Coleman is latest Trapattoni blunder

It has not been a particularly great week for Ireland or TIF. As the International Monetary Fund moved a step closer to becoming the Irish Monetary Fund and TIF found out that 5am does exist, Ireland barely got out of neutral in their final international game of ‘10 against Norway.

Spare a thought for young Seamus Coleman. The 22 year-old full-back come winger has become a key fixture for Everton in the Premiership but sat out Ireland’s midweek defeat. Even a cameraman at the Aviva got in on the action, zooming in on the young Donegal man, as a nation willed Giovanni Trapattoni to bring him on.

As the Aviva’s screens showed a rather cheerless Seamus Coleman on the bench, the blog thought how it would feel to be “the brightest young talent” and called up for a game that “didn’t mean anything” (Kevin Doyle), to sit in the rain for the best part of 90 minutes. Although not a situation that happened often during TIF’s illustrious youth football career, a situation the blog imagines would leave it feeling less than chirpy nonetheless.

While Giovanni Trapattoni’s earnings as Irish manager close in on €6 million, having come close to qualifying for a World Cup (Brian Kerr and Steve Staunton did little worse), TIF sipped black coffee and wondered if Coleman was indeed Ireland’s and football’s version of Chuck Norris.

Trapattoni has time and again stated the importance of his players to be playing regularly for their clubs. Coleman ticks that box, and at the highest level.

Even if Trapattoni has not watched him and other Irish young players in person, as his assistant Marco Tardelli seems to, and ignores comments from David Moyes at Everton, he should have at least seen Coleman on tv. The blog, for one, only has to look at his impact in its fantasy football team to realise he is worthy of a substitute appearance at least.

Yesterday El Trap was none too pleased with criticism he has come under and appeared to suggest the problem lay with the players’ inability to play the Trap way. “I said before that the children from southern Italy or Napoli, they are not smarter but we pay attention to every little detail and situation. And there are many situations that determine a game.”

Given Trapattoni has had over two years with the team, one would hope the players would know what is expected of them. But what exactly the Trap way is is open for discussion. Recent results indicate that playing defensive minded players like Paul Green or Glenn Whelan clearly does not work.

At the same time, by his omission to date of James McCarthy (absent on Wednesday through injury), he does not favour creative midfielders. With his dealings with Andy and Steven Reid as a precedent, it is going to be a long wait for talented Chelsea midfielder Conor Clifford. Currently on a loan spell at League One’s Plymouth Argyle, TIF has watched him in action for Ireland’s U21 side and he has shown his class.

While Giovanni Trapattoni gave balance as the reasoning behind leaving Coleman to enjoy Wednesday’s match from the sidelines, which felt like a bad training game, Erik Huseklepp chatted gleefully to the Norwegian media. The forward, whose 86th minute winner gave Ireland another reason to feel glum, took a minute to tell TIF that he thought Ireland would be better. We agree Erik. We agree!

McCaw discards first Irish win fears

After a Jonah Lomu inspired comeback guided the All Blacks to its 13th victory over Ireland in November 2001, then New Zealand coach John Mitchell commented: “That was a great stepping stone in a lot of the boys’ careers.”

Mitchell’s “boys” (New Zealand had 11 debutants between the first two tests of the 2001 Tour against Ireland A and Ireland) came from 21-7 down to dash Ireland’s hopes of a first win. One of the two debutants that started against Ireland that day was Richie McCaw.

Now as captain, he faces another milestone in his career against Ireland as he, along with Mils Muliaina, will become the most capped All Black players of all time with 93 test caps on Saturday.

“I remember a bit,” said McCaw of his first cap. “I hadn’t played much rugby before going on that Tour. I wanted to make sure and prove that I deserved to be there. It was a pretty awesome experience to run out for the first time in a test match, and at a place like Lansdowne Road was pretty special. So I’ve got pretty good memories of it,” says the man of the match from that day.

The current crop of All Blacks boasts Dan Carter, McCaw and Sonny-Bill Williams, whose debut last incredible performance in his second test against Scotland catapulted him into a legend in the making. But the ‘01 team was far from its distant poorer cousin with the likes of Jonah Lomu, Andrew Mehrtens and Anton Oliver (as captain) pulling the strings.

“I thought geez, this is a horrible way to start test rugby,” as the All Blacks fell 14 points behind back in 2001. “I remember it was the first time I got to play with Jonah (Lomu) and some of those guys – that was pretty special in itself.

“You can stand there in awe or just get on with it. I was pretty nervous, but once you run out on the field you either get into it or freeze up and I did every attempt I didn’t do the latter. I remember being pretty happy at the end that we got away with a win.”

McCaw has thus far repressed any urge to leave New Zealand for the alluring millions of France, and donning the All Black jersey is still something he holds dear.

“It’s a little bit different,” he says of the feelings now, in comparison to when he first wore the All Black jersey. “But I still love the contest and love the fact you are playing for the All Blacks. If that ever goes, then it is probably time to do something else. Instead of worrying about your own job you are making sure the whole team does well.

“Those are probably the nerves you have at times. I still make sure not to take for granted the fact that I am playing for the All Blacks because one day that will be gone and you don’t just want to appreciate it then.”

Ireland conceded three penalties in McCaw’s first 80 minutes of international rugby – none of which were in their own half. That same discipline will be required come Saturday evening, as Ireland needing its big players to step up to the challenge.

“I think when we look at the Irish team, there are a lot of guys that have been through those periods (winning a Grand Slam in ‘09 and Triple Crowns in ‘04, ‘06, ‘07 and ‘09) and they are still playing good rugby – no doubt. Especially those guys in the backs, O’Gara, D’Arcy and O’Driscol – they have played a lot of rugby and they are pretty classy.

“In the second half when we played in New Zealand in June, we started to give them a bit of an easy ride and they certainly made us pay for it. Preparing for this week we realised that if we do that again we are going to be in trouble.”

McCaw rejected any comments that the era of Ireland’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’ has come to an end, as he prepares to take on the Irish. After beating England, Jimmy Cowan stated the All Blacks had to move up a gear.

A week later they gave Scotland a humbling in the form of a record defeat. “We have to make sure we are better than last week,” says McCaw, as he attempts to maintain the All Blacks unbeaten record (22 wins, 1 draw and 0 defeats) against Ireland.

The first All Black captain to lose to Ireland is not an accolade the two-time IRB World Player of the Year wishes to add to his collection. “Thanks for bringing that up,” he says. “I don’t want to be (the first captain to lose). End of story.”