Ex Ulster, Ireland and British and Irish Lions winger, Trevor Ringland, has first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to play Canada in a Rugby World Cup. He was part of the Irish side that took on the North Americans in the inaugural tournament in 1987 and despite eventually getting the 46-19 win, they made hard work of it. "It was in Dunedin," Trevor recalls. "We played the opening game of the World Cup against Wales in Wellington and we just hadn't shown up at all. It was one of the worst performances that I was involved in. In some ways the game against Canada was our chance to restore things. We went out and we played okay but in a slightly disjointed way. To be fair to Canada they were aggressive and that American Football style came through in defence. They moved the ball well and they actually gave us a bit of a challenge. It was a nice day - we put together some really good moves, but we just didn't put them away. Suddenly, with not long to go, we were actually losing the game. In those times that would have been a dreadful result and very embarrassing. My memory was standing under the posts and the touch judge saying to me that we were in trouble! We were a good side, just not performing. However, we eventually got our act together and scored a few tries at the end to win the match." Â With 31 caps for Ireland and four matches for the Lions, Ringland knows a thing or two about preparing for big games. His advice to Ireland ahead of tomorrow is simple - be ruthless. "It is the only way," he says. "Jimmy Davidson (ex Ulster and Ireland Coach) used to say that the greatest credit that you can give to a team is to beat them by as many points as possible. You have to be ruthless and play to the 80 th minute. In the Ireland sides that I played in we tried to bring that out in the same way. It wasn't happening for us in that World Cup but that's the way sport is sometimes. Rugby is a game of commitment - you either commit wholeheartedly to it or you can end up in a position where you can get beaten by a team like Canada." Much has been written about Ireland's chances in this Rugby World Cup. Some commentators have them as potential winners, others have Joe Schmidt's side crashing out at the group stages. Ringland believes that Ireland fans should be confident, if the team can play to its potential: He says: "I think they have shown a few cracks in the warm-up games that have caused some concern. You would hope that Joe Schmidt would pull them together and that they will make the tackles that they have been missing and that they will make the breaks that haven't quite come off. They have performed really well over the past number of years and you just hope that they bring that out in this tournament. They are more vulnerable than the other big nations to injury, so if they lose the likes of Johnny Sexton or others, that will be crucial to their chances of progressing. Whereas, the likes of England, New Zealand, South Africa and France have more players of the necessary standard. "I think the match against France, as everyone has identified, is the big game. If they win that they will hopefully have a quarter final against Argentina and they would have a real chance of progressing to the semi final. Once you get to that stage, anything can happen."Â
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Trevor Ringland: â??Ireland need to be ruthless against Canadaâ??
18th September 2015
Ex Ulster, Ireland and British and Irish Lions winger, Trevor Ringland, has first-hand experience of how difficult it can be to play Canada in a Rugby World Cup. He was part of the Irish side that took on the North Americans in the inaugural tournament in 1987 and despite eventually getting the 46-19 win, they made hard work of it. "It was in Dunedin," Trevor recalls. "We played the opening game of the World Cup against Wales in Wellington and we just hadn't shown up at all. It was one of the worst performances that I was involved in. In some ways the game against Canada was our chance to restore things. We went out and we played okay but in a slightly disjointed way. To be fair to Canada they were aggressive and that American Football style came through in defence. They moved the ball well and they actually gave us a bit of a challenge. It was a nice day - we put together some really good moves, but we just didn't put them away. Suddenly, with not long to go, we were actually losing the game. In those times that would have been a dreadful result and very embarrassing. My memory was standing under the posts and the touch judge saying to me that we were in trouble! We were a good side, just not performing. However, we eventually got our act together and scored a few tries at the end to win the match." Â With 31 caps for Ireland and four matches for the Lions, Ringland knows a thing or two about preparing for big games. His advice to Ireland ahead of tomorrow is simple - be ruthless. "It is the only way," he says. "Jimmy Davidson (ex Ulster and Ireland Coach) used to say that the greatest credit that you can give to a team is to beat them by as many points as possible. You have to be ruthless and play to the 80 th minute. In the Ireland sides that I played in we tried to bring that out in the same way. It wasn't happening for us in that World Cup but that's the way sport is sometimes. Rugby is a game of commitment - you either commit wholeheartedly to it or you can end up in a position where you can get beaten by a team like Canada." Much has been written about Ireland's chances in this Rugby World Cup. Some commentators have them as potential winners, others have Joe Schmidt's side crashing out at the group stages. Ringland believes that Ireland fans should be confident, if the team can play to its potential: He says: "I think they have shown a few cracks in the warm-up games that have caused some concern. You would hope that Joe Schmidt would pull them together and that they will make the tackles that they have been missing and that they will make the breaks that haven't quite come off. They have performed really well over the past number of years and you just hope that they bring that out in this tournament. They are more vulnerable than the other big nations to injury, so if they lose the likes of Johnny Sexton or others, that will be crucial to their chances of progressing. Whereas, the likes of England, New Zealand, South Africa and France have more players of the necessary standard. "I think the match against France, as everyone has identified, is the big game. If they win that they will hopefully have a quarter final against Argentina and they would have a real chance of progressing to the semi final. Once you get to that stage, anything can happen."Â