csconstantine.com

{ Ronan O'Gara kicks Ireland to victory over Italy. Photograph: Brendan Moran / Pinnacle Photo Agency

Back in the grim old days, before Celtic Tigers and grand slams, losing to Italy was a feasible proposition for the Ireland rugby team. Those with long memories will recall three painful Irish defeats in the 1990s and, two minutes from time, they were staring a fourth in the face here and the mother of all humiliations. In the end a trusted old weapon saved them from oblivion: the boot of Ronan O'Gara.

Off the pitch the Munster fly-half has always been an abrasive character, bristling with self-belief and a sense of indignation when he feels he is getting a raw deal. He turns 34 next month but would not take kindly to the suggestion that his powers are on the wane. As assured as Jonathan Sexton has looked, O'Gara would still back himself as the country's top fly-half. It is the nature of the man.

O'Gara has come to the rescue for club and country many times. Two years ago, of course, he memorably kicked Ireland to an emotional grand slam. His drop-goal on Saturday was merely to save his team-mates' blushes, though for O'Gara it will have delivered the message to the Ireland coach, Declan Kidney, that he cannot be overlooked for the daunting assignment against France on Sunday.

"At that stage in the game you go at it and don't think too much, you just do your job," O'Gara said of his late intervention. "The ability to do that comes with experience. As a youngster you don't understand that. I was told that once but it's when you get in my position – and I've been lucky to steer the Ireland and Munster ship for 10 years – that you understand it.

"Then someone like Jonny comes in and he's really good but to continue the analogy, when the ship hits choppy waters, you bring someone in. Jonny played well but I got backed to come on and try to win the game. It's important to have two fellas fighting it out because we can offer a lot going forward."

O'Gara usurping Sexton this week would not be a shock, but it would be sure to focus attention on Kidney's selection policy. A shaky start to the Six Nations follows on the heels of an uninspiring autumn series and there are many willing to link Ireland's troubles with Munster's poor form and Kidney's perceived loyalty to some of the province's ageing stalwarts.

Several of Kidney's calls had prompted head-scratching. Donncha O'Callaghan ahead of Leo Cullen, Tomás O'Leary ahead of a posse of scrum-half rivals and Denis Leamy instead of the in-form Shane Jennings. O'Callaghan played well in Rome, but O'Leary noticeably struggled and that Kidney waited more than an hour to introduce Eoin Reddan was further evidence of his innate conservatism.

The Munster factor is an unsatisfactory diagnosis of Ireland's problems however. Saturday was a collective failure. Even Ireland's most dependable players had a day they will want to forget. Brian O'Driscoll, of all people, fired a pass to the touch judge when Fergus McFadden was in the clear. Gordon D'Arcy fumbled inexplicably with the line gaping moments later. Not a Munster player in sight.

They left the stadium quibbling about the French referee, Romain Poite, about whom Ireland are fast developing a complex. The penalty count was 13-5 in Italy's favour and Poite was particularly harsh on the Ireland loosehead, Cian Healy, so much so that Kidney suggested they might pursue the matter through official channels. "Most of the penalties did seem to come in the scrum," he said, "but we're told that there is an avenue for us to approach this. We've been asked to trust it and I'll ask ye to trust me that that is what I'll do."

Kidney would be fooling himself if he thought an unsympathetic referee explained his side's shambolic performance. And let us not fall into the trap of patronising Italy. Led by the magnificent Sergio Parisse they were formidable up front as we expected and they fired for the full 80 minutes which we did not. Still, they were predictably limited and might still have won if Luciano Orquera had waited for his pack to make ground instead of trying an heroic drop-goal from an impossible position.For Ireland the imperative is to get their walking wounded back and Jamie Heaslip is on the mend and may be fit to face France.

Italy McLean; Masi, Canale (Garcia, 69), Sgarbi, Mirco Bergamasco; Burton (Orquera, 72), Gori (Canavosio, 11); Perugini (Lo Cicero, 64), Ghiraldini (Ongaro, 64) Castrogiovanni, Dellape (Del Fava, 55), Geldenhuys, Sole (Bernabò, 51), Zanni, Parisse (capt).

Try McLean. Pens Bergamasco 2.

Ireland Fitzgerald; McFadden, O'Driscoll (capt), D'Arcy (P Wallace, 77), Earls; Sexton (O'Gara, 66), O'Leary (Reddan, 64); Healy (Court, 77), Best (Cronin, 77), Ross, O'Callaghan (Cullen 74), O'Connell, Leamy, D Wallace, O'Brien.

Try O'Driscoll. Con Sexton. Pen Sexton. Drop-goal O'Gara.

Referee R Poite (France). Attendance 30,000.

Agences de presses

Labels: conservatism, Guardian, hampers, Ireland, Kidneyaposs, Nations