Simon Lewis, Taupo
ROB Kearney has stressed the importance of making a strong start against Ireland’s “least difficult” opponents Russia this Sunday of face the prospect of a World Cup upset.
The Irish full-back was one of the heroes of the 15-6 win over Australia last Saturday in Auckland as the Tri-Nations champions and tournament second favourites were turned over by a lower-ranked side. Kearney warned that what appears to be Ireland’s easiest game this weekend in Rotorua against the World Cup debutants who are winless after two matches will be anything but easy if a marker is not laid down from the offset.
“You probably would expect it, on paper, to be our easiest pool match, yes, but I think the World Cup has shown over the last number of weeks, these lesser teams are getting better and there’s going to be more and more upsets,” Kearney said.
“If you don’t come out of the blocks in the first 20 minutes and make a strong start and you give these other opponents hope they get into the game more and things start flowing for them.
“So, probably of all the pool games, we would consider this maybe to be the least difficult but that’s only on paper. Sport’s very different and once the whistle blows anything can happen. So we need to be fully on our game.”
The Irish camp has been stressing all week that the Russians must be given the same respect as last week’s opponents the Wallabies and the theme was continued yesterday at the team’s three-night base 80 kilometres of Rotorua in Taupo.
When asked if he expected Ireland to win handily on Sunday, Sean O’Brien replied: “I wouldn’t say it’s a thought that has come into my head, to win by a big margin, we want to win the game. We want to play well and if that means we win by a big margin, so be it, but we are not going out there to score 20 tries against them, or anything like that, we want to do our own jobs right and see what happens from there.”
The Ireland squad watched the Russians ship nine tries in a 53-17 defeat to Italy last night in Nelson and O’Brien said: “They can score tries, as they showed and they can play this wide game when they keep the ball. They lost a lot of ball in contact which I’ll say they’ll tidy up before our game but they’re certainly dangerous and we’ll have to give them a bit of respect and be awake on the night.”
After the euphoria of last weekend’s emotional win over Australia, the European player of the year said different strengths would need to be brought to the table to get past Russia.
“I think it’s up to every individual now to take the responsibility on this week and try to find the thing that will bring it out of you. It’s another international game and another opportunity for lads, for players to stake a claim, so everyone will be gunning to play and no holds barred.”
Kearney, like O’Brien and Tommy Bowe, will be keen to be on the team sheet when Declan Kidney names his match-day team and bench for Sunday’s game. All three are still short on game time having suffered injuries in pre-season and full-back Kearney, who missed most of last season with a serious knee injury believes he needs to get up to full speed.
“I want to play as much as possible,” Kearney said.
“I haven’t played a huge amount over the last year and I don’t feel quite there just yet. That’s going to come with more games and more times on the field. The more minutes I can get the happier and more comfortable I’ll feel out there.”
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/4wPAtD86X34/post.aspx
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