The Rugby World Cup got off to a flyer last weekend. I was delighted to be asked to be Ireland’s representative at the opening ceremony. To be rubbing shoulders with legends such as Sean Fitzpatrick, Martin Johnson and Raphaël Ibañez certainly put me in the mood for what’s to come over the next seven weeks. There’s a huge build-up to any World Cup and to be there in the stadium for the opening night when it all kicks off was a great honour. However, despite the big names on show at the ceremony, the real bright sparks of the opening weekend were undoubtedly the Japanese players and supporters after their incredible win over South Africa. No one saw that coming.

I was in a fan zone in Richmond watching the match. There were a couple of thousand people there and the place was absolutely rocking. There were French fans, Italians, every team was represented ... and they were all roaring for Japan. The place was on its feet. And it’s not that everyone was against South Africa, they just couldn’t believe what was happening. I was loving it.

Ireland’s performance against Canada was another highlight of the opening weekend and we look in good condition heading into the Romania game this Sunday. Without a doubt, Iain Henderson was the standout – he’s fast becoming a serious player. There was an intensity to the Irish performance that hadn’t been there in the last two warm-up games against England and Wales. You can take the opposition into account – it was Canada – but Ireland were up to speed.

There’s been a lot of talk about Joe Schmidt keeping plays in reserve but you have to try them out at some stage. You can practise them all you want in training, but you won’t know how effective they’ll be until you try them in a match situation. For Dave Kearney’s try, Sean O’Brien ended up on one wing and Dave Kearney was on the other with Jack McGrath and Mike Ross outside him. That wasn’t an accident – that was a play they used to stretch the Canadians the full width of the field and move them from side to side, and it worked perfectly.

What Ireland will have kept under wraps are lineout variations because there is so much analysis these days. The detail that the opposition get on you is incredible. They can see everything. They can go back through your last 10 or 12 games and know exactly what you did. So if you’re showing a pattern where you’re using a certain lineout all the time in the same part of the field, they’ll know how to defend against it. Ireland will have gone into the first game with a fairly basic menu where they’ll try to win the game with four or five simple lineouts and work from there because we don’t want to be showing variations.

Post-match recovery

With the bonus-point win secured, the focus after the Canada match will have moved to the next game instantly. How you recover from matches is one of the big changes in the last few years. As soon as the final whistle goes, you go to the dressing room and the strength and conditioning lads will have shakes ready for each of the players with the ideal amount of protein, carbohydrates and fluids. You’re weighed to see how much fluids you lost during the game; if you’re down two kilos, three kilos, you have to get all that back into you straight away with your food. You get a massage and then you’re into the ice bath. It’s instant. There’s no sitting around drinking a few beers like the old days.

With eight days between Ireland’s first and second games, after recovery comes the downtime and how it is handled is almost as important as the training itself. Life in a World Cup camp can be tedious if it’s not managed properly. The Irish squad would have been in camp for the summer up in Carton House and they would have been able to get home during training blocks so that’s grand – it breaks it up. But once you go away, even when you’re as close as Wales or England, you can’t go home, so you end up forming an entertainment committee in the squad to come up with ideas to pass the time.

You can’t have always-on training and analysis – you have to have downtime to allow fellas get away. Whatever country you happen to be in, whether it’s New Zealand or Australia, the entertainment committee has to find out about the local attractions and what can be done. Can you go fishing? Where’s the local golf course? Is there a cinema? Is there anything at all that you can do to get away for the day? Sunday will have been a rest day after the match. It’s easy enough to pass that – especially with an All-Ireland final to watch. Then you train Monday and Tuesday so Wednesday is usually the day for activities. You have to make sure you balance the time during the week.

I was never on the entertainment committee. I was usually on the enforcing committee, going around collecting fines off fellas who didn’t pay up for indiscretions. I’d call to their rooms to collect money and I’d usually take a bit in advance. If a fella owed about $20 or €20, I might take $40 or $50 off him so he’d have a bit in the bank for the next time he’d have an indiscretion.

My own downtime this week was spent at the Ploughing Championships in Laois. I’m not sure how relaxing it would have been as a day trip for the Irish team but I was in my element. I went up with the brother on Wednesday and it was great to bump into so many familiar faces.

Romania battle

Looking to the Romania game on Sunday, the players know what they’ll be up against. We played against Romania in the first game of the 2003 World Cup. I had been injured in the build-up – I tore my calf before the tournament and missed the last two warm-up games – so I came into the Romania game under pressure to make the team. That was my first chance to put in a performance and get a spot for the next day. I remember sitting on the sideline in Australia, getting nervous and getting ready to get going. You always want to start on the team in a tournament because whoever gets the start might stake a claim for your place and you mightn’t get a chance to get it back. Thankfully my calf came through OK and I started the rest of the games, although it didn’t pan out as we’d hoped. The lads who didn’t start last weekend will be hoping to get a similar chance to make an impression this Sunday.

Romania will be fired up. It’s like when we play the All Blacks or the Springboks, we raise our game because we’re the underdogs. And when we play against Romania or the other lower-ranked teams, they see us as the big challenge. They’ll be psyched up so it’s a little bit of a different challenge for us mentally. You have to be ready to meet their level of physical intensity and if you get that right, you know you’ll win – just like the lads did against Canada.

Ireland should be comfortable enough this weekend. Whatever team goes out, if we play to our level, we know our level is better than theirs. But as you saw with South Africa last weekend, if you don’t bring your A game, teams can catch you. They might be missing a certain bit of technical ability, or coaching and organisation, but physical intensity can go a long way in a game of rugby and if you’re not ready for a battle, you’ll be found out. CL