|
Dagger Facing Paris Chop
By Tony Tighe
 The
2008 Six Nations is just one game old yet the man they call ‘Dagger’
could well receive his final fatal wound this weekend.
Following last Saturday’s dismal defeat of Italy Eddie O’Sullivan
takes his Irish side to Paris knowing that a repeat of the defeat suffered
there last year in the World Cup could put an end to the Corkman’s
tenure as national coach.
The Irish haven’t tasted victory away to the French since a hat-trick
by an up-and-coming 21-year-old called O’Driscoll eight years ago;
and if last Saturday is anything to go by we may have a wait on our hands.
Despite an opening day victory Ireland’s performance during their
16-11 win will have failed to dispel the concerns and frustration that
have haunted them since their disastrous World Cup last autumn. And the
calls for the removal of O’Sullivan grow louder by the day.
Prior to the weekend encounter with the Italians O’Sullivan had
vowed to “go down swinging” in this year’s Championship.
But a poor performance in the Stade de France on Saturday and the only
thing swinging could well be the front door of the IRFU HQ as it shuts
behind O’Sullivan for the final time.
Despite his insistence that last Saturday’s team was a “reflection
of the form of players in both the Heineken Cup and the Magners League”,
O’Sullivan stuck to the same line-out that had served him so well
before last autumn’s World Cup catastrophe.
Instead of picking form players like Bernard Jackman and Jamie Heaslip
the beleaguered coach opted for Rory Best, who has only returned from
injury and whose side is currently bottom of the Magners League, and Simon
Easterby, whose Llanelli side failed to win a single game in the Heineken
Cup and conceded 213 points — the most of any side in the tournament.
Hardly players who are currently operating at full steam.
“I’d have preferred if we hit the ground running but I have
to be sensible and know that winning the first game is hard,” said
O’Sullivan. “People read too much into the fact we played
so well in Rome last year. It was our fifth game in a row as a team and
we’d gelled, they just had a bad day out and we punished them but
you’re not going to have that every week in the Six Nations.
“In the first-half we showed some great flashes and played some
good rugby after the initial shadowboxing but we didn’t finish things
off and the danger is that the opposition come back into the game.”
France, meanwhile, cruised to a 21-point win over Scotland in Murrayfield.
Under new coach Marc Lievremont the French look like they are building
something quite special. A back three with phenomenal pace, the French
carved the Scots open at every opportunity and finished the game almost
toying with the home side.
Ireland’s last visit to Paris in the Six Nations resulted in a Jekyll
and Hyde performance, falling behind 43-3 before rallying only to come
up 12 points short. One can envisage a similar opening to proceedings
on Saturday but whether there will be an Irish response remains to be
seen. |
