Sport

Ireland put celebrations on hold

RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP : IRELAND PUT their celebrations on hold following the sensational win over Samoa, insisting they have…

Sat Nov 08 2008 - 00:00

RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD CUP: IRELAND PUT their celebrations on hold following the sensational win over Samoa, insisting they have some unfinished World Cup business.

Andy Kelly's players yesterday left their base in Sydney and flew to the Gold Coast to prepare for Monday's semi-final qualifier against Fiji at Skilled Stadium.

After topping Pool C courtesy of an epic 34-16 win over the highly-fancied Samoans on Wednesday, Ireland are just 80 minutes away from a dream World Cup semi-final against defending champions Australia.

"That's too far away," said Ireland loose forward Simon Finnigan. "That's a semi-final and we've got a quarter-final on Monday first and that's good enough for us at the moment.

READ MORE

"I think the boys are starting to get a little feeling that something special might happen. No one expected us to get this far but we're growing in confidence with each game so the celebrations were low key."

Ireland were expected to be brushed aside by the star-studded Samoans, who were impressive 20-12 winners over Tonga in their opening fixture.

But the small Irish pack dominated their bigger opponents for the second successive match and, with winger Pat Richards scoring a hat-trick of tries, pulled away in the second half to register a convincing victory.

The Fijiians had been responsible for the previous biggest shock of the tournament, a 42-6 hammering of France, and, although they subsequently lost to Scotland, Finnigan knows they will present a stiff challenge.

"Fiji have looked pretty good so far as well," he said. "They've been a bit of a surprise package themselves. It's another big set of lads we've got to face. That looks as though it's going to be the story of our World Cup, playing a team bigger than us in every game."

Ireland's unsung pack have been magnificent, with Gareth Haggerty, Eamon O'Carroll and Ryan Tandy particularly impressive as they stood up to the physical Samoans.

"We knew we could beat Samoa but I think we were a bit surprised with our performance," said Finnigan. "I think our defence was outstanding."

While Scotland now head for Rockhampton and a clash with Tonga, the Ireland squad are bound for Surfers Paradise and that has delighted Finnigan, who was born in England with Irish grandparents and raised in Australia.