IRELAND-26 WALES-3

Many thanks to all involved with the Aviva Fan Studio for their excellent hospitality on matchday

PACK MENTALITY

O me of little faith! There was I making my prediction of a three-point win for Wales!

Well I still stand by that forecast based on the evidence I had before Saturday. My thinking was that despite all the chatter about the predictability of “Warrenball”, surely he would approach this contest with a view to bringing something different to the table to throw us off our game.

And what made me more sure was the memory of Wellington in 2011. Then we were the ones riding the crest of a wave of success following four pool wins out of four including the famous “choke-tackle” win over the Wallabies. We seemed to think all we had to do was show up and play our brand of rugby and it was plain sailing to the semifinals, only for Gatland and his charges to wait for us in the long grass and crush our dreams.

So with all of that in mind, though I was confident after last week that we would be easily able to step up to the mark, I still have to say I was surprised to see a side coached by a Lions series- and two-time Grand Slam-winner to underperform so badly on such a big occasion.

You probably think that by dedicating the early part of my writeup to Warren I'm preparing a dig over the whole BOD-gate thing, because if you went by the mainstream media in the lead-up to this game, the Irish fans are “obsessed” by it. Sure, it added a bit of needle to a contest that didn't really need any more, but that isn't the only reason I would be laying blame at his door for this result.

Because the fact of the matter is that while our defence was as solid and ever and our lineout/maul combo is approaching a point where it is nigh-on unstoppable, with Joe Schmidt's specialty being back-line play I'd be surprised if he wasn't at least a little bit disappointed with our poor offensive output in the opening half an hour, as putting points on the board early is something his brand of game normally relies upon.

But before I focus on that negative...let's face it, we won well on the day so let's turn the spotlight on something good first, and what better place than our defence. If I have the time to check this properly I will, but I wonder if any team has gone two rounds of the Five/Six Nations before with a single-digit figure in the “points against” column”? I would be extremely surprised if so.

To be honest, even if the Welsh did try something other than batter us into submission and bully us at the breakdown, they would have been hard pressed to get past our solid brand of D. At the centre there was the tag-team of Darce and Drico...everything that has been said about this pairing already has, but once again they proved the doubters wrong by keeping their channel well and truly shut.

One Welshman who knows this better than most is Scott Williams...the stadium held its collective breath in the first half as BOD stayed down after a collision but turns out he was only winded and it was Scott who had to be replaced by his namesake Liam, aka Kevin Bacon of the Scarlets.

Naturally our centres couldn't do it alone to keep the Welsh at bay, and once more we relied heavily on our back row and in particular Peter O'Mahony, who should have been man of the match last week yet picked up where he left off to earn the award this time. I disagree with those who say he is a guaranteed Irish captain down the line...however justified his beef late in the game he shouldn't have gone near Wayne Barnes (who had another bad day in the office though thankfully it didn’t cost us too much) never mind stay in his face for so long...he definitely has work to do on that score.

But there was no denying that despite the plethora of Lions back-row forwards opposite him he was very much the King of the Breakdown area and was always able to dive in and lock his body position to force turnovers when we needed him most. He is also an extremely reliable option at lineout time, I might add. Not sure there will be much room for Stephen Ferris in this team when both are fit!

So we not only shut-down Warrenball, we did it while only allowing Leigh Halfpenny one shot at goal. Where were our points to come from?

To be fair to the Welsh they weren't too shabby on the defensive front in the early stages, but the fact remains we saw a lot of our customary front-foot ball yet seemed fresh out of ideas as to what to do with it. At least we were being creative, but I'm not altogether sure we were going with the right options.

“We'd talked about the threat that George North posed with the ball in hand but also about how vulnerable he can be on the turn, being such a big lad.”

Johnny Sexton, Becoming A Lion

I was reminded of that passage when I saw Sexton do his cross-field kicks trying to match-up Andrew Trimble against North. This was clearly the net result of our preparation when it came to finding a way past the Welsh blitz defence, and it was a high-risk strategy that brought little or no reward. Sure, if it came off (as it did for Nacewa in the Heineken Cup) we'd be hailing them as geniuses, but my point is that we could have tried more conventional means first.

As a result the clock ticked into the 30^th minute and our lead was just 6 and I can't deny I was starting to get worried, especially when the Welsh had a rare attacking lineout on our 22. The passage of play that followed, for me anyway, settled the match.

I thought we would be the ones to have a go at a “trick-play” lineout, but I guess the Welsh have had a lot more success with it in the past, so at this point of the match they gave something a go. I say “something”, because I'm not quite sure what it was as they made a complete balls of it!

