Quinlan wary of 2007 repeat

Former Munster and Irish flanker Alan Quinlan has expressed his concern that Ireland’s lacklustre 2007 World Cup campaign could reoccur in New Zealand over the coming weeks.

Quinlan, who didn’t feature in any of Ireland’s World Cup Tests four years ago despite travelling as part of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad, said a quarter-final place is the minimum the current squad should achieve.

“The danger is that what happened in 2007 will happen again so they will have to try to learn from that,” he told the Guardian.

“Declan Kidney is really good at getting heads right.

“He needs to mix up the team, possibly against Russia and the USA because that's what Eddie O'Sullivan did in [the] 2003 [World Cup] against Namibia and Romania in Australia.

“Everyone got game time, everyone was in good form, and everyone felt they had a chance of pushing for a place.

Having been ruled out of the quarter-final in 2003 due to a dislocated shoulder suffered when scoring a try against Argentina, Quinlan knows the impact injuries can have on a World Cup campaign.

“The other key is not to get any injuries to the top players.

“Then they need a good start, they need to show their intent early on.

“The quality is there, they just have to bring it out.

Meanwhile Lawrence Dallaglio, who was part of England’s victorious 2003 World Cup squad, believes the Web Ellis Cup will be staying in the southern hemisphere.

“It's not a question of playing a particular style, World Cups bring their own style and some of the greatest teams forget how they've played for the last two or three years.

“This is because there is pressure, there is different quality of opposition, and it is not like you can save your best rugby to the following week.

“Can I see beyond a southern hemisphere winner? Well, other than 2003, the winner has been a nation from that part of the world.