Spectre of failure is real spur

I'd like to have been a fly on the wall when the management were selecting the Irish team for tonight's game. They obviously had a number of factors to consider: the injuries and tiredness of those who played in the first two games, the strength (weakness) of the opposition, Romania, and the likelihood of a play-off in Lens next Wednesday night.

Add to that the poor team form against Australia and of a large number of individuals in particular and one gets some idea of the task which they faced. I suspect the extent of the changes they have made would have surprised most people. But they have made a calculated decision that this team should still be good enough to beat Romania (by how much doesn't matter), thereby putting them in a position to field as strong a side as possible in the play-off next week. The management have rested most of the key players - Brian O'Driscoll, David Humphreys, Paul Wallace and Keith Wood. They would probably liked to have also rested Peter Clohessy and both second-rows Paddy Johns and Malcolm O'Kelly, but for various reasons are unable to do so - i.e. injury to Jeremy Davidson and the need for some experience in the front row. They are also forced to re-introduce Dion O'Cuinneagain and Andy Ward because of the injuries to David Corkery and Eric Miller. We are suddenly looking very thin on the ground for back-row cover.

It was obviously decided that Conor O'Shea needed a boost to his confidence, so they made him captain in the original team selection whereas I would have thought he would be better off being allowed to concentrate on his own game. The return of O'Cuinneagain as captain should be a help to O'Shea, because he knows he needs a much better performance than last Sunday. The sole objective in tonight's match is to win. With this team I expect Ireland will stick to the game plan of recent times and try to pin the opposition into their 22. Eric Elwood suits this type of game much better than a loose running style. Furthermore, the lack of match practice as a unit will force Ireland to err on the side of caution. On the other hand a number of players will see the game as an opportunity to become first-choice players for Warren Gatland and will be aware that the more limited the game plan, the less exposure they will get. This particularly applies to James Topping on the wing and Jonathan Bell in the centre. Gatland will be disappointed that Miller has had to pull out. A good performance would surely have resulted in the back row of Ward (7), O'Cuinneagain (6) and Miller at number eight for the remainder of our World Cup games. O'Cuinneagain could also have done with a break. I hope his shoulder injury has cleared up.

Tom Tierney's passing on Sunday was much too slow and his kicking poor. He should be far more demanding of his forwards. The scrum-half's job is to direct his pack, boss them, bully them and cajole them.

Tom Tierney at scrum-half needs a greatly improved performance. His passing against the Australians was much too slow and his kicking poor. Those are areas that he needs to get right this evening. He should also be far more demanding of his forwards. It doesn't matter that he is a good deal younger than a number of them. The scrum-half's job is to direct his pack, boss them, bully them and cajole them. He must let them know when their ball presentation is unsatisfactory, whether it is too slow or not protected enough. The Romanians are conscious of the strength of the Irish scrum. It will be interesting to see how they try to counteract that. They must quietly fancy their chances of an upset because they managed to remain competitive against Australia for a great deal of that game. They only barely managed to beat the United States, but somehow this Irish side does not look as experienced or cohesive as the one that beat the US comprehensively.

Romania will also be conscious of the fact that we failed to cross the Australian line (in fact we only crossed their crossbar once) and that most of our scores against the US came from line-outs and mauls close in. They will therefore reckon that if they can defend these situations successfully, they might frustrate the Irish side. The Romanians are likely to give away a lot of penalties, so hopefully Elwood will punish them. It will obviously be an unmitigated disaster if we lose. The players know this and that in itself should motivate them. Fear has often been the greatest form of motivation. After the disappointment of the Australian game, there is no longer the same expectation of quality. The supporters who will be there this evening will, as against the US, be the genuine rugby supporters, who above all want Ireland playing in the quarter-final of the World Cup in Lansdowne Road on Sunday week.

(In an interview with Johnny Watterson).