Ireland can't take the pool heat

South Africa - 6 Ireland - 0:HOCKEY/World Cup: There was, at least, some refreshing honesty from Irish captain Rachael Kohler in Perth yesterday after her team were, frankly, humiliated by South Africa in the final pool game of the World Cup.

Honesty has, in truth, been in short supply amongst a small section of the Irish camp who have complained of "negative reporting" on their campaign to date, one in which they have lost all seven of the games they have played.

That they haven't reached the standards they set for themselves before this tournament is probably down to a lack of appreciation of the quality of their opponents. However, while there was no shame in losing to Australia, Holland and England, defeats by the United States, Spain, Japan and yesterday's drubbing by South Africa, who hadn't won one of their previous six pool fixtures, are hardly the makings of "positive" reports.

If some of the complainants had shown half as much pride in their shirts as Kohler did yesterday Ireland would not have suffered as they did at the hands of the South Africans, who met little resistance in the face of a woeful Irish display. The blunt fact is that if it hadn't been for Tara Browne's goalkeeping and some wayward South African shooting the margin of defeat would have run in to double figures.

When offered the excuse of the conditions - at one point the temperature on the pitch hit the 108 degree- mark - Kohler winced and simply said: "it was the performance that was the problem, not the heat".

"Defending wise," she added, "we could have done an awful lot better. There were a lot of mistakes today, they were our responsibility, we can't blame them on the weather."

The motto for the World Cup venue, Curtin University, named after the Perth-born former Australian prime minister (1941-45) John Curtin, is "Look Ever Forward", which is what this Irish team will need to do after a demoralising pool campaign. For some, four narrow defeats out of seven is a badge of honour; for the likes of Kohler and vice-captain Arlene Boyles, for example, characters who came to Perth in search of more than moral victories, narrow defeats simply aren't good enough.

"It's extremely disappointing, considering the work we have put in over the last few years," said Kohler, Ireland's most capped player, who won her 150th cap on Saturday. "I'd hate to be going home now, after seven straight defeats, but we will put everything in to our last two cross-over games. Everything.

"The bottom line, though, is that we have no points after seven games - yes, some of the performances were good, but, in the end, they counted for nothing."

After eight minutes yesterday South Africa were 2-0 up, their world class forward Pietie Coetzee scoring after four minutes with a typically thunderous shot from the edge of the circle that flew in to the top right corner of the goal. Jenny Wilson, who had a spell with Coleraine and the Ulster under-21s two years ago, doubled the lead when she slid in on the right post to convert Kerry Bee's cross from the left.

In the 11th minute Ireland had the chance to halve the deficit but Inke van Wyk saved Boyles' penalty stroke. Apart from some gutsy runs by Lynsey McVicker in the late stages this proved to be the end of Ireland's challenge.

Coetzee made it 3-0 two minutes after the break, intercepting Boyles' attempted pass to the right, advancing on goal to fire high to Browne's left. It all fell depressingly apart in a six-minute period midway through the half when South Africa added three more goals to their tally, by which time the Irish defence and midfield appeared to have given up the ghost. Coetzee completed her hat-trick on 54 minutes before Johke Koornhof (56) and Wilson (60), again, added two more.

Riet Kuper was, visibly, furious with most of her team after the game, and, for the first time in her four-and-half-year tenure, appeared to distance herself from their efforts, saying, pointedly, "this is not just the coach's responsibility, it is the team's as well".

Ireland play the Ukraine next, in tomorrow's 13th-16th place play-offs (today is a rest day). The nations have met twice, drawing at the World Cup qualifier in France last year, and Ukraine winning 3-2 in the 1999 European finals.

The cross-overs are largely irrelevant - Ireland are all but certain of making it in to the qualifier, in New Zealand, for the 2004 Olympics, so their placing here is unlikely to damage their hopes of gaining entry in to that tournament. A win would be nice, though, and could well merit some positive reporting.

IRELAND: T Browne; P Magill, A Boyles, D Sixsmith, K Maybin, L Lee, R Kohler (capt), J Orbinson, C McMahon, J Burke, L McVicker. Subs: A Platt, K Humphreys, E Cregan, C O'Brien, C Murray.

WORLD CUP (at Perth) - Pool A: Ukraine 2 Germany 5; Korea 6 Scotland 2; Russia 0 Argentina 1; China 2 New Zealand 0. Pool B: Holland 5 USA 2; England 3 Spain 0; Ireland 0 South Africa 6; Australia 1 Japan 1.

Tomorrow (Friday) - First-fourth: Holland v China, 8.35; Argentina v Australia, 6.05. Fifth-eighth: Korea v Spain, 3.45; England v Germany, 3.05. Ninth-12th: New Zealand v USA, 12.35; Japan v Scotland, 12.05. 13th-16th: South Africa v Russia, 9.05; Ireland v Ukraine, 9.35.

POOL A

P W D L F A Pts

Argentina 7 7 0 0 17 2 21

China 7 5 1 1 14 5 16

Korea 7 4 2 1 20 7 14

Germany 7 4 0 3 17 10 12

N Zealand 7 2 0 5 8 12 6

Scotland 7 2 0 5 8 21 6

Ukraine 7 1 2 4 11 23 5

Russia 7 0 1 6 6 21 1

POOL B

P W L F A Pts

Holland 7 6 1 0 22 5 19

Australia 7 5 1 1 17 6 16

England 7 3 2 2 12 9 11

Spain 7 3 2 2 11 9 11

Japan 7 2 4 1 7 7 10

USA 7 2 0 5 9 17 6

S Africa 7 1 2 4 10 17 5

Ireland 7 0 0 7 4 22 0