Forwards at the root ofall our current troubles
Assistant coach Niall O'Donovan, pictured here with Eddie O'Sullivan, has taken umbrage at criticisms of the Irish forwards
Friday September 21 2007
The objective, stated or otherwise, was to hit Paris running. The reality, however, is that the Irish squad arrive at the Stade de France this evening stumbling... and stumbling badly.
Eddie O'Sullivan's squad is unrecognisable in their on-field demeanour from the group that has taken Irish rugby to unprecedented levels of respect and performance in the run-up to France '07.
We all have our theories as to why it is so and there is some grain of truth in most, but the bottom line sees an Ireland team with two wins from two fronting up to a French side under even more pressure to perform.
Defeat for the host nation this evening and it will be curtains. Defeat for Ireland and it's pretty much the same, even if mathematical permutations allow some wriggle room.
This is must-win territory and we either shape up or ship out. Niall O'Donovan can take all the umbrage he wants at suggestions that his Irish pack are suffering from "dented pride", but I sincerely hope they are.
The Irish No.2 wonders aloud what was it they lost in the "Georgian game"?
I'll tell you what they lost -- they lost what is to O'Sullivan the definitive barometer in any rugby game, namely "the battle to control the football".
I repeat, the biggest single problem afflicting Ireland in this World Cup and the root of all our problems to date is in the inability of this hugely experienced Irish forward unit to front up.
Yes they are holding their own at the line out and likewise thus far in the scrum, but beyond that when the game moves on from the set pieces or "through the phases", to borrow from modern rugby parlance. We ain't at the races ... fact not opinion.
Regardless of what the statisticians say, in terms of pure physicality and the battle for the gain-line, we have come a distant second to the Namibians and more specifically the Georgians.
Tonight may we spared anymore of this intellectual snobbery almost unique to rugby. Let us hear no more what it is that Donncha O'Callaghan, Simon Easterby et al are doing off the ball despite hardly being mentioned throughout the match commentary.
Can you believe there was a time not so long ago when Keith Wood was being criticised for being too prominent in the loose?
What would we give to have eight Woodies on board in St Denis this evening?
Niallo knows full well that so far in this competition against the so-called minnows, it's been an Irish no show from numbers one to eight... individually and (much more relevantly) collectively.
The adage of 'forwards winning games only backs determining by how much' is as relevant in today's highly sophisticated professional game as it was in the Corinthian days of yore.
Whether it is Eoin Reddan, Andrew Trimble, Joe Rokocoko or Sitiveni Sivivatu coming into a changed Irish backline doesn't matter a whit if those charged with delivering possession are not doing the business.
Ironic isn't it that the three changes to have rattled the media cage (my own included) are all behind the scrum whereas the one modification up front -- Jerry Flannery for Rory Best -- has been enforced.
The Irish eight hasn't done the business since England at Croker back in February. Since then, they have huffed and puffed, and shown much indignance at the merest hint of criticism (the assistant coach's latest unnecessary defence making a case in point).
Well, the hour has come. In the last three games of real consequence against the French we have folded in the opening period. Think Croke Park '07 (when apparently the fault was the occasion and Vincent Clerc's late, late try, not the insipid performance which preceded it), or Stade de France '06 (when the forty point half-time deficit was down, we were told, almost entirely to our mistakes) or what about Melbourne '03 (when we were simply blown away by the French in the opening phase).
2000 and Brian O'Driscoll's hat-trick apart, history or, more relevantly, success in this fixture is not on our side.
The psyche tonight must be based entirely on forgetting the past and on borrowing the Puma blueprint of fronting up for eighty minutes and tackling around the fringes and in midfield as if our very lives depended on it.
This is body on the line stuff and so far we have been found seriously wanting in that key regard. If we can't deliver a physical performance befitting tonight's occasion then this Irish team as currently constituted is truly at an end.
So in taking our first meaningful forward performance of this tournament for granted O'Sullivan desires a much more thoughtful and technical proficient kicking game out of hand.
A good start is also vital, which means absolutely everything is thrown at the host nation in the opening phase.
If that means reverting to type and the garryowen on occasion, then so be it.
In certain key ways, the more the game changes the more it stays the same. The Georgian forward battering should stand us in good stead. It's better preparation than the French had with their unreal runaway win over fourteen-man Namibia, despite much opinion expressed then and since to the contrary.
This is do or die with the team doing the basics unselfishly the better set to win. It is also about just that -- winning and not about racking up points or tries.
To that end, whatever your take, O'Sullivan and O'Donovan have picked a team designed primarily to compete.
If that means stopping the French from playing and adopting the Munster prototype then so be it.
The criteria used in selecting Eoin Reddan and Gavin Duffy over Peter Stringer and Geordan Murphy is inconsistent and set for revisiting another day, but for the needs of this clearly struggling Irish side now and most particularly its under-firing forward unit, the much under-rated Reddan could be just the spark to re-ignite the clearly flagging Irish eight.
For obvious reasons this match was always set to be pivotal in the ultimate outcome of the group. However, following the Puma "upset" on the opening night its significance has rocketed again.
The French are under even more pressure but, with the force of the nation behind them, they are red hot favourites to get their World Cup challenge back on track. Would we want it any other way?
Whatever your take and however deep the disappointment shared thus far, this team deserves our full and unequivocal support.
The odds may be stacked heavily in the French corner, but with an untried team entering un-chartered territory, even the most vitriolic critics of Irish rugby are hedging their bets.
Fasten your seat belts.
