HE’S SEMI DETACHED
Rob: We can’t dwell on failure to reach promised land
The rarefied air of a World Cup semi-final was their goal, aiming to achieve something none of their predecessors had done.
After Wales ended that dream in Wellington in 2011, hopes were high that the short hop across the Irish Sea would yield that elusive march into the last four in the 2015 finals.
But Argentina put paid to that idea in Cardiff, feasting on a weakened Ireland team shorn of O’connell, Sexton, O’brien, O’mahony and Payne.
“It’s all negative – 100 per cent,” recalled Rob Kearney, speaking ahead of the first meeting of the sides since that 43-20 defeat.
“That was as bad a game as I can remember in an Irish jersey.
“It was a World Cup, it was a quarter-final, we had done so well in the games before that.
“There was this massive goal we had as a team of getting to a semi-final.
“We lost a few key bodies but we still we felt we had enough personnel to win the game.
“The start was gutting for us but we showed great character to get back into it and then we let it slip again.
“There were very few positives we took from that game.”
The revenge theme has been aired plenty this week, a natural consequence of what happened at the Millennium Stadium.
But the Ireland players have been at pains to stress that those who played that day have moved on, while there are plenty involved who weren’t on the pitch.
Up to seven survivors could be in Joe Schmidt’s line-up that he’ll announce at lunchtime today.
Kearney said: “The revenge thing... the World Cup performance is probably something that will be spoken about a little bit on the outside.
“We’d like to think we’re a very different team to the one from two years ago.
“We’ve changed our defensive systems quite significantly, we defended pretty poorly that day.
“We’ve moved on quite a bit, as have they, in the space of two years. It’s certainly not going to be something that’s too far on our radar.”
Having said that, the full-back does concede: “It’s a big game for us and one we will desperately want to win – maybe more so than some other games.
“It’s unprofessional to focus too much on that game.
“We won’t look at specific things. A lot of the guys who played then we expect to play this week, so when we go through some of their (Argentina’s) profiles and things like that there will be clips of that game that we played two years ago.
“It’s tough viewing but it’s part of the job. You’ve got to look at those tough times as well.” DEVIN TONER is looking over his shoulder and not down his nose at the young guns who want a place in Ireland’s second row.
The Leinster lock said: “I’m 31 now, 32 next June and seeing these young lads coming up... James Ryan is 21 years old and he’s hugely strong, hugely fast. “Treaders (Kieran Treadwell) came on at the weekend (against Fiji) and called the lineout and it went quite well.
“James (Ryan) hasn’t called too much, but Hendy (Iain Henderson) is coming on really well. He called on the Lions tour, so he’s doing really well.
“There’s a huge amount of competition in the second-row these days, I’m all too aware of it, looking over my shoulder. They’re hugely close. It’s a toss-up every game so I’m not taking anything for granted.
“But I actually feel better than I did last year.
“I’d like to think I’m playing better, I’ve lost a fair bit of weight (123kg, down from 131) and I’m getting around the pitch a bit more.
“I feel better in my body than I did last year.”