For World Cup dreamers, reality dawns

BY the time you read this I will have landed in Auckland after a stifling 36-hour trek with stopovers in London, Bangkok and Sydney.

A cruel sense of timing meant I boarded my Aer Lingus flight from Cork just as the referee was about to start Sunday’s All Ireland hurling final. By the time I disembark in Auckland airport, the Kilkenny players had enjoyed two good nights of celebration. The world is getting smaller but you still get the feeling that New Zealand is at the bottom of the universe. Let’s hope the next few weeks are worth everyone’s effort.

With the opening ceremony and the first contest of the 2011 World Cup featuring New Zealand and Tonga just two days away, the reality of the situation has just about started to dawn on the players and management of the competing 20 squads sprinkled around the north and south islands. For those sides not involved in that opening game, sitting back and watching the colour and pageantry of the occasion, the stark realisation dawns that everything they have worked towards over the last few years is about to be put to the test. The future is now.

For a chosen few, including Ireland’s Conor Murray, the thought of competing in this tournament never entered the realm of possibility until a few short months ago while others, like Tommy Bowe, cruelly dumped at the departure lounge by Eddie O’Sullivan in 2007, have waited four long years for their chance.

Others, like Tomás O’Leary and Luke Fitzgerald, have cruelly lost out on inclusion for the second successive time in their careers which must be very hard to take. That is why it is all about the here and now and every player needs to seize the moment.

The opening weekend offers no gentle introduction either, with crucial and informative contests set to shape the four pools. On Saturday, Martin Johnson becomes the first winning captain to pick up the managerial reins in the quest for a unique double when he leads his side into battle against the ultimate competitors Argentina. There is no love lost between these two highly physical teams. The Pumas are a pale shadow of the side that finished with the bronze medal in France but they will make life difficult for England in a contest that will be decidedly short on flair. With two tries already in his first two Tests, it will be interesting to see if Manu Tuilagi can maintain his rapid rise to the top and make an immediate impact on the tournament. His presence has offered England a new focus and if he can somehow build a chemistry and understanding with Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and Mark Cueto in the back three then England will be difficult to beat. A win for England will set them up nicely and offer a bit of breathing space before they meet Scotland in their final Pool B outing.

Immediately before Ireland open their campaign against Eddie’s Eagles on Sunday, our chief rivals for quarter-final qualification, Australia and Italy, do battle in a game that will tell us a lot. With Ireland’s clash against the newly installed Tri Nations champions six days later, we will get an early insight into the thinking of the Wallaby management and also the state of play with the Italians, who may face Ireland in a winner-makes-the-quarters contest in Dunedin on October 2. While Australia are certain to win, their approach, their team selection and how soon they withdraw their key personnel will be more instructive. A heavy defeat for the Azzurri would certainly suit Ireland’s cause. Then again, right now Declan Kidney will be more concerned with getting his own house in order.

The game of the opening weekend promises to be the clash of Wales and South Africa in Wellington — also on Sunday. After two separate trips to the cryotherapy chambers of Spala in Poland, Warren Gatland has wasted no time in proclaiming his Welsh squad the fittest in the tournament. Then again, Ireland made similar claims after undergoing the same torture in 2007 and we all know where that got them.

To be fair to Gatland, he seems to have got the balance between his physical and rugby preparation just about right, with the recent wins over Argentina and England offering a timely boost to a talented but mentally brittle squad. That mental frailty is likely to be tested to the full against the reigning champions who now have all their big guns back on board as John Smit’s men attempt to become the first country to successfully defend their crown.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has gambled by resting all his front line players in the opening two rounds of the Tri Nations and paid a heavy price when his team were torn apart in successive Tests by Australia and New Zealand. His approach was dictated by the reality that players of the calibre of Smit, Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Fourie du Preez and Brian Habana have serious miles on the clock and need to be used sparingly.

The Springboks still possess a massive physical presence up front and they will attempt to crush what appears a brittle-looking Welsh front five. It is all well and good having talented runners like James Hook, Shane Williams and Jamie Roberts but if your pack spends the day in reverse it becomes very hard to compete. Gatland will want Wales to play a high tempo wide game and that is why this Test will be worth watching as it will tell us much about where South Africa are at present.

Before all that, hosts New Zealand set the tournament in motion on Friday and I am looking forward to seeing them in the flesh as they strive to cope with the weight of a nation on their shoulders. From a pure rugby perspective, the All Blacks will not be challenged by Tonga. However, there is a growing realisation that the three island nations — Tonga, Fiji and Samoa — all have massive support here in New Zealand and that has already started to gather momentum.

When the Tongan squad arrived at Auckland airport more than 4,000 people turned up to greet them — larger than the All Blacks received at their civic reception last Saturday. New Zealand have a lot of psychological baggage to deal with and as they progress through to the knock-out stages the pressure of dealing with the expectation levels of four million men, women and children looks daunting.