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Former Ireland fly-half Tony Ward is in no doubt that O’Brien’s time has come, staring with Declan Kidney’s side’s opener against Italy on Feb 5. “The Tullow man simply must run out in Rome for the opening Six Nations joust, with the back-row position his to lose after that,” he wrote recently.

“On the simple premise of form, he’s a shoo-in. Nor can there be any counter-argument as regards balance, with a Ferris/O’Brien/Jamie Heaslip trio picking itself, leaving either David Wallace or Denis Leamy as cover for all three positions on the bench.”

Further evidence of O’Brien’s emergence as one of the most exciting young back-row forwards in Europe came in the form of strong interest from France before Christmas.

The Irish Rugby Football Union, keen to ensure they did not lose such a precocious talent, moved quickly and O’Brien agreed a new three-year deal with Leinster in January.

“While it was flattering to have interest from overseas, I desperately want to be part of the Leinster story for the foreseeable future,” said O’Brien.

His mercurial rise is made more remarkable by the fact that it did not follow a traditional path. As a boy he excelled at Gaelic football before rugby came to dominate his life.

He grew up in Ardristan, County Carlow, was educated at Tullow Community School and played his rugby for Tullow RFC before representing Ireland Youths, the representative side drawn from Irish clubs, not those players at affiliated schools.

O’Brien won three caps for Ireland Youths, captaining the side to a win over Scotland and a defeat by England. His performances were of such quality that he immediately attracted Leinster’s scouts and was offered an academy contract.

“I really enjoyed my experience there in 2003, the Ireland Youth side is a fantastic thing, a chance for those who are not in the schools system,” O’Brien recalls. “The side was coached by Lenny Brown and Wille Gribbin, and I think we were all aware that this was a set-up that could produce players who might go a long way in the game.

“Trevor Brennan and Shane Horgan came through this way, while more recently Niall Ronan played with the Irish Youths.”

O’Brien cites former Leinster and Ireland No?8 Victor Costello, and former Ulster and Ireland lock Paddy Johns as the two players who inspired him to follow his dream for playing for Ireland. His first start came last November when he replaced the 34-year-old Wallace in the side that defeated Samoa.

While O’Brien has recently been operating at No?8 for Leinster during Heaslip’s absence as he struggles with an ankle injury, he insists he would be happy to operate at open side flanker and has spent hours on the training paddock working hard on his contribution at the breakdown.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has a tough decision to take, with many believing that O’Brien is finally

ready to replace the formidable Wallace.

“I would be very happy at seven, it is just the matter of getting an opportunity,” O’Brien says. “Ball-carrying is one of my strengths, but I have been working on the breakdown in trying to cause havoc by getting back on my feet quickly.

“It hasn’t been hard to stay patient, but it’s not like I’m at the end of my career. I’m young and have been picking up experience the whole time. Even when training with those lads you’re learning.

“You have to stay patient. If you get down because you’re not getting an opportunity then it can affect your game. I’m happy with the way my game’s gone and I have to back it up every week.”

Labels: bides, flanker, Ireland, Nations, OaposBrien, Telegraphcouk, young

And then there were two. The second round of the Six Nations finished in Dublin with only France and England left to dream of a grand slam after a pulsating 80 minutes in which the French just squeezed home.

France lost the try count three to one but a couple of old heads saw them and Le Crunch at Twickenham in two weeks looks even more mouthwatering. Ireland, who head to Murrayfield hoping they might still have a say in the championship, were vastly improved compared to their display in Rome, but they have now beaten France only once in 10 matches.

After a lacklustre autumn and that feeble victory over Italy, Ireland promised fire and brimstone from the start. But no one really expected them to be seven points up within five minutes, with France barely getting a sniff. Brian O'Driscoll played a perfect runaround with Jonathan Sexton from a Paul O'Connell lineout take and Luke Fitzgerald was in at the corner in under two minutes – only for the referee, Dave Pearson, to spot a forward pass.

It looked as though France would weather the storm. They even tried to run the ball off the back of the subsequent scrum, but after Yoann Huget and Damien Traille got the move off to a smooth start but the full-back, Clément Poitrenaud, dropped the ball. A ball bouncing free five metres out was just what Ireland fancied and the wing Fergus McFadden went over close enough to the posts to make Sexton's conversion easy.

Ireland even won a penalty off the France scrum – Nicolas Mas being adjudged to have dropped it – to wipe out a penalty for offside that had been kicked by Morgan Parra. But then the first signs of a French fightback began to show. Fast hands put Huget up the right, Maxime Médard sent Poitrenaud up the left and Parra kicked a couple of penalties to make it 10-9. The French pack then got a nudge on for the first time, Donncha O'Callaghan was caught not rolling away and the Parra kicked his fourth penalty to put France in the lead for the first time, after 26 minutes.

