Elwood primes pack to win collisions

RUGBY:IN THE context of an ever lengthening casualty list Ireland senior coach Declan Kidney must be hoping the disruption to his plans for the opening Six Nations Championship match against Italy at the Stadio Flaminio tomorrow week is not compounded by further injuries tonight.

Kidney will want Gavin Duffy, Tomás O’Leary and Tony Buckley to excel thereby refreshing their claims to a place in the senior squad for next week: so too Kevin McLaughlin and Devin Toner.

He’ll want young players like Eoin O’Malley, Nevin Spence, Ian Humphreys and Ian Nagle to express themselves eloquently and that applies to the remainder of the team.

For example at the current rate of attrition Johne Murphy and Denis Hurley have moved from the outskirts of the team to a place just off the main street.

Eric Elwood has prepared the side – he’s had them for a couple of days – assisted by Anthony Foley and they’ll be keen to encourage the team to go out and play. The trick with these games is for the players to resist the temptation to play as individuals.

The traditional battlegrounds up front will be instructive, particularly the scrum. In Nagle, Toner, McLaughlin and captain, Chris Henry the Wolfhounds have varied options out of touch. O’Leary’s service and general game management will come under scrutiny so too the manner in which Duffy discharges his duties at fullback.

He has been in excellent form for Connacht prior to his injury, revelling in a more instinctive counter-attacking style Elwood has encouraged at provincial level. There’s nothing wrong with O’Leary’s work ethic; he’s probably guilty of trying a little bit too hard but a return to his best form shouldn’t be too far away.

On the bench Elwood can call upon gifted young players like Dominic Ryan, Ian Whitten and Jamie Hagan. Elwood admitted: “I think I said at the start that the players should be looking at this as an opportunity to try and put themselves in the frame for selection for the Ireland team and that is exactly the way it is panning out.

“Fergus (McFadden) has already been brought into the senior squad even before the game has taken place, so it just shows these guys are one performance away from making that step up. We have got a spread of eight internationals in the side, and guys like Tomás (O’Leary), Tony (Buckley) and Gavin (Duffy) as well as the others will certainly focus on putting in their best personal performances to hopefully contribute to a win and get themselves in the picture for the senior team.

“We lost Dan (Touhy) and Donnacha (Ryan), but just as in the senior team where injuries create opportunities for others, it’s the same with the Wolfhounds as Ian Nagle get a chance to get some good experience at this level along with Nevin Spence and Eoin O’Malley.

“Ian (Humphreys) and Tomás (O’Leary) are the types of player who like to attack the spaces and along with the good attackers we have across the backs we should, conditions permitting, get a good open game. The first job is to create the platform to do that, so the pack will have to really produce the goods and win that vital collision area.”

The Scots have picked a strong team including six players who are in Andy Robinson’s extended Six Nations squad. Scotland A beat the US Eagles 25-0 in November and seven remain from that match.

Coach Nick Scrivener has specific goals tonight. “We want to play positive, attacking rugby, and one of the things that will allow us to do that is making sure we win the collisions. I feel that’s massively important against any Irish side – if you allow them to get momentum and quick ball, they always have pace, power and ability in the backs and they’re going to hurt you,” he said

SCOTLAND A: J Thompson (Edinburgh); H O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), B Cairns (Edinburgh), J Houston (Edinburgh), L Jones (Edinburgh); D Blair (Edinburgh), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh, capt); J Welsh (Glasgow Warriors), D Hall (Glasgow Warriors), G Cross (Edinburgh); S MacLeod (Edinburgh), F McKenzie (Edinburgh); R Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), A MacDonald (Edinburgh), J Beattie (Glasgow Warriors). Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), R Harley (Glasgow Warriors), R Grant (Edinburgh), C Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), P Murchie (Glasgow Warriors), C Shaw (Glasgow Warriors).

IRELAND WOLFHOUNDS: G Duffy (Connacht); J Murphy (Munster), E O’Malley (Leinster), N Spence (Ulster), D Hurley (Munster); I Humphreys (Ulster), T O’Leary (Munster); B Wilkinson (Connacht), D Varley (Munster), T Buckley (Munster); I Nagle (Munster), D Toner (Leinster); K McLaughlin (Leinster), W Faloon (Ulster), C Henry (Ulster, capt). Replacements: N Brady (Ulster), J Hagan (Connacht), A Browne (Connacht), D Ryan (Leinster), I Boss (Leinster), N O’Connor (Ulster), I Whitten (Ulster).