Winger Earls is up to speed

KEITH EARLS is up and running, and for a player with his pace that’s a frightening prospect for opposition defences.

It took time to get there but the Ireland wing feels both he and his team are ready to burst onto the World Cup stage, starting tomorrow with the United States. August was a difficult month with nothing tangible to show for it in terms of results as Declan Kidney’s men went down to defeat four Saturdays in succession. Yet the way Earls and many of this Irish World Cup squad view it, pre-season did exactly what it said on the tin and all that matters will be the next four games as Ireland bid to progress out of Pool C.

August was a time of mix and match, for trying new combinations and getting players match fit for the important business of qualifying for the quarter-finals here in New Zealand. And Earls, who turns 24 on October 2, the day Ireland play their final pool game against Italy in Dunedin, believes he and Ireland are exactly where they want to be and that August will quickly be forgotten. For the Munster back that also means erasing the disappointment of the final warm-up against England, when he stood in again for the injured Brian O’Driscoll and was caught out in defence by a rampaging Manu Tuilagi.

“I always said it takes me three or four games to get into it and I’m excited now,” Earls said.

“Drico got injured in the warm-up games and I was playing between centre and wing but now I can concentrate on the wing again and I’m feeling good about myself.

“Against England I was a bit disappointed with my defence on Tuilagi, showed him a bit too much respect at the start, but I’m looking forward to it now and getting confident and starting to be upbeat about things.”

Earls agreed he needed a fair dose of momentum to get up to speed but now his confidence had been fully restored he was a different animal from the one on display in pre-season.

“There were a lot of things I struggled with when I played when I was younger but now I’m starting to feel really confident. And when the team and the backline clicks it’s great for everyone. There’s a good buzz around and when there’s a good buzz everyone has confidence and we just go out and enjoy ourselves.

“I go out there at times and I think I’m just throwing the ball around with a few mates, apart from the big crowds and the opposition wanting to smash you. But you’ve really got to enjoy yourself playing. If you’re out there making mistakes and letting it get to you it can be really frustrating and more mistakes will happen so you’ve got to enjoy yourself and everything works out.”

So far so good as the Moyross, Co Limerick player settles into to his first World Cup, having been introduced to New Zealand by the wonders of the pre-tournament Ireland base in Queenstown on the South Island.

“It’s my first time here in New Zealand and we started off in a beautiful place. There was a good buzz around Queenstown, lot of Irish, which was good, and when you see the shops, they were all Rugby World Cup and the All Blacks and this and that and there was a good buzz around.

“I can’t wait for the game on Sunday now. We’re actually into it now and you’re not pinching yourself anymore and you can actually say you’ve played in a World Cup.

“It’s massive, the highest honour you can get is playing for your country in a World Cup and it’s going to be exciting.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge, the USA on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, so I’m sure they’re going to be up for it. But we’ve trained really well this week and I think it’s the best we’ve trained, better than all through the warm-up games. It’s starting to click and hopefully it’s going to be at the right time for us.”

Again, Earls feels Ireland are completing a steady progression to tournament readiness — and he likes what he sees.

“It’s a feeling that it’s getting better and better. We’ve done a lot of things and got to know each other that bit better and we were giving out to one another in training and stuff like that, expecting good standards from each other and training just went from zero up. It was great.

“Obviously we went out to try and win every game [in August] but we knew what we wanted to do, getting game time and different combinations. But I wouldn’t be too worried about it, we trained well this week and I feel we’ve started to click now and we’re due a good performance.”

For a player who thrives on expansive, running rugby, all the coaches and senior players’ talk of pragmatism and the importance to success of playing cup rugby must make it difficult to rein in one’s more dashing instincts but on a day like the one forecast for tomorrow on the Tasman Sea coastline of the North Island, Earls accepts there can be no room for flashiness if the conditions dictate.

“Teams are going to put you under pressure when it’s a rainy day and you’ve got to work the corners and put yourself into position. Deccie’s right and we’ve got Jonny [Sexton] and ROG [Ronan O’Gara] there who can pin any team back in the corners and play off the front foot.

“So there’s no need for us to put ourselves under pressure, spill balls, give away penalties and keep the scoreboard ticking over.”

Dealing with a pacy counter-attack from the back three that the Eagles possess is another concern and places an onus on Earls, full-back Geordan Murphy and fellow wing Tommy Bowe to be clinical with their tactical kicking.

“We have to put up contestables. We can’t just kick the ball back at them and let them run at us. They’ve got good feet and they’re strong as well and they’ve got good experience. They’ve played in World Cups before and [Takudzwa] Ngwenya playing for Biarritz in Heineken Cup finals, so it’s going to be a tough challenge but I know if we bring our A game there shouldn’t be any reason why we couldn’t beat them.”

And that would simply add to the momentum ahead of the big Pool C showdown with Australia next Saturday at Eden Park.

“Deccie managed us pretty well. He told us we were here to enjoy ourselves but when we’re on the pitch we’re to win and when we win we’re happy. We’ve enjoyed ourselves the last week and we’ve trained well and a result on Sunday and we’ll be happy going into next week.

“We’re capable of anything, as we showed in 2009 with the Grand Slam. This year and the two Six Nations gone by we’re just losing by silly penalties or whatever. The game plan we have is good and if we get it right we can beat anyone in the world.”

And it is time to start getting it right with Earls believing that after a frustrating couple of seasons, the Ireland squad is coming nicely to the boil at exactly the right time.

“I think fellas are sick of interviews saying ‘if we didn’t do this, we could have won the game’. Fellas are starting to get clued in, all the video work is done and we know what we have to do. So hopefully it’s going to be exciting times for the next few weeks.”