Whatever wires got crossed, Hibbard's throw went straight to Toner, and shortly after that we had Sexton placing a precision kick forward into the Welsh 22 which Priestland could only deal with by carrying it into touch on his own 5m line to avoid the advancing Jamie Heaslip.

So from a dangerous situation down the other end, we now had a lineout ourselves right on the Welsh line. Enter our pack, brilliantly depicted by our “camera guy” Ken Bohane in the lead photo.

It's not like our lineout-maul strategy is anything new, but clearly what John Plumtree has brought to our coaching ticket is a degree of technical precision that could well provide a template for the game around the world. The throw, the catch, the bind, the drive, all had to be perfect – and despite the calibre of players opposite, it could not be stopped and just like that we were over the line courtesy of Chris Henry. 

With the icing on the cake provided by a wonderful conversion from the touchline by Sexton, all of a sudden we had a 13-0 lead to take into the break that obviously was much, much more comfortable.

As you can probably tell by the video at the top of the page, I was lucky enough to watch the match via the Aviva Fan Studio. Hosted by Aidan Power and Daniella Moyles it was a privilege to be in the company of sporting greats such as Paul Wallace, Paddy Wallace and Olympian sailor Annalise Murphy. At halftime the panel gave their thoughts on the action so far, and my being a blogger made me an easy target for Aidan to go to for some fan reaction.

To my amazement I found myself channelling my inner George Hook. I said something like “Happy so far, looking for a good second half, for we all know we have had leads like this before”. Aidan pivoted this to the panel as if I meant the New Zealand match, but I actually meant on a more general basis, like the last two times we played France as well.

Thankfully I needn't have worried. Not only did the defence stay solid in the second half, but even when the Welsh did manage to win little battles, like Jenkins over Martin Moore at the Leinster prop's first scrum of the day which provided their only three points, we had Gatland feeling the need to change his front row, so it didn't trouble us again, and I reckon when Paulie was hauled ashore it was clear Joe felt the points were in the bag.

Meanwhile on our side of things we were able to make substitutions without it affecting our strategy one iota. The lineout-maul that led to our second try towards the end may not have gotten over the line as the first had, but even with only one recognised lock on the pitch (get well soon Dan Tuohy by the way - he's had a great series) we were easily able to set up Paddy Jackson to touch down despite the cheap shot from Liam Williams as he did.

Should there be a citing for his dropping the shoulder? Probably, but as far as I'm concerned that would be a good thing for the Welsh as I see him as a liability for this level. At least Mike Phillips has been known to contribute to matches like this...these days he prefers to vent his frustrations at pin-ups idolised by girls everywhere...and when it ISN'T at Rob Kearney, he sometimes has a go at One Direction as well!

But back to serious matters...two areas stood out for me overall. First it was great to see such solid performances from our back row and our wingers...all were positions where we thought we were missing extremely key players, yet they were hardly missed.

Then there's Devin Toner. Wasn't exactly man-of-the-match and the entire pack (bench included) were superb, but I wonder is his the first name on John Plumtree's team-sheet so long as he is fit. Having watched him develop over the years at Leinster, I remember the days when he had the height but neither the aggression nor technical ability. Now it appears he has it all in spades, and he doesn't just go out there to snag lineouts like apples off a tree either. I swear I have seen him fill in at scrum half a few times in recent weeks!

So two games played in the 2014 Six Nations, and two great wins. Yes, I have concerns about our ability to score points early. Given that a Triple Crown will need to be won in Twickenham and a Grand Slam in Paris, I think I am justified in having those concerns.

But if you think that in any way I am trying to take credit away from Joe Schmidt & his squad for their performances so far, maybe my final contribution to the Aviva Fan Studio will make you think otherwise.

“I think if we were to pick a Lions squad NOW for a crucial third test, we would not only be selecting a different 13, we'd also have a different coach.”

Well done lads. Roll on Twickers. JLP

Click here for post-match reaction on the HarpinOnRugby Facebook page

Also this weekend

Scotland 0 - 20 England

France 30 - 10 Italy

		P	W	D	L	PD	PTS
1	IRELAND	2	2	0	0	45	4
2	FRANCE	2	2	0	0	22	4
3	ENGLAND	2	1	0	1	18	2
4	WALES	2	1	0	1	-15	2
5	ITALY	2	0	0	2	-28	0
6	SCOTLAND	2	0	0	2	-42	0

Ireland Women 14 - 6 Wales Women

Ireland Under-20s 0 - 16 Wales Under-20s

WALES-22 IRELAND-30

PAYBACK

I honestly have to laugh at those “commenters” out there who are more interested in focusing on Ireland's second half than they are their first when it comes to this match.

