THE Irish Rugby team take on Italy this Sunday morning 8.30am Irish time, knowing that a win over the Azzurri would help them top the group in a World Cup for the first time ever.The game every fan was focused on prior to the World Cup was the Australia game. The game which worried the Irish players and coaching staff the most was the Italian fixture.
The fourth game in the pool was always going to be a quarter final playoff. Ireland may lead the group, but a loss to Italy this weekend and all the hard work would be undone. Ireland would be out.
Ireland have lost three times to Italy in their 19 meetings. The margins in the wins are getting smaller and smaller with every season. In February of this year, Ireland were lucky to escape with a 13–11 win in Rome. Believe it or not, this game is going to be tight.
The Golden Generation, as the elder players on the Irish squad are known, now have a shot at glory. A win over Italy would set up a quarter final pairing with our Celtic cousins Wales. That side of the draw would also see France and England in the hunt for the final spot against, as it looks now, New Zealand.
If you could have hand picked this run in, it would not have been more ideal. There is one stumbling block however to this weekend and any subsequent wins. The tag of favourites.
The Irish as a nation are not good at being favourites. The nation as a whole likes to be the under dog and be begrudging of others success. The plaudits after winning against Australia did not sit well on the Irish peoples shoulders. The generic psych of our nation is to think, “how are we going to mess this up”.
Ireland showed against Russia that the favourites label almost paralyses the mind. Yes, they won, but not in the cut throat manner of a New Zealand or France, if they were faced with similar opposition.
Like the Ireland soccer team in Italia 90 and USA 94, one off performances against the biggest teams in the World are often followed up with mediocre performances against lesser lights.
Should Ireland fail to turn up this weekend, then they could very much be in trouble.
Italy will bring a huge forward challenge to Ireland. In previous years, Ireland would try and keep it tight up front against the Italians. Wait for them to tire and then unleash the backs. This Italian side is different. They will not tire and their defence is improving with every game. The Blues kept Australia to six points on the first 40 of their World Cup game.
The winning of the game for Ireland will be in two areas. The Irish backrow, minus Jamie Heaslip, have been a revelation. O’Brien and Ferris will make sure that hard yards are made. Ireland will then have a platform for more attacking play.
Here then, lies the issue for the second part of how Ireland can win. If O’Gara plays, then Ireland can play both a wide and tight game. Believe it or not, this hack thinks that O’Gara is better suited to O’Driscoll’s game that Sexton is for Ireland.
When O’Gara plays, he plays deep and hits BOD more times than anyone else off his skip passes. Sexton, a more skillful runner with ball in hand, can sometimes look to do too much off of Gordon D’Arcy, often skipping O’Driscoll in search of a quick fix.
The debate over who should play 10 will rumble on, as only one can be picked to start. For this game against the Italians, it has to be O’Gara who gets the nod, based on the afore mentioned BOD factor and the reliability of his kicking, from hand and at goal.
The news on the injury front this week is good. Rob Kearney (bruised knee), Keith Earls (bruised leg) and Sean O’Brien (bruised arm) all sat out the early sessions this week as a precaution, but all three are expected to be available.
Tommy Bowe (calf) and Paul O’Connell (hamstring) both took part in some light training early in the week and again, both are expected to play at the weekend.
With Ireland one win away from a World Cup quarter final, the pressure is now really on. The set up is akin to Munster’s old Heineken Cup days. Win and you are in from the final pool game. Just what the doctor ordered then. Cup rugby for a team built on it. Time for the “Golden Generation” to grasp their most golden of opportunities.
