Ireland must skip, not trudge, onto that plane
With just 15 days before their first RWC pool game, Ireland play their final warm-up today and a less than convincing performance against England after three consecutive pre-season Test defeats will see doubt become an unwelcome addition to the travelling party.
The signs up to this point have been inauspicious but those losses to Scotland and France are not reasons to panic and it would be foolish to place too much store in this potentially very physical encounter with an old foe at the Aviva Stadium (2.30pm).
Ireland will take victory with open arms, there is no doubting that, but a significant progression from last week’s display in the 26-22 home defeat to France would be enough to encourage Declan Kidney his side is going in the right direction ahead of the September 11 clash with the USA.
There are several reasons to believe that will be the case. With a squad reduced to 30 there will be more focus on a cohesive and fluent team performance now the selection process is over and the mix and match line-ups have been dispensed with. Fitness-wise, too, Ireland really ought to be up and running by this afternoon.
The third reason is irrational but, hey, if it does the job and brings the best out in Ireland then why knock it: they’re playing England.
After a frustrating first four Six Nations games, Ireland finally clicked when Martin Johnson’s team came to the Aviva in March in search of a Grand Slam. They were duly sent packing and there’s no reason why the sight of a red rose should not have the same effect this time around.
What is more, England will be sending out a big and powerful team that will give Paul O’Connell’s side just the sort of rigorous examination necessary ahead of a Pool C campaign that features Australia second game up and Italy last.
“The one thing you’re guaranteed against England is physicality. Every time,” O’Connell said. “They’re such a physical side and obviously with Martin Johnson at the helm that probably goes up another notch. So for us it’s probably the perfect Test match to send us away.”
Neither side will be at full strength with Ireland resting some knocks and strains, most notably to flanker Sean O’Brien, captain Brian O’Driscoll and full-back Rob Kearney, and also giving much-needed game time to Tommy Bowe, Stephen Ferris, Jerry Flannery and David Wallace.
England, with a win and a loss to Wales in pre-season to date, have some reintegration work of their own as prop Andrew Sheridan gets a first run after shoulder surgery while Johnson will use today’s Test to look at some new combinations in a team showing six changes from the 19-9 defeat last time out to Wales.
There is a huge front row for Flannery, Cian Healy and Mike Ross to scrum down against in Sheridan, Dan Cole and hooker Steve Thompson although Kidney dismissed the notion that Johnson has picked a side purely on the basis of physicality.
“They’re not just going to tuck the ball up under their jumper and play,” the Ireland head coach said.
“They’ll have enough variations in it and with Jonny [Wilkinson] back in at fly-half and Toby [Flood] to come in as well, they’ve variations that will come into play and that can change the game over the 80 minutes.
“I think it will just be like any other Test match. The fact they will have two games under their belts as well will make them more battle hardened and more rugby aware.”
This, then, is an afternoon to give us an idea of where Ireland are at and where they are heading.
A win would help us decide but if they don’t get it, an encouraging performance to send them off to New Zealand would be just as welcome.
MANAGEMENT will inevitably point to whatever positives they can find after the first three warm-up matches, but this is purely covering over the cracks. Ireland were awful against Scotland, were similarly poor in the opening half of the game against France in Bordeaux and as for the second meeting of the sides, well, Ireland got away with blue murder in losing by only a couple of points.
The two French sides played us off the park and we couldn’t score a try against the Scots. The lack of a cutting edge in midfield has been painfully obvious and it doesn’t help that several players regarded as key men in New Zealand are painfully short of game time (David Wallace, Stephen Ferris, Jerry Flannery, Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe) or are struggling for form (Keith Earls, Brian O’Driscoll, Gordon D’Arcy and Donncha O’Callaghan).
THERE is a widely held belief in all contact sports that a player who goes out to protect himself against injury is the one most likely to suffer. And yet, who could blame those involved against England this afternoon if they were thinking of their own well-being rather than producing a performance now that they are safely ‘on the plane’.
The trouble with that is players like Wallace, Ferris, Flannery and Bowe need to prove to Declan Kidney they are fighting fit and fully capable of going the full distance when the crunch clash with Australia comes round on September 17. So they will all need to make a point against an England side trying to make amends for their defeat by Wales a fortnight ago. Martin Johnson’s side may not be the most inspiring in a rugby sense but physically they are immense and when it comes to the collisions and the breakdown, they won’t be holding back.
WHILE Declan Kidney was undoubtedly correct in organising these warm-up internationals, the last thing he needed was a series whitewash. We’ve been told ad nauseam about the need for momentum, for confidence builders and all that stuff and there will be little or none of that commodity should defeat number four be their lot this afternoon.
In the fullness of time, the result will hardly register in most people’s minds. In the context of the World Cup, however, it has a significant role to play for morale and some will regard the game as hugely important on a personal basis. For instance, I won’t be at all surprised to see Ronan O’Gara turn in the kind of performance that would re-energise the contest for the number ten jersey between himself and Jonny Sexton.
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