Opportunity to broaden horizons

It may not be the most salubrious of pairings. It may not have them swinging from the rafters. But it has to be done and, albeit in starkly contrasting ways, this afternoon provides a valuable outing for both Ireland and Georgia.

Arguably, the World Cup has gone to the other extreme over the next two weekends by throwing up some glaring mis-matches but that said, for far too long anyway rugby was a cosy cartel in which the International Board was a closed shop for the game's eight founding members.

The Georgian officials practically come over all misty-eyed when saying it is an honour to be playing Ireland at Lansdowne Road. Equally, you believe them, when they cling to the hope that the scoreline will be "reasonable" and so, accordingly, they have kept some of their powder dry for their big one against Romania on Wednesday.

For Ireland the big one is two Saturdays hence, against the World champions South Africa. Sure, it's a chance to settle some old scores in what should be a bit of a grudge match. But bearing in mind how last season finished - with `nil' in the Irish points column - it's also a bit of a litmus test five months on.

To have Georgia and Romania as preparatory matches for once means the touring South Africans won't have the advantage of being on tour. Ireland are effectively on a home tour this month, to whit the training roadshow has been a PR success.

In a way then, if mistakes are made by the men in green, then so much the better if it is the result of trying things. The next two Saturdays afford Ireland the chance to take a few risks, all the more so given the expressed desire to broaden their horizons and keep the ball more to hand.

This doesn't necessarily mean a bucketload of tries wide out, with hat-tricks apiece for Justin Bishop (liable to be a Geogheganesque crowd-pleaser on his home debut) and Kevin Maggs. But it should at least mean establishing targets wider out from which the try-scoring opportunities can be increased.

For the new midfield combination of Jonathan Bell and Pat Duignan then, this is obviously a big game, but with healthy competition for places, especially up front, it's a big game for others as well.

The locks now have Jeremy Davidson breathing down their necks and it will be great to see him get a run - while another intriguing aspect to this afternoon's outing will be the balance of the back row.

Andy Ward is still developing as a true open-side, while the debate continues as to what Eric Miller's best position is. After today he will have already played at 6, 7 and 8 for Ireland, yet the debate is unlikely to be resolved come 4.30. Miller is essentially a creative player, whereas Victor Costello is more of a yardage hauler, and thus in some respects it might be preferable to have the yardage man working off the creator at number eight. And while Miller is probably the fresher, a slightly battered and bruised Costello is possibly forcing himself back prematurely after recent injuries to protect his position.

The weather may not be too helpful, though not as bad as feared, in assisting Ireland's expressed intentions. Nor is it likely to greatly add to the 15,000 tickets already sold. But whereas a packed Lansdowne Road for the visit of the Springboks will guarantee a mentally focused effort, this afternoon will be a good test of the team's professionalism - their ability to motivate from within and keep doing their jobs for 80 minutes. They are, after all, professionals now.

The exact result should be immaterial, for as Gatland and the Irish players are no doubt aware, if they cannot beat the likes of Georgia and Romania, then they don't deserve to be in the World Cup finals anyway.

Furthermore, even a cursory examination of the labyrinthine qualifying campaign suggests the International Board have engineered a fairly loaded and hence, meaningless, process. The goalposts have shifted regularly and even in the unlikely event of Ireland, Scotland or England finishing second in their `qualifying' groups over the next week, they will still be based in their respective home pools come the finals next October.

By comparison, if the qualifying runners-up are say, Romania, Spain and Italy, lots will be drawn to decide which final group they go into. Thus, in reality, were Ireland to finish second this week they would still be based at home in the finals along with the qualifying group winners, be they Romania or Georgia. However, by duly beating these two over the next two Saturdays, Ireland actually runs the risk of having Italy alongside themselves, USA and Australia in the finals. Go figure. It's simply plain daft.

Thus, were Ireland to lose today or next week, then Donal Lenihan (while doing his best to keep a straight face) can trot out the perfectly reasonable excuse that they wanted to avoid Italy in the finals. Er, ahem, it shouldn't come to that.