[Update February 5, 2014 : In this week’s trip into the HoR archives we go back 2 years to the day and re-live the last Welsh visit to Dublin. Sorry! One of the leading lowlights of the Declan Kidney reign as Irish coach was the fact that after a good start he was eventually bettered by Warren Gatland. Now it’s Joe Schmidt’s turn to have a go - will he fare better? Note - the article I link to in the first line seems to have been taken down; shame, because if I remember it correctly it gave many pointers to the civil war in Welsh rugby today. JLP]
During the week I read an article written by Welsh MP Owen Smith entitled “Regional rugby – time for change”.Overall I felt it was a piece of populist pandering by a politician looking to draw easy attention to himself and his agenda. But behind it all, I was fascinated by the idea that a nation so steeped in tradition with the oval ball could consider anything less than offering full support to its teams on the international stage whatever the level.
Yet when you look at the comparative performances of the Irish and Welsh teams at Pro12 and Heineken Cup level, it suggests a massive gulf in talent between the respective pools of players.
And not even that...you could also suggest that since the IRFU moves mountains to keep players at home while their Welsh counterparts virtually put them on the plane to France, there should theoretically be a greater understanding and camaraderie in the Irish camp.
So with all those factors taken into account, it should be a given that when the two countries pick sides to play each other, especially in Dublin, Ireland should be in the ascendancy. Since that didn't come anywhere near happening on Sunday, questions have to be asked.
First, though, we must eliminate the irrelevant questions.
- Should O'Gara have started instead of Sexton? I know a large portion of the HarpinOnRugby ethos has been built via twitter, but every time either Leinster & Ireland are playing I tell myself I'll stay away from it while the match is actually on, yet every time I get sucked in. And sure enough even from the very first miss by Sexton the tweets were pouring in “Get ROG on!” People obviously forget who started in Wellington. But I must admit even I allow myself to be drawn into the pettiness...after a later miss the RTE director cut straight to O'Gara sitting on the bench and I reckon he knew he could be seen on the big screen as he said “that's a fucking waste”. Not that it wasn't of course, but my annoyance stems from the fact the same people who stick up for him go incredibly silent when he himself is less than perfect, which he can be, even in Sunday's cameo. Still, the fact remains, recent results against the Welsh prove the selection at outhalf makes absolutely no difference and we must look deeper.
- Did the officials make the difference? Again with the social media, there was a worry that an “I Hate Wayne Barnes” Facebook page would have been set up much like the one against Alain Rolland. Thankfully while there were a few anti-Barnes pages already there, nothing new sprung up after Sunday, though there was plenty of blame being flung at him from individuals. As for the tip tackles, if he was guilty of anything it was trying too hard to be fair. Remember – he didn't see the first one by Davies, and Dave Pearson didn't see the second from Ferris. Had they both been called by the same official perhaps the massive difference between them would have been obvious and then reflected in the two punishments. But to actually answer the question, I have to say no. The way we were allowing the Welsh run onto us so easily we were giving them every chance to get the winning score even without that penalty. Barnes is far from my favourite man in the middle, but I could only blame him if I thought we took care of our own business when it counted and we certainly didn't.
- Are Ireland lost without Brian O'Driscoll? For this I point to the Welsh display. They were missing a huge slice of their pack from the start, lost their inspirational skipper at halftime, and were a man short with ten minutes to go, yet still deservedly won. BOD is a legend of the Irish game, and has won test matches all on his own, but no team in any sport can put all their faith in one player and hope to achieve anything.
For me, we lost this match because we failed to perform in both the first ten minutes and the last.
It was all fire and passion from Ireland after the actual kickoff and we won a penalty which if you'll recall, wasn't a million miles away from where we got one early on in Wellington. Then, we kicked for the corner but couldn't ram home the advantage. This time we couldn't even get the bloody ball into touch! But should we have been going for it at all? Not so sure in either case.
Then came that quick lineout. What is it about us with that set-piece against this lot? I'm thinking the Welsh studied DVDs and noticed that our players are getting too focused on their rehearsed drills and calls, no matter who is throwing the ball in. Sure, we all know what happened back in Cardiff but the fact remains we should have been wide to it. Same applied Sunday. Though I'm not totally sold the ball went the full 5 metres, still Conor Murray and Mike Ross were caught napping big time, and for me it's only thanks to a couple of luckily-positioned Irish arses that the TMO couldn't see that a try was scored as a result.
Finally on the 9-minute mark, even though we were 3 points to the good, Ireland got their first decent attacking position at midfield. No matter how a match is going I can't feel like I can make a proper judgement on how the sides are shaping up until I've seen both sides have some good possession. Often I have seen Leinster not get any for up to 20 minutes yet still come out on top come full time, for example.
In this case, the Welsh flung themselves at us in the breakdown, straight through the middle as well. Conor Murray got sucked in to one ruck when he should have been distributing the ball, then McFadden went to play scrum-half before getting sucked in himself, then we just lost it. I'm sorry but if you hope to win at Test level, I reckon you must at very least be able to advance the ball with a decent series of phases on your first possession. We had no answer to the Welsh pack's questions.
