McFadden must rise to the challenge

By Ian Cusack

Sometimes things happen which put even the biggest sporting occasions into perspective, it's a game at the end of the day. A game we all love, but a game nonetheless.

Keith Earls will have spent most of this week in nervous anticipation of Sunday’s showdown with Wales, so much attention has been fixed on the number 13 jersey. He will have flashbacks of Manu Tuilagi and visions of Jamie Roberts.

And now, with the news that his newborn daughter has taken ill, those worries seem futile.

Ireland team manager Michael Kearney reported that Keith is hopeful his daughter will be well enough to return home from hospital over the weekend, let’s hope that is the case.

So how do you feel if you’re Fergus McFadden? You sympathise with Earls and maybe say a quick prayer for his daughter and then you bottle it up and focus on the game.

It’s not an easy situation for the Kilkenny man. He’s suddenly got all the pressure of wearing Brian O’Driscoll’s jersey without the vote of confidence one gets from being chosen to start.

Opportunity can arrive in the most perverse ways. Jonathan Sexton would have never starred in the 2009 Heineken Cup final if Felipe Contepomi hadn’t been injured. Simon Zebo wouldn’t have a Heineken Cup hat-trick to his name if Doug Howlett were fit. McFadden must make a similar statement.

Earls is a more exciting runner than McFadden, whose strength is in his reliability as a defender. The Leinster man has yet to cross for a try for his province this season and if he wants to be seen as a long-term option at 13 he needs to show more flare with ball in hand.

With Gatland selecting powerhouse centre pairing Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies we can expect to see plenty of traffic down the relatively lightweight Irish midfield channel.

Earls still sits higher in Kidney’s pecking order for the outside centre role, whether that changes this weekend is down to McFadden.

The only other selection which has raised a few eyebrows is the decision to start Donncha O’Callaghan over Donnahca Ryan. This is where Kidney’s conservatism kicks in.

O’Callaghan hasn’t simply lost his starting spot in Munster, Ryan has stripped him of it. At long last the Limerick man has been promoted from journeyman to leader, putting in a man-of-the-match display against Castres and switching to the back row to great effect against the Saints.

At his team announcement press-conference Kidney said he’d be happy for either O’Callaghan or Ryan to start, why then has he opted for the older player who has had less game time instead of the in-form Ryan?

Elsewhere, there may have been a hint of doubt over the starting flyhalf spot but Sexton is and has to be Ireland’s starting number 10.

It took a significant crisis of confidence on the Dubliner’s part for O’Gara to wrestle his way back into the starting team at the World Cup, and short of a similar breakdown or a serious injury, 26-year old Sexton has to be Ireland’s go to option at flyhalf going forward.

Confidence is one thing Sexton isn’t lacking in right now with Leinster perched on top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table and looking forward to a home quarter-final in the Heineken Cup.

That’s not to undermine O’Gara’s presence in the squad, which is invaluable. To have two world class number 10s with contrasting styles is an enviable position but O’Gara and Reddan represent plan B if the more dynamic pairing of Murray and Sexton aren’t clicking.

Having opted for predominantly the same XV that limped out of the World Cup against Wales, Kidney is offering his players a chance, not for revenge, but for redemption.

They played nowhere near their potential that day in Wellington and Sunday presents an opportunity for them to prove to themselves, the supporters and the rugby world that this Irish team is better than that display on October 8.

Crucially, game-breakers Jamie Roberts and Rhys Priestland have been deemed fit to play while Ryan Jones’ inclusion in place of Dan Lydiate is far from a devastating blow from a Welsh perspective.

While Wales have lost the sniping runs of Shane Williams, in 6’6 Alex Cuthbert they possess more bulk to add to their imposing backline.

However, Gethin Jenkins is a massive loss in the front row while Kidney will be expecting to get some ascendancy in the second row where O’Connell and O’Callaghan face Bradly Davies and Ian Evans who have a combined total of 49 international caps.

Stephen Ferris, Seán O’Brien and Jamie Heaslip will feel they have a point to prove having been neutralised as a ball-carrying force in Wellington and outplayed at the breakdown by Warbuton and Faletau.

Peter O’Mahony will be itching to get on for his international debut against such a formidable Welsh backrow. Having thrived as Munster captain in his first season as a starter, the 22-year-old is fully deserving of his chance.

To call this game a repeat of the quarter-final is to oversimplify it, a lot of rugby has been played since the World Cup and it must be Ireland who enter Sunday’s showdown as favourites.

Cardiff Blues form the only Welsh representation in the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup. By way of contrast Ireland boast first and second place seedings at the end of the group stages with Ulster also progressing from an impossibly difficult pool.

Ireland may not have played a game since the defeat in New Zealand but Wales have lost all three of their subsequent encounters. Even without the almighty BOD, Ireland should have enough to win.

Prediction: The pack is where Ireland have the edge and it’s here that the game will be won. Ireland by at least 10 points.

Watch out for our live blog on our home page from around the game, starting at 11am on Sunday.