The Irish challenge for the RWC
Columnist By Garth Hamilton, 26 Jul 2007 Garth Hamilton is a Roar Expert
2,898 readsWith the Tri Nations now safely wrapped up in All Black arms having sized up the strengths of their fellow southern hemisphere world cup challengers, its time to turn our attention back to the north and consider the merits of the best of the northern hemisphere’s teams. First up, the runners up in this year’s Six Nations competition, Ireland.
Many pundits have named the men in green, coupled with the French, as being the best chances the northern hemisphere have of retaining the World Cup. There is always a touch of ‘the best of the rest’ about such compliments, especially when they come from southern hemisphere commentators. Given New Zealand’s dominance of all and sundry over the last couple of seasons this is to be expected however as Australia recently showed, the All Blacks can be beaten and by worse teams than Ireland.
The two areas where the improving Wallabies troubled New Zealand in this year’s Bledisloe cup games were the lineout and the midfield. In both these areas the Irish are very strong.
The Irish midfield’s qualities are well known and the combination of Ronan O’Gara, Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll can cause any team difficulty. O’Driscoll is a much more dangerous ball carrier than Australia’s main strike weapon, Stirling Mortlock, and in Denis Hickie, Shane Horgan, Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy Ireland have the sort of traditional finishers that running-rugby teams need.
Marshalled by the red-haired Munster captain, Paul O’Connell, the Irish lineout is as strong as the rest of their forward game. Last November in torrential rain at Landsdowne Road the Irish forwards were able to inflict their will on the touring Wallaby pack in a way that not even the All Blacks have been able to do for a long time. That game was played tight and hard however the backrow of Denis Leamy, Simon Easterby and Neil Best excel at supporting their talented backline out wide.
Where Australia have the advantage over Ireland is in their defence, their knowledge of the New Zealand players and their experience of having beaten them, something the Irish have never done. In 2006 the Irish troubled the All Blacks at home and with 20 minutes remaining in the first test the Irish held a well deserved 23 – 15 lead before being overrun amidst four Luke McAllister penalties to lose 34 – 23. The Irish grit continued in the second test before the home side won out 27 – 17.
Despite the efforts of this tour the best Ireland have to show for their encounters with the All Blacks is 19 losses and a 10-all draw way back in 1973. That is a rather large monkey to have on a team’s back however if the two teams meet in the world cup, the All Blacks won’t be without their own monkey – consecutive semi-final defeats will surely be reminded them many times until that spell is broken.
A shot at New Zealand is not however guaranteed and Ireland face the most difficult of passages to the finals. Inclusion in Pool C, the somewhat dramatically titled pool of death, means a hard struggle against both France and Argentina. The Pumas thrive on field position and forward dominance and despite their international ranking still seem to catch teams off guard with their confrontational play. Should a trigger happy referee be appointed for either of Argentina’s clashes with France or Ireland, the Argentine mantra of field position and penalties could prove dangerous, particularly for the French who have struggled with on field discipline in the past.
Qualifying first in Pool C means the only time Ireland will play New Zealand is if both teams make the final. Qualifying second in this pool means a quarter final showdown against New Zealand, the unbackable favourites to qualify atop Pool D. Ireland have yet to move passed the quarter final stage and the canny planning of coach O’Sullivan will not have over looked this possibility.
Elimination at quarter final stage is something that very few kiwi supporters will have even dignified with serious consideration. However to O’Sullivan and the Irish team, defeating the All Blacks in the quarter finals must be a very real prospect if they dare to dream of world cup glory.
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July 26th 2007 @ 5:06pm
Shah Sahari said | July 26th 2007 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
Yes, Ireland could have and should have beaten the All Blacks in the first test on their last visit down under. I think the Irish have the beating of anyone if they are on song. Teams will write off the Irish at their own peril. The only thing about them is they perform best when they are underdogs, not when the yare cosndiered favourites so it will suit them to fly under the radar.
Unfortunately they are in the customary group of death at the RWC and, sadly, one of Ireland, Argentina and France will be gone before the quarterfinals. How did this draw happen? On what basis were the teams pooled?
July 26th 2007 @ 6:47pm
tongstar said | July 26th 2007 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
i’ve been a fan of the irish since they developed some backs to work around driscoll.
anyone game to give me odds for Ire vs Aus final?
