Ireland to dig in early and win well

Ireland seek to boldly go where no Irish squad has gone before (beyond the quarter-finals) in this World Cup and the trek starts with tonight's opener against the United States. For that inner belief to have real substance the time to walk the walk is now.

Ireland have little to gain except what's expected of them, and have everything to lose. Victory wouldn't make their campaign; defeat would break it. Whatever about generating any sense of national momentum, the squad need to win for themselves.

Yesterday's Millennium Stadium opening set the tone for the competition at large, whereas tonight's sets the tone for Ireland's World Cup. A 7 p.m. kick-off on a Saturday is conducive to a carnival atmosphere as Irish supporters should, by then, be in, er, good voice.

Apart from the final itself, one imagines yesterday's Cardiff jamboree was the most watched game amongst the remainder of the 600 selected players and, like everyone else, the Irish players will now be straining for action.

Put them on a leash and they'd take a two-tonne truck for a brisk walk. But the same is true of the Americans. What's more, the Eagles are the more wounded party. Curiously enough, that freakish 106-8 defeat by England last month for the United States does Ireland more harm than favours.

Aside from assuring Ireland of unfair comparisons with England, it will have given the Eagles an inner resolve to rectify matters. They seem to have masochistically fed on this nightmare too, letting the wounds fester through video re-runs as if they were staking their entire rugby-playing reputations on what happens next.

And it was a freak too. The Eagles began well that day, and weren't flattered in the slightest, anything but, by an early lead. Indeed, they put together good opening quarters against both England and Wales last month.

Whereupon, against England, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Furthermore, England took options that day which they'd never take in a less surreal Test match. As Ireland coach Warren Gatland has observed: "England didn't play as they would play any other match in the World Cup. They never kicked to the corners; they never took their shots at goal, and I'll be surprised if England do that in the World Cup."

He added: "If you have a look at the tape closely you would have seen how well America played in that first 20 or 25 minutes. They were right in the game, they competed very well and they put England under a lot of pressure.

"With this being a night game and conditions being a bit dewy and a bit heavier, it's going to be quite difficult. We know that for the first 20 or 30 minutes it's going to be very tight and we need to be patient and we need to weather the storm that's definitely going to come at us."

Aside from pride, the Americans also know they're in the shop window, and full-time contracts could come their way when the Cup ends. As well as their collective physique, the presence of Dan Lyle and Richard Tardits ensures they have a fine back row. They have a good scrum-half in Kevin Dalzell and a proven finisher out wide in their record try scorer Vaea Anitoni.

Team captain Lyle has been moved from the flank to number eight because of an injury to Rob Lumkong. Lumkong pulled out yesterday after an old injury to his left knee resurfaced. Alec Parker will come off the bench into the second row with Dave Hodges moving back to fill the flanker position left by Lyle. Shaun Paga comes on to the bench.

The US will be direct, straight-running, honest and physical. On a wet night, they could be particularly sticky. However, even then Ireland have virtues to suit the needs of the occasion: a superior scrum and maul. The Americans' scrum has been an Achilles heel for years and Ireland's is good.

Given scope by an accurate pack performance, and a touch of flair from Dion O'Cuinneagain and Andy Ward, then David Humphreys and co can apply some varnish, with Matt Mostyn to maybe prove he's a tempting bet as the Cup's leading try-scorer. Indeed, it's interesting to note that the much-pilloried Australian-born left-winger is a strong favourite to be Ireland's leading try scorer. The boookmakers see this as a 38-point game in Ireland's favour, but a 20-point margin would be a satisfactory first night for Ireland.

When push comes to shove, not alone should Ireland have the more efficient set pieces and mauls, but the longer it goes on and the looser it gets then recent showings suggest that the Eagles should become more exposed. Ireland to win and, ultimately, to go well.