Stand-in Ireland captain Leo Cullen reckons fatigue was a factor in the lacklustre performance against Scotland in last week’s first World Cup warm-up match.
Leinster second row Cullen captained the side in the absence of Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell and continues to fill in for tonight’s second prep match against France in Bordeaux.
Ireland failed to impress at Murrayfield seven days ago, failing to trouble the Scottish try-line and eventually going down to a 10-6 defeat courtesy of Joe Ansbro’s late try.
And somewhat ominously, Cullen reckons fatigue was a factor – in effectively the first game of the new season.
He said, “The team was a little bit quiet against Scotland and I think that’s because of the fatigue. When you’ve got the fatigue in your legs and your body is tired, it feels unusual and mentally you’re not as sharp.
“We’re aware of that this week – in the heat of battle we want to be mentally sharp. When we’re in attack mode, we need to have that mindset. We need to up our intensity for France, we must make them defend.”
France v Ireland, Saturday, 7.45pm – Live on RTE Two
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