July 26th 2007 @ 8:21pm
Phil said | July 26th 2007 @ 8:21pm | Report comment
“Unfortunately they are in the customary group of death at the RWC and, sadly, one of Ireland, Argentina and France will be gone before the quarterfinals. How did this draw happen? On what basis were the teams pooled?”
To make Test Match rugby relevant again in the gap years between World Cups, the IRB need to comes up with a rankings system that rewards teams that play well in the lead up to the World Cup. Maybe Ireland would have a better draw and Australia & England a tougher one like they deserve…
It will never happen and once the next World Cup comes around again we’ll be able to predict who will be in the Semi’s from a year out, just like always.
Excelllent
July 26th 2007 @ 9:02pm
sheek said | July 26th 2007 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
Agree the pool draw is a disgrace. This is the problem of determining seeds from the previous WC. Like Soccer, seedings should be made only 2 years out.
Seeds from 2003 are 1&8; 2&7; 3&6; 4&5. Positions 9 to 16 are then determined by a combination of geographical location & strength.
I like Ireland. They are the “sleeper” of the tournament. It would do the romance of the WC an enormous amount of good if Ireland prevailed (I think they have either shared, or finished 2nd, in each of the past five 6Ns).
New Zealand however, is one country determined to ensure that Ireland doesn’t win the WC!
July 26th 2007 @ 10:44pm
jools-usa said | July 26th 2007 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
Don’t agree that Ireland are the “sleeper”.
Just saw the 6-nation Ire/Pom match at Twickenham earlier this year & they were
very lucky to beat an England team that (for once) ran hard up the middle & actually looked like a southern team.
O’Connell, along with Matfield, is in my World XV, & BOD is v good, but we see these guys playing 6-N when there’s room to move yet when they meet OZ/NZ /SA the space is not there.
No, I think the dark-horse will be Argentine and most dangerous from North is France who on their day are agile enough to overcome Southern defence.
Jools-USA.
July 26th 2007 @ 11:04pm
DF6 said | July 26th 2007 @ 11:04pm | Report comment
For Ireland to be a threat they will need to rely on BOD to play somewhereclose to his best for atleast 5 games, thats a tough ask, NZ AUS SA and france all have Depth in Talent where as Ireland are probably 3 or 4 men short, i mean real class players
Why do they make the pools for the world cup on the finishing of the last world cup? england were thenumber 1 team that year but havent been since, scotland should not havetheir seeding and argentina should, the all blacks actually have a really bad pool in terms of quality of opposition
July 27th 2007 @ 1:58am
Pat Moroney said | July 27th 2007 @ 1:58am | Report comment
jools-usa said, “Don’t agree that Ireland are the “sleeper”. Just saw the 6-nation Ire/Pom match at Twickenham earlier this year & they were very lucky to beat an England team that (for once) ran hard up the middle & actually looked like a southern team.”
I can thing of many ways to describe Ireland beating England 43-13 – but lucky is not one of them. Also that game can’t be looked at in isolation, Ireland were under immense pressure going into the game. One of the last time English feet were on the field in Croke Park prior to that day was during Bloody Sunday when 15 people were killed during a Gaelic match by British Forces. The weight of expectation was HUGE and the team went out and destroyed England. Strettle scored a good try and that was it for England and the game was over with 20 minutes left to go. Boss’s try was a cherry on the win.
July 27th 2007 @ 2:07am
Sam Taulelei said | July 27th 2007 @ 2:07am | Report comment
Ireland were fancied in the last World Cup and were favoured to beat Australia in the quarter final at Melbourne. They were valiant in defeat and just lacked that big match temperament and street smarts to get the win.
They have the talent to again mount a strong challenge and will be buoyed by their recent successes against Australia and South Africa that if they face either of them in the knockout games they can beat them.
Like Australia they will be hoping they don’t suffer any injuries to their key players as the quality of their backup players is questionable.
Ronan O’Gara controls the game well and would be one of the top rated first fives in the world but the key to their backline isn’t Brian O’Driscoll but Gordon D’Arcy. He adds a lot of starch to their defence and his direct running is a great foil for O’Driscoll.
