WE MUST HIT NEW HEIGHTS
O’mahony says Irish have got to up their game to level series
Argentina Wales Santa Fe, Kick-off 8.40pm
v JAMES DAVIES is the forgotten man of his family, but will be out to make sure Argentina know all about him again today.
Davies (below) was man of the match in the impressive 23-10 victory over the Pumas last Saturday and has brushed off a hip knock to start in Santa Fe.
The back rower, 27, known as ‘Cubby Boi’, is the brother of Wales and British & Irish Lions centre Jonathan.
He said: “Jon’s not playing here, so my parents don’t bother coming. Golden
B***s is at home, so they stay at home!
“Jon was in Miami and now
I think he’s in the south of
France. You can’t keep up with the guy, he’s got too much cash
– but he did say well done!”
South Africa England Bloemfontein, Kick-off 4.05pm
v MARO ITOJE says England can spoil Beast’s big day if they roar like Lions. Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira becomes the first black Springbok to win 100 caps in this afternoon’s second Test at Free State Stadium.
Siya Kolisi’s coronation as South Africa’s first black captain inspired the Boks to an astonishing first Test triumph a week ago.
But lock Itoje, a Lion on the tour to New Zealand a year ago, said: “I’ve been in a few tough situations like this and it’s more than achievable.
“Obviously we’re going through a very tough period and we’d rather be in a different situation but my message is ‘keep the faith’. I have 100% belief in our group. The strength of character is very significant.”
15 14 13 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 AUSTRALIA REPS:
IRELAND REPS:
But the Munster firebrand believes the men in green will need their strongest display in 18 months if they are to overcome Michael Cheika’s impressive and unchanged Wallabies at AAMI Park.
O’mahony, who again leads Ireland, is certain there will be the right response to the 18-9 loss in Brisbane.
That defeat was a first in 13 games and head coach Joe Schmidt reacted by making eight changes, with Johnny Sexton leading a host of returning frontliners.
“The fellas are frustrated and upset, it was a record we wanted to hold on to,” admitted O’mahony.
“But we’re a team that understands that when something like that happens we’ve got to improve.
“It was up to us to have a good look at the game and see what areas we needed to improve on.
“We understand we were beaten by a better team last Saturday – and we’re going to have to put in a performance that has been better than any we’ve put in over the last 18 months to beat this Australia team.
“The quality they have, their game-plan, they’re one of the best teams in the world and we have to up our game from the standards we set in in the Six Nations – which we certainly didn’t do last week.”
O’mahony predicts the Wallabies will not dip in performance after a strong first Test display at Suncorp Stadium.
He added: “They’ve had another week now to gel together, to build on it and we’ve no doubt they’ll be better than last week which is something that we have to prepare for and deal with.”
Leinster second row James Ryan experienced his first defeat in 24 games as a professional for club and country last weekend.
But the 21-year-old has brushed off the disappointment as he looks ahead to the chance to wreak revenge.
“It was never a thing for me, that’s maybe the only silver lining of the loss is that stuff is over now,” he said.
“The main focus for us is the match – and it’s a massive one.
“We think we lost too many collisions last weekend, so that’s a focus area for us this week to make sure physically that we’re up for it.
“This is Test match rugby and the
Wallabies are the cream of the crop, so no surprises there.
“It’s going to be another big one in Melbourne.”