Now I may be being a bit over sensitive but is anyone else fed up with the pre-match publicity for this tour which has been largely billed as the Munster and Leinster show? While, I’m sure, there is absolutely no malice on the part of the interviewed players and probably none on behalf of the reporters, you would have thought that the IRFU publicity department would have been professional enough to have engineered the occasional mention of Ulster and Connacht during the build up. Then again, IRFU publicity and professionalism are a bit of a contradiction in terms.
Enough of the sour grapes, it’s a new era, a new chance. While there may be some concern over the ability of Bradley to coach at this level it must be remembered that there are over 600 caps scattered among the starting XV with another 200 odd ready to come on from the bench. At this stage of the game, for a lot of the Ireland players, Bradley should just have to point them in the direction of the pitch and tell them to get on with it. Eight Heineken Cup Winners, five Magners League Winners, one Guinness Premiership Champion and the IRUPA Players Player of the Year smacks of an experienced side who have one of the best chances in their careers to come away from the southern hemisphere with a win.
With limited pace in the backs Ireland are determined to turn the game into a forward battle and with most the New Zealand pack playing ELV’s for the last few months it is an area where Ireland should dominate. After that Ireland’s chances are going to rest largely with O’Gara’s kicking game. If he’s on target and starves the All Black back three of ball then Ireland have a chance. If the All Blacks get a chance to counter attack then it’s curtains for the Irish. Ireland need to get in front early and dominate the game and hold on for the last twenty. If they go behind there are no game breakers to come off the bench, with the exception of Wallace, and Bradley would need to have more balls than his predecessor if he was gong to risk upsetting the Munster mafia and bring off the sainted Ronan.
All in all it’s a sensible selection and probably the right one under the circumstances. There is a genuine chance of an Irish win and for this reason it is worth playing the old hands and the Munster boys being on a high is an added bonus. However, lets hope that Kidney has something a bit more imaginative to offer in the autumn or it’s going to be another long four years until the next world cup.
Prediction. New Zealand to win by 3.
The Ireland team to play New Zealand on Saturday, 7th June in Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 08.35hrs (Sky Sports 1) is as follows:
Player / Club / Caps
15 – Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 6
14 – Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster) 61
13 – Brian O’Driscoll Captain (UCD/Leinster) 83
12 – Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster) 4
11 – Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 13
10 – Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster) 82
9 – Eoin Reddan (Wasps) 10
1 – Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) 56
2 – Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster) 21
3 – John Hayes (Bruff/Munster) 84
4 – Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 45
5 – Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 52
6 – Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 32
7 – David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 46
8 – Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster) 8
Replacements
16 – Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 22
17 – Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster) 7
18 – Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster) 15
19 – Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 1
20 – Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 82
21 – Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) 8
22 – Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster) 80
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