This was always going to be a cup final, and much like last night's Super Bowl in which the scoring followed a very similar pattern, it always about who took the spoils, not how the result was achieved.

So if you want to spin this epic Cardiff contest as a failure by Declan Kidney's side then go right ahead...but that's just simply not what transpired.

The main weakness in the Irish camp was well documented before kickoff – backup to Mike Ross. And that wasn't a slight on Declan Fitzpatrick either, it was more about the way the talent deficit was handled by the coaching staff since the Twickenham Twagedy last March.

All of which meant that if Ireland was going to come up with a plan to win this match, there was only one way to go...aim to hit the Welsh from the off, build up a lead, and tackle like demons to bring it home. Guess what – that's exactly what they did.

Not that all was rosy from the Irish, and don't you worry I'll get to that in this piece, but I have to start by saying that this was a monumental result achieved with a mostly well-worked, well-executed gameplan that not only got the Welsh monkey off our backs but also injected a huge dose of championship-winning belief into a squad that badly needed it.

Since I'm pretty sure you've heard “that BOD pass” and “that Zebo flick” mentioned to death since Saturday, I'm going to start looking at the action itself by focusing on two other pivotal moments that I feel proved to be the difference on the day.

You want to talk about a Welsh comeback in the second half? Fine – but imagine how strong it would have been if the halftime score was 10-20 and not 3-23 as it ended up being. Well by rights it should have been the first score, only for an amazing goal-line stand.

All things considered, it was a decent first Six Nations appearance from Craig Gilroy. It seemed that the home side's offensive strategy from the kickoff was to target him, and although he wasn't exactly perfect under the high ball, he certainly did enough to make them go looking for a Plan B. Still...it was his poor clearance towards the end of the first half that lead to strong carries from the likes of Cuthbert, Coombes & Warburton and suddenly the Welsh were having their first serious foray into our 22. Several tough tackles & phases later, Rory Best forces a holding penalty and Ireland have the chance to clear. That defensive series was as good as a try to Ireland in my book.

Then we march down the field and get three points ourselves to widen the margin even further, which meant a whopping 20-point margin going into the break. But anyone who knows this game will tell you that the result was by no means certain. In fact, that very same stadium had experienced similar comebacks in its day.

So Sexton put the restart deep, and the Welsh, desperate for possession, decided to run the ball. Enter Mike McCarthy, Donncha Ryan & Sean O'Brien with quite possibly the most perfectly-executed “choke tackle” you'll ever see, certainly the most timely. In an instant the possession the home side craved was taken from them, and a steady scrum plus a few phases later, the great BOD himself was diving over the line and THAT was the ball game.

From then on, the Welsh had only one option...burn the playbook and throw the kitchen sink at us. They knew it, we knew it, and the battle was on.

But there was an asterisk beside the O'Driscoll try. As Sexton was lining up his conversion (which he nailed to seal an amazing 6 for 6 haul which nobody anywhere seems to be highlighting), Gordon D'Arcy was being taken off with a dead leg that had been bothering him since the first half.

With all the talk about our lack of backup to the 3 position, very little was said about what we would do if our number 12 got injured. I did think of it before the match, but always assumed that should it happen, O'Gara would come on at out-half and Sexton would move to 12. That thinking, don't forget, was before the match when the thought of us having a 30-3 cushion into the second half would have been pure fantasy.

Now I KNOW the formbook doesn’t look favourably on O'Gara  when it comes to tackling.  But I also can't think of a more reliable out-half to run down a clock and bring home a decent lead. And I also believe a weakened 10 channel is a lot easier to protect than a 12 or 13 one, especially when you consider the tackling talent we had at 4,5,6,7,8 plus of course Sexton himself, who kept going despite getting a mouthful of shoe for his trouble.

Instead the coaching staff chose to go for Keith Earls, who went to outside centre while O'Driscoll went to 12. Yes, both players have abilities in those positions, but in one fell swoop we went from having arguably the world's greatest ever 12/13 combo to a pairing who have only played together once. In this age of rugby where decoy runners play such a large part in creating space, it really was no surprise that once the kitchen sink was thrown at us there would be a way through and just like that the first Welsh try from Cuthbert was made look remarkably easy.

