IRELAND TOUR TO NZ WINNERS ALRIGHT, and winners all round. In unveiling his hand to play the All Blacks in Wellington this Saturday, caretaker coach Michael Bradley will most likely name 14 or even 15 players who finished the season with winners' medals in their back pockets of either a European, Celtic or English hue.
It is a position of strength and confidence that could scarcely have been imagined when Ireland signed off their most disappointing season since 1999 with that 33-10 defeat in Twickenham on March 15th, thereby leaving them in fourth place in the Six Nations. Since then, not only have Munster augmented Leinster's Magners League title with their Heineken Cup success, but Eoin Reddan signed off his domestic campaign with Wasps' English Premiership final victory in Twickenham.
Reddan, along with Geordan Murphy and Brian O'Driscoll, arrived in windy Wellington yesterday afternoon to link up with the rest of the squad, who had arrived 24 hours earlier. It was a fairly sleepy Wellington too, given the bank holiday to commemorate Queen Elizabeth's birthday. Of the other 27 players here, the only ones not to take part in training were Alan Quinlan (dead leg) and Luke Fitzgerald (stiff ankle), both of whom are expected to train today prior to the team announcement.
Judging by the relatively settled nature of the squad selection to begin with, one imagines that Michael Bradley's first team announcement will fall along fairly familiar lines. Munster's recently crowned European champions will provide the vast bulk of the pack, with Rory Best, and Jamie Heaslip especially, the only non-Munster forwards realistically vying for selection.
However, Jerry Flannery's form in the Heineken Cup run-in ought to earn him a recall at hooker, with Bradley's most pressing dilemma being whether to accommodate Quinlan's rich vein of form, and if so whether at the expense of Denis Leamy or Heaslip.
Aside from the perennial Murphy or Girvan Dempsey decision at fullback, the most striking variation from the Six Nations campaign, and before, is the possibility of playing Fitzgerald at centre; an option partially forced on Bradley by the unavailability of Gordon D'Arcy and Andrew Trimble.
It would be a big ask of the 20-year-old to make only his second Test start in the relatively unfamiliar and more influential position of outside centre. But his performance against the Barbarians - when Fitzgerald's footwork and offloading opened up space for others and his defensive reading and tackling were equally eye-catching - makes it less of a gamble. This though, would only mean two slots between Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney, Murphy and Dempsey.
All in all, Ireland approach what is always its most daunting Test assignment at the end of another long, hard season which began with preparations for the World Cup last July, in better shape that they'd dared have imagined during either the tortuous French odyssey or the Six Nations.
"The World Cup was certainly disappointing and everyone has drawn a line under that now and maybe the Six Nations as well," said Quinlan yesterday. "The onus for us as players and individuals was to get back with our clubs and have a good season with Munster and Leinster. It gives us a bit of confidence and a bit of belief that rugby isn't all that bad and you have to put up with the good times and the bad times. Certainly it was a difficult year for us being involved with Ireland but it was nice to do well with the clubs, and gives us a spring in our step after a long hard season."
The carrot dangling in front of Quinlan and his team-mates is to become the first group of Irish players ever to beat the All Blacks in 103 years and 21 attempts. "That's certainly a massive challenge for us - we've never beaten New Zealand and I know there are a few changes in the All Blacks squad, (but) there's a lot of quality and depth in NZ rugby. Everybody knows that, it's a challenge for us and one we're looking forward to. We're ready for one last drive at the end of the season. They are two big challenges, playing New Zealand and Australia in the Southern Hemisphere, but it's a great opportunity for players and it's great honour to play against the All Blacks."
Whereas Graham Henry has been obliged to ring the changes, two-thirds of Ireland's line-up played in the 34-23 and 27-17 defeats in New Zealand two years ago - the two results and performances more than any wins in recent times which imbued the players with a belief that they could indeed beat any team in the world.
"The core group of the players experienced those two Tests in 2006," observed Quinlan. "We did a lot of things right in both those games and came up short in both of them. So we've learned that if we were to get one over the All Blacks on Saturday, we'd certainly have to put in a massive, massive performance and get a lot of stuff right. We'll draw from that and certainly give it our best. One thing can be guaranteed is that we will be giving it 100 per cent."
He who pays the piper calls the tune, and TV dictates that the All Blacks play their home matches on Saturday nights, thereby increasing the likelihood of the game being played in the kind of wet and wintry weather which accompanied Ireland's training run yesterday morning.
However, in what has long since become a wearying line of questioning, Quinlan rejected the notion that this would be something the Irish team would welcome. "I don't think so - we'd certainly like the night to be dry. Nobody likes playing in these kind of conditions. I think we have a lot of potential in our backline so we'd certainly prefer to have a dry night on Saturday."
