Out-half debate continues

Aside from now having the credentials to audition for Scarface, Eric Elwood's head-splitting brush with Jonathan Bell's elbow last Friday night might result in the rare sight of both Irish out-halves having to wear scrumcaps in Lens on Wednesday night. The question is: on whom will the cap fit best?

That hoary old chestnut, David Humphreys or Elwood at out-half, has raised its head to such an extent that it is possibly the most difficult selection decision facing the Irish management prior to the naming of the Irish team today for Wednesday's play-off against Argentina. The re-emergence of this vexed issue has far more to do with a return to form by Elwood than any dramatic loss of form by Humphreys, following the former's most compelling all-round performance in some time on Friday night - indeed "two or three years" according to the coach who knows him best, Warren Gatland.

Irish manager Donal Lenihan wasn't shedding too much light on the out-half conundrum yesterday, merely stating: "We were thrilled with his (Elwood's) performance. But again I think we're well aware of the strengths of both players and have been for a long time. It was a bonus to have Eric in the form of the other night, but you don't judge players on one-off game. It is nice to know now that between the two of them, either one could do a job for us."

Humphreys possibly fears the worst, and the expectations from outside the squad seem to favour Elwood, yet such a scenario would be harsh on Humphreys. Pigeon-holing the pair as a runner and a kicker is also a bit simplistic and forgets the fact that Humphreys steered Ulster to European glory using 10-man tactics. Nor is his place-kicking nearly as dodgy as is often made out. In short, he doesn't deserve to be dropped.

Another selection poser brought about by Friday night's performance is the combination of the loose forwards. "We were thrilled with Kieron Dawson, who took a bit of criticism but more than justified his selection," Lenihan said.

What's more, Dawson's work in tandem with Dion O'Cuinneagain (especially for the excellent first try) and Andy Ward provided Ireland with probably it's paciest and most skilful back row in some time. With Brennan suspended and Alan Quinlan looking some way off the pace on Friday night, the only alternative to last Friday's remodelled back row would be to incorporate the return of Eric Miller, depending on the extent of his hamstring strain.

In part depending on Justin Bishop's fitness, James Topping's fine showing on Friday night may still not have earned him another start, and likewise, though Mike Mullins's candidature grows by the game, the established midfield axis of Maggs and O'Driscoll is likely to remain intact.

"We've a fair idea in our own mind who our best selection is," Lenihan said, "and we'll be looking to pick our best team to win the match, whereas in the pool stages we did take a little bit of a risk with regard to the Romanian game, you can't presume anything in a knock-out match, so therefore you have to go for broke."

As Lenihan also conceded, the standard of opposition provided by Romania has to be taken into account with regards future selections, although this was set against the continuing pre-match disruptions of last week. "In the context of the 24 hours we had (before the game) when every time we lifted our heads somebody had gone down injured, it was a fairly shaky 48 hours, to the point that you go out at 11.30 to do your line-outs and somebody else goes down. Paul Wallace was out in Tallaght doing something for the Union and we had to send the car out to get him back. That's where we were."

Though Samoa and Argentina would have represented radically different challenges, and Warren Gatland had expressed a mild preference for the former, it's unlikely to influence a horses-for-courses type selection.

Lenihan admitted his preference was for the Pumas. "Because we played them six weeks ago, we had a dossier built up on them, and they've now played another three games so we have a fair bit of information on them. They would be stronger in the setpieces, whereas we would have seen ourselves having an advantage over Samoa there, but possibly wouldn't have the same scoring potential behind the scrum. And they seem to have been struggling to break down defences, while we've conceded only four tries in the whole tournament.

"The other main plus, which I think could be a factor, is that we've had an extra 24 hours' rest over Argentina, whereas Samoa would have had 24 hours more than we had. And that could be significant at the end of the day."

Indeed, about an hour after Lenihan said those words, a decidedly weary-looking Puma squad checked into the hotel on the other side of the nearby fly-over.