All about game time and winning

FOR some it’s a match to get out of the way, for others it could be the entirety of their World Cup campaign.

Ireland’s game against Russia tomorrow morning will strike a different chord for different players. Touring and tournaments are all about playing and ultimately winning.

Making the cut for a World Cup squad is an achievement in itself, but ultimately meaningless if not accompanied by game time. Just ask Stephen Ferris. Four years ago he was part of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad in France and received his specially commissioned World Cup cap like the rest of the players. However, he was never part of a match day squad and spent the tournament agonising from the sidelines like the rest of us. That commemorative cap means nothing to him. At least he has fulfilled his dream with two starts in this tournament and a night he will never forget after his heroics in Eden Park against Australia.

Paddy Wallace has not been so lucky. He has three of those World Cup caps in his collection as part of the 2003 and 2007 squads before travelling to New Zealand. Trouble for him however his on-field activity from 11 World Cup ties in eight years amounts to three minutes against Namibia four years ago.

When Declan Kidney announced his starting side for the Russia Pool C game here in Rotorua yesterday, Wallace could be forgiven for the biggest sigh of relief in the squad. For three other players, at very different stages of their careers, the team announcement meant just as much.

Ronan O’Gara: What will the media do for sound bites or controversy when ROG eventually calls it a day after this World Cup or at the end of the season or whenever? At this stage it appears even he has no idea when the boots will be hung up. His emotional interview after the Australian game, when it sounded as if his days in an Irish jersey were drawing to a close, sent the country into a tailspin as it appeared the gifted Munster man was calling time on his international career. O’Gara is the ultimate competitor and cannot accept second beat. The emergence of Jonny Sexton over the last two seasons has been good for O’Gara, ensuring he will be challenged to the end. The outset of his international career was characterised by another dogfight with another quality player in Ulster’s David Humphreys and O’Gara emerged as a better player as a result. When Humphreys eventually departed the scene, O’Gara blossomed before stagnating somewhat, perhaps because of a lack of competition, for a few seasons.

Sexton changed all of that and from the moment the young Leinster man stood over the master in that aggressive pose in the Heineken Cup semi-final at Croke Park back in 2009, the fires were stoked in the heart of the great one. O’Gara was bitterly disappointed not to start against the Wallabies last weekend and could barely contain himself in the days leading up to that game. On the final whistle his emotions got the better of him and with thoughts of home, his wife Jessie and three beautiful kids flashing through his mind, he let go as only he can. That is what makes him such a compelling figure.

Offered a starting position tomorrow, he is not there as a token gesture and will do everything in his powers to force Kidney into revisiting his selection strategy with the big pool game against Italy looming. Sexton may not appreciate it now but when O’Gara retires he will come to accept that the Corkman was not only good for his development but will be responsible for transforming him into a top quality international for years to come. Unfortunately, Sexton may have to put up with him of a few months yet.

Fergus McFadden: At the other end of the spectrum to O’Gara is Fergus McFadden. Included in this squad at the expense of his friend and provincial colleague Luke Fitzgerald, McFadden’s journey has been one characterised by patience and professionalism. A centre by trade but winning his sixth cap on the wing tomorrow, McFadden has endured the frustration of biding his time in the shadow of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy in Leinster’s midfield. McFadden has manfully endured the frustration experienced by every young buck who knows they have what it takes but get little chance to show it.

I’m sure in the fullness of time McFadden will appreciate the apprenticeship he has been forced to serve behind O’Driscoll will stand to him. The thing that I admire most about him is that whenever he has been called upon to fill a role and perform, be it in midfield or out of position on the wing, he has impressed.

When Fitzgerald, O’Driscoll and Rob Kearney all lost their fitness battle for that key Heineken Cup trip to Clermont Auvergne last season, McFadden was pressed into action on the wing and excelled. One brilliantly timed tackle on the giant French flier Aurelien Rougerie requiring a combination of snap decision making and bravery set a standard from which he has rarely fallen. Despite his non selection by Leinster for the latter stages of their successful Heineken Cup campaign last season, McFadden had done enough to convince Kidney he has the temperament, competitive drive and skills to add to the mix out here. Now he is offered another chance to show just what he is capable of.

Leo Cullen: By captaining Leinster to their two Heineken Cup triumphs, Leo Cullen is assured of his place in the pantheon of Leinster greats. His international career, despite winning his 32nd cap tomorrow, has been less spectacular after a decade spent biding his time behind a combination of Malcolm O’Kelly, Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan. At 33, I am sure he has stopped worrying about it by now. The World Cup was the one box that still needed to be ticked however given he looked certain to make the squad in both 2003 and 2007 but missed the cut on both occasions. Losing out to Gary Longwell back in 2003 was especially painfully as he had played a key part in securing Ireland’s passage to the tournament. He was introduced off the bench for the last 20 minutes of Ireland’s only previous meeting with Russia, that infamous trip to Krasnoyarsk for a World Cup qualifier all of nine years ago. How ironic that he now makes his long overdue debut in a World Cup tournament proper as captain of his country against the same opposition. He also knows after the performance of O’Connell and O’Callaghan against Australia, the chances of him starting another game in this tournament will only present itself due to an injury to one of that Munster duo.

In addition, Donnacha Ryan’s facility to cover the second and back rows make the Tipperary man a better option off the bench. It means that tomorrow’s game may mark the beginning and end of Cullen’s World Cup journey. Given all that he has achieved with Leinster and Leicester, he deserves hismoment in the sun.