Ireland bounced back and within 10 minutes their scrum-half, Tomás O'Leary, who had been a real doubt with back spasms, and the prop Mike Ross threw themselves at the line. The French held out against the short-range battering and when Sexton fumbled it appeared that an overlap on the left might have been wasted. But O'Leary was on hand a second time, the scrum-half scrambling to the line with Mas clinging to his back to give Ireland a three-point half-time lead.

Parra pulled that back when the centre Gordon D'Arcy was caught failing to release in the tackle, but exasperation in the French camp was becoming more obvious as the replacements warmed up. One more front-row indiscretion saw the prop Thomas Domingo, a hero last week when Scotland were pushed all over Paris, replaced by Sylvain Marconnet and another veteran, Vincent Clerc, came on for the erratic Poitrenaud.

Fingers are often pointed when Marc Lièvremont empties his bench, but this time the travelling French got some reward for their head coach's tinkering. Barely had Dimitri Yachvili replaced Parra at scrum-half than France had scored their first and only try, a simple affair off the back of a solid scrum. The ball went right, Aurélien Rougerie battered a hole in the Irish defence and Médard cruised up on the outside for a score that Yachvili converted with ease.

The Biarritz scrum half missed with a long-range penalty but then landed a more difficult shot from wide on the right. All of a sudden the French had a 10-point lead, with 18 minutes to go.

Again, Ireland came back. Declan Kidney threw on the veteran fly-half Ronan O'Gara and the new chemistry brought immediate rewards, if not necessarily in the way intended. O'Gara's 67th-minute chip looked to be going nowhere but David Wallace did what a good flanker does and cleaned up, leaving the No8 Jamie Heaslip with a dive for the corner.

The theatre continued with O'Gara, Ireland's saviour in Rome, converting the try with the help of the left upright, but this time there was no rabbit to be plucked from the hat.

Labels: France, Guardian, Ireland, muchimproved, Nations

“These days players across the world are as big and as powerful as each other. We’ve all got access to gyms and conditioners. There’s no real difference between the teams.”

Lamont is wrong of course. And right. Right because, self-evidently, the size of the gene pool doesn’t influence the results of international matches in the way that it did a generation or so ago; because Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy, with fewer players to choose from, can now, on the back of specialist nutritional advice and a load of weights, churn out individuals who tip the scales with, and stand as tall as, the best of the rest.

But wrong because Lamont’s answer ignores the way France go about their rugby, which, at its finest, is an explosive combination of very powerful men running fast at pockets of unguarded space. It is the Holy Grail of modern Test rugby, and no one, not even New Zealand, does it as well as France when they are up for it.

In recent seasons, it has come with a twist. France have always done big and direct. From the brutish and bullying Gerard Cholley and Jean-Pierre Bastiat, down through Marc Cécillon, and onto the likes of Fabien Pelous, a succession of French coaches have reasoned that a good big ’un will marmalise a good little ’un. Current boss Marc Lièvremont is no different.

He also is of the opinion that size matters, only Lièvremont has shifted the big is beautiful philosophy from the pack to a specific area of the backs.

When Ireland take on France in the Aviva Stadium this afternoon they will encounter a midfield of Damien Traille, switched from full-back to centre because of an injury to Maxime Mermoz, and Aurélien Rougerie, who are a stone and a half heavier and five inches taller than their oppos, Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll.

Rougerie and Traille, at 16st 5lb each, are heavier than three of the French forwards, and taller, at 6ft 4in, than six of them. This is not a one-off. Last season Lièvremont selected Mathieu Bastareaud who is six-foot tall and 17st 4lb, while Yannick Jauzion, on the bench this afternoon for France, has been an ever-present at 6ft 4in and 16st 7lb.

It’s not as if Rougerie and Traille are just big lumps either. Rougerie, having spent much of his career on the wing, has gas, and, as his deft poke through for France’s opening score against Scotland demonstrated, can manipulate a rugby ball with his feet. Traille, no slouch himself, has started at outside half as well as full-back and centre for France in his 78-cap career. These guys can play.

That’s Ireland’s first job. Stop the French midfield from operating and you start to stop France, because they are at their most dangerous when their big men get in behind the tacklers and are able to offload to support runners flooding the holes close in. That’s the benefit of being tall and heavy on attack. It allows you to ride over or through the collisions, freeing up a hand to distribute. In defence the additional weight on impact can dislodge the ball, forcing turnovers.

Ireland play it differently. If their run-out against Italy is anything to go by, they will attempt to bewilder France with the variety of their offence.

Ireland weren’t very good against Italy. There were far too many unforced errors by D’Arcy in particular, but they are more of a play-book side than France, more reliant on choreographed decoys and deceptive running lines involving the back three. France thump in midfield.

