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The report fulfilled a need, but achieved nothing
THE Genesis Report is published so now we can sit back, enjoy Christmas and look forward to a cracking Six Nations performance from the Irish rugby team.
The report fulfilled a need but has achieved nothing. We will go into 2008 with the blindfolds tightly pulled over the eyes as if nothing happened during World Cup 2007 and that the real reasons for the failure were the lack of sufficient practice matches, a need for a team manager and more emphasis on backs coaching. The report has its truths such as "the management, players and the IRFU underperformed" and that wrapping our key players in cotton wool prior to the competition fearing that they would pick up injuries before the tournament totally backfired. Now we are going to have "a person with international rugby experience" joining the management team and providing support for Eddie O'Sullivan. Does the name Mick Galwey spring to mind?
The report dispels any rumours that there was disquiet in the Irish camp amongst the players during the World Cup. End of story, unless someone comes out and blows open the whole can of worms with a blockbuster of a story that makes the Genesis Report read like a fairytale.
With his four year contract safely in his well-organised filing system, Eddie O'Sullivan can again emerge from the shadows that have concealed him from the Irish public since the last day of September.
With four pool games in this season's Heineken Cup done and dusted the Irish coach should have a good idea of what is available to him for the Six Nations. And he is unlikely to have been spotted dancing with glee at what he has seen so far.
Leinster: well beaten by Edinburgh last week-end and unlikely to qualify for the last eight.
Ulster: fourth defeat in succession and bottom of their pool with a single point.
Connacht: hammered by Newcastle Falcons and now unlikely to qualify for the Heineken Cup next season.
And that leaves O'Sullivan's home province once again carrying the burden of his salvation. This will be the eighth consecutive season that O'Gara, Stringer, Hayes, Horan and Wallace will have stepped up to the international plate. Throw in Leamy, Flannery, O'Callaghan, O'Connell (if fit) and maybe Quinlan and Frankie Sheahan and the Irish squad will again have a strong hint of red about it.
After the debacle of the World Cup we all cried for change. Mid-way through the Heineken Cup we are not convinced that change for the sake of it is going to bring us a Six Nations grand slam or a championship.
The European competition provides the best yardstick of quality. It also has a handy knack of tarnishing careers and a couple of egos have been at the receiving end of a fair old bashing over the past few weeks.
Leinster provide the perfect example. They came away from Musgrave Park three weeks ago jubilant following the 10-3 victory over Munster. Eight days later the cracks began to appear when they failed to get a bonus point win over Edinburgh and after last week-end they were as good as out of the competition when the Scots beat them with 19 points to spare in a sparsely populated Murrayfield.
The very opposite happened Munster in the wake of their disappointing performance in Cork. Typical of the character of these players, they dug in, got it right in the back to back wins over the Scarlets and are now top of Pool 5. Losing to Leinster was one of the low points of recent seasons for Munster but it was not a fatal blow. They will bounce back in the Magners League. For them, the Heineken Cup tops the list of priorities.
There is a magical ingredient in Munster rugby that few others can match and they will go to Clermont in three weeks time refreshed, more resolute than ever and fully determined to get the result that would set up another miracle match against Wasps in Thomond Park on January 19.
Of the three Irish provinces in the top club competition in Europe, Ulster face the most serious questions. They had decent representation in the World Cup but those players have not shown consistency since November. That provides a dilemma for the Irish coach and his fellow selectors. He has to pick his Six Nations squad totally on current form and merit and irrespective of what happens in the post-Christmas Magners League meetings between the Irish provinces, Heineken Cup performances still provide the only true assessment of players' ability on a major stage.
Up to last week-end Rob Kearney looked to be the finished article at full-back. Then Leinster played him on the left wing last Saturday and as Kearney pushed the self-destruct button for the second time in three HC pool games, Geordan Murphy played a blinder for Leicester Tigers in Toulouse.
Just as we were predicting an Irish starting role for Bernard Jackman, up pops Jerry Flannery with a super display against the Scarlets which leaves us with just Jamie Heaslip as a likely number eight when the Six Nations gets underway with Leamy and Wallace as flankers. Shane Jennings will push hard for the number six jersey but it may be another season before he can make the breakthrough.
The two remaining Heineken Cup pool week-ends will provide a last opportunity for those trying to impress Eddie O'Sullivan. Munster remain the only Irish province still within sight of a knock-out stage ticket but they will also have their focus on improving their Magners League position with meetings with Connacht in Musgrave Park on December 27 and a trip to Ravenhill on Friday, January 4. That one should provide a suitable warm-up for the trip to Clermont the following week-end.
Only those blazered gentlemen tip-toeing through the highest corridoors of power within the IRFU know the full extent of the Genesis Report. It is understood that the full report will not be made public so maybe it is better to let it go and move on. The appointment of the an experienced rugby man to assist Eddie O'Sullivan gives us hope. That appointment could make or break Irish rugby and they need look no further than Shannonside for a suitable candidate.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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