It's time to expand our game

All the reports emanating from the Irish camp suggest that the mood amongst the team and management is upbeat for this evening's game against Argentina. How quickly the appalling display against Australia has been forgotten in the space of just 10 days. I worry that we are taking more comfort than we should from our victory against a weak Romanian side.

We know how poorly we can play. We also know we are far too good for sides such as the US and Romania. The question is can we dispose of Argentina, who are closer to our own standard than any team we have met in the competition to date.

I suspect that a lot of the optimism in the Irish camp is because they still see that their objective is within reach. Argentina represent a beatable target and in the back of Irish minds, the players must feel that the current French team will probably be the worst to come to Lansdowne for a long time. The Fijians could easily have beaten them.

There is also satisfaction in the Irish camp that so many of the players were available for selection at this advanced stage of the competition. After the Romanian match there were worries about a number of key players including captain Dion O'Cuinneagain, Eric Elwood, Peter Clohessy and Jeremy Davidson. Clohessy is the only one who remains on the injured list, but the situation could have been a lot worse.

Regarding the selection of the team, when I started coaching some years ago I was amazed to discover that many New Zealand coaches pick their number seven (open-side flanker) first. They then decide on the type of game they can play and pick the rest of the team accordingly. The same logic comes through in the selection of this Irish team. Warren Gatland obviously felt that Kieron Dawson represents his best option at open side. We really don't have any others in the squad to fill this position naturally. Dawson is far better suited to an open game because of his speed to the loose ball than a tight physical game where his lack of bulk counts against him.

Similarly, the selection of the two younger second rows, Malcom O'Kelly and Davidson, should give Ireland more mobility in that area as opposed to the industry which Paddy Johns brings to the side. Reggie Corrigan is, I believe, more mobile than Justin Fitzpatrick and should be very eager for his first outing.

Principally, however, the selection of David Humphreys at out-half suggests that we will adopt a more expansive game plan as seen in the Romania match. Although Elwood was the out-half in that game and played extremely well, Humphreys has, over the past few years, been better at getting his back-line moving. Curiously, on form to date, those roads have been reversed, but I suspect that in each of the World Cup matches the two were playing to the game-plans presented to them by management.

I believe we should expand our game for this one. The Argentinians have looked very limited in the competition to date and seem content to rely on their pack and the excellent goal-kicking of their out-half Quesada. Their performance against Ireland last August was disappointing. I had seen their second team destroy Leinster earlier that week with well-controlled running rugby.

Interestingly, seven of that team have been promoted for this game. I don't believe they will be as poor as they were against Ireland last time when the tiredness of the Irish team in the last quarter and a few Argentinian changes prevented a total rout by us.

Fortunately, we have had two more days' recovery and we have a number of fresh players in the side. This could be crucial if the game is tight going into the last quarter. We are unlikely to dominate as totally as we did in Dublin without the home advantage and with the stakes being as high as they are. The Argentinians are, by all accounts, happy with their lot and Clontarf's future coach, former All Back Alex Wylie, has made it clear that Ireland were his preferred option. Curiously, Warren Gatland stated that he would have preferred Samoa, so he may be more concerned than we realise.

If Ireland play well they will win the match. The problem is the inconsistency which we have shown in recent years. We are a marginally better team than Argentina, but that margin is not wide enough to allow any Irish player to under-perform. This evening they must all deliver.

No doubt a win would bring tremendous excitement to Lansdowne Road on Sunday next, although I suspect that this evening may even be the greater of the two hurdles. Defeat, however, will be a major blow to Irish rugby and result in our World Cup campaign being adjudged a failure. High stakes indeed.

(In an interview with Johnny Watterson)