when presented with some vital front foot ball as the contest progressed, tormented the French with the accuracy of his tactical boot. That augers well for Ireland as Jonny Sexton is also in great form.

Overall then some encouraging signs for me which must now be translated in a winning performance in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Ireland now need to up the level of pace and intensity another notch against a French outfit that could be there for the taking in Dublin.