I don't want to be too hard on Earls for being stranded like he was. But having seen the replay I'm surprised a photographer didn't nab a shot of him grasping through mid-air at nothing much like Gavin Henson did with Tommy Bowe back in 2009. If I had to fault Declan Kidney for his selection of this Irish squad, I would say that if he wasn't going to go for the O'Gara 10/Sexton 12 thing, he at least needed a number 23 on the bench who had played both 12 and 13 at provincial level. Like Fergus McFadden maybe?

But anyway…Earls was only on the pitch, and to be fair to him he went on to make 9 tackles which is decent for a full 80 minutes at test level, let alone the 36 minutes he was on. So it could be said that he and BOD sorted out their positioning somewhat...the Welsh would need something else to close the gap even further. Enter Monsieur Roman Poite.

Some people wonder why a lemon only squirts them in the eye. I say it's because it doesn't ONLY squirt you there, it's just that's the only time you really notice it. Same goes for sports fans and officials. Many say they dislike certain refs because they're convinced they only give calls against their team...but that's to be expected and one-eyed fans are a big part of what makes sports discussions so entertaining.

Personally I tend not to be so hard on Poite. For example, the “holding after the tackle” call on Cian Healy that led to the first Welsh score on 33 minutes seemed a bit harsh. Yet shortly after that, he made a similar call on Jamie Roberts (thanks to Best as I mentioned earlier) that got us out of jail big time. So at least he was consistent in that regard.

Yet on 46 minutes, Mike McCarthy got pinged for not releasing. A fair enough call. But it was the first time we had conceded a defensive penalty in our own 22 the entire match, and Poite chose to issue a warning to Jamie Heaslip, one which meant that Rory Best had to be sent to the bin later on.

I wouldn't have much objection to the events of the last paragraph if the ref had at least spoken to Warburton after what Andrew Coombes did in the first half (click pic for better look). In fact, I could make a strong case for his transgression being a straight yellow, but if Poite was about issuing warnings on the first red zone no-no, he should have done it then, which should have eventually led to the final yellow card tally being a lot more reflective of the two sides’ no-nos than 0-2 did.

All of this meant not only was the kitchen sink being hurled at us for the final quarter, it was being done with an extra man. If anything it was a credit to our tackling that the second Welsh try from Halfpenny was over in the corner. Who knows how the match would have turned out had the Welsh full-back gotten the conversion, but it being out wide helped it be a 15 point deficit rather than a 13 point one and at that stage of the game, that was crucial.

On the subject of Leigh Halfpenny... (or ½p as the Welsh twitterati call him) he was outstanding on Saturday. When it comes to Lions selection he may have had a head start on Rob Kearney this season but with running with the ball, strong tackling and overall reliability he certainly must have the inside track for Gatland's 15 jumper. In a way it's a testament to Kearney's ability that the opposition won't kick to him anymore but this means that he has to show his mettle in other areas and the Welshman is certainly ahead of him right now.

And overall credit MUST go to Wales for the whole “kitchen sink” thing. George Hook will probably never live down his “lacking moral fibre” comment and I'm pretty sure he doesn't represent the majority view of Ireland fans. They had been put on the back foot but found a way to come roaring back and they certainly shouldn't rule themselves out of this tournament just yet.

On the 69^th minute came Faletau's almost-try at the base of the post when he was brilliantly held up by Sexton, followed by the sin-binning of Conor Murray for waving his hand (again incredibly soft compared to what Coombes did) and although we had been lucky to survive Best's absence without a scrum being called and O'Brien throwing the darts, we were again down a man, this time for the final ten minutes.

A look at the tackle stats shows you how awesome Ireland's defence was. Warburton and Faletau led the home side with 11 each – nobody else got to double figures. On the Irish side, everyone who did deserves a mention : Sexton & Best 10 BOD 11 Healy 15 Ryan & Heaslip 16 McCarthy 18 and finally Sean O'Brien a Herculean 23.

You say Ireland folded in the second half? I say we came out on top in a 40-minute period when both sides played out of their skins, literally in some cases given all the stitching that needed doing afterwards.

NOW I can get to the two moments of magic everyone is talking about.

The Zebo thing is the one we will all remember. And no doubt kids everywhere will be trying it. And yes, it was awesome “tekkers”. But to make Cian Healy's try all about that would take away from all else that went with the move. Rory Best's block & catch? Heaslip's pluck out of the air and pass despite being tackled? Gilroy's pirouette and keeping the ball alive? O'Mahony and Murray's urgency? All of the above combined to keep the Welsh defence scrambling allowing Church to have the space to barge over.

