Irish Rugby on the Precipice?
The Irish rugby team produced some great performances in the World Cup in defeating Australia and Italy. They flattered to decieve in the quarter-final defeat to Wales as the “golden generations” last chance to make their mark on the world stage disappeared in bitter disappointment. But has anyone considered how Ireland will do when the two genuine world-class players, captain Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell retire? Maybe we should be grateful we did reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. It might not happen next time!
Ireland do have some excellent young players who have proven they are international standard performers and have been mightily impressive in the Heineken Cup. However the men behind their 3 triple crowns, Grand Slam and great test victories since the early noughties are at a crossroads as they hit their early thirties. Apart from the talismen O’Driscoll and O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara, Gordon D’Arcy and Donnacha O’Callaghan know their time in the green jersey is limited. Apart from maybe O’Connell and at a big push O’Callaghan, none will be around for the next World Cup in 2015. They may not all retire in one lump but its likely they will retire in dribs and drabs over the next few seasons. Only then will we see if Ireland can still compete year in year out in the Six Nations or will we slip back to the bad days of the nineties where the ‘give it a lash’ approach was all that got Ireland through before another demoralising loss.
O’Gara at 34 is the oldest member of the squad and while Johnny Sexton is his heir apparent and rival, the Leinster man has a long way to go to prove he can control a game and keep the scoreboard ticking over like the Corkman has done for over a decade. The 2 pylons in the second row, the O brothers O’Connell and O’Callaghan have less obvious replacements. Donnacha Ryan is the best of an average lot at the moment as players like Devin Toner, Dan Tuohy and Ian Nagle look a long way off International class. This could be as problematic a position as our current prop situation. Obviously O’Driscoll, possibly Irelands greatest ever rugby player, is irreplacable but his trusted partner D’Arcy will be severely missed too. Numerous combos have being tried in midfield with very little success as Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald don’t look like proper centres. The case to move Tommy Bowe there may gather pace while Andrew Trimble may be worth an experiment there due to his physique.
Its clear Declan Kidney will have to improvise to make sure Ireland can stay a force in world rugby where they currently stand at no 6 in the IRB rankings. There should be more of a transparent relationship between the provinces and the national team as priority must be made to play Irish qualified players in key positions where Ireland need replacements so to give young players experience of top level rugby on a consistent basis. Ireland possess some outstanding back-rowers like O’Brien, Heaslip and Ferris but as the WC highlighted, we lack an out and out number 7 who supports the play and is a nuisance on the ground a la McCaw, Pocock and Warburton. Peter O’Mahony from Munster and Dominic Ryan of Leinster are young tyros who could grow into good no sevens but it will take time.
Ireland will likely remain more than competitive for the next 2 years at least and it will be interesting to see how many representatives we will have for the Lions in Australia in 2013. For the time being, lets savour all the moments these great rugby men will continue to achieve as we might not see their likes for a long time again.
