Ryan Sheridan set the seal on Ireland's 30-16 World Cup win over Samoa in Belfast, but insisted there is a lot of work to do before a potential quarter-final clash with England. Sheridan created the last of Ireland's five tries on Saturday when he expertly planted a grubber kick against the uprights, allowing Steve Prescott to collect the rebound and dive over the line.
The inspirational Leeds scrum-half will have to produce more tricks from his locker if the Irish are to justify their tag as fourth favourites and emerge as Group Four winners. “It was a good work-out for us and blew a few of the cobwebs away,” said Sheridan. He added: “We gave away a lot of penalties, and there are a lot of other little things to work on. But we will build up slowly as the competition goes on, go about our business quietly and hopefully come up with the right result.”
Just two points up at the interval, Ireland cut loose after the break to bag three tries in the third quarter, capped by Prescott's effort. “I aimed to hit the uprights,” claimed Sheridan. “Steve shouted 'Posts' and fortunately I managed to come up with it. When the ball rebounds it can go anywhere, and Steve was on hand to pick it up.”
There was also a popular try for Cork-born winger Brian Carney, who nipped in at the corner during the second-half blitz. As the only home-grown player in the starting line-up, Carney at least gives the Ireland side some credibility - although Sheridan insists the squad are united in their desire to succeed for 'their' country.
The squad now travel to Dublin, where they will face Scotland on Wednesday, before wrapping up their group campaign against the New Zealand Maoris on Sunday. “It was nice for Brian to score, but we entered this competition as a team and we are sticking up for each other,” added Sheridan. “The spirit within the squad is superb; now we just have to start raising the intensity level. Scotland will have spotted a few things that went wrong for us and will be looking to exploit them. There is no point looking any further ahead than Wednesday, because we will only look silly if we lose.”
Disappointed Scotland coach Shaun McRae claimed his side deserved at least a draw after going down 17-16 to New Zealand Maoris at Glasgow's Firhill Stadium yesterday. After a Gene Ngamu drop-goal settled the issue, McRae said: “I'm very disappointed to lose in this way, especially after the players did so well to come back.” (PA)
Filed by Shane Murray