But I have saved the best for last, the BOD pass that led to first try. Actually the first Baltimore Ravens touchdown was very similar in that the quarterback put the ball where he expected the receiver to be, rather than where he saw him. That's all very well in gridiron because those guys practise it every week (not to mention they're allowed pass the ball forward!). What O'Driscoll did took three Welsh defenders out of the equation (most notably Cuthbert who I still think must be dizzy from his confused spinning) to put Zebo over.

If Halfpenny has the inside track for the Lions 15 jumper, I think we can be in no doubt who has dibs on 13 the way things stand. I mean – if you want to fault the man for his box-kick towards the end, go ahead. I'll do the same the next time I see Lionel Messi as a goalkeeper letting in a penalty ;-) Oh, and Rory Best certainly has a good shout for the hooker spot; if he shores up the darts he could be home and hosed before this Championship is done.

So...when all is said and done, we cleared a massive hurdle on what is still a long road to Six Nations glory. I said in my preview...

“…what I feel we need more than anything else is something that you can’t draw on a blackboard or look for in a DVD session.  We need the team to keep their head in the game for the full 80 minutes, forgetting the four other matches to come in the competition, and once we’re deep into the match, focus on dealing with what’s in front of them rather than trying to stick to complex sets of strategies”

...and we did just that, so bravo to everyone involved. And the fact that the result came against a nemesis we fell short against on the last three attempts makes the payback all the sweeter.

Between now and next Sunday, I will be doing everything I can to make sure the English don't get away with claiming underdog status for our clash in Dublin. Having said that, we may be battered and bruised, but we certainly have every chance. Bring it on. JLP

Also this weekend

Wales Under-20s 17 - 15 Ireland Under-20s

England 38 - 18 Scotland

Italy 23 - 18 France

Wales 10-12 Ireland (Women’s)

IRELAND-21 WALES-23

 

[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]

 

NEMESIS

 

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.

Wales-15 Ireland-17

HOW'S THE SLAM? AH, SURE IT'S GRAND!

Apologies for taking so long to type out this post - it was a long pissup of a weekend followed by an abrupt return to work Monday morning!!!

What can I say about this match that hasn't already been said?

The very fact that the score remained 0-0 for so long highlighted the tension that was there for all to see.

I can't explain it - maybe it was the fact that it was my birthday, maybe it was a sense of destiny, but even at halftime when we were 6-0 down I somehow knew we were going to win.

I even said it to everyone around me in Dicey Riley's.  "We're still going to win", is what I said.   Not everyone around me had a similar confidence, including my 8+months pregnant wife.

But guess what…no sooner does the second half kickoff, than we scored.

But wasn't that the most anti-climactic try you've ever seen? From the angle on the telly, it didn't look like anyone had crossed at first. Even the Ireland players didn't seem to celebrate.

Yet once you saw the first replay, you knew the almighty BOD had done it again.

Then practically from the kickoff we're at them again, and what a take & run from Tommy Bowe! WHO PLAYS HIS RUGBY FOR THE OSPREYS!!!

Wonder what his next club training session is going to be like?

Bish-bash-bosh, it was 14-6, and we started to feel it now. And what’s more, I stretched my destiny theory even further when I made the bold statement : "There is absolutely NO WAY they're crossing our line".

Everyone around me remained silent. They were probably cursing me in their heads and getting ready to rip my jinxing ass apart should the result have gone against us.

Though as it turned out, had Stephen Jones' last-gasp effort gone over, they would have beaten us WITHOUT scoring a try.

But if you ask me, it was a gust of wind driven by the ghosts of the 1949 team that made that kick fall short.

And let’s not forget that the miss is not what Jones should be brooding over.

It was him kicking to touch on the full having had the ball passed to him from outside his 22 that gave us the attacking line-out which led to Ronan’s historic drop-goal.

I don’t know about you, but that is one ELV I hope never gets changed!!!

So in the end, not even Wayne Barnes' ludicrous awarding of 15 penalties against us as opposed to 5 against the home side could stop us.

And when the final whistle did blow, the fun could begin.

Everyone in the pub was shouting and jumping and hugging.  Even the gob-daws who kept opening the door and blocking our view of the tellies were forgiven.

A mate of mine banged his head on the corner of the ceiling above him after jumping and excitement, but he didn't care.

The Slam is ours, and sure isn't it grand.

I'll do a review of the Six Nations tournament as a whole later in the week, but for now, let's just enjoy this wonderful feeling and remember how proud we are to be Irish.