Gatland welcomes out-half rivalry

The 26-man Irish squad said goodbye to each other for the last of their occasional non-Championship get togethers in Galway yesterday. By the time they reassemble in a fortnight's time, on the week of the game against France, their numbers will have been whittled down from 26 to 22.

The anxious wait, for some of them at any rate, will be ended next Tuesday when the Irish management finalise the 22-man squad for that opening Five Nations game, as well as the team and replacements for the A match against the French. The exact make-up of the Test team itself and replacements will not be announced until early the following week, after the European Cup final between Ulster and Colomiers.

Much of the selectorial debate is likely to focus on the out-half position, where David Humphreys' rich vein of form has surely seen him pressurise the incumbent Eric Elwood like never before in the Warren Gatland era. Given its timing as well, the European final could go some way toward solving the question.

In many ways, picking Humphreys would be the safer, easier option. As the player in form, he would be the populist choice and were he and Ireland to go down against France, little flak would come the Irish management's way. Alternatively, were they to go against the calls for Humphreys' recall and Ireland lost with Eric Elwood at out-half, that would leave them far more open to criticism.

In any event, Warren Gatland was reluctant to comment about individual positions in any detail at the conclusion of yesterday's session in the Sportsground, other than to acknowledge and welcome Humphreys' fine form of late. "The more intense competition for places is, the better. That's healthy," he said.

Ulster's run has also served as an additional fillip for the Irish squad. "Psychologically, it's a boost. Even before Ulster's run, all the Irish provinces had beaten French opposition in the European Cup this year. There could be as many as ten of the their starting line-up at Lansdowne Road who were on losing French club sides."

Gatland has studied the videos of France's Tests last Autumn against Argentina and Australia, leading him to the belief that "they have got a lot of good footballers in their side. They seem to be going away from the traditional big French players by picking players who are not as big but are a lot more skilful."

Despite France's back-to-back Grand Slams, Gatland regards England as favourites for the Five Nations, given they have France at home and have been boosted by their win over South Africa. "Them (England) and us," he quipped.

Nonetheless, the optimism in the Irish camp is palpable, if tempered by '90s realism (Ireland has not won the opening game of any championship campaign this decade). "At this stage we are obviously targeting the French game. That's a big one for us. But we've set some targets, and initially that is to finish above Wales and Scotland, which would be better than Ireland have finished in the last decade.

"That's a realistic target and after that, anything would be a bonus."

Satisfaction with regard to the preparations and spirit within the squad is also tangible. Despite the previous day's cancellation and yesterday's switch from Glenina to the Sportsground nearby, there was a reasonable turn-out for the latest instalment of the Irish road-show. It wasn't the most demanding of work-outs, the meat of the session lasting barely an hour and a half and concentrating on a mixture of ruck ball drills and team moves.

"We didn't try and be too intensive this far before the opening game," admitted Gatland. "The build-up to that game will intensify on the week of the match, when we next get together. But the attitude is very, very good."

His shoulder none the worse for a weekend knock, Keith Wood took a full part in proceedings, and the only players excused participation were Trevor Brennan and Rob Henderson. "We're conscious of not sending players back to England in an injured state. We've a good relationship with the people we deal with over there so, if fellas are injured, we don't push them," said Lenihan.

As the rain clouds broke up the unexpected sunshine at the conclusion of the session, Wood was presented with a framed page from the Sunday Press of February 14th, 1960 by Paddy Walsh, son of Tackler Joe Walsh, a cofounder member of Galwegians.

The page contained two pictures of Gordon Wood, Keith's father, throwing his body around with typical Wood family recklessness during the course of an 8-5 defeat to England under the banner headline "Lapse Cost Us Game We Dominated" and a subheading "We Threw It Away." The next sub-heading read: "It Was A Blunder To Pick O'Reilly." Very harsh.