The Ireland team will face Wales in Cardiff tomorrow against a very different background than when Ireland played Scotland in Murrayfield three weeks' ago. The spectre of events at Murrayfield hangs over the Ireland team and management tomorrow for much has changed since Scotland did that demolition job on Ireland. Even by modern scoring values 32-10 amounts to a hammering.
The scoreline was an accurate reflection of the trend of the game and a telling indictment of the Irish performance. The Murrayfield debacle means that gone now is any chance Ireland had of playing England for the Six Nations title not to mention a Grand Slam.
The landscape has changed in many other respects and so, too, has the composition of the Ireland team to meet Wales. Seven changes in personnel and a positional alteration were the Irish management's concession to the performance in Murrayfield. It is almost like old times in one respect when Irish teams would be chasing an elusive win and changes came in the hope that things could only get better. Granted Simon Easterby and Geordan Murphy were ruled out because of injury, but the management has wielded the scalpel in the aftermath of a dreadful performance.
One of the intended changes will not take place as Gary Longwell has been ruled out and that means a reprieve for Malcolm O'Kelly. O'Kelly needs to respond to his good fortune.
In many respects one must admire the management's bravery and admission that they got their selection wrong for Murrayfield. Let us hope the amendments made will prove sufficient for the needs and make Cardiff fertile territory for Ireland yet again as it has been since 1985.
The return of Peter Stringer at scrumhalf was an obvious change as he should not, in the first place, have been dropped. His passing off either side is a class apart from any other contender.
The return of Kevin Maggs in the centre should bolster the defence, but personally I would have opted for Mike Mullins. Shane Horgan may be more comfortable on the wing than he was in the centre at Murrayfield. To his immense credit, his performances subsequently for Leinster have shown he is not suffering in confidence from the effects of Murrayfield.
The return of David Humphreys at outhalf comes after his tour de force at Ravenhill and a 37 points man-of-the-match performance against Wasps. The man who loses out, Ronan O'Gara, was also man of the match for Munster against Harlequins on Saturday and the previous week against Castres. O'Gara has served Ireland well and some of his problems at Murrayfield were not of his making. He is unlucky but Humphreys has been in great form lately and I feel comfortable with either of these fine players.
In the pack - and that forward unit will have to shake off the lethargy and tactical ineptitude that were so costly against the Scots - the four original changes made tell their own tale. Back yet again comes Mick Galwey and David Wallace gets the place his performances warrant. Galwey may not now have the capacity to play 80 minutes of international rugby, but his presence will be beneficial.
Tactical substitutions are an integral part of the game now. O'Kelly and Jeremy Davidson lost out to Galwey and Longwell before the later fractured a finger. Davidson has not played well this season. His omission was predictable. Eric Miller's return is welcome as he has been very impressive for Leinster.
In the lineout, in the loose, in ruck and maul the Ireland pack was deficient in Murrayfield and remedial action was needed. Let us hope it provides the proper restorative properties. That Irish pack must impose itself and not slip into a mood of allowing the opposition to dictate the trend of the game and do little about it as happened at Murrayfeld. If matters are not going well, then hopefully they will have the perception, the will and the courage to turn it around. That at times requires hard graft, application and leadership.
Keith Wood has not been playing well nor was his leadership evident in Murrayfield. Like so many he fell into the trough of inefficiency when he needed to provide some inspiration. He must lead by example tomorrow. It is right he has retained the captaincy for it was not, in the circumstances, the time for change. But he must lift his own performance and give the pack the leadership we have seen him do in the past.
Ireland go to Wales with a tremendous record in Cardiff with an unbeaten record that embraces six wins and a draw in seven matches dating back to 1985 and we can add in another win, attained in Wembley, in 1999. Tomorrow Ireland will not be playing with a Grand Slam, Triple Crown and championship hanging on the result. Thus that lifts a burden, but it most certainly does not diminish responsibility.
This is a match where future international selection is on the line for some and equally it is a very big match for the Ireland coach Warren Gatland and by extension his management team. Not that the Welsh coach Graham Henry can feel secure either, but that is a Welsh problem.
Gatland has had an uncomfortable few weeks. Ironically while he worries, the Ireland provinces have prospered as never before in the Heineken Cup and in Connacht's case the Shield. Played eight, won eight in those two competitions. After Murrayfield the success of the Irish provinces in the Celtic League was dismissed across the channel as being a competition of no importance. It is not, it is true, the Heineken Cup, but that competition is proving even more productive. Thirteen of the team tomorrow play their rugby with the provinces in that competition.
If the successes of the provinces are not reflected in Cardiff tomorrow, no need to ask at whom the fire will be aimed. Those successes, like the Murrayfield debacle, will also be a spectre over the heads of the coach and his management team, who will be in the front line of fire. And some players will also be running in search of cover as England and New Zealand approach the gates. Success, like failure, can impose its own pressures.
