Rugby: After four Test match defeats in a row, Declan Kidney and his Ireland side are eager to put things right against Samoa at the weekend but the manager is wary of the pressure that brings and has reiterated the need to keep it simple against the Pacific Islanders at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland were guilty of over complicating some aspects of their play in tough conditions against South Africa last Saturday and were flattered by the scoreline in a two-point defeat to the world champions.
Kidney, who has no new injury concerns ahead of the game, has since admitted his side did not play the conditions well and though he is confident they have improved on some aspects of their play during the week, his concern is that his side could be hampered by the desire to get things spot on against weaker opposition.
“Well we know the areas that we improved. My only concern is that they’re so keen to get it right. We have to just temper that keenness and have the belief in ourselves and keep doing what we’re doing in training. It’s nearly too much effort if anything and that’s the one thing we have to temper coming into it,” said Kidney this afternoon, before cautioning against underestimating the opposition.
“They’ve come off the back of winning the Pacific Nations championship, with a lot of those guys missing.
“We played Fiji on a horrible day here and they (Samoa) put a similar type of score on them in Fiji just a couple of months back, so I wouldn’t be under any illusions. They are a side that do come together in a World year with IRB backing …and they will be very keen to start off this tour well and back up their Pacific Nations Cup win. That can give them momentum and that's why the first 20 minutes tomorrow will be very important."
Captain Brian O’Driscoll admits the homeside know a little less about Samoa than they might do about other more regular visits to Lansdowne Road, but says it can help the side focus on doing its job better.
“We haven’t as much footage of Samoa as we would have other teams but if you get your own game right and implement it right you feel you are a long way down the road towards winning the game. That’s the philosophy we’ve adopted this week, just trying to really focus on correcting the areas where we went wrong last week, trying to put that right. Maybe simplifying things a little bit and trying to hold on to the ball a little bit, it’s a lot easier playing with the ball than without it.”
The Leinster centre has met Samoa just once before in his illustrious career but denies there is a novelty factor to a game he will be treating just like any other Test match.
“I don’t think you really look at it as anything. I look forward to Test matches, obviously the bigger the crowd and the bigger the stage heightens the anticipation about it, but Test match rugby is Test match rugby and it excites week in week out. Every time I get named in a Declan’s team I get another opportunity to prove my worth in a green jersey, it hasn’t lost its value at all.
“In the early years it used to be about playing for Ireland and now it’s about winning for Ireland. Playing is not good enough anymore you have to experience those good feelings … of what it’s like to be in the dressing room after winning a tough Test match. It’s a pretty sweet feeling.”
O’Driscoll says the defeats are “definitely in our thoughts but there is nothing we can do" about them.
“We can only put paid to all that with our next performance, so that’s where our focus is, it’s about 80 minutes against Samoa this weekend and trying to right the wrongs of the previous few games where at times we’ve let ourselves down.”
Putting things right, he says, means playing “smart” and holding on to the ball a bit more. “I don’t think you can turn the ball over as many times as we did last weekend and expect to win against any team in the world. We have to be able to take teams through a few more phases, but at the same time, depending on what the conditions offer tomorrow, being able to play those conditions as smartly as we can.
“With the experience of Strings (Peter Stringer) and Rog (Ronan O’Gara) playing halfback, they’ll have seen pretty much any conditions the old Lansdowne Road had to offer or any other stadium around the world, so hopefully that experience will come to the fore and it will be everyone’s job to weigh in behind them as the decision makers and make sure that we play the game appropriately.”
Achieving the level they want to, will not be affected by the turnout at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow, says Kidney. “If one person turns up to watch us, our job will be to play to the best our ability for that one person.”
On the Samoan bench, meanwhile, Ti'i Paulo has been replaced by Steve Fualau.