Ireland, led by the majestic O’Driscoll, aim to obfuscate, to fix or wrong-foot defenders by confusion. Pull Traille and Rougerie out of their defensive channels and they fall off tackles. It’s not quite beauty against the beast, but almost.

The other big difference between the two sides is at the scrummage. France can. Ireland can’t. Again, size is the issue here. France were a stone a man lighter than Scotland up front yet forced a penalty try from Scottish inadequacies, damaging Euan Murray’s reputation for competence into the bargain. Against Ireland, France are just half a stone lighter but they still expect to dominate that area. Less weight, more go-forward. It doesn’t make sense.

Except that it does when you take account of the fact that French oomph is channelled through a front row which houses a freak of a forward.

At a vertically challenged 5ft 8in, Thomas Domingo, the French loosehead prop, is the Six Nations’ little big man. His diminutive stature is a virtue because taller opponents find it almost impossible to get underneath him to shunt him backwards. Nicolas Mas, Domingo’s mate on the tight head, is also smallish for a modern prop.

At 5ft 11in, he completes a squat trio which, when the front rows engage, naturally thrusts up and against taller opponents. Trying to get low in the stance to meet them head on, which is what Murray tried to do, means shifting your feet further back away from the hips which in turn makes you vulnerable to collapse. Ireland could be in real trouble here this afternoon.

Mike Ross is six inches taller than Domingo, a massive discrepancy. With the International Rugby Board keen to address the mess of collapses and resets polluting Test rugby, English referee Dave Pearson is honour bound to reward the dominant scrum.

So, a game of intriguing contrasts, of petit French props and huge centres against big Irish props and little centres. They may not be the only issues around which the game turns. The French mood generally, the return of the excellent Jamie Heaslip and the fact that Ireland won’t be as diffident as they were in Rome may affect the result. But in an age where the top teams are all much of a muchness, it is rather satisfying to anticipate genuine points of difference.

Labels: France, French, hopes, Ireland, lifted, little, Nations, Telegraphcouk

WALES midfielder Andy King believes victory in tonight’s Carling Nations Cup opener against the Republic of Ireland would be the perfect boost ahead of next month’s eagerly-anticipated meeting with England.

New manager Gary Speed will take charge of Wales for the first time at the Aviva Stadium with Wales having endured a miserable run of three defeats at the start of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign that means their record of failing to reach a major finals since 1958 is likely to continue.

Their next qualifier is the Millennium Stadium meeting with Fabio Capello’s men on March 26, and Leicester playmaker King believes a win over Giovanni Trapattoni’s men will tee Wales up nicely.

He said: “Confidence is a massive thing in football and if we can get a win it will be a huge boost for us. We are up against a strong Republic of Ireland side, they have Premier League players with lots of caps all the way through their squad and it would be a massive boost if we can win.

“This is a massively important competition and there is a trophy to be had.

“Every time you go out to play you want to do well and that’s why you have to work hard and everyone is going to be working hard to get the call up for England.

“I think some people see this as a warm up for the England game but it’s a different tournament and it’s important we get the three points and start the tournament well.

“The England game will be on people’s minds but we are 100% focused on Ireland.”

But Speed’s preparations for his first game since succeeding John Toshack as full-time boss in December have been hit by a number of injury withdrawals.

Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and Cardiff striker Craig Bellamy were not named in the original party and last night the names of Aaron Ramsey, David Edwards and Ched Evans were added to an absentee list which also included Boaz Myhill, Craig Morgan, Danny Gabbidon and Steve Morison.

Speed has also not been helped by the positioning of the fixture between two full league weekend programmes, with yesterday’s South Wales derby also depriving him of more time with his squad.

But King says that will be no excuse if Wales fail to perform.

“We do have a short preparation time and even more so for the people who played in the derby,” he said. “But at this time of the season it is hard and there are always a lot of games and it’s something Ireland will have to cope with as well.”

Labels: clash, England, Ireland, nicely, WalesOnline

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.

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

Carling Nations Cup
Venue: Aviva Stadium Date: Wednesday 9 February 2011 Kick-off: 1945
Coverage: Full commentary on BBC Radio Ulster medium wave and the BBC Sport website; highlights on BBC1 NI 2315

Captain Aaron Hughes has a hamstring problem, Chris Brunt has an ankle injury and striker Kyle Lafferty is being tested for glandular fever.

Maik Taylor, Craig Cathcart and Sammy Clingan and Jonny Gorman are also out.

Watford pair Adam Thompson and Lee Hodson, Aberdeen's Rory McArdle and Manchester United's Oliver Norwood have been brought in as replacements.

Goalkeeper Taylor is ruled out with a knee injury, Craig Cathcart has a hamstring problem, Sammy Clingan a knee complaint and Jonny Gorman a groin injury.

Motherwell defender Stephen Craigan will captain the NI team.

It is the first time Harlow-born Thompson has featured in Nigel Worthington's squad.

