By Colm O’Donnell
IRELAND 22-10 USA (LIVE UPDATES)
And that’s all from me folks. It’s been a pleasure. I still maintain that half six is an unearthly hour to get up and watch a game of rugby. I implore you to go over to the irrepressible Cal Gray and Jack Leahy for the coverage of South Africa V. Wales, which is bound to be a cracker. Somewhat of a fitting end to the game for the Americans, who looked the happier of the two sides after that final play try finished the game. We must not delude ourselves that this was a clash of two equal teams, where a 22-10 scoreline would be a fair score line. Ireland should have ‘beaten them out the gate’ as Conor O’Shea pointed out. We live in hope that Ireland find the form that has eluded them over the last 5 test matches in the next six days, or the Australians will destroy us.
80 Minutes: Ireland still pushing for the bonus point, creative little dink in behind the american line, and Keith Earls was a bounce away from catching that and falling over the line, USA clear, and Ireland will attack again, into the last play of the game. INTERCEPTION. TRY, USA. Outside-Centre Emerick intercepts a poor pass from Gordon D’Arcy to Andrew Trimble and takes it to the house. Patterson tacks on the conversion and that’s the end of that. Final score: Ireland 22-10 USA.
73 Minutes: Yet another penalty conceded by the Americans in the scrum, where you have to feel sorry for them, O’Gara sends it to the corner, Ireland looking for the bonus point fourth try. Line-out maul works well, but there was a knock on at the back by Tony Buckley. It’s redundant as the Americans had been penalized for an earlier infraction. And a rash move from Stephen Ferris, who has thrown a punch, referee Craig Joubert decides not to take any action. Ireland with a scrum on the American five metre line, looking for the penalty try. First one goes as planned. And that’s a surprise; American turn over in the scrum. unfortunate from an Irish perspective.
70 Minutes: Entering the final stages of the game, play has descended into a predictable chaotic mess again, some more big hits from the Americans, some more handling errors from both sides. Very poor standard of rugby on show.
64 Minutes: Both sides ringing the changes now, Shane Jennings has been replaced by Denis Leamy, Jerry Flannery has come on for Rory Best, Andrew Trimble comes on for Geordan Murphy, with Keith Earls going to full back, and the heaviest man in the tournament, Tony Buckley, has come on for Tom Court. Americans looking much more tired now and they bring on prop Mate Moeakiola for Mike Macdonald, and scrum-half Tim Usasz for Mike Petri. Irish play has been much more positive, vintage O’Gara kick to the corner. Ireland starting to turn the screw.
59 Minutes: Some of the Americans looking tired, and their out-half Roland Suniula comes off with cramp, he was replaced by Nese Malifa. He had been holding up an Irish line-out where he was lying on the pitch. Straight from the line out, we go wide, Great hands from the back line and Bowe to O’Driscoll, who pops it back inside to Tommy Bowe. TRY. Good work. Much better conversion from O’Gara. Ireland 22-3 USA.
56 Minutes: And that’s not how you want to follow up your first points on the board, straight from the kick-off a sliced clearance from the Americans, Good line out and maul, and we peel away from the back. TRY. Rory Best at the back of the maul, good work from the forwards, and a more clinical attitude. From the touchline, O’Gara misses the conversion. Ireland 15-3 USA.
52 Minutes: Good phase work from the Americans, working their way down to the Irish 22, penalty given away by Donncha O’Callaghan, and a shot at goal from Patterson, it’s good. Ireland 10-3 USA.
47 Minutes: Continued pressure from Ireland, an update on our players coming back from injury is mixed; Stephen Ferris is probably our best player on the pitch at the moment. Tommy Bowe has been a mixed bag, took the try well, but open play has only been average from a man we expect so much from. Good American turnover, they have been competing in Irish rucks all day long. Conor Murray unfortunate to be judged on this performance, quality of ball at the base of the ruck has been awful. And he makes way for Eoin Reddan. O’Gara for Sexton switch is made too. Expect a more territory orientated style of play from the Irish.
43 Minutes: First scrum of second half conforms to expectation, and Ireland awarded a very kickable penalty well inside American half, and Sexton misses again. Poor. A minute later, Tom Clever penalized for not rolling away, another penalty, about five metres inside American half, little bit more central than the previous one. Sexton misses again. One from five. Awful. Ronan O’Gara expected on very soon.
40 Minutes: Changes expected in the Irish line-up in the next ten minutes according to the RTE commentators, we are told that Eoin Reddan, Ronan O’Gara and Andrew Trimble were warming up at half time. Back under way in Taranaki, and both the wind and the rain have died down for the moment.
Half Time: And that try was the last action of the half, putting a bit of a gloss on the score-line that doesn’t really reflect the performance. If we play like this against Australia, it will not end well. Some words of wisdom from George Hook; ‘This American scrum is so bad, it’s making Tom Court look like Arnold Schwarznegger.’
