Fear of flying home early drives Donncha

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN will go to the well again tomorrow against Italy having revealed his fear of a repeat of Ireland’s last World Cup campaign is a major motivating factor.

O’Callaghan is in a situation he thrives on as his side prepare for the Pool C clash at Otago Stadium: entering a do or die scenario with Irish backs against the wall, and playing with heart as much as head.

He was at the same juncture just two weeks ago as little-fancied Ireland readied themselves to topple Australia with a heady mixture of passion and inspiration that the relatively inexperienced Wallabies found difficult to cope with. And O’Callaghan, devastated at Ireland’s sorry exit from the 2007 tournament at the end of the pool stage, is hoping he and his cohorts can conjure a return of that special, Irish “X factor”, as he called it, in what promises to be a white-hot atmosphere under the roof between two passionate sides.