No momentum, no captain, no wins
O'Driscoll's absence adds to pressure as Irish desperately seek morale boost
Ireland's Eoin Reddan prepares to put the ball in during scrum practice at the Captain's Run in the Aviva Stadium yesterday
Related Articles
DON'T panic. That was the rather frenetic message from the Ireland camp this week as their torrid bout with World Cup warm-up internationals received another flurry of gut punches, with Sean O'Brien added to the injury list and Brian O'Driscoll and Rob Kearney ruled out of this afternoon's clash with England.
As 2007 proved conclusively, you cannot expect to perform at a World Cup if you go into the tournament minus any sort of momentum and, with three defeats on the bounce and five losses from their last seven outings as well as a succession of injury issues, Ireland have all the momentum of a drunken slug.
Thus, of all their frontline players, Ireland needed O'Driscoll today.
After playing the entirety of last weekend's dispiriting defeat to France, O'Driscoll indicated that, regardless of his bothersome shoulder injury, he was anxious to face the English.
"It (shoulder) is going to be a little bit sore but it's nothing to worry about particularly," said O'Driscoll. "That's my first game back and I'll be better for having the 80 minutes under my belt."
Players, as a rule, always want to play and, as team captain and the primary source of inspiration, O'Driscoll would naturally want to lead from the front as Ireland seek to extricate themselves from this pre-World Cup quagmire.
However, for Declan Kidney this was Hobson's choice. England, as they always do, will present an enormous physical challenge, thereby increasing the risk of further injuries besetting an already riddled Irish squad. The bottom line was protecting O'Driscoll.
He might have been the difference between defeat and victory today but, with a dodgy shoulder and the English midfield tanks Manu Tuilagi and Mike Tindall steaming down his channel, Kidney took the "prudent" decision.
The upshot is that O'Driscoll travels to New Zealand with just one game behind him, which draws inevitable comparisons with the situation four years ago when O'Driscoll played in the warm-up defeat to the Scots and was then taken out in the hastily arranged clash with Bayonne, rendering him an injury doubt for the start of the World Cup.
Hardly the best preparation and, four years later, despite Kidney's best intentions, the run-in has been bedevilled by problems. Cue the English, strutting into town with bulk and brio and bitter determination to atone for the disappointment of their Grand Slam humbling last March.
Martin Johnson's side is bristling with World Cup intent -- an enormous outfit designed to dominate possession and provide out-half Jonny Wilkinson with opportunities to kick points.
policy
It is a policy that has served them well at World Cups, where they remain the only northern hemisphere country to claim the trophy, have reached three finals and have never failed to get out of their pool.
To face England in this mood and make-up, Ireland need their frontline players to be fit and firing and, as well as the absence of O'Driscoll, O'Brien and Kearney, there are too many question marks over the starting XV for comfort.
Tommy Bowe, Jerry Flannery, Stephen Ferris and David Wallace make their first starts, while Keith Earls, after a confidence-sapping turn on the left wing against France last weekend, is asked to fill the considerable void left by O'Driscoll in midfield.
However, while he faces a daunting task in defence, Earls' selection at 13 also presents the Limerick man with an exciting attacking opportunity, particularly if he or partner Gordon D'Arcy find themselves one-on-one with the somewhat flat-footed English captain Tindall.
And, while O'Driscoll's absence will always be keenly felt, there is consolation in the presence of the two other members of Ireland's erstwhile 'holy trinity', as Paul O'Connell leads the side from the second row and Ronan O'Gara is back to steer operations from out-half.
Both Munster men have looked good this month and there is nothing like a showdown with England to get their blood up for battle.
Kidney has also reunited his Grand Slam-winning and Lions back-row and, in the fervent hope that he can come through unscathed, this is a wonderful opportunity for Ferris to show why he was regarded as one of the best back-rows in the world two years ago.
Wallace, in his first game back, may not be asked to play the full 80, which raises the thorny question of cover at open-side. The likelihood is that Denis Leamy would be asked to slot in there, a position where he has played before for Munster and Ireland but is not naturally suited to.
Ireland, spearheaded by Mike Ross, got the edge at scrum-time in last March's battle and elephants never forget. Thus, England line out a truly enormous front-row this afternoon with the intention of emasculating Irish efforts at source.
Rory Best, who has experience of playing prop, is regarded by experts as Ireland's best scrummaging hooker, but Flannery is a decent operator also and will relish the opportunity of going up against the old-school, orc-like aggression of Steve Thompson.
Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft will put the Irish line-out under pressure also and the home side will have to battle hard to gain parity in the possession stakes. However, O'Connell and his fellow forwards have the capacity to win enough possession for the direly needed victory.
Then, while an element of pragmatism in terms of territory and taking your points is essential, Ireland must also seek to expand their attacking gambit (helped by an exciting bench) for if they try and play the English at their own game, there will be only one outcome. Another thumping victory over England does not mean Declan Kidney's side are going to land the Webb Ellis trophy, nor does another warm-up defeat guarantee that Ireland will flop at the World Cup.
However, after a torrid month, losing would add to the pall of gloom that has gathered around Ireland's World Cup aspirations and 2007 showed the far-reaching consequences of a demoralising build-up.
A win, particularly without their leader, would provide the lift-off Ireland's World Cup so desperately needs and that 'needs must' knowledge might just be enough to see them home.
Verdict: Ireland
IRELAND -- G Murphy; T Bowe, K Earls, G D'Arcy, A Trimble; R O'Gara, E Reddan; C Healy, J Flannery, M Ross; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell (Capt); S Ferris, D Wallace, J Heaslip. Reps: R Best, T Court, D Ryan, D Leamy, C Murray, J Sexton, F McFadden.
ENGLAND -- B Foden; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, M Tindall (Capt), M Cueto; J Wilkinson, R Wigglesworth; A Sheridan, S Thompson, D Cole; L Deacon, C Lawes; T Croft, J Haskell, N Easter. Reps: D Hartley, M Stevens, S Shaw, T Wood, J Simpson, T Flood, D Armitage.
REF -- N Owens (Wales)
Ireland v England,
Live, Sky Sports 2, 2.30
- Hugh Farrelly
Irish Independent