38 Minutes: Tom Court is simply obliterating the American scrum, turnover against the head just before half time, Ireland back in the 22, some half breaks, really important to get something on the board before half time. TRY. And there it is, you felt it was coming. Ireland go through the phases, better handling, the forwards recycle it well, wide to Tommy Bowe, who ghosts through the american midfield to tap down under the posts. Sexton adds the extras. Ireland 10-0 USA.
35 Minutes: Handling errors continue to dominate the game, sustained possession proving difficult for both sides. Ireland really not looking sharp with ball in hand, the support runners staying too deep, and you feel they are too willing to kick it away after three or four phases.
29 Minutes: Finally, some good play in the open from the Irish, who had been dominating at the set-piece throughout. Some half breaks from O’Driscoll and Earls and we find ourselves camped in the 22. The tackling from the Americans has been phenomenal so far. Flanker Tom Clever is thumping anything in green that moves.
24 Minutes: Worrying trends from Irish point of view, handling continues to be poor, Brian O’Driscoll is also not looking very sharp. Sustained period of pressure from the USA. Ireland content to play cautiously and let the Americans come at them.
20: Minutes: Surface becoming noticeably greasy as a result of all the rain. Some good USA possession leads to a penalty out on the touchline, first attempt for winger James Patterson, who pushes it wide right.
15: Minutes: Clever little show and go from Conor Murray, and the Americans penalised at the ruck, Sexton with an easier kick this time, and he opens his account for the tournament. Ireland 3-0 USA.
11 Minutes: Another missed penalty from Sexton, he’s connecting cleanly with it, accuracy will need to improve. Scratch what I said about the rain earlier, it’s absolutely bucketing down. Ball goes back down the pitch and a clever little chip through by Mike Petri leads to a half chance for Ngwenya, but it bounces away from him.
8 Minutes: Great possession and territory for the Irish so far, would be nice to convert it into points early. Some great tackling from the Americans pushes Ireland back to the the edge of the 22, leading to an audacious chip over the top by Sexton, but Bowe was off-side. Americans get to relieve the pressure.
4 Minutes: First scrum goes rather convincingly in favor of the Irish, making ten metres in two seconds, penalty given, and, Sexton misses. This tournament may be known for the number of missed placed kicks than anything else. A quick break for Ireland with Earls coming in off his wing and taking a massive hit, he’s a bit shook up but looks set to continue.
1 Minute: South African referee Craig Joubert gets us underway, it will be interesting to see how he referees the game, already one of the story-lines of the tournament has been the contrast in refereeing at the breakdown between southern and northern hemisphere officials.
6:55 National anthems performed wonderfully, Star Spangled Banner was truly motivational, and now we are now moments away from kick off. Rain has dried off in the last few minutes, and looks set to hold that way for the next hour. Crowd is rocking, and both sides are fantastically well supported.
6:50 Today, of course is a massive day for the Americans, and during the minutes silence for those lost ten years ago, the emotion is palpable on the faces of the players. Conor O’Shea predicted that the occasion would bring a performance of the ages out of the Statesiders, where George Hook feels that Eddie O’Sullivan’s hectic training regime will have them too tired to play, something which should be familiar to rugby fans on this island.
6:45 Some quick reflection on the team sheets, for Ireland, the big calls were at scrum half, where Conor Murray makes his second international start, on the biggest stage, and on the bench, where the selection of Donnacha Ryan over Leo Cullen has proven contentious. On the U.S.A. side, it would be remiss of me not to mention Trinity graduate Scott LaValla, who starts the game on the bench, and we hope to see him at some stage. Only four full time professionals in the American squad, the back row, and danger-man winger Ngwenya, who shot to fame after skinning then International Player of the Year, Bryan Habana, in the last world cup. Tellingly, they have the same number of unattached players in the squad (players with no club at the moment).
Ireland: G Murphy; T Bowe, B O’Driscoll, G D’Arcy, K Earls; J Sexton, C Murray; T Court, R Best, M Ross, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, S Ferris, J Heaslip, S Jennings.
Replacements: J Flannery, T Buckley, D Ryan, D Leamy, E Reddan, R O’Gara, A Trimble
USA: B Scully; T Ngwenya, P Emerick, A Suniula, J Paterson; R Suniula, M Petri; M MacDonald, P Thiel, S Pittman, J van der Giessen, H Smith, L Stanfill, T Clever (capt), N Johnson.
Replacements: C Biller, M Moeakiola, S LaValla, P Danahy, T Usasz, N Malifa, C Hawley.
6:35 Conditions on the ground in Taranaki are poor, it’s about 13 degrees Celsius, it’s raining a lot, and there is a very strong wind. Sounds like Irish rugby conditions to me.
6:25 Firstly, a little bit of housework to tie up a few loose ends, the first game in Pool C went predictably with a four try bonus point win for Australia 32-5 over Italy. Notable was the play of the vaunted Australian back line, playing up to expectations in a strong second half that bodes ill for our game with them in 6 days time.
6:20 Good Morning ladies and gentlemen, shake off that hangover, get yourself out of bed, have a nice cup of tea, and get ready for the first game of Ireland’s world cup odyssey.
