O’Gara up to second in race for No 10 berth

WITH the championship approaching the half way stage, the battle for selection on the Lions tour of Australia is intensifying.

Both Wales and Scotland have manifestly underperformed in their opening contests, while England seem to be cruising at a different level and Ireland have had a start which has perhaps thrown more Irish candidates into the selection pot than might have been expected.

In the pivotal role of out half, the picture has changed somewhat from what might have been envisaged prior to the campaign.

Many observers would have seen Ireland’s Ronan O’Gara as an outside chance behind England’s Wilkinson, Scotland’s Townsend and Wales’ Jenkins.

This was not wide of the mark, as Wilkinson’s exploits against Australia and South Africa in the autumn had him clearly in pole position and with three No. 10s likely to travel, the experience of 1997 would stand to Townsend and the kicking machine Jenkins.

However, an untimely injury to Townsend against France after only five minutes has meant, at best, he is likely to have only two starts against Italy and Ireland.

That has left the way open for the others to make their mark and, after the opening round of games, the order has changed accordingly.

The position will require an ability to implement a game plan that will employ all talents within the team.

The opposition are the world champions and probably possess the best defence in world rugby.

Therefore, having only one channel of attack will not be sufficient.

Neil Jenkins recently broke the magic 1,000 point barrier and as a place kicker there is no doubting his talents. However, in 1997 he was not asked to fill the pivotal role, instead being riskily deployed as a full back to primarily kick points when the chances came. This he did with considerable aplomb.

It was a gamble that paid off, but one the then coach Ian McGeechan was willing to make, to ensure he had a playmaker at No.10 capable of unleashing the talent outside him.

The script should be no different this time and, looking at the games so far, it is Wilkinson and O’Gara that are displaying the skill levels to fit that role.

Wilkinson will be the test out half and his kicking display of 13 out of 14 against Italy is a world class hit ratio. O’Gara’s performances, on the other hand and particularly against France, showed a maturity well beyond his years and have catapulted him into second choice at this point.

Perhaps he is not up to Wilkinson’s place kicking consistency levels, but in other areas he is more proficient. He attacks the advantage line flatter and his quick hands have been central to the transformation of Ireland’s back play to the point where they are regarded as the most exciting in the championship.

He is also benefiting from off season physical training which has manifested itself in a much more solid defence.

This is an area in which Wilkinson also excels and it may just be that an outing at centre certainly would not be entirely out of the question at some point in the Lions tour.

So at this stage Wilkinson and O’Gara are the front runners. However, there are three matches remaining in which all the contenders will go head to head.

Should O’Gara continue his form in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday week, his position behind Wilkinson could well be copperfastened, leaving Jenkins vying with Townsend for the final position. If the Scot recovers from injury in time to show his mercurial talent is still there, it could leave the world’s greatest points scoring machine watching from the valleys.