It’s important to take the positives from last Saturday, writes Keego…
As we walk merrily forward into the next decade of Keego blogs, we are faced with the same old problems for the Irish team. We show flashes, and sometimes more than flashes, of really good play. And then BANG, concentration leaves and we lose.
There are positives to be taken from Saturday’s game against the Springboks. Especially in the first 40. Even while facing a pack that outweighed ours by more than a stone a man, we stood up and where not lacking in any on or off the ball collisions. Especially in the first half.
All of the worries I had about team selection, Murray at 9 and Zebo ay 15, all came off for Kidney. Murray flung the ball around at speed that he rarely moves at. He only had one stupid run forward with ball in hand. Zebo played well at 15. The ‘Boks didn’t kick any ball at him, and they had no issue stopping him when he was running, but he linked up really well with Tommy Bowe.
Again……especially in the first half.
Gordon Darcy threw himself around the place and had probably his best game in a green jersey this century. Earls was his usual erratic (MS Word thought I was trying to say erotic) self. He looked to be the only player who could cut through the ‘Boks line. But he also had a few errors. The Earl’s experiment may need to be halted. He has not improved enough to take over that jersey. It is not his fault; it is because Kidney has been moving him around the pitch so much it means he has had no time in the position.
Overall, I was happy with how we handled the ‘Boks in the first half. We let some pieces of play slip away, but we looked comfortable in all areas but the lineout. The scrum looked good. The back row where awesome!
And then it happened. The second half…..
Captain Heaslip made a silly error. An error he has made a few times. That was compounded by Cian Healy being off the field. Healy put in a monster shift all day, the first use of the concussion bin this season, and eventually made his way back on to the pitch. The concussion bin should be brought in at all professional levels; it would lengthen player’s careers greatly.
So the second half was less than 3 minutes old, and Heaslip went in sideways twice. In 3 minutes we had lost 2 of our leaders. I thought the first infringement was a bit harsh, but the second was not. As soon as the following line out was won, we all got worried. The score was still 12-3, but they began turning the screw. All the tackles, all the work done in the first half just knackered the team. I think if the captain and Healy had been able to remain on the pitch we may have been able to get back in shape.
We were still 2 points up after the conceded try. But our shape was gone. The lads looked out on their feet. Instead of doing what we did in the first half, that being precision and trying to work out wide, we began going in a straight line up the middle. It was sore to watch. The Murray box kicking was so tired and over kicked that it was useless .The South Africans kept turning the screw and kept adding kicks to win it 16-12.
When you think about our last performance, and every pundit is saying that we shouldn’t and that the players don’t, we were very organized in the first half. We defended well, kept our shape. The scrum held up well against a beefy Springboks. The main issue was the lineout. We didn’t have a leader in the line out. If Leo Cullen was brought in, that would have been less of an issue. If O’Callaghan would have started, it would have been less of an issue. But again, the selection in this key area caused a problem. The back row played very well, 4 and 5 played out of their skin. But there was a lack of leadership in the lineout. Captain Heaslip needs backup, and that is something that Cullen or O’Callaghan would, could and should have given him. Certainly if we had one of those two on the pitch in the second half they would have pulled things together.
In closing, I am not as negative as some people are. The positives where very positives and the negatives where down to selection (even though Zebo played well, he is NOT A FULL BACK), Michael Bent showing himself to be a top notch scrummager and the lads giving so much that they where fatigued. I also think we need to stop worrying about the world cup seedings. In reality it makes no difference to us if we have one or two higher seeded teams in our pool or not because we won’t ever contend for that tournament. Certainly not for a long time. The 6 nations is our world cup, and we need to perform consistently at that level before worrying about seedings.
As usual, if you want to discuss/comment/abuse me via twitter, please do @nkeegan.
Until next week….
Keego (@nkeegan): Newbie blogger, former professional wrestler, sometime attempted rugby player (@TheThirsty3rds), professional procrastinator and attempted musician with a fondness for long walks on the bar, tea and the couch. Opinionated Leinster fan and constant gardener.
