Hopefully, the powers that be in the Irish Rugby Football Union will not be asking late this afternoon whose idea it was to play against Italy in Bologna five days before Christmas.
Most players with whom I played resented serious matches at this time of the year. Everybody looked forward to playing "exiles" in local derbies or, in some cases, the Married v Singles games. Many players missed out on Irish trials as a result of injuries picked up in these "friendlies".
It must be said, of course, that things in rugby are now very different and that, in the professional situation in which we find ourselves, players must conform to the new situation. As far as the match against Italy in Bologna is concerned, I have a funny feeling that Bologna, with very few Irish supporters present, represents a tough assignment, even for professionals.
Speaking of professionalism, I was astonished to hear that on the eve of the international, the IRFU announced that two of the players involved in Italy - Kevin Nowlan and Reggie Corrigan - were not being offered full-time contracts. Surely this news could have been delivered with better timing.
Perhaps if these two players had informed their clubs, provinces, the IRFU and even the press that they had received serious approaches from English clubs, their case might have been looked upon more favourably. The good news could have been communicated to Conor McGuinness and Alan Quinlan privately, as neither is involved today.
Most people seem to believe that the Italians are favourites for this match. Even the Irish coach, Brian Ashton has been quoted as saying: "It would be terrific if we could win the game". He then goes on to suggest that, recently, the Italians have been achieving higher results than the Irish have.
I wonder if this is an indication of how the Italians have progressed in recent times, or does it represent the lack of progress by ourselves during the same period?
The answer is, probably, somewhere in between. The Italians have always regarded themselves as an emerging nation and have been quick to bring in the necessary expertise from outside. They have used French coaches for the last 20 years or so and probably because of their influence, the Italians have decided on an attacking style of play. With the changes in the laws, this has brought tangible rewards. Even when they lose against the stronger nations, they still manage to score a lot of points. If today's match was being played in "the old days", there is no doubt that the Irish approach would be to tie the Italians down up front, then destroy their pattern of play and prevent them from moving the ball wide.
Ireland has seldom gone on the pitch against "emerging sides" with the intention of running them off the park and beating them through skilful back play. In the new game, we are paying dearly for our historically conservative approach, while the Italians are benefiting from their more adventurous approach. The Italians may have a slight advantage in the scrum and the Irish are probably stronger in the line-out. It would be surprising if the advantage gained by either side in these areas affected the result. Of more importance will be the quality of ruck ball and how both sides use it. The Italians have shown in all their games so far that they are strong in attack, whereas the lack of tries scored and opportunities created by the Irish backs in the two matches played to date has been a cause of concern.
This has resulted in the introduction of the London Irish half-back pairing. It is going to be a bit of a dilemma for the selectors when it comes to the Five Nations matches whether they go for Eric Elwood, a better defender and kicker, or for David Humphreys who gets his back line moving more fluidly.
I thought that they might introduce somebody into the midfield after the Canadian match. Injury has now forced that upon the selectors, who have opted to move Kevin Maggs into that position. It is nice to see Darragh O'Mahony getting a run on the left wing. He must have wondered if he was ever to get another chance. Hopefully both wingers and the full back will be given plenty of opportunities to use their attacking skills.
The return of Keith Wood to the front row and the captaincy is a huge bonus to the team. Peter Clohessy will be keen to take the chance, but he will know that it will take a supreme effort from him to oust Paul Wallace on a regular basis. Reggie Corrigan will need a super performance to get ahead of Nick Poppelwell. I was surprised that David Erskine was left out of the team after his performance against Canada. I thought he was one of the better performers that day. He now gets an opportunity to prove that he should not have been omitted in the first place.
Dylan O'Grady is probably much happier wearing a number seven shirt, but from the point of view of the selectors it means that they will get an opportunity of seeing him at number six. A lot of interest will centre on Eric Miller's performance. Victor Costello has certainly increased his own work-rate and there are many who felt that he would hold his position after the Canadian match. With both at the top of their game, Miller probably goes forward as a better all-round player, but he will know that unless he performs to a high standard, he will be under pressure for the number eight position.
Italy have beaten Ireland before now and, even in defeat by the likes of South Africa, they have proved themselves capable of running up impressive scores. At the end of the day, it may be their high-scoring ability which could prove the difference between the teams this afternoon.
(In an interview with Sean Kilfeather)
