USA v Ireland:EDDIE VERSUS Declan. So we've come to know the two. For the former Irish coach's first competitive game with the USA, it couldn't have been better scripted. Kidney arrives in the Golden State with a fringe Irish team that laboured against Canada last week, while O'Sullivan, with a side he hopes to qualify for the 2011 World Cup, sits poised and ready to extract any available kudos derived from beating a tier-one team.
The underlying rancour between the two coaches will not surface but enough history is there to make this a grudge match.
For the younger players it’s another chance to impress. They will look at the next World Cup in New Zealand and do their own calculations on age profiles. By September 9th, 2011, the date of the first match, Gordon D’Arcy will 31, Jerry Flannery 33, John Hayes 38, Marcus Horan 34, Shane Horgan 33, Brian O’Driscoll 32, Geordan Murphy 33, Ronan O’Gara, 34 and Malcolm O’Kelly, 37.
In the minds of the players there are more considerations than a mere tour win against the US in a fringe theatre at the same time as the Lions headline act kicks off in South Africa. Kidney makes just one change to the side that beat Canada 6-25 and given that Ireland struggled to find patterns and continuity, that’s no surprise. Harlequins tighthead prop Mike Ross comes into the frontrow for his first start, having debuted from the bench last Saturday.
Tony Buckley moves across the scrum to loosehead prop and Ulster’s Tom Court goes to the replacements. Mick O’Driscoll is named in the side despite picking up a slight wrist sprain last week and as a precaution, Heineken Cup winning secondrow Devin Toner is called into the squad.
The USA is traditionally a band of big, tough, physical players and game too. But, technically, even a makeshift Irish side are leagues ahead. O’Sullivan will know more about the Irish team than most but his collection of players are largely amateur, so there should be an imbalance in both the physical stakes and in stamina.
“Looking at the USA this weekend they’re another big strong physical team,” said Connacht captain and flanker John Muldoon. “I think rugby in the USA is really starting to grow with a lot more numbers playing and they’re getting better and better as every year goes by.
“Of course with Eddie O’Sullivan there they will be well prepared and he will know a lot of the Irish players so I am sure his team will be well briefed on us. We are expecting a good hard-fought game. The heat will no doubt be a big factor . . . I suppose we are not as used to the conditions so it will be a tough game for everybody.”
With another week’s training Ireland will strive to continue to start where they left off in Canada and it was not until an hour had passed that Ian Whitten’s try sent the locals packing. That Ulster centre partnership continues today with Darren Cave.
Again Peter Stringer is preferred to next season’s Leinster signing Eoin Reddan, while Muldoon, Niall Ronan and Denis Leamy form a strong backrow.
But O’Sullivan has greater problems than a lack of pro-players. He selected his National USA squad at the end of April and organised their first camp together in Denver three weeks ago on May 8th. In all, he has a small group of players, Hayden Smith and Chris Wyles of Saracens, Takudzwa Ngwenya of Biarritz and Agen’s Salesi Sika to build a team around.
USA: C Wyles (Saracens FC) , J Boyd (Dallas Harlequins); J Sifa (Middleton); R Suniula (Pearl City); K Swiryn (Old Puget Sound Beach); M Hercus (Sunshine Coast Stingrays); M Petri (New York Athletic Club), captain; M MacDonald (Leeds Carnegie); Chris Biller (California); W Johnson (Oxford University); J Van Der Giessen (Denver Barbarians); Hayden Smith (Saracens); L Stanfill (New York Athletic Club); P Dahl (Belmont Shore); N Johnson (Denver Barbarians). Replacements: J Welch (Belmont Shore); M Moeakiola (Park City Haggis); C Mackay (Counties Manukau); JJ Gagiani (Univ. of Cape Town); T Usasz (Nottingham); A Malifa (Belmont Shore); A Tuilevuka (Provo Steelers).
IRELAND: G Duffy (Connacht); B Murphy (Munster), D Cave (Ulster), I Whitten (Ulster), I Dowling (Munster); I Keatly (Connacht), P Stringer (Munster); T Buckley (Munster), R Best (Ulster), M Ross (Harlequins); B Casey (London Irish), M O’Driscoll (Munster); J Muldoon (Connacht), N Ronan (Munster), D Leamy (Munster). Replacements: S Cronin (Connacht), T Court (Ulster), R Caldwell (Ulster), D Ryan (Munster), E Redden (Wasps), N OConnor (Ulster), D Hurley (Munster).