It’s not improbable for Ireland to finish top of their pool and that will set them on a quarterfinal against either Italy or Scotland which they would be expected to win and see them progress to the semifinals for the first time.
They play an attractive brand of rugby and have the forwards to play a tighter game when required. Finishing top of the pool will definitely help them and once in the semis they have just as strong a chance of making the final and winning it as any other team.
There’s a lot to like about the Irish and unlike the other home union teams are universally liked around the world and will ride a wave of popularity in France which will also benefit them.
Many people will scoff and deride me for saying this but I also believe England will prove to be a more competitive team than their recent results suggests, particularly with a fit Jonny Wilkinson back. They improved a great deal in the second test against South Africa earlier this year and will be targeting their return match in the World Cup as a must win encounter. If England finish top of their pool that will have an enormous impact on the outcome of the tournament as it will possibly mean an Australia v South Africa quarterfinal (if Australia wins in Cardiff, which they haven’t done on their last 3 visits).
I suggested a NZ v Ireland final earlier this year and got roundly criticised.
However France at home will only make that advantage count if they perform well, otherwise the country will turn on them and they’ll collapse under the pressure like a souffle. Already there are reports of the public booing them at training sessions. South Africa and Australia need to win both their pools against tricky opponents and neither have a good record away from home.
New Zealand has always made the semifinals and with the record that this team has accumulated over the past 3 years, I wouldn’t bet against them doing it again this year, after that however, who knows.
So a NZ v Ireland final is not as far fetched as it sounds.
July 27th 2007 @ 2:49am
swifty said | July 27th 2007 @ 2:49am | Report comment
Sam I agree with a lot of what you have to say.
For Brian O’Driscoll at outside centre to be the team’s star player says a lot about the team. Firstly for an outside centre to excel he needs a good forward pack to win him some ball. Then he needs good inside backs to either get him the ball when he’s in good position or run plays well to put him in good position.
Australia’s best performing player of recent years has been Chris Latham who makes most of his breaks from broken play that rely upon neither well won possession nor well worked backline play.
Your call about England might not prove that far wrong but don’t worry about Wilkinson, Lorenzo Dallaglio is the key to England’s campaign. He’s old and needs to be managed but he could still pick his teeth with most of the aussie forwards.
July 27th 2007 @ 12:22pm
Temba said | July 27th 2007 @ 12:22pm | Report comment
OK every one here has good points, important point is that the AB’s are the best team and are clear favorites to win. The only team that has the strength and depth to beat the AB’s(with out upset) is South Africa(on Paper), now I know they came last in the tri-nations, no one needs to remind me but a couple of points you should remember…
Jake White has been planning for this event since he took up the job 4 years ago. He has kept the core the same and built around amazing players like Vick Matfield, Schalk Burger, John Smit, Persy Mont, Brain Habs, Foerie Dupreez and old veterans like OS Durant. The new talent has shown brilliance and “hunger”.
The most important thing of all is the fact that for the first time since the 95 RWC there is no political interference with the team. They are at full-strength with a blessing from all. Second I would say they have something to prove and I have heard from many people that the AB’s have the most depth but I disagree. We lost the tri-nations with a second string(un-tested) team that came here and silenced the critics by playing hearts out and at times putting the 2 top rated teams in the world on the back foot. Keeping in mind also that SA had 2 teams in the finals of the super 14.
Now last of all and it might sound childish but Jake is calling everyone except the president of the USA for help not because he is unsure but because he thinks people like washed out Clive W and Eddie J have important knowledge to share. It has always been his idea that caps and experience win RWC’s and I tent to agree. He has an amazing team and a rugby “mind” controversial at times but it comes with couching a team in a country full of controversy. He has something up his sleeve…
I am sure all the other teams will play the best rugby of there lives and will fight valiantly but its going to be a classic final, Springbok vs. All Black both at full strength a colossal match that will be decided by a couple of points… no more then 5 (hello drop goals)
I could not have picked a better bok team and that is the first time I can say that since 95. Remember that unlike our cricket team the rugby players have spirit and we will fight to the end(with out choking).
That is my 2 cents…could be wrong but time will tell. I cant wait 42 days to go, its going to be one we will never forget!