Centre at the Heart of the Problem

People have been expressing fear at their own optimism in the last couple of weeks and in answer to this I would like to suggest that, yes, we can actually win the World Cup. The good news is we have the game to stifle the opposition, and the big-game temperament to see out a tough decider, and that means we can beat anybody. In fact, this is exactly the kind of game needed to annoy and frustrate teams like Wales and France - our potential and respective quarter and semi final opponents - and even the kind of game which could make a nervous New Zealand think about their horrible World Cup record. OK, so that's maybe thinking too far ahead, but I just thought I'd mention that, whereas previously it was thought that we relied far too heavily on our backs, and were therefore always susceptible to being steamrolled at the set-piece, this new persona is one very much suited to knockout rugby. Injuries are still a worry, but that's to be expected. So to all those who are getting a good feeling about this World Cup but are too afraid to mention it; well I'm optimistic too!

Keith Earls

Saying that, things could have been better in the Russian game. It's easy to say that  a nine-try victory is a great achievement, but not when you consider the opposition, or that the other contenders put down much greater markers in round three, albeit mostly in better conditions and with less second-string players diluting the ranks. It must also be said that the final touchdown by Buckley was almost certainly not a try, as the big man appeared to be short of the line in the replays. Most worrying is the fact that we still haven't discovered a real killer edge out wide, and we must count ourselves lucky that the forwards have picked up the slack to such a degree. A lot is being expected of Keith Earls to create magic and become the 'star' of the tournament, and it's pretty unfair on the guy. You can see him trying his heart out to carry this burden, like when he danced through a gap for his second try. The problem wasn't the step, which was sublime, but the fact that he was doing it all on his own. One man trying to break every time is pretty easy to defend against, it's the greater movement of a backline that will make the difference against the big teams. Obviously, this will improve immensely with the return of O'Driscoll. He figured out a long time ago that he couldn't do it all on his own. In any case, my feeling is that backs-coach Alan Gaffney has quite a bit to work on. Lets hope it's all a bluff and he's keeping his best cards close to his chest for the games to come!

Paddy Wallace

Equally so in defense, we need the O'Driscoll-D'Arcy partnership in midfield to marshall the back line. Ireland had the best defensive record in the tournament after round two, and so it wasn't that surprising to see this record slip in round three when the two boys were absent. Most worryingly, the back-up centres haven't covered themselves in glory. Prior to this tournament I was one of those people who thought that the squad couldn't carry the under-powered Paddy Wallace, and that the in-form Fergus McFadden should be given a chance to nail down a centre berth, in light of the seemingly waning powers of Gordon D'Arcy. Boy have I changed my tune on pretty much all of this! We need D'Arce; that's a given; it's a defensive thing. As far as Wallace is concerned, people forget that he was a big part of the early stages of the Grand Slam team. Yes, he can be over-powered a little in the contact, but D'Arcy isn't a big man either. It's about intelligence, and an understanding of what your centre-partner is going to do. Paddy had a great game on Sunday. His passing and running were brilliant, as always. Unfortunately, he always looks good against poor opposition, and I guess that's the problem.

And finally we turn to McFadden, a player who I thought could be the midfield saviour we've been looking for. He was absolutely awful on Sunday! He slid in brilliantly to take that exceptional kick from ROG and score the opening try and I thought he would kick on and really put down a marker, but alas it wasn't to be. His defensive ability when moved into midfield was very poor, and he was at fault no less than three times for the second of the Russians' tries, both of which were better than any of our efforts! The Ruskies got great ball off the top of a line-out and the out-half threw an absolutely perfect pass to the blindside winger, running deep behind the two dummy-running centres, the second of whom caught Ferg completely flat-footed. Totally fixed at this stage, he now had to turn as the Russian winger got by him on the outside, he gave chase but was shrugged off by a superb fend. At this stage, rather pissed off with himself no doubt, he kept covering across and lined up the other winger who had just received the ball and was headed for the try-line. However, in his complete and utter haste and over-exuberance, he managed to completely over-run the ball-carrier who simply stopped for a second to let this would-be tackler fly past him. It was a great try. I couldn't help thinking back to Murrayfield in the first week of August. Scotland had been poor, we had been poor; no one really deserved to win. And yet, in the dying minutes McFadden had raced out of the line unnecessarily, allowing a terrible Scottish back-line to execute a game-winning try. This is a warning: Fergus McFadden should not play in the centre for Ireland in this World Cup. 'Nuff said.

Anyways, enough of this negativity! The good news is that, apart from a few knocks, we are relatively injury free, which is a miracle really. My friend has a saying, albeit a rather politically incorrect saying, which goes: 'Could be worse; could be fuckin' English!' Well, it could be worse, we could be Australian! Aside from losing miserably to us (never gonna get tired of that!), their injury count is so ridiculously high that they are planning to pick big No. 8 Radike Samo - him of the great haircut - on the wing this weekend. A sad state of affairs really. Could be worse, could be marking Samo!

Hope ye all enjoyed Canada v Japan on Tuesday morning, it was cracker! The sides drew four years ago and their was still nothing to separate them as the match ended 23 all. I felt sorry for Japan, they deserved a win, and there were a number of decisions which went against them, and rather unfairly too. Anyways, it was a joy to watch both these teams this year, and Canada's efforts will most likely see them secure third place in the pool and automatic qualification for the next tournament. 

It took Italy 67 minutes to secure their bonus point against a much improved USA team who were playing their last game of the tournament and certainly left nothing behind them. Hopefully they'll have done us a favour and the Azzuri will still be feeling the pain by kick-off time on Sunday. Once again, the scheduling is grossly unfair. As for the Italians, not a lot has changed. The scrum will be a real test and when Parisse gets the ball, anything is possible!

I'd like to know how people are finding the television coverage so far. RTE have been playing a blinder with their highlights show, which is full of wit and decent analysis. Shaggy seems like a nice guy, although the accent is a bit much, but I could listen to Conor O'Shea all night. Then again this is offset by the somewhat annoying Ben Kay and Frankie Sheahan. ITV definitely wins the award for worst coverage, a title they've inherited from Sky Sports who, thankfully, aren't involved. If you're lucky enough to get a panel of Girvan Dempsey, Gareth Thomas and Francois Pienar then that's kind of OK, but if you turn on the telly and Craig Doyle is asking mundane questions of former boyband member/ Scottish winger Thom Evans, then run a mile! Little has changed in Sellotanta where Matt Williams and Neil Francis have survived from the last World Cup. Matt is funny, whatever way you wanna look at it, and 'Frano' is so dreary that they kinda make sense in their own way. Watch this Risteard Cooper send-up and it'll all make sense, http://youtu.be/I8o9KyFxppY genius... I only wish that someone would have hired the great Liam Toland, without doubt the best, not to mention the most down-to-earth pundit in the country. Go figure...

Finally, the O'Gara-Sexton debate has been raging and I guess I had better state my opinion. During the Six Nations we enjoyed a bit of a see-saw between the two, which saw ROG come on after 60 one week and play a blinder, secure the start for the next week and proceed to play rather poorly. ROG is brilliant off the bench, that's a given. But what happens when ROG starts and things aren't going well? Sexton off the bench isn't nearly as effective because he doesn't have the sheer force of will to turn things around that Ronan has. Johnny's a good player, and a more physical defender. The kicking is a worry, but I still feel that to pick Ronan purely on kicking percentages is to concede to fear. We can win this game because we are the better team, not simply because we can kick a load of points. Whether that comes from Johnny having a blinder or from ROG coming on and playing saviour is irrelevant. Sexton to start and that way we're set up for anything.