RUGBY NEWS ROUND-UP:SENTIMENT IS a peripheral emotion for a player in the context of the sport in which he participates because injury is blind to the reputation or importance of an individual to a team. Ireland will go into the Six Nations Championship without Brian O'Driscoll, this country's pre-eminent player for over a decade.
He has played more times for his country, scored more tries and led the national side on more occasions than anyone else. Since his first cap he has missed just five matches in the northern hemisphere’s annual spring tournament and never more than one in any campaign.
In attempting to quantify his importance to the team, there is arguably no one better placed to discuss the issue than his erstwhile midfield cohort Gordon D’Arcy.
Quite apart from the number of times they have played together for Leinster, they hold the world record (47 Tests) as a midfield pairing.
D’Arcy, who is believed to be in the process of negotiating a two-year extension to his contract with Leinster, was in Dublin for a Puma gig before linking with his Irish team-mates in Limerick last night. He paused for a little while in considering how O’Driscoll’s absence would impact on the squad before admitting: “I don’t know how to describe Brian. You can fill in the adjective yourself.
“Irish rugby has been built on his shoulders for a long time and he has been the foundation of the team for Leinster and Ireland so it’s a case of, how do you replace the irreplaceable?”
He listed some of the contenders, naming Fergus McFadden, Eoin O’Malley and Keith Earls before continuing: “You just have to fill the void and get on with it.
“If you are worried about it [O’Driscoll’s absence], then it becomes a bigger problem than it is. You just look at the form of the guys in the 13 jerseys for the provinces; you put faith in them. You put someone in that [Ireland] 13 jersey and they understand the magnitude of what they are taking on: they either grasp it with both hands, fill it, or they don’t.
“Unless Blackrock have kept some sort of genetic thing then you are never going to replace like with like,” he said, smiling.
“All those guys are candidates and have different attributes that say Brian doesn’t have. So you work with whoever is there and you play to his strengths.”
Players compartmentalise the season into chunks. Any satisfaction that D’Arcy harbours in terms of Leinster’s smooth progress into the Heineken Cup quarter-final will be parked until April, replaced in terms of focus by Irish duties.
There is a gradual incline in standards. He pointed out: “It is very much a pyramid. Everything builds up to playing for your country and internationals. The toughest Pro12 match is a little below the Heineken Cup match and the toughest Heineken Cup match is a little below an international.
“There is something in an international you just can’t quantify. The feeling you get when you win [is better] and you are always that little bit more sore the next day. The feeling you get when you lose is always that little bit worse too, so it is something very special.
“We’re on our way down to Limerick and it starts now. The intensity is definitely there. The sessions are longer on the pitch because they need to be. Everyone is being judged on the pitch and there is no quarter given.
“Everyone is trying to outplay each other because everyone wants to get that jersey. You are not sleeping in your own bed; you are living in each other’s pockets and a bit of crankiness sets in.
“The standard is there because you are playing with the best players in the country and you bring the best out of each other. All those elements together bring up the intensity, standard, the pressure and physicality and it automatically goes up a level.”
Wales dominate Ireland’s immediate past and future in the Test arena. They knocked the Irish team out of the World Cup and will provide the opposition at the Aviva Stadium, on the opening afternoon of the Six Nations.
Thoughts of revenge may be emotive for supporters but players are more dispassionate. They need to be. Ireland can’t revisit the scoreline or their performance that day in New Zealand and while acknowledging that it would be nice to “get their own back”, D’Arcy pointed out that a successful Six Nations campaign will have to be built on sturdier foundations than a grievance.
“I don’t think they [Wales] are a better team than us but the record books will show different. It’s not about just winning because they beat us at the World Cup, but having no game plan, no tactics; no nothing. It’s a wasted game for us then. We need to establish our game plan and tactics because it is a five-game tournament. You want to build in every game and get momentum.”
Ireland’s defence coach Les Kiss will enjoy a broader remit in the upcoming tournament to include taking some responsibility for Ireland’s back play.
D’Arcy enthused: “[I’m] very excited about it. He is a very interesting guy, has a great outlook on life and is probably one of the most positive people I have ever met.
“He will bring that enthusiasm into the backs’ role. He has some really good ideas. As a player and being coached by quite a number of coaches in the last few years, if the coach has the respect of the players, it can go a long way; and one thing Les definitely has is the respect of the players.”
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