But for the middle portion of the match, we were able to dig deep and get some points on the board thanks to some good individual performances. I couldn't write this article without acknowledging that it wasn't all bad on the day. Jamie Heaslip and Paul O'Connell were strong themselves at the breakdown. Andrew Trimble got key tackles in on his flank. Rob Kearney has seamlessly carried his Leinster form through to this Six Nations and has the 15 jumper nailed down for the foreseeable future.
And by God, what an attitude shown by Donnacha Ryan when he came on. If only he could have bottled it and passed it around the matchday 22. O'Callaghan wasn't exactly a disaster, but for his sheer enthusiasm and focus alone Ryan has to start in Paris the way I see it.
As for our two tries themselves they were impressive, with our backs creating overlaps and exploiting them in each case. Yet even there I must ask...were they the result of pre-match tactics or rather experienced professionals reacting to opportunities that presented themselves in the heat of battle? I'm leaning towards the latter.
Finally, we have the last ten minutes. Let's set the stage, shall we? As the clock ticked to 70, Ireland led by 6 points, had an extra man on the park, and won themselves a penalty a shade inside their own half. This time, they chose to kick for the points.
OK – Sexton missed it by a mile, but come on...would the lineout not have been the better option? We showed we could find a way to work try scoring positions, and besides...the penalty was tricky for any kicker and all it did was take time off the Bradley sin-binning, whereas the lineout could have taken a decent chunk off the overall time remaining. I personally think we got two key penalty calls arseways.
And then came a senseless penalty. No, I don't mean that of Stephen Ferris. I mean that of Sean O'Brien not releasing in the tackle. That allowed the Welsh come straight back at us to get their third try – no mean feat on any away Six Nations outing - and if anyone in red deserved to get one it was the enigma that is George North...what a future that 19-year-old has ahead of him.
Yet STILL, even after that try, we had the lead as Halfpenny couldn't quite add the conversion. It was still ours to lose, and with comparative ease the Welsh marched all the way from within their own 22 to the edge of ours.
As much as I hate to say it, Ryle Nugent put it best when he said “Ireland are inviting Wales on by stepping back from the tackles”. Why on earth would anyone do this? The visitors had shown throughout that they had yards in them AFTER the tackle, so why give them yards before it?
All of which adds up to one conclusion. The one thing Ireland needed for this vital Six Nations opener was the correct preparation, and they were found extremely wanting. There is only one door at which the blame can be laid, and it's a name I have yet to use in this piece.
Declan Kidney has masterminded some great results as a coach in his day, many of them for Ireland. But rugby is an ever-evolving sport, and since he has been at Test level he has found a nemesis in Warren Gatland and after being out-strategized in yet another battle, has surely now lost the war.
Is it Kidney's inherent conservatism that's to blame? Partly. For all the hype and hoopla over rookies Peter O'Mahony and Dave Kearney being on the bench they never came within a sniff of getting on the park.
But I believe it goes beyond that. Since we're not privy to what exactly is going on behind the scenes, we can only call it an “X-factor” that's lacking in our coaching brains trust, but let's just say this...Poland is looking like a much better destination for preparation than Carton House right now.
So as Gatland plans for the next stage of his march towards a second personal Grand Slam (not to mention the 2013 Lions tour as well), the Irish coach needs to realise his is never going to come if things continue as they are. We will see how much he recognises this need with his selection for next Saturday evening at the Stade de France.
As much as I try to find a positive spin where Leinster and Ireland are concerned, I have a feeling I'll need to stay far away from twitter while that particular match is on. Keeping sorrow-drowning potions close to hand, of course. JLP
ALSO LAST WEEKEND
IRELAND U20s 11-6 WALES U20s
A deserved victory for Mike Ruddock's men but despite having the edge in possession and territory throughout, needed two quick 2nd half DGs from Jackson & McGrath to see it home. Irish try came after strong break by JJ Hanrahan and fizzed pass to MotM Shane Layden for easy finish in 1st half. Jackson struggled from the kicking tee in the wind.
FRANCE 30-12 ITALY
Neither team ever really got out of 2nd gear yet the gulf in class was there for all to see. Clermont Auvergne provided most of the offence with Rougerie, Malzieu and debutante Fofana all crossing with Clerc adding his gazillionth 6Nations try. Truth be told most entertaining movement on the Stade de France pitch came from the pigeons. Still, France can only improve before next Saturday.
SCOTLAND 6-13 ENGLAND
If the French and Italians didnt get beyond 2nd gear, these two barely had their keys in the ignition. Never before has a reigning champion been more there for the taking in their opening match, yet the Scots just couldn't capitalize despite the valiant efforts of Cusiter & Denton. Dan Parks' shocker culminated in a blocked clearance which Charlie Hodgson turned into the winning try.
