ALRIGHT LADS, ENOUGH pessimism.
Sure, we’ve never made it past the quarter-final.
Sure, we’ve a playing population comparable to Scotland and a recent win/loss ratio that our Gaelic cousins would baulk at too.
But if you tilt your head ever so slightly and let some sunshine into your life, you’ll see things are set up nicely for Ireland to go all the way to World Cup glory.
1. Climate
There is nothing we Irish enjoy more than a good auld chat about the weather, and New Zealand will have plenty of it. It’s foolish and out-dated to surmise that ‘wind and rain is good news for the oirish.’ But once the boys get over their jet-lag there will be little more acclimatising to do.
Conditions will be just like home with the spring temperature averaging highs of 17 degrees.
Weather can be a leveller, and in the early stages it may also work against us. Down in Dunedin, Italy lie in wait. Ireland will know from first-hand experience how tough a proposition the Azzuri can be having had the honour of facing them first up in five of the past seven Six Nations campaigns.
Italy are always at their best on opening night; before fatigue sets in, their resources are stretched and that great big hulking pack is demoralised by their limited backline. This time round, we can wait in the long grass until game four. Instead it is Australia who will suffer the raw power of Martin Castrogiovanni, Sergio Parisse and Co while they are still bursting out of the traps with a big point to prove.
2: Australia
Of course, our boys have already been tenderised by a pack of hulking beasts, but our next bout is against the USA. Despite the obvious motivation that comes with the 10th anniversary of 9 /11 (and Eddie O’Sullivan’s focus naturally swaying onto a big green bullseye) the Eagles will have an eye trained on their game against Russia four days later, when the Cuban missile crisis will reignite over an oval ball.
The Wallabies’ scrummaging talent pool is almost as shallow as our own. So it is likely that Italy will give them a fair number of walking wounded before they turn their attention to us in Auckland. They may be the best team in our pool by some distance, but that was also the case in 2003 when David Humphreys’ late drop goal drifted narrowly left of giving us victory on ‘golden soil’.
Rather than internal harmony, the antics within the green-and-gold camp reads like a bad Neigbours script. Matt Giteau, Aussie Rugby’s poster-boy for the last decade, got himself dropped from the squad, Rocky Elsom was demoted from the captaincy which he has held since leaving Leinster and the day after that announcement, James O’Conner missed two official team engagements and was suspended. The Justin Bieber lookalike was also said to be embroiled in an off-field punch up with Reds duo Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper, O’Conner’s rivals for the kicking tee.
Speaking of the fly-half, Cooper is the most exciting player in world rugby with a skill set that the Harlem Globetrotters would drop their jaws watching. In defence though, he is flaky at best and if we can keep enough ball and get Sean O’Brien running at him then the gate and the group will be blown wide open.
3: Quarter-final
So that’s the group sorted, now for the last eight which has been the limit of our World Cup achievements. Like the kid who strains his toes to breaking point but is still an inch too short to be allowed onto rollercoaster, we’ve been held back time and again.
Forced to stand flat footed on the concrete whilst teams we admire, teams we loath, and teams we can easily beat are taken on a wild ride to get their stomachs churned in the most enjoyable way possible.
Second place four years ago would have given us the All Blacks, this year it can bring us South Africa. The reigning champions are at their lowest ebb for almost two decades and we have made a healthy habit of beating them in Dublin, why not in Wellington?
Another combination of results could see us facing Wales or even Fiji.
Far from being an impossible task or even the appearance of our bogie team, being pitted against any one of these three would present us with our best chance ever of making the final four. Who knows what could happen then. The form book would pit us against the hosts… but the form book would have handed six world titles to the silver fern, not one.
At this stage anything is still possible. England, with their inflammatory all-black kit, could end up knocking out the real All Blacks. Topping the pool could put us on a collision course with old the old enemy or France in the semis. In that scenario we are armed with plenty of burly men equipped with the experience of winning intense, winner-takes-all encounters.
The Ireland squad enjoying themselves this weekend. Inpho/Dan Sheridan
4: The Bench
This is the strongest back up squad we’ve ever been able to enjoy, when else has an Irish coach had the luxury of leaving three fit and able Lions behind? In 2007, Irish rugby walked a fitness tightrope; aside from four positions - hooker, blindside, scrum half and fullback - an injury to a player in any single spot would have carved a great big gaping hole in our team and extinguished all hope.
Now though, thanks to improvements in Leinster and Ulster, we are much better stocked. Only Mike Ross and Brian O’Driscoll are irreplaceable and in a scenario where it takes close to 40 hours just to get a replacement onto the training field, the bench will be all important.
On the side line our hooker and second row will each be described as double Heineken Cup winner. Then, whether Kidney opts for Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden or Geordan Murphy in the number 22 jersey, the utility back won’t be short of a medal or nine either.
Isaac Boss takes some invaluable experience of his native land along with his physicality to the table. However, it is the other half back role which could really prove to be Kidney’s ace in the hole. Whoever fills the number 10 jersey, there is little doubt that Ireland can boast the best backup fly-half in the competition. Only England could possibly argue to the contrary but certainly not David Skrela, Berrick Barnes, Butch James or Colin Slade.
Prop is still our achilles’ heel, for a decade we have sent John Hayes out into the field time and again with no backup and it is testament to the man’s quiet dedication that he has refused to bow out lightly. The Bull continues to train with Munster, just in case he is needed to answer Ireland’s call one last time.
5: Underdog mentality
It is an unfortunate trait of the Irish psyche that we perform best without the weight of expectation. You have only to look at the European final in May when Leinster, the hottest of favourites, duly got pummelled in the first half. With nothing to lose they emerged just over 10 minutes later and quickly set about dismantling a Northampton side lacking the half backs and the humility to control the game.
Four years earlier, Eddie O’Sullivan took us to France insisting that the goal was gold. Everything was tailored to make us the best in the world and we burnt ourselves out trying to attain the impossible. This time around, the lessons have been learned. The empty bulk that was a feature of the bodies in ‘07 has been trimmed down to compact solid muscle.
Four defeats in the warm up matches have cast a massive wet blanket over expectation. So much so that some think Italy may usurp their way into the last eight. However, such talk will only fuel the fire in the bellies of the squad and send them into the opening match with their backs to the wall.
That stance will not change when we face Australia, and if we should meet South Africa, Wales, England or France, each nation will expect to brush us aside having enjoyed recent victories at our expense. Ireland will accept the underdogs tag with relish and come out swinging to redress the balance.
Going up? Ireland’s Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll at Dublin Airport for their team’s departure. (Pic: PA)
6: Brian O’Driscoll
It’s very simple: with Brian O’Driscoll on the field, we are capable of anything. Without him, the smallest gains will feel like an uphill struggle.
BOD is so much more than the sum of his individual contributions. He is the epitome of a fearless leader. His presence drags defences into his orbit creating space for our other danger men. His defensive abilities are the stuff of legend and when the chips are down, he is the man who goes all in, whatever the risk to his reputation or personal health.
Be it a hit that needs to be made, a drop goal when the fly half is pinned to the deck, or the tiniest of gaps opening between him and the try-line, O’Driscoll has seen and done it all before and only too eager to do it again, but better.
There will be plenty of moments along the way when we think he’s done for. His back, the knee, that right shoulder, all of these will be battered and bruised. But unless he is unable to put a single pound of pressure onto them, the captain will carry on manfully, and Ireland is grateful for that.
