Decoy runner debate rages

The war of words between Australia and England, or more pertinently between Eddie Jones and Clive Woodward, has resurfaced already, providing an interesting little aside in the embryonic stages of this World Cup.

Eddie O'Sullivan, as capable as any of the 20 head coaches of articulating his thoughts on the specifics of the game, yesterday veered more towards Woodward's viewpoint in offering a constructive solution to the vexed question of "blocking", or "obstruction", by dummy runners.

It is something of a hoary old chestnut between Woodward and Jones, and from his base in Perth the English coach wasted little time in declaring that Joe Roff's late try in the opener against the Pumas was the product of "a massive block in midfield", namely by Matt Burke.

The Puma coach Marcelo Loffreda subsequently agreed with Woodward and the debate was given added fuel by what seemed a blatant case of blocking by a Japanese decoy runner in the move which led to a try by their left winger Hirotoki Onozawa against Scotland.

In the interim, Jones ducked Woodward's comment. "Wickets in Western Australia are pretty bouncy, so I'll let that one go through to the (wicket) keeper."

At a media briefing in the Irish squad's Terrigal base yesterday, O'Sullivan said "I'd be inclined to agree with Clive Woodward on it. I've spoken with Clive about this a couple of years ago. There's nothing wrong with decoy runners as such. It's just that the refereeing of it is extremely difficult because it happens instantaneously and it's a judgment call by a referee, who is not always in the best position to make it, and they're very big calls."

However, he interpreted the Roff try differently from Woodward. "I think ironically that the one they're talking about last Friday night wasn't obstruction because the defender actually turned his shoulder in and took Matt Burke, so the defender made the decision to tackle the Australian.

"Ironically, again, I thought there was an obstruction in the try against Scotland. The Japanese centre cleaned out the Scottish centre and never got near the ball. One was legal and one wasn't legal, but where do you draw the line? It's a very hard thing to referee. It happens instantaneously, there's players running in different directions and the referee is on the move.

"The simple way out is to make sure the ball isn't passed behind anyone's back. But if they are going to allow it, then maybe they are going to have to go upstairs (to the video referee) on these issues if there's a try involved. It would have been very easy to go to the TMO (television match official) on Friday night and either Joe Roff scored a try or Matt Burke was penalised."

Casting his eye further across last weekend's matches, while the French and the All Blacks caught the eye with their handsome wins over Fiji and Italy, O'Sullivan picked England's 12-try, 84-6 win over Georgia as the pick of the opening performances.

"I thought England did well in very wet conditions. The ball was like a bar of soap. They seemed to be slipping and sliding everywhere, yet they really went out and played for 80 minutes against what was a full Georgian onslaught. They didn't get knocked out of their stride, they didn't get upset, they kept to the job in hand and played to a very high intensity.

"I was very impressed with them. I thought New Zealand took a while to get going but, again, they were ruthless. Again, South Africa took a little time to get going against Uruguay before pulling away but overall, I thought the most polished performance of the weekend was England's."

O'Sullivan repeated his assertion that Romania were a physical and good side, and pointed out that Scotland "got a pounding from Japan for half an hour". However, he asserted that "as the pool stages progress it's less likely that there will be upsets because as they (the underdogs) take the hits they don't have the depth to replace players and maintain that level of performance."

The video review of that game largely confirmed his initial impressions of Ireland's performance, although the Irish coach was moved to single out Shane Horgan's display after his eight-month absence, and also Keith Wood.

"Shane Horgan, a guy who everyone was afraid wouldn't hit the ground running, had a monster game. I thought he was outstanding. For me he was close to man of the match. There were some very good performances. He was very good in attack and defence.

"I said last week I had no worries about him but I was telling lies," O'Sullivan admitted with a smile.

"I was a little bit worried. We were all a little bit worried. The guy had been injured for a very long time and there's a confidence thing. But he's a very good competitor, he's a fine athlete, a very good rugby player and all the indications in training were that he was going to be fine but you're only 99 per cent sure at best. So it was great that he went out and had a huge game. I thought he was outstanding and his workrate was incredibly good."

Another early talking point in the World Cup has been the scheduling, and the day after Loffreda basically accused the organisers of favouring Ireland, O'Sullivan admitted that an itinerary of four games in 14 and 15 days for Italy and Tonga in Pool D was "absolute lunacy."

He also conceded Ireland have "a good deal also" but pointed out the schedules had been announced a long time ago. "It's a bit late to bellyache now."

On the injury front, Gary Longwell's calf strain "is taking a bit longer" to heal than had been originally hoped while there might also be a cloud over Anthony Foley's participation against Namibia on Sunday, although a knee scan has thankfully confirmed he only suffered a bruised cartilage against Romania. Keith Wood's dead leg kept him out of contact work on Monday and yesterday, but Brian O'Driscoll has resumed full training.

The team trained behind closed doors once more at the Central Coast Grammar School yesterday, but at least the sun was shining, with the good weather expected to continue in the short-term anyway.

The school's 1,100 pupils (non denominational and "co-ed") reassembled after their mid-term break and were presented with an IRFU plaque and some merchandise by the Irish team manager Brian O'Brien.

In his address to them he commented: "We have come to the World Cup with our dreams and you should have your own goals and dreams."