ANALYSIS:Time waits for no team, and by getting bogged down in tackles and rucks the Irish allowed England organise the defence at their leisure

AFTER THREE minutes and 51 seconds I jumped clean out of my seat like many horse-crazy Irishmen in Cheltenham last week. What a start. The stadium was rocking and the Irish were full of running, taking chances and moving the point of attack when Geordan Murphy got onto the ball, momentarily suspended time, and offloaded to Robert Kearney for a cracking opener. It was critical for the Irish to keep the ball off the deck and in doing so they were rewarded with seven points.

It's hard to know where that opener drifted off to, but it faded very quickly. In the remaining 76 minutes Ireland spent far too long lying around on the ground, allowing a solid and committed English defence line up the ponderous and one-dimensional attack.

I began measuring the time it took between the player entering contact and Eoin Reddan passing. Far too often the process took eight seconds or longer. Not long? Well, it afforded the English ample time to defend.

Two possible solutions come to mind: the ball carrier offloads or the ball carrier positions his body and places the ball perfectly. That is to say, dominate the tackle and place the ball at arm's length toward the scrumhalf. England entered contact and the ball was moved in three seconds. The five-second difference earned England 14 points from two tries.

Can Ireland's poor display be solely attributed to ball placement at the ruck? Unfortunately no, but it was a huge factor.

There were obvious challenges facing the Irish on Saturday, most notably the new midfield. But the team systems did them no favours. Time and again Shane Horgan got the vital half yard into the English defence but no one ran the hard support lines. He had 10 carriers but only two offloads; that's eight missed opportunities. And worse, when he looked to move the ball the support runners lacked depth and repeatedly overran him.

Effort alone will not win matches and it may seem like the obvious solution but Ireland must develop a game plan that maximises their talent and minimises their weaknesses. It is not sufficient to continually send runners on solo forays hoping for a miraculous outcome. The Welsh mimic a shoal of fish, all darting and dancing in unison to a game plan and system. It looks like such fun whereas Ireland appear miserable.

The team were trying so hard to play rugby but lack the systems to do so. Luke Fitzgerald's introduction on half-time illustrates this point. On Saturday I called for football to counter the mighty English athletes. For over 40 minutes there was no obvious plan to utilise Fitzgerald's talents. On the few occasions he got on the ball he eked out vital yards but alas the systems didn't expose him to more. Can you imagine picking a creative talent like Thierry Henry on a soccer team and then starving him of ball?

England were dominant in the areas expected and it was their scrum that provided the shoo-in to the game. The first one arrived after 18 minutes - and arrive it did. After years under Roly Meates I'm acutely aware of the scrum's attacking potential. Andrew Sheridan got a massive hit, the scrum got the vital angle and a very ropy England were flying in the Irish 22, Paul Sackey getting in for five points.

Our lineout has been the foundation of all the success for this Irish team. It has provided us with a platform that has unleashed the outstanding backs. On Saturday I pointed out the need for Shane Horgan to target Danny Cipriani from off-the-top lineout ball. It took some time for this to happen but as expected Horgan slashed into the English defence, getting his long arms free and looking for the offload. But time and again no one showed.

The English recognised the Irish lineout threat and countered it in two ways.

Firstly they ignored the front of the lineout, where Simon Shaw remained on the ground at two. The English challenged in the space around Paul O'Connell, getting Steve Borthwick and Nick Easter into the air. This placed huge pressure on the throw but Rory Best's accuracy and O'Connell's hands were excellent. Eighteen lineouts and only three losses under such pressure is a huge improvement. Unfortunately, Ireland did not maximise the speed of the ball and only once did Horgan attack the English.

Secondly, England elected for short lineouts from the off. It has been a very long time since England were "forced" to employ this tactic but it did minimise the very effective Irish lineout defence.

I hope that finally enough evidence has been accumulated regarding the 22-man "team" concept to convince the management that substitutes are not replacements but tactical tools. Last Saturday Ireland needed to dictate play and react to an ever-changing environment but the bench simply could not.

As for the Six Nations, Ireland beat Italy, Italy beat Scotland, Scotland beat England, and England beat Ireland!

As for the way forward I give you Blackadder's final words . . .

Baldrick: I have a plan, Sir.

Blackadder: Really, Baldrick? A cunning and subtle one?

Baldrick: Yes, Sir.

Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?

Baldrick: Yes, Sir.

Blackadder: Well, I'm afraid it'll have to wait. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was better than my plan to get out of this by pretending to be mad. I mean, who would have noticed another madman round here?