Friday’s game against the New Zealand Maori could go one of two ways: the starting-point which marks the rise of the next generation, or further evidence that Irish rugby is ready to enter the depths of a black depression.
While it was always likely that Declan Kidney would shuffle his pack for this week’s game, there’s a feeling that, because of the ineptitude of last Saturday’s performance, Irish rugby has come up to a fork in the road.
Kidney has named an entirely new line-up for this Friday’s Maori test – small ‘t’, because no caps will be awarded – but despite that the usual notion of a “midweek” tour team is certainly not prevalent. Last weekend’s display was so shambolic that places are up for grabs this Friday, right throughout the team.
Is anyone safe?
Well, Brian O’Driscoll is. Safe, that is, from the whims of selection if not the rigours of relentless rugby which – who knows? – could well have played some part in his recent dizzy spells.
Tommy Bowe and Gordon D’Arcy are under less pressure than most. Tony Buckley and Andrew Trimble ended Saturday’s game in the black, making them certain to start against Australia on Saturday week.
Jamie Heaslip is suspended but would it be a surprise if a majority of the other nine found themselves kicking their heels on the bench or worse, in the stands, at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane?
Rob Kearney is now under real pressure from Geordan Murphy, who has been handed the captaincy against the Maoris.
Kearney, who has suffered a damaging dose of the yips since his exceptional performances for the Lions a year ago, spilled a high ball early on and worse followed when he fumbled a relatively routine pick-up of Conrad Smith’s kick across the goal-line, gifting the All Blacks centre the opening try.
With Jonathan Sexton ready and waiting to step in, New Plymouth could mark an ignominious end to Ronan O’Gara’s tenure in the green shirt. Twice in the first half Ireland were awarded penalties inside their own half but O’Gara failed to find touch. The irony of the Munster out-half being sin-binned for a tackle – an off-the-ball intervention which prevented an almost certain New Zealand try – will not be lost on anyone who has been frustrated by O’Gara’s usual crepe-paper approach to defence.
Tomas O’Leary’s below-par display was undoubtedly influenced by the fact that the possession he got was sporadic and scrappy, but he’ll rightly feel the heat from Eoin Reddan.
The absence of John Hayes on Saturday was a blow. Despite his struggles in the Six Nations earlier this year, Hayes remains a galvanising presence, a comrade to have alongside when you go into battle. Without him, suddenly the front-row had the look of lambs to the slaughter: between them, Cian Healy, Sean Cronin and Buckley had started just 10 senior internationals before Saturday’s game.
However, the time will come when Hayes will no longer be an option – some would argue that it already has – so it’s vital that new front-rows are unearthed sooner rather than later. In the circumstances, the trio performed well enough. Cronin has yet to throw to two of the country’s most reliable line-out targets – the injured Paul O’Connell and Leo Cullen – and lost another with Heaslip’s departure.
Buckley (below) was almost as good as he can be in the loose, demonstrating the soft hands and offloads usually associated with the world’s best back-row forwards. There are still question-marks about his ability to lock down the set-piece but surely with sufficient exposure to top-class rugby, and sufficient coaching, he can still develop into a worthy successor to The Bull’s mantle.
Healy has endured a difficult month or so, humiliatingly singled out in the Heineken Cup semi-final before the weekend’s collective team embarrassment, but he showed plenty of character and, if not as prevalent in the loose as Buckley, still contributed on that score.
However, it’s difficult to judge a front-row on a game of 13 tries. It may be bordering on lunacy to say this after a 36-point defeat, but they will have much more searching examinations in the future.
This Friday, Marcus Horan and Tom Court – whose missed tackle on Sam Whitelock at the end of the game against the All Blacks was inexcusable – will prop down either side of John Fogarty. Buckley, Healy and either Cronin or a fit Jerry Flannery are the ones at the front of the queue but the front-row situation is so up in the air at the moment that a big performance from any of this week’s three can propel them back into the spotlight.
If it was difficult to judge the front row on last Saturday’s game, a similiar theory applies to Dan Tuohy, who enjoyed a try-scoring debut, but he did himself no harm with his display off the bench and gets a chance to cement a second-row spot this week. Ed O’Donoghue also comes in and while it may be stretching it to suggest that Donnacha O’Callaghan could be the fall guy in Brisbane, the Munster lock’s position has suddenly looked far from watertight.
The back row has been Ireland’s strong suit for a few years now so it’s unthinkable that that will change any time soon. But with Jamie Heaslip banned and others such as Stephen Ferris, Denis Leamy, John Muldoon and Kevin McLaughlin injured, there’s a chance for Niall Ronan, Rhys Ruddock and Chris Henry to stake a claim this week.
If last weekend’s defeat – or, more importantly, the manner of it – is not to consign Ireland to the scrapheap of world rugby, then the response of the 15 who take to the field in Rotorua on Friday, as well as people like Cronin, Buckley and Healy, could be a key factor.
To suggest that there is hope may be clutching at straws.
At this stage, though, straws are all we’ve got.
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