Ruddock not overawed by England challenge

RUGBY JUNIOR WORLD CUP:MIKE RUDDOCK left nothing to chance in preparing the Ireland Under-20 rugby team for the Junior World Championship in Italy but even he admitted having to cope with cold and wet weather was not one of the things he gave much thought to.

But it seems as if his squad have brought Irish weather with them to northern Italy this week and instead of dealing with the stifling heat which is the norm here at this time of year, it has been a case of dodging the downpours since they arrived.

“It’s funny, you wouldn’t have thought this was something we would have to deal with. But it is changing all the time, one minute it is hot and the next there is wind and rain.

“It rained all the time on the bus when we arrived on Monday but when we reassembled for training it was very dry and very warm. We know this weather can change in an instant. So it will be good in some ways for the Northern Hemisphere teams especially, because if it is raining we have a bit more experience playing in that kind of weather. And if it is dry then you have got the fast track to play some good rugby on,” said Ruddock.

Ireland face a daunting opening tomorrow evening in Treviso when they take on an England side who brushed them aside 46-15 in Dubarry Park in Athlone on their way to a Six Nations Grand Slam.

And it doesn’t get much easier for Ireland with South Africa coming up next Tuesday, with a poor run of results in last year’s tournament in Argentina seeing Ireland slip down the seeding order.

But Ruddock said that if Ireland want to break the vicious circle of poor results followed by a tougher pool the following season, then they have to take down some of the big boys.

“It would be great if we can and there is no better time than to get off to a good start against England.

“We are going in a very positive frame of mind: we know that England are favourites; we know they are the champions at the moment in under-20 rugby in Europe; we know they have a lot of players who have played Premiership rugby; we know they are a quality team. But also we know we are a quality team now. We have had some good preparation and if we catch them before they get into their groove we think that we can do a bit of damage.

“That’s the plan; we are certainly not going in there without any chance and we think we have every chance,” said Ruddock.

He said his squad have settled in well at their base at Marcon – about halfway between Venice and Treviso – and can’t wait for the tournament to kick-off at Stadio di Monigo in Treviso on tomorrow evening.

“The boys have trained very well, we have had a really good preparation: two warm-up matches which we didn’t have before last year’s tournament so we are really positive about our preparations and really ready to get stuck into them,” added Ruddock.