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South African fans we bumped into. I won't be green body painting for the Irish game!
19 Sep 2007, 9:52 AM by Victor Ubogu
Labels: cup, dallaglio, deglanville, france, regan, robinson, rugby, samoa, worldcup
For a few days only I am going to become an Ireland fan. I have dug out any green clothing I can find and even tried out my Irish accent, although I don’t think I will be using that in public.
The reason is that my next trip is to Paris this week for the Ireland/France game. The Irish were really poor against Georgia and I think it was their traditional luck which helped them avoid the greatest ever World Cup shock.
I will be in Paris with a group of VU rugby fans. Joining us at the game will be a couple of Irish legends. The first is Mike Gibson – who toured five times with the Lions and is one of the few people over here who knows how to beat the Kiwis having been a key member of the victorious 1971 Lions team. The other former Irish star joining me in Paris is Paul Wallace another fantastic Lions player who was a key to the Lions triumph in 1997 and a fellow member of the front row union.
France will be feeling better after their clinical performance against Namibia, but both France and Ireland are teams under pressure. I predict that there could be a number of mistakes in the game caused by that tension which will decide the game.
After the Ireland/France match I am travelling to Nantes for the England game, and going there purely as a fan. I suppose it can’t be avoided so we’d better talk on the blog about England.
There is no getting away from the fact that they were just terrible last week. Even though Samoa have suffered their own defeat to Tonga they must really believe they can beat our boys. England are now in a knock-out situation there is no more room for errors.
England will be lifted with the return of Olly and Jonny and I really hope this will get our back line moving – something that just has not happened so far. I am surprised that Lawrence is still not involved having not even made the bench. I would certainly want him as an option in this sort of situation. The back row is certainly up to taking on the physical power of the Samoa team but I think Lawrence would have brought something extra.
Josh will be great at full back. He is an experienced player and a cool head. It is a shame for Ronnie that he is not starting as hooker but I am sure he will come on from the bench. The lineout did not really function on Friday but it was the same when Chuter came on to replace Ronnie. The third hooker – Lee Mears – will be disappointed that he is still not included. I think the pace he could bring would be useful.
Everyone was down after the defeat on Friday but we still managed to have a great time in Paris. I just wanted to go back on some of the comments Andy Robinson, Phil De Glanville, Scott Hastings and Matt Perry made whilst we were over for the England/South Africa game.
Robbo said that a South Africa win against England would really lift Samoa for the game coming up this weekend. I agree with that, but after Samoa lost to Tonga I think they will be feeling just as disappointed. It is now down to which team reacts in the best way to their defeats.
Matt Perry felt that a major problem for England had been the pace they were playing at. With Gomarsall now in at scrum half from the start England might well have quicker ball and ultimately more pace.
Phil felt that on Friday we would miss Olly Barkley as much as anyone and I think he was right. Now that Olly is back and alongside Wilkinson I think that we will see a different England. He still believes in Corry’s captaincy and he will have to lead from the front to see us through on Saturday.
So come on Ireland and come on England. Let’s all have a bit of the luck of the Irish this weekend and I hope my green pullover still fits me.
