Irish refuse to take Mallett’s bait
Former South Africa coach Mallett lit the fire under this World Cup Pool C showdown at the Otago Stadium, a must-win fixture for both sides if they are to reach the quarter-finals, when he said the Italy scrum was better and stronger than their Irish counterparts.
Ireland’s players and management were well aware of the intense physical encounter ahead of them in Dunedin this weekend and are relishing the contest but as for the baiting by Mallett following Italy’s 27-10 win over the United States on Tuesday, defence coach Les Kiss refused to bite.
“I guess each player will take their own out of that,” Kiss said. “The way we’ve tried to frame the message this week is to keep on top of the things we know we’re good at.
“We know there’s the expected [battle] and we’ve built our psyche around those things, and the players just have to deliver on that.
“Whatever happens beforehand doesn’t matter. When you walk out on that pitch with a closed roof with an Irish crowd that are the loudest in the world that I’ve ever experienced, and then you put in an Italian crowd mixed in with it — and they can go mad — that’s going to have a pretty critical play in the game because if you can push the game in the right part of the field and get our supporters up, it’s going to help us a lot.
“So that first three to five minutes of the game is going to sort out a bit of tension and nerves, and maybe place a bit of an idea of where the game is going to go. No game is everdetermined then but it would be nice to get a good start.”
Back-row forward Denis Leamy also refused to go toe-to-toe with Mallett, insisting that Ireland would stay focused on their own performance.
“I’m sure Italy back themselves,” Leamy said. “They’re professionals. There’s never an easy game against them. I’ve played against them five or six times and it’s always one of those games when you would wake up the next morning and know you have been in a tough Test match.”
Having a fully fit squad from which to choose a team to face the Italians is the next target for the Irish management with doubts still remaining over Paul O’Connell’s hamstring and Tommy Bowe’s calf strain. But Kiss said no-one had been ruled out of contention for tomorrow’s team announcement.
“The next day or two will tell us more but we’re optimistic everyone will be available,” Kiss said.
There are some non-fitness related selection issues, however, as the persistent conundrum of who to choose at fly-half is once again at play. Ronan O’Gara and Jonny Sexton are the contenders, with the former’s superior kicking form during this tournament — 10 from 12 attempts over three games compared to his Leinster rival’s five from 13 — weighing in his favour given the nature of previous struggles with the Italians and the propensity for penalties.
O’Gara, who last February rescued his country with a late drop goal to secure a 13-11 Six Nations win in Rome, trained alongside his provincial scrum-half Conor Murray, who is pushing Eoin Reddan for the nine shirt, during the small portion of the practice session open to media at Carisbrook yesterday.
But in Sexton’s corner is the fact he has started all the important games of late before making way for his rival to close out the deal, most recently the famous win over Australia at Eden Park 12 days ago.
What is clear from the Irish camp is that while they recognise the need to better the Italian scrum, they are not fooled by Mallett’s emphasis on it, as Kiss explained.
“The scrum is important, we know that. But the thing we’ve focused on is the other areas of their game. If you look at [Sergio] Parisse at the back of the scrum and also in phase ball, he’s like a talisman for them. He is the go-to man. He creates so much, and for us we have to be able to resource the physical nature we need at the set-piece and transfer quickly into the rest of the game.”
“Because not only Parisse but [Luciano] Orquera does some nice things for them, [Fabio] Semenzato at nine and then they bring [Andrea] Masi into the play as well. I know he didn’t play [against the USA] but he’s been in nice form so I guess if he’s out that would be a bit of a bonus for us.”
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