O'Connell looks ready to lift the burden

Pressure on prop

Nothing Foley and Kearney said yesterday dispelled the notion Michael Bent is likely to be on the bench, despite the addition of Stephen Archer to the squad.

Ulster back-up tighthead Declan Fitzpatrick hadn’t rejoined the squad as of yesterday, as he was still undergoing “return to play protocols” after suffering concussion in Ulster’s win away to the Dragons last Friday week, only his second outing of the season, and Foley dismissed the notion the commotion over Bent’s inclusion will put more pressure on the New Zealand-born prop.

“I wouldn’t imagine he is listening to former internationals talking about him. Michael is Irish qualified and that gives him every right in the world to play for Ireland. It’s not his problem. He has shown in the videos, the ITM Cup, he is good enough, fit enough and strong enough, so why not avail of that opportunity if it’s a position that needs filling and there is a guy out there of that calibre? You would be foolish not to.”

Foley has also re-joined an Ireland squad still nursing something of a hangover from the New Zealand 60-0 defeat, although he sees the desire for redemption as a positive.

“The guys that played in that Test match, will have that ringing in the backs of their heads every night they go to bed thinking about it, because it is a horrible place to be . . . What you look for is the next time out, making sure you can right that wrong, and it’s a massive opportunity for the 23 who go out to put that to bed and not so much forget about it but make it a driving force for you through the game and through the campaign.”

The Springboks, as much as ever under Heyneke Meyer, will be intent on pulverising Ireland physically. “They want to run straight over you,” said Foley. “Other teams will try and do that as well, but you’ve got to front up there and you’ve got to make sure you can repeat it time and time again and not get bored of it. You’ve got to make sure you’re first up off the ground, make sure we’re constantly defending with 15 men on our feet, we’re constantly making sure that we are working hard on our kicking game on both sides of the ball.”

Also denied a host of frontliners, South Africa too look like a team in transition, but that’s not the way Foley sees it. “No, I see them as one of the best teams in the world coming to our home patch, going to take us on head on and we need to front up to it.”