Off-colour Ireland revert to type

MAYBE this is the way that all opening games go for Ireland but it does not make them any easier to swallow.

True to type, Ireland’s 2011 World Cup campaign got off to a slow start at Stadium Taranaki yesterday with a hard-earned win against an inferior American outfit.

Just as they opened autumn’s Guinness Series with a slipshod performance in the rain against South Africa and followed it up with a sloppy first day of the 2011 Six Nations in Rome, there was a horrible sense of déjà vu in a wet and windy New Zealand this time around as a high error count undermined the monopoly on possession and territory Ireland enjoyed. Indeed it left Declan Kidney’s side more deflated than elated by a winning start to the Pool C qualifying stage.