THE IRELAND selectors will assemble tonight to pick the team to meet Australia this day week. An urgent case has been presented to them and some convincing evidence is available - if they have the will and the perception to act- upon it.

They must start, too, with the admission, one to the other, that they got it badly wrong in the composition of the' team they put in the field last Tuesday. The preparation of the side must also be reviewed.

That having been done, they should then reflect on what the manager, Pat Whelan, and the coach, Murray Kidd, were quoted as saying after the Western Samoa match. I was not present at the press conference because of time constraints and deadlines; for some small mercies may we be truly thankful.

But there were a few pertinent questions that must have gone unasked. "There was nothing wrong with our preparation," said Kidd.

Well, the performance scarcely substantiates that, and whatever about the preparation on the training ground, there most certainly was a major psychological deficiency in the team. We have seen many a poor Irish performance through the years, but invariably there has been a fire and passion in Irish sides in the initial stages of matches, especially on home soil. Not last Tuesday night.

Ireland conceded five points after two minutes and then proceeded to play a game suited to the strengths of the Samoans. The Irish side was in deep trouble and trailing badly before the forwards seemed to realise what was required. Even then, the back line could not make holes in a paper bag.

The performance, tactical ineptitude and lack of awareness in the first 30 minutes were pathetic, the overall display inept. Ireland never looked like recovering.

Whose team was this Irish side, whose views prevailed in selection? Was it the coach whose views most influenced the selection, or the manager? The Irish coach is a man who holds precise views on certain aspects of Irish rugby, many of them wrong and seen to be wrong. He is, among other things, obsessed with the apparent need for big players across the three quarter line. There were a few big men out there last Tuesday night whose defence is not just fragile - it does not exist.

The Ireland manager is a man known to be not easily given to taking prisoners. He is a man of strong views and strong will. Nothing wrong with that, provided it is accompanied by realism. Just as it is time for the players to deliver, it is time for the Ireland team management to deliver. If the Ireland, players last Tuesday night were being paid on performance instead of appearance they would not have got a penny.

The time has come for some facts and some reality. The Irish management presided over the most unsuccessful team Ireland put in the field last season and had nothing to do with the two most successful sides. The schools team won the Triple Crown, their third such success since 1990, and won nine out of nine in Australia.

Yet the Ireland coach believes the schools structure in this country is all wrong. He also believes that the senior selectors should be selecting the Ireland under 21 team. Perish the thought.

The under 21 team also won the Triple Crown last season and the only service Kidd and Co rendered to the management of the under 21 team was to deprive them unnecessarily of such as Malcolm O'Kelly, Eric Miller and James Topping. The A team, under Dave Haslett and Ray Coughlan, won two out of three. The senior management picked that team; it was prepared by Haslett and Coughlan.

The A side last Tuesday was streets ahead of the senior team and would undoubtedly have given the Samoans a better match. The by product of the all New Zealand coaching combination of Kidd and Mike Brewer was there for all to see against the Samoans.

"We have learned a great deal from that match," Whelan is quoted as saying last Tuesday night after the 40 point debacle against Western Samoa. The composition of the back line was a clear illustration that the selectors - or at least a majority of them - either learned nothing for previous evidence or else are suffering from an acute loss of memory.

Let us get back again to facts. The Ireland selectors had seen the exact same back line they choose to put in the field last Tuesday torn to shreds a few months ago in the match against the Barbarians.

Ireland conceded 70 points that afternoon and 40 last Tuesday night. That is a total of 110 points in two matches. They left out a centre of Mark McCall's calibre to go for a non tackler such as Robert Henderson. They choose a full back whose defensive limitations were exposed yet again, as they will be ruthlessly exposed if the Ireland selectors continue to select him. Richard Wallace's defence is also woefully inadequate.

There may not be much bulk in Mark McCall's make up, but he would put in his head where some of those who played last Tuesday night would not put in a boot. His omission from the team is a disgrace.

That is three changes in the back line and counting. The options for full back are Dominic Crotty, Conor O'Shea and Jim Staples. Staples also has defensive limitations, but may well get a recall. If he does, then Crotty should be named on the left wing with Topping on the right.

The selectors will likely give Jonathan Bell another chance. His partner certainly did not help him last Tuesday night, but I would have no quibble if they pick Maurice Field and McCall. Kurt McQuilkin, despite a lack of pace, has played better than either Bell or Henderson this season. David Humphreys will probably hold on despite a poor match and poor service from Niall Hogan.

But Eric Elwood and Paul Burke present viable alternatives and both are accomplished place kickers. No one can doubt Hogan's willingness to tackle, but his reading of the game and some of his decision taking was poor and so was his passing. But the selectors will not take a gamble on too much inexperience and are likely to retain Hogan in the face of the challenge from Stephen McIvor.

Nick Popplewell believes he will be fit following a hamstring injury; if he is, he will be at loose head prop. Let us not hear again the nonsensical excuse put forward for not picking Keith Wood. He must be in the front row with Popplewell, if fit, and Paul Wallace is an honest and good forward.

A partner for Jeremy Davidson and the composition of the back row will take time. The selectors will probably go for Gabriel Fulcher to return in place of Mick Galwey, rather than move Paddy Johns from the back row to the second.

Denis McBride is often the soft option for criticism. Looking again closely at that match, I think he will be retained. In the circumstances of this match, I doubt if they will pick Miller or - Dead Oswald, David Corkery will - be on the blind side flank and the options at number eight are Victor Costello, Ben Cronin - and Anthony Foley. I cannot see them selecting Costello, bearing in mind the reasons given for his original omission even from the A team last Tuesday. So it is likely to be Cronin or Foley.