It's been four years since Ireland exited at the quarter-final stage at the last global shindig in New Zealand, there's been an 11-week pre-season and it's been six weeks since Ireland began their preparatory programme at this same venue. It has, as Rob Kearney said yesterday in the bowels of the Millennium Stadium, "been a long time coming". Who are you telling, Rob?
But finally Ireland's eighth World Cup is here and Ireland need to set a benchmark. A nominal first-choice team based on form and fitness needs to make a statement, not so much to everyone else as to themselves.
Whatever about covering the 39-point handicap, a handsome win would help to restore slightly dented confidence.
For this to happen, Ireland’s strong set-piece game should not only be a secure entry point into the game, but also a weapon at scrum time and maul time, for the Canadian scrum looks decidedly vulnerable.
Drastically reduce
What also needs to happen is for the Irish players to demonstrate some more line speed and, in particular, to drastically reduce the number of missed tackles. There were 80 in the four warm-up games as Ireland conceded 80 points, including nine tries – two more than in the entirety of their back-to-back Six Nations successes.
Another area for improvement is the finishing, and specifically converting overlaps into tries. Achieve all of that, ideally without any injuries, and Ireland’s World Cup will be up and running.
Canada could be obdurate, with Les Kiss re-affirming Joe Schmidt's observations that they have an ability to defend through phases.
History has also shown us that the underdogs, training as a professional squad for the only time in a four-year cycle, also tend to hit the ground running, but not necessarily sustain their form over four games.
Asked yesterday what their ambition is today, coach Kieran Crowley (the only one of the 20 head coaches to have won a World Cup as a player, in 1987 with the All Blacks) said: "Win it. That's the ultimate. You don't go out there to try to keep the score down or anything like that. Obviously they're huge favourites [but] we're not going out to make up the numbers."
Crowley has also identified Ireland’s set-piece and kicking game as primary strengths, and aside from being a more established, wealthier and fully professional set-up, Ireland have so much else going for them here too.
As the first battalion of the Blarney Army descended on Cardiff by trains, planes and automobiles, the 60,000-plus crowd should be akin to a home match.
Hunting ground
The win here under the closed roof six weeks agowas Ireland's third match here since the last World Cup. In addition, eight of the Leinster players in today's 23 were part of the memorable Heineken Cup final comeback win over Northampton here in 2011, as were Paul O'Connell and Earls when Munster won the 2006 final here, and indeed five of this starting line-up were amongst those who celebrated the 2009 Grand Slam here. It's been a relatively happy hunting ground.
Ireland are notoriously slow starters in World Cups, beating Namibia 32-17 in 2007 and the USA in 22-10. The latter case would suggest this will be no romp, but that was on a sodden afternoon in New Plymouth.
There’s no such excuses with the roof closed. This should therefore be a little different, and a good deal more promising a lift-off.
