I expect to see a huge performance from Ireland Saturday morning against Australia. I like the team selected although I would have gone for McFadden at 12 and Trimble on the wing instead of Earls. Declan Kidney has resisted the temptation to select Ronan O’ Gara even though he has probably been in better form recently than Johnny Sexton as he obviously believes that Sexton both defensively and in terms of presenting a threat as a ball runner offers more. I would agree with that opinion but as I stated last week I just hope that we can settle on our half back partnership now and let them control the team and dictate how we play. Amazingly this the first time that Eoin Reddan and Sexton will start together in the Irish jersey and their time on the pitch together has only happened on 3 occasions which shows how much time went into trying to play Tomas O Leary into form. This Irish team unlike the Provinces seems to be much more comfortable in the role of Underdog and we always seem to drop down to the level of our opponent if playing a side we should be able to hammer. The squad will be under no illusions that unless they get themselves absolutely right physically and mentally this week we could be well beaten.
Although our attacking game has looked very ponderous I have been very impressed with our defensive system so far and expect us to vary our tactics of either blasting Australian rucks with lots of bodies to try and get at Australian danger man Will Genia or else try and only put the tackler in the ruck so that we can have 10 players in the front defensive line which will make it difficult for Quade Cooper to throw those long passes that he loves so much. Sean O Brien and Cian Healy will give us two more powerful ball carriers in the pack and we need to be much more aggressive at the breakdown so that when O Driscoll gets the ball in the 13 channel he has time to make the killer pass or break. I fancy Ireland to stay within the plus 13 points that are on offer with Betpack and a tight match even if we lose will give us momentum for the Italy match in a fortnights time.
The other match that I fancy a punt on this weekend is the Wales V Samoa match. Wales were very impressive against South Africa and looked by far the most cohesive of the 6 Nations teams. However Samoa were able to beat Australia in June and have serious power throughout the team. They are suffering from a shorter turnaround than Wales and have 3 days less rest however I still expect them to stay within 9 points and may be worth a few bob on the Match betting at 5-2.
