EVER THE OPTIMIST, Ireland manager Paul McNaughton says that his side can shake off the lethargy that resulted in a poor performance against the United States and cause a World Cup upset against Australia at Eden Park next weekend.
Declan Kidney’s men failed to address any of the problems that saw them lose all of their warm-up encounters, in labouring to a 22-10 victory over the US Eagles in their opening Pool C match.
McNaughton, however, feels that if Ireland can click into gear then an improbable victory over the Tri-Nations champions will be achievable.
“The guys have played against Australia before. They know them,” he insisted at a press conference today.
“There’s a level of confidence that on our day, when we play well and fire on all cylinders, we can beat Australia.
“We have the ability and the team to beat Australia. We have to play very well and better than we have done over the last four or five matches. We’ll have to improve on what we did yesterday, but do seem to produce our best when our backs are against the wall.
McNaughton went on to admit that Ireland will be underdogs against the Wallabies but that could prove beneficial to his side, the oldest in the tournament.
“We’ll have to improve on what we did yesterday, but do seem to produce our best when our backs are against the wall.
“Underdogs is not a position we’d go looking for. We’re clearly underdogs based on the record over the last few games, but that doesn’t worry us.”
