Irish News, Features & Sport

It seems slightly redundant by now to harp on about selection, but unfortunately the Irish management seem to be hell bent on courting controversy. After the demolition of Fiji last week there has been a lot of arguments put forward for some of that match day 22 to see game time this weekend against the Pumas. As it stands, Declan Kidney has wrung one change, replacing Andrew Trimble with Craig Gilroy. Whilst nobody will argue with the inclusion of the hat-trick wizard Gilroy, what exactly did Trimble do to ask to be dropped from the team altogether? Are we to believe that it was him that was the weak link against the Boks? What about Paddy Jackson’s assured display in Limerick getting him a place on the bench? Or either of Cave or Marshall being tried at 12. Maybe Cronin deserves the start with Strauss a much more obvious fit for the “impact sub” role? What’s more, why does Mike Ross have to start three tests in a row when Michael Bent has proven in two showings that he is at least capable of keeping the tighthead position ticking over. We are supposed to be somewhat past the days of John Hayes being worked day in day out in the three jersey, yet Mike Ross is now turning into workhorse 2.0.

Oh well, much like the players can only play the game in front of them as they well did last week, the fans can only watch the game in front of them. And here’s how things are looking. On form, Argentina are definitely the better of the two sides for this Saturday. Admittedly in their inaugural Four Nations they looked somewhat like Italy did for their first few seasons in the Six Nations; slightly astray underdogs who can do best to hope for an admirable defeat. That being said they did manage that 16 all draw against South Africa, and then held New Zealand to a relatively small winning margin in the next fixture. On this tour they have performed remarkably well against a Welsh team in disarray and followed that with a loss to a French team who are looking incredibly dangerous. Then of course there’s that rivalry.

Yes Argentina and Ireland share a rivalry that is like no other, mainly because unlike all other rugby rivalries, it is less than twenty years old. Both teams have been clashing since 1990 but the legacy kicked off in 1999 with a crushing and high scoring encounter in Lansdowne Road and since then this fixture has always proven to be a hard fought and often ugly affair, which also somehow always manages to carry some weight with it, be it World Cup qualification, ranking points etc. With the selection he has put forward Declan Kidney would appear to be a fan of these bruising encounters, with the flair from last weekend being much more the MO of the young starters who have not made their way into the team. This is a safe selection, one which is probably enough to hold off the Argies and prevent them from getting the win that would see us out of the Top 8 in the world and so we come back to those pesky ranking points again.

Staying on that topic jut a little more, lets talk about exactly what these ranking points mean. If we were to fall out of the Top 8 we would find ourselves in the third tier of world rugby and would therefore be in a pool containing one of New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and, likely, France. The pool would also contain one of Argentina, England, Samoa and Wales. There is of course a chance that regardless of our standing we could find ourselves in the same group, but the second most important factor with rank is the schedule, with the last world cup showing particularly with Samoa how much the tournament looks down on the lower ranked nations. Ireland at the moment could not cope with the schedule that would be inflicted on them in three years time, nor would it exactly be the best confidence boost for a team in need of one based on their current slump in form.

So is it a win? Is it important? To put it simply, when your country’s team plays in any sport, the behind the scenes factors take second place. It is our jobs to bring you this information, but it is up to the fans to keep faith in the darkest times. Ireland don’t look anything like being at their best at the minute, but there is still a wealth of positives to be seen. We are coping admirably under serious pressure through injuries, the destruction of Fiji was provided by a group of young bucks with little or no time in green to their name and above all else, there is a clean home record against this opposition for Ireland as well as the general ability of these players to front up in this fixture and to come through for ranking points when they are on the line, Ireland should be able to do this. But it won’t be easy, it certainly won’t be comfy and it most definitely won’t be fun to watch. But Ireland should just about sneak it. Get ready for a bruiser.