Liam Toland: Henry and O'Brien backrow combination an exciting prospect

Kilkenny's extraordinary methodology makes hurling a super team sport; so too Joe Schmidt's rugby but for me it's off shore sailing epitomised by the 34th America's Cup held off Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco that's the greatest team sport.

The fact that Oracle Team USA managed to win eight races in a row to beat Team New Zealand by one is simply extraordinary. But how Oracle's Larry Ellison changed the course of history is even more so by firing many of his starting team and 'secret' structural changes to his boat midway through the series.

We've seen the ever-present dangers in rugby with Cian Healy and the terrible injury to Tommy O'Donnell who has worked all his life to get on that plane. He's a fine player and was certainly a strong candidate though Sean O'Brien is the number one. How O'Donnell's injury impacts Schmidt warm -up series will be interesting.

Forwards coach

Based on the Millennium Stadium, Ireland have done huge work evidenced by the sub unit functionality. A 100 per cent scrum and lineout is a major achievement for forwards coach Simon Easterby. Add in Michael Bent's cameo and one can see that the quality work goes well beyond the notional starting 'Test' 15.

It was a joy to witness Keith Earls in full flight once more. Relatively small by modern international standards, he strikes me as an Irish Christian Cullen. Both I imagine have unbelievable core (midriff) strength affording them an ability to ride heavy traffic before afterburning into open space. Considering the devastating timing of his injuries, Earls is a deeply committed person who can handle adversity.

But with Ireland's successful game plan last Saturday toying with Wales' ineptitude I wonder did we see the full array of skills Earls clearly has? Ireland elected to play a more controlled game with outhalf Paddy Jackson trying to find his kicking form and green grass. As a result Earls's other qualities were not exposed/exploited to the full. But after such a fine display, is Earls a World Cup outside centre?

Schmidt has reshuffled this week with pedigree and pace out wide and serious quality at midfield which should expose Jared Payne to 'more rugby'. In this environment, such as Ian Madigan's gainline ability to put the ball in front of his centres, we have to factor in the subtle difference in game plan based on the starting backline when benchmarking Payne to Earls and that it is also the second game of the warm up series. Should we expect a slight expansion tomorrow on foot of a super foundation of last week?

I certainly hope so and with Simon Zebo at fullback I hope to see a co-ordinated counterattack to maximise the quality out wide. And if so Payne's opportunity may give him an advantage over Earls.

As always the backrow is crucial to all aspects of this outfield play. The Test backrow is most likely to feature Sean O'Brien and Jamie Heaslip with Peter O'Mahony and Ian Henderson vying for the third slot but I'd like to argue another option. I fancy O'Mahony to start with Henderson's impact a crucial ingredient post 60min. However a word of caution.

I mentioned last week's breakdown and noted that although we forced turnovers from Wales; the Welsh did most of the damage to themselves. It's a question of style and Australia have erred on the side of targeting every single breakdown for their two groundhogs; David Pocock and Michael Hooper. Richie McCaw ran great lines in his team's loss to Australia but Hooper and Pocock worked their lines in a brilliant attack on the All Black ball. They were magnificent. In the absence of the Brian O'Driscoll/ Gordon D'Arcy partnership Ireland have lost a dangerous arrow.

Payne is not that type of breakdown contender and neither is Robbie Henshaw.

Pocock and Hooper didn't limit their play to the ground; they carried and defended brilliantly whilst popping off midfield plays. They are a wonder to watch and to learn from as the All Blacks engagement of contact altered with each Wallaby steal from Pocock and Hooper. The Irish back row has a new face in Jack Conan but it is the combination of O'Brien and Chris Henry that really excites me.

Breakdown work

O’Brien has transformed his breakdown work over recent seasons (which dilutes his all-out ball carrying) and Henry remains consistently the best reader of the opposition’s breakdowns in the Irish squad. How? Watch his lines of running and watch how he reads the evolving plays. Then watch his early adoption of suitable body position as he puts himself into the ideal entry point over the ball.

Pocock and Hooper created mayhem within the All Blacks tactics which McCaw for all his brilliance was at a loss to negate. Clearly carrying two ‘shorties’ has its negatives which placed huge pressure on their captain and hooker Stephen Moore’s line out option but a Henry, O’Brien combo is worth a strong look.

PS. I'll leave further development of the OODA Loop till later in the series but suffice to say the team that can negotiate the four stages Observe, Orientate, Decide and Act the quickest and in best case scenario get from Observation to Actions by skipping the middle two will win. liamtoland@yahoo.com