Ireland - Eddie hasn't made up his mind about the final squad

[Thequeerone]

http://www.examiner.ie/irishexaminer...012-qqqx=1.asp

3 August 2007

Eddie: countdown starts here

By Edward Newman, Limerick
EDDIE O’SULLIVAN says Ireland are capable of winning rugby’s World Cup, but warned: “talk is cheap and we’ve got to go and do it”.


The Irish coach believes the current Ireland team is better than the class of 2003 that went to Australia and insists lofty ambitions are healthy.

O’Sullivan echoed the thoughts of experienced hands Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara and Denis Hickie, the trio who over the last two weeks have set their personal targets at lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in the Stade de France on October 20.

“I can’t say we are going to win it, I don’t know. Are we capable of winning it? I think we are,” said an upbeat O’Sullivan yesterday. “The reason I say this — and it’s not being bullish — is because there’s reasonable logic to it. I think we’ve shown in recent years that we are capable of beating the top teams. We have beaten Australia, we have beaten South Africa and we know we can beat France but we don’t do it often enough. So all those things would indicate we’re capable of it.”

There are those who subscribe to the view that the Irish should play down their chances given their extremely tough pool which includes France and Argentina, but O’Sullivan feels that talking up one’s chances is healthy.

“There’s nothing wrong with saying that (we can win) — then you’ve got to go and do it and the way to do is to make sure we get out of our pool, and then once you get out of your pool, you’re 80 minutes away from a semi-final and 80 minutes from a final and 80 minutes from winning a World Cup. That’s the logic you have to pursue.”

“The team is very, very focused, very hungry. But I know at the same time talk is cheap — you’ve to go out and do it then. That’s the big challenge at the end of the day.”

But O’Sullivan warned that Argentina, who could decide whether Ireland progress or not, are a better team than four years ago too. “They’re a very seasoned squad all playing top level rugby in France pretty much, the exception being the number playing at home and there’s not too many of them. We know them very well and we’ve seen them over the last while. There are no secrets and we know there a bloody good team at the moment.”

O’Sullivan begins trimming his 48-man training squad in Limerick today as he streamlines preparations for the first warm-up game against Scotland in Murrayfield tomorrow week.

The Ireland head coach said between 10 to 12 players will return to their clubs or provinces but will remain on stand-by should a replacement be needed during the World Cup tournament itself.

By 11am on Sunday week between six to eight more players will be left disappointed when the official 30-man squad for France 2007 is announced, and those with the plane tickets for Le Coupe du Monde will first depart the following day for warm weather training in Capbreton in the south west of France.

There, an IRB-sanctioned warm-up against French Top 14 side, Bayonne, has been pencilled in for Thursday, August 16. Ireland’s final warm-up is against Italy in Ravenhill on August 24.

O’Sullivan articulated his reasons for not naming a 30-man squad earlier this summer, as pool four opponents France did, and for mobilising a logistically-challenging 48-man posse at training in Limerick this week. He praised those who knew deep down they had faint hopes of going to Bordeaux but who “pitched in and worked their guts out”.

O’Sullivan remains unsure of his best 30. “There are a number of reasons why I have 48 here this week: one reason is I don’t know the 30 yet. The Scottish game is playing a part in selection and that’s why we’re waiting until after the Scotland match. I also think it’s good to have everybody involved for a while so they know what’s going on because there could be changes in terms of replacements at some point.

“Also I don’t think it’s a good dynamic for the players that we name our 30 a month or two ago. For guys who aren’t in that 30, there isn’t much motivation for them to get stuck in. Some of them know the odds on them going to Bordeaux are slim but they still pitched in and worked their guts out. It’s great to see that. If guys knew last June they were all out of the loop they wouldn’t have much motivation to work hard. I think for those reasons it makes sense to wait until the 11th hour — we’re not going to lose anything by waiting and we’ll certainly be wiser when we make those decisions.”

Of the 48 in camp this week, three of Ireland’s perceived best XV are carrying knocks: David Wallace (ankle) and Gordon D’Arcy (calf) sat out training while Ronan O’Gara (knee) will rest today before the camp breaks up for the weekend and regroups in Dublin on Monday.

“Gordon D’Arcy had a slight calf strain last week. He’s pretty much ready to go but I think we’ll give an extra couple of days. David Wallace’s ankle, a chronic problem, acted up again last week. Ronan has trained all this week but we’re going to rest him now. He has worked very hard. He tweaked his knee in Poland when we were doing some rugby fitness and it was quite sore but there’s absolutely no damage whatsoever. I’m not worried about him at all.”

[no.8]

Neither have Wales!

[Thequeerone]

Concerns over O’Gara as Irish squad trimmed

http://www.irishexaminer.com/irishex...079-qqqx=1.asp

By Barry Coughlan
REALITY hit home for 11 Irish rugby players yesterday when coach Eddie O’Sullivan cut his World Cup squad from 48 players to 37, while concerns still exist over Ronan O’Gara, who sat out training with a knee injury again yesterday.


Seven more players will be cut on August 12 when O’Sullivan names a 30-strong squad for France 2007, but the coach offered some consolation to the discarded players: “We had to cut the squad down to a more manageable group. These guys are still in our plans if needed.”

Jeremy Staunton, Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Peter Bracken and Johnny O’Connor have all been axed, as have Stephen Knoop, Ryan Caldwell, Tony Buckley, Kieran Lewis, Tomas O’Leary and the unlucky Roger Wilson. All have been released back to their provincial and club training camps.

The entire squad were at a week-long camp at the University of Limerick, but with the first warm-up match against Scotland next Saturday, O’Sullivan felt that it would be better to bring the numbers down for the team selection of that game.

“The team to play Scotland will be selected from the 37-man squad named today. While the players that have been omitted may come back into the squad in the case of any injuries, it would be fair to say that these 37 players will form the basis of our final Rugby World Cup squad selection.”

O’Sullivan admitted that trimming the squad to 30 will involve some “very difficult decisions”.

Gordon D’Arcy and David Wallace, who were carrying minor calf and ankle injuries respectively, both took part in the session. Ronan O’Gara’s knee injury was described as “minor.” and his absence from training “precautionary”.

However, O’Gara won’t be involved in the Scottish game if the injury persists; Ireland’s last pre-World Cup visit to Murrayfield cost them the services of Geordan Murphy, who sustained a severe leg fracture.

In other injury news, Tommy Bowe picked up a slight calf strain, and Caldwell, in any event, sustained a head injury diagnosed as concussion, ruling him out of action for the mandatory three weeks.

The squad will be in camp in Dublin next week where the team to play Scotland will be selected on Tuesday.