SHANE HORGAN BELIEVES Joe Schmidt’s Ireland are better equipped to handle the weight of expectation heading into this year’s World Cup, and not be burdened by the pressure as the 2007 squad were.
Despite lofty pre-tournament expectations heading into the 2007 World Cup in France, Eddie O’Sullivan’s Ireland flattered to deceive during that campaign, winning just two of their pool games and exiting before the knockout stage.
Former Leinster winger Horgan started three of Ireland’s four Pool D outings and says that tournament has warned rugby supporters against getting too confident heading into a World Cup.
“At the time, I didn’t think the pressure was too much,” he says. “We were thinking things were going well. We should have won the Six Nations, we were playing good rugby and the team looked good.
“I thought it was quite a nice position to be in and it was unusual for an Irish team to be in it. It’s much more usual now and that’s the big difference. The significant impact my generation have had on rugby was to make sure we never get confident going into a World Cup. That’s what we did for the nation.
On that, what’s changed is that we were going in and Leinster hadn’t won a European Cup, Munster had, we hadn’t beaten the All Blacks and won one game away to France really. We just didn’t have the same level of success and background in sustained success like the teams ever since really.
“That’s hugely different so they’re more equipped with dealing with pressure and going into very big games or tournaments with huge expectations and delivering out the other side of it. The key players have done it time and time again. You’d think they’re better equipped for it than we were [in 2007].”
Although Ireland have never reached a World Cup semi-final, expectations are as high as ever in the build-up to Japan on the back of success at international and provincial level in recent seasons, notably the 2018 Grand Slam and first-ever home win over the All Blacks, in addition to Leinster’s European and domestic honours.
But a disappointing Six Nations campaign served as a wake-up call as Ireland were beaten by Wales and England, and Horgan admits his expectations for the tournament are not that high.
“I really don’t know. My expectations aren’t massive,” the 41-year-old continues. “That’s just me, that’s not saying they can’t deliver but my expectations aren’t that high because it’s tricky. Scotland are tricky. Our group is tricky.
“We don’t have a history of running through a tournament and getting to a semi-final and final. So, my expectations are my expectations. Are they capable of doing more? Definitely.
“Are they capable of winning it? If you asked me a year ago or nine months ago, you’d think, ‘Christ, yeah they could, there’s a real path here, South Africa don’t look too strong, New Zealand, we’ve beaten them’. Wales, England, France are not much and you’re thinking, ‘this is open’.
“Things have narrowed a little bit in the last while, the New Zealand result looks a bit more isolated. England, France, Scotland, Wales — you wouldn’t be confident going into any of those games really thinking we have the hex on them which we really had for quite a while.
“South Africa for a long time I thought they’re the sort of team we can beat and that we can beat at a World Cup. I think that will be a challenge, to beat them at the World Cup. That’s not to say they couldn’t but my expectations aren’t super high.”
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