Stringer waiting for a chance

IF you were Peter Stringer, 33 years of age, within two matches of your 100th international cap and looking forward avidly to a third Rugby World Cup, what would you have made of last week’s developments?

Having been passed over for the first World Cup warm-up games, he must have been pretty happy about his prospects of figuring either from the start or off the bench in Bordeaux on Saturday.

Instead, he was released back to Munster for their French camp and Friday’s clash with La Rochelle. Even then, he wasn’t brought into the action until after half-time.

Being one of five scrum-halves in Declan Kidney’s squad and having been displaced by Conor Murray as Munster’s first choice at the business end of last season, Stringer knew he was under severe pressure to get among the three number 9s who would board the plane for New Zealand.

Equally, though, he would have expected a reasonable opportunity to prove he could still contribute to the cause.

Having missed out on the Scottish game to Tomás O’Leary and Isaac Boss and to Eoin Reddan and Murray in Bordeaux, Stringer will now await tomorrow’s announcement of the side for the second game against France on Saturday with more than ordinary interest. He will surely feel, should he again be left on the sidelines, he is not bound for New Zealand.

That in turn would appear to be harsh treatment of a man who has given so much to the cause since making the first of those 98 appearances against Scotland back in 2000 and who has maintained outstanding levels of fitness ever since. Nobody looks after himself more assiduously than Stringer and while a succession of coaches at provincial and national level and a whole host of critics have demanded a little more from his game, the fact remains there isn’t a scrum-half available to Kidney who performs the basic duties of a scrum-half any better.

His speed of pass and ability to get to the point of the breakdown in a twinkle are second to none, hiscourageous and timely tackling are bywords of the game and his tactical kicking isn’t too bad either. True, he doesn’t possess the ability to break off the side of scrum and ruck the others may have but he isn’t entirely a slouch in this regard as a certain try in the 2006 Heineken Cup final amply demonstrates.

Hopefully, Kidney will give the man he has mentored since his earliest days at PBC and invariably been one of his greatest supporters his chance at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. And if Stringer delivers in the way he has invariably done when the most serious questions were asked, then he will not only have moved to within one of that much coveted 100th cap but will also make the cut for New Zealand.

In fairness to the coach, the scrum-half call is an extremely difficult one and not the only tough one facing him over the next week or so, even though his first-choice XV for the crucial games against Australia and Italy isn’t far from picking itself:

It reads: Rob Kearney; Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy (if not fit, Fergus McFadden), Keith Earls; Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan; Cian Healy, Jerry Flannery, Mike Ross; Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell; Sean O’Brien (or Stephen Ferris, if fit), David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.

But there’s a lot more at stake than that and it’s good to know that some of the above could face a very strong challenge as the big games draw ever closer. Those to have put up their hands so far include Andrew Trimble and Ronan O’Gara especially; Denis Leamy and Donnacha Ryan while an experienced campaigner in Rory Best will also be an integral member of the first choice 22.

Many would place Leo Cullen in the same category although he hasn’t exactly inspired in the two games so far and could be vulnerable to a challenge from Mick O’Driscoll.

After that, there’s the massive battle being waged for back three positions by Felix Jones and Luke Fitzgerald and by props Tony Buckley, John Hayes and Tom Court to convince Kidney they should travel along with Ross and Healy.

The form and performance in the game against Connacht at Donnybrook on Thursday will be taken into consideration but the French visit on Saturday will be all important in deciding the composition of the travelling 30 set to be announced on Monday. This time it is hoped that whatever side is chosen hits the ground running from the start and brings the fight to the visitors in stark contrast to what happened in Bordeaux.