Ireland are on a roll but Wales will take beating

Date Published: {J}

THE rugby World Cup in New Zealand is starting to get really serious; and the Irish rugby team are starting to look really serious contenders.

Four wins out of four – including a rare unexpected triumph over Australia – on the team’s way to topping their group leaves no room for argument as Declan Kidney’s squad now focus on their huge showdown with Wales in Wellington on Saturday.

There hadn’t been a great deal of confidence behind the men in green after struggling for cohesion, confidence and results in their World Cup warm-up matches but, in hindsight, their pre-tournament difficulties may have been no bad thing as supporter expectations would have lowered, not forgetting the mounting criticism from newspaper and TV pundits.

Against that background, the Irish camp had no shortage of causes to help them prove that they weren’t a declining force and the players have looked reinvigorated since travelling Down Under. True, their debut performance against the USA in New Zealand was more workmanlike than breathtaking, but they got the job done and have been on a great roll since.

Despite the victories over Eddie O’Sullivan’s Eagles, Russia and Australia, Ireland still needed to beat Italy in their final group match to secure their passage to the World Cup quarter-finals and though Brian O’Driscoll and his team-mates were justifiable favourites to carry the day, an Irish success was not perceived as being inevitable, especially having only scrambled over the Azzurri – thanks to Ronan O’Gara’s late drop goal – in Rome last season.

Some of the pre-match debate had centred on the ongoing battle for the number 10 jersey. Jonny Sexton was in pole position before the tournament began, but a poor conversion rate from penalties and O’Gara’s better game management contributed to the Munster out-half getting the nod for the clash with the Italians. It must have a tough call for Kidney and his coaching staff, but as events proved in Dunedin, it was the right one.

Nick Mallet, the respected Italian coach, has been talking up the power of his pack, especially the front row, in the wake of their victory over the USA, but his bullish comments came back to haunt him as the formidable Irish eight won that battle convincingly, even if their superiority in the scrum was partially helped by the forced retirement of opposition prop Martin Castrogiovanni in the opening-half.

By that juncture, however, Ireland were already looking the better equipped team even if that situation was slow to be reflected on the scoreboard. They only led 9-6 at half-time after South African referee Jonathan Kaplan had erroneously disallowed a Tommy Bowe try for a ‘forward’ pass, but the match underwent a dramatic transformation early in the second-half and, within a few minutes, the Italians were a busted flush.

Two excellently created tries from Brian O’Driscoll and Keith Earls put Ireland in command in a bad tempered encounter and, frankly, they might have had a couple of more before lively replacement Andrew Trimble did the spadework for Earls’ second try near the end. Their 30 point margin of victory in no way flattered the Irish who have massive confidence and momentum now.

It was a terrific team display with both prop forwards Cian Healy, who was really in the wars, and Mike Ross again outstanding. Those long serving second rows, Paul O’Connell and Donncha O’Callaghan, also put in a great shift, but it was the back three who broke the Italian hearts. Jamie Heaslip had his most vibrant 80 minutes of the World Cup so far, while magnificent flankers Sean O’Brien and Stephen Ferris were like human wreaking balls.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.