Ireland seeks big boost

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34105, 18 March 1976, Page 14

Ireland seeks big boost

The All Blacks and their coach (Mr J. J. Stewart) are unlikely to regard the Irish rugby team as . easy prey, in spite of the dismal record this northern winter of the men in green. Mr Stewart remembers only too well the fortunes of the lowly-rated English team of 1973. Beaten in all its three provincial matches, by Taranaki,

Canterbury and Wellington, it downed the All Blacks, 16-10, in the international at Eden Park. Ireland is a side which has undergone sweeping changes in the last season or two, and the new XV is having a difficult time establishing its identity. The two great Lions forwards, Willie John Mcßride and Ray McLoughlin, have retired and so, too, have Tom Kiernan and Sean Lynch. Ken Kennedy, Terry Moore and Jimmy Davidson have been swept aside, and this year two more Lions, Fergus Slattery and John Moloney, were dropped.

The renowned Mike Gibson is still in midfield, but appears to have lost the brilliance of former years. He also resigned the captaincy, which was handed on to Tom Grace, a lanky wing who was top tryscorer for the 1974 Lions in South Africa. Ireland has introduced several new players to

international rugby this year — with mixed results — and recalled two veterans, Phil O’Callaghan, a raw-boned prop from Cork, and Barry McGann, a burly fly-half with a golden boot. O’Callaghan had not played for his country for six years — he had previously won 16 caps — while McGann was the man who almost beat the All Blacks at Dublin in 1973. His sideline conversion attempt of Grace’s late try missed by about six inches.

Other likely tourists include Tony Ensor, who was Leinster's full-back against the 1972 All Blacks, Moss Keane and Shay Deering, two second-row stalwarts from the home of tough forwards, Munster, Stewart McKinney, a Lions flanker, and Tony McMaster, a wing from Mcßride’s club, Ballymore, and now in his fifth season for Ireland. The Irish XV has had a miserable season so far. It lost to Australia, 10-20, to France, 3-26, and to Wales, 9-34, before scoring a narrow win against England. The side’s last match in the Five Nations championship will be against Scotland this week-end.

Obviously Mr Stewart and his All Blacks will not read too much into these results. A tour can bring the best out in a team, and although the Irish have never beaten a New Zealand side, they cannot be taken cheaply for the international at Athletic Park on June 5.