Samoans to provide tough test for Ireland

IRISH RUGBY faces a dual assignment today against Southern Hemisphere opposition in the space of a few hours and the Ireland selectors are thus afforded the opportunity to see the depth of the national squad.

The main event is of course the international against Western Samoa at Lansdowne Road tonight (7.30). That will be preceded by the meeting at Donnybrook this afternoon of the Ireland A side and South African A.

This will be the first senior international to take place at Lansdowne Road under floodlights and it will also be the first time that Ireland will field a team of professional rugby players. Payments were of course made last season, but this is the era of the contract at international and club level and full time professionalism.

This Irish side has had a programme of preparation lasting the better part of a week. There is, too, £3,000 appearance money and a £1,000 win bonus.

This will be only the second match between Ireland and Western Samoa. The only previous encounter was at Lansdowne Road in October 1988. Ireland won that match by 49-22. There is only one survivor tonight from that encounter, Ireland's open side flanker, Denis McBride. He scored his first try for Ireland that afternoon. It also marked a notable landmark in that Michael Kiernan became Ireland's leading points scorer in international rugby when he scored 18 points to beat Ollie Campbell's then record of 217.

Ireland will be favourites tonight and expected to justify that rating against a country unable to call on all its best players for a variety of reasons. But the Samoans have a natural exuberance, are quick, physically big and strong and competitive.

Unorthodox and unpredictable they may be, they do not always add control and perception to those attributes. However, they are always dangerous and inventive. The side on duty tonight will be infinitely stronger and much more experienced than the team that played against Munster last Saturday. It would be extremely hazardous to underestimate them.

"There is no danger that we will do that," said Ireland's manager Pat Whelan. "The match is very important to us in many respects. We are using it to try certain combinations and it comes at an opportune time in the context of the match against Australia. But it is a full international and is important that we win this one as any other. We know their strengths. Murray Kidd watched them play against Saracens, our captain Niall Hogan played for Oxford University against them and Donal Lenihan watched them in Cork. I am quite sure they will give us a good test and a win for us is very important. On an individual level the match is of considerable importance for our players. They know what lies ahead this season, matches against Australia, Italy and then the championship."

The advent of Va'aiga Tuigamala to the Samoan side has given the tourists a big lift, a point acknowledged by their coach Bryan Williams. "We were very pleased when he joined us," said Williams. "But we know the difficult task we face against Ireland. We played badly against Saracens in our first match, did much better against Oxford and Munster but playing Ireland will be an altogether different matter.

The Samoans are very good at exploiting space and they come in support of the ball carrier from just about every angle. They have a few very good forwards such as flanker Pat Lam, a player of considerable experience and line out ball winners in Potu Leavasa and Mark Birtwistle. They have an accomplished scrum half in Earl Filemu and then there is Tuigamala. It will be Richard Wallace's task to contain him and there is no better player than Tuigamala at testing a defence and exploiting opportunity.

I would, however, expect the Irish pack to use the maul effectively and Gabriel Fulcher, Jeremy Davidson and Paddy Johns should win a good quota of line out possession. Johns display at number eight will be interesting and the Ireland forwards should be able to win more and better possession.

It is a very big match for Hogan at scrum half. He has held off the challenge of Stephen McIvor and needs a good performance tonight to retain his place. His partner David Humphreys must vary his game and two of Ireland's threequarters, centre Robert Henderson and left wing James Topping, make their international debuts. They could scarcely ask for more favourable circumstances in which to do so. It would be nice to see Jonathan Bell make a return to the form which deserted him last season after he had looked a player of such potential the previous season. Full back Simon Mason is another who will need an assured performance. Suspicion remains over his defensive qualities.

Anything other than a win for Ireland will be as surprising as it will be damaging on an individual and collective basis.

The A match looks a very interesting proposition and the South Africans are sure to provide a real test. They lost to Scotland A on Friday night, a circumstance likely to sharpen their will to win this afternoon. South Africa will be led by hooker Naka Drotske, who has been capped five times at senior level and was in the side that defeated New Zealand in the final of the World Cup in 1995.

There is certainly plenty of incentive for the Ireland players, a point made by Whelan, who said: "The match gives us a very good chance to see players in the squad, and some who are not in it, in what should be a hard and competitive match against good opposition. It is all part of the preparation and assessment for the internationals ahead."

Nothing will be more interesting and revealing then the display of hooker Keith Wood, who will captain the team. This match marks his return to the representative arena after an absence of 18 months. His form for Harlequins has indicated a return to form and full fitness after a shoulder operation. Full back Dominic Crotty is another who stands on the threshold of full honours and the selection of Conor O'Shea on the right wing seems to indicate that the selectors' thinking in relation to the wing berths is currently fluid.

Mark McCall gets a chance to establish his claims for inclusion in the senior side and all he has to do to enhance those prospects is play as he has been doing this season. Number eight Ben Cronin is another for whom a big match could be rewarding, and the young flankers, Eric Miller and Anthony Foley, are two more with considerable incentive. The half back combination of Eric Elwood and young Brian O'Meara offers rich possibility.

The referee for the match is Charles (Chuck) Muir of Scotland. He refereed the recent Neath versus Ulster match in the European Cup. We can only hope he does an infinitely better job this afternoon than he did in Neath. He needs to be clear, in particular, on what constitutes offside - in ruck and maul and across the back line.