Irish may rue u-turn by George

Sport matters, folks. It really matters. Few other things can get us to puff out our chests like French cockerels as when our lads do well in a sporting contest. The eurocrats may be having a go at us for our fiscal policies, but that just makes it all the nicer to rub it back into the faces of our continental cousins. If it happens to be on the rugby field, all the better.

Not that George Hook gave us much of a shout in the run-up to Saturday's match in Network Two's pre-match analysis. Although he preluded his comments with the observation that "this is the hardest game anyone can predict", the bold George was pretty emphatic once he got around to giving his tuppence worth.

"Will Ireland's backs do better (than they did against Italy)? Yes! Will Ireland's forwards survive? No. Will they survive the physical contest? No. Yes-No-No . . . I think France will win."

In truth, George's all-round analysis was technical and good and, to someone without his background in the sport, tremendously intuitive.

But the thing about sport that keeps us all hooked, excuse the pun, is its unpredictability; and, to add to that, in an Irish rugby context, it seems that we have finally really got to grips with this professional lark.

The strength-in-depth may not be there (hammerings at A and under-21 levels the previous day hardly acted as the ideal scene-setter), but the first team have evolved into the main threat to England in this championship. And that's no mean feat.

Whatever you may say about George - and there are many Irish players it seems who would be a wee bit upset if he actually went for an Irish win - superstition and all that - nobody can doubt his sheer passion. It comes across in every syllable he utters. And he is an integral part of any RTE build-up to any rugby match that matters.

Only thing is, we're likely to have him proclaiming Irish wins at every opportunity in the future. After Ireland's win, Hook was a transformed character.

"St George has experienced a change on the road to Damascus," said a contrite Hook to his flock. "I've been a long-term critic of this team and coach, (but the) time for not being optimistic about the future has gone. They've proven today, albeit luckily, they've come together as a side." But he still had to have the final word by adding, "without Brian O'Driscoll they are nothing!"

It was a big change from his demeanour a couple of hours previously when two of RTE's three pre-match analysts had plumped for a French win, even if Philippe SaintAndre admitted to being "a little scared" about France's prospects and "a little worried" about the outcome.

"They've every reason to be worried," agreed Hook, who promised presenter Tom McGurk that his pre-match analysis would be a "bit like Brent's (Brent Pope's) face, not very pretty but it'll be honest." Pope, the third member of the analysis team, was the only one to plump for an Irish win.

SaintAndre, meanwhile, may have gone for a French win, but you could see he was trying not to be too cocky. "It's a crazy world," he opined, because "all the flair is with the Irish team."

In the early stages, however, the French tactic of cluttering midfield meant that there wasn't much room for this newly-discovered Irish flair. Commentator Jim Sherwin's buzzword for the opening stages was "rumble," and he used it three times in the opening seven minutes. By half-time, the analysts weren't totally convinced that Ireland could hang on. "Can we open them up? It's touch and go, and six points certainly won't be enough," said Hook. Pope, though, was adamant that Ireland had the weaponry. "The guy that can unlock things is O'Driscoll," insisted the New Zealander.

Hook's pessimism about Irish prospects was diminishing. He talked of teaching monkeys how to pass the ball, "but not everyone knows when to pass it . . . the Irish backs can pass, they can unlock it." Pope, for one, felt that france were playing it "stupidly", while Saint-Andre implored his countrymen to just "play rugby".

Hindsight is a great thing, of course, but Ireland manager Brian O'Brien must have had access to some sort of crystal ball when talking to Ryle Nugent at pitch-side before the game. "On the day, a hop of the ball could be in it," he had observed.

Presumably, he was anticipating the hop of the ball between O'Driscoll's hands and the ground which the video referee saw as good. That second-half try was to prove crucial, and O'Driscoll's impish grin suggested he was well aware of his good fortune.

Minutes before, co-commentator Tony Ward had observed that Ireland must attack France in the "soft belly" - and Henderson and O'Driscoll must have felt the same thing as they hit hard and fast in the build-up to the "try".

Sherwin explained precisely how the camera referee operated. He told us the unfortunate soul was sitting in his own caravan out the back with the feed from all RTE's cameras and four other remote cameras, with wide angles and close angles, to aid him in making up his mind.

Despite all the roaring and shouting emanating from our televisions from all the Keith Wood masks in the crowd, this left most of us pessimistic about the chances of such a try being given.

When the try was given, and Ronan O'Gara converted, Sherwin remarked that it was "seven points when it ought to have been nothing". His commentating sidekick Ward, who has seen many a time when decisions went against green jerseys, added: "Is this our day or what?"

And it was Ireland's day. Hook and Pope and McGurk beamed during their post-match analysis and poor old Philippe took it all in good spirit and bemoaned the fact that his team had played for "just 20 minutes" towards the end.

Yet, all the analysts were agreed on one point . . . O'Driscoll's try wasn't a try. Not really. "I don't see the point in having a video referee (if he gets it wrong)," piped in Pope, but he did admit that "this Irish side has bridged the gap on world rugby". And even Hook was nodding his head at this.

A good Irish win in any sport gives us all a feel-good factor, and even in faraway Malaysia there was a feeling among the Sky Sports golf commentary team of Steve Beddows and Robert Lee that it could inspire Padraig Harrington in his quest to land the Malaysian Open title.

Beddows told us that they had stayed up to watch the match and likened the roars of the Irish contingent following Harrington to those of the rugby supporters.

For those who woke with the dawn chorus to watch the climax of the tournament, Harrington and Vijay Singh provided us with a drama-filled head-to-head. "Almost as if they are dehydrated, like marathon runners gasping for the line," observed Beddows as the pair fought it out.

Unfortunately for Harrington, he failed to outgun the US Masters champion - losing at the third play-off hole - but, on a weekend of one of Ireland's most memorable rugby wins, it emphasised yet again that this little country of ours is producing players to compete with the world's best in so many sports.