World Under-19 Championship: Ireland face Samoa today at Sharjah in their final IRB under-19 World Championship pool match knowing a win and a bonus point would mean a favourable seeding among the middle group of countries for the final two rounds of the tournament.
Happy though the Ireland players and management would be with such an outcome, they are only too aware that had they beaten France last Sunday they could have been vying for a place among the top four countries. It was not to be but that has created something of a motivational challenge ahead of the Samoan match.
"We've now missed the boat for the top four," said coach Charlie McAleese. "We've now had to challenge ourselves psychologically going into the Samoa game and have had to reassess our priorities. . . you have to keep in mind that the real purpose of being in this world championship is the development of young players.
"But at the same time the boys need to develop the winning mentality at tournament time. Winning at under-19 level can influence confidence at senior level, and under-19 rugby is part of the process of producing senior players."
While victory would place Ireland high among the middle group of nations (fifth to eighth), defeat would propel them into the last four (ninth to 12th) and entail the depressing possibility of relegation. The good new is, however, that the win over England and the excellent effort against France have made Ireland clear favourites to win today.
The Samoans lost heavily to South Africa but will take much from their first game; they were only denied victory by Argentina's injury-time drop goal.
McAleese says, "They (Samoa) play a very simple game relying on an aggressive, offensive defence. It worked for them against Argentina. They have a free spirit and thrive playing off broken play. .
"There is no doubt that Polynesians are ahead of us in terms of physical maturity. Their physicality is a real threat. Individually they're very powerful.
"We'll rely on unit and team skills but we aim to mix it and get variety into our tactics. We didn't achieve that against France."
One factor that will affect tactics is the narrowness of the pitch at Sharjah, reportedly only 58 metres. That perhaps accounts for the selection of centre Keith Earls on the wing - a playmaker on the touchline. His switch allows a first start for CBC Cork student Ivan Dineen, who partners another championship debutant, Aidan Wynne of Blackrock College, in the centre.
Also making first starts are Limavady GS fullback Niall O'Connor, Castleknock prop Ruaidhri Murphy, and UCD hooker David Gilchrist.
Elsewhere New Zealand, Australia and France are expected to be in the top three places after the pool stages, with Wales, England, South Africa and Argentina all challenging for the fourth place.
Meanwhile, the final pool standings in Division B were decided last night.
Fiji beat Russia to top the standings, while Italy beat Uruguay to finish third. Tonga and Canada also made the top four by beating Georgia and Korea respectively.
IRELAND: N O'Connor (Limavady GS); K Earls (St Munchin's), I Dineen (CBC Cork), A Wynne (Blackrock), M Barker (Queen's Univ); B Collins (Castleknock), P O'Donohoe (Belvedere); R Murphy (Castleknock), D Gilchrist (UCD), C Healy (Belvedere); A Browne (Galwegians), C McInerney (UCD); T O'Donnell (UL Bohemians), D Pollock (Queen's), K Sheahan (UCD). Replacements: (from) R Sweeney (UCD), G Slattery (St Munchin's), J Gethings (Gonzaga), J Graham (Ballynahinch), T Walsh (Castleknock), D Drake (Instonians), S Carey (Garbally), S Monahan (Trinity), I Keatley (UCD), I Whitten (Queen's).