A product of the academy at Watford, he signed his first professional contract in November.

Northern Ireland's record scorer David Healy is back in the squad after being left out for the game against Morocco in November.

Healy recently agreed a move to Rangers until the end of the season.

Former Cliftonville striker Liam Boyce earned a call-up after his move to German club Werder Bremen in September.

Boyce has been scoring regularly for the Bremen outfit's under-23 side which effectively is the club's reserve team.

Manager Nigel Worthington said that Healy's move to Rangers was a chance to get his career back on track but would not be drawn on whether he would start against the Scots.

Northern Ireland squad

Goalkeepers -Tuffey (Inverness Caledonian Thistle), Blayney (Linfield)

Defenders - J Evans (Manchester United), Craigan (Motherwell), McArdle (Aberdeen), McAuley (Ipswich), Baird (Fulham), McCartney (Sunderland - on loan at Leeds), Hodson (Watford), Thompson (Watford)

Midfielders - McCann (Peterborough United), C Evans (Manchester United - on loan at Hull), Davis (Rangers), McGinn (Celtic), McCourt (Celtic), Norwood (Manchester United)

Forwards - Healy (Rangers), Feeney (Oldham), R Patterson (Plymouth), Boyce (Werder Bremen)

Labels: Ireland, Northern, players, squad, Three

SkySports

Ireland start without Ferris Clubcall Ireland's injury list ahead of their Six Nations opener against Italy has grown with the announcement that Stephen Ferris is ruled out. The Ulster player will sit out the game in Rome after suffering a knee injury. Seven other players are already ruled ... Ferris to miss opener for IrelandYahoo! Eurosport UK Ferris ruled out of Rome openerIrish Independent Ferris to miss Italy tripSkySports BBC News -Belfast Telegraph -ESPNscrum.com all 25 news articles »

Labels: Clubcall, Ferris, Ireland, start, without

The Azzurri have been paired with Ireland in the group stages of the tournament in New Zealand.

And McLean believes a good start to the RBS Six Nations campaign would throw down a marker for the Italians.

"Everyone is just looking at it as one game and trying to get off to a good start in the Six Nations," he said.

"Obviously last year it didn't happen that way, we got off to a bad start, we didn't play well against Ireland and came out 20 points on the bad side (a 29-11 defeat).

"So obviously we will be trying to get on the good side and then we have the added aspect of them being in our World Cup pool and obviously it would be a bit of a confidence builder if we get the win here and go into the World Cup thinking: if we've beaten them once, we can beat them again."

Italy have named Kristopher Burton at fly-half for the clash, with Edoardo Gori getting the nod at scrum-half.

Sergio Parisse will skipper the side, with Italy naming a strong pack.

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll has backed Luke Fitzgerald to shine at full-back.

With Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy both injured Fitzgerald has been forced into action at No.15.

And O'Driscoll believes his Leinster team-mate will have no problems adapting to the change of position.

"When Luke's really booming with confidence he's a very, very dangerous player," said O'Driscoll.

"Both as an attacking and strategic player, he can mix his game well at full-back.

"Like anyone who hasn't played a huge amount of rugby over the last couple of months, you just encourage him to do the simple things well and not try to do the amazing things.

"That will eventually come as the game unfolds, but early on it's about starting well and doing what he's done, both provincially and internationally.

"He knows himself what's expected of him and I don't envisage any issues.

"But he's certainly a pleasure to play with from an attacking point of view, because he has that innate ability to break tackles and offload.

"Whenever you can get a second touch, having given him a pass, it gives yourself an opportunity or it gives the rest of the team an opportunity to continue an attacking play."

Fergus McFadden will make his Ireland in Rome, with the Leinster centre set to start on the wing.

With Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris injured, Sean O'Brien and Denis Leamy come into the back row.

Paul O'Connell also returns to the international arena, with Rory Best and Mike Ross starting in the front row.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Andrea Masi, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys, 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Fabio Ongaro, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Carlo Del Fava, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Paulo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Gonzalo Garcia.

Ireland: 15 Luke Fitzgerald, 14 Fergus McFadden, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (capt), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Sean O'Brien, 7 David Wallace, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Cullen, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Paddy Wallace.

Labels: Ireland, Italy, SkySports, Teams

ESPN

Aston Villa to sign Michael Bradley on loan and let Stephen Ireland go The Guardian Aston Villa are expected to bring their business in the transfer window to an end by signing Michael Bradley on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach for the remainder of the season and allowing Stephen Ireland to join Newcastle United in another ... Ireland deal done?Vitalfootball Toon medical for IrelandSkySports Aston Villa's Stephen Ireland set for Newcastle loanBBC Sport The Press Association -ESPN -Goal.com all 345 news articles »

Labels: Aston, Bradley, Guardian, Ireland, Michael, Stephen, Villa