RUGBY ANALYST:The injuries that have blighted the Irish squad ahead of the tour to New Zealand can also serve to create chances for some fringe players
NECESSITY IS the mother of invention, where opportunity will now meet preparation for Ulster’s Dan Tuohy, Connacht’s Mike McCarthy and Munster’s Donnacha Ryan and Donncha O’Callaghan with the terrible news that Paul O’Connell is out of the New Zealand tour. You can also add Ulster’s tighthead Declan Fitzpatrick to that list as little did I realise last Friday when highlighting the dearth of Irish qualified tightheads available in the provinces that two days later our most valuable asset, Mike Ross, would emerge as a serious doubt for the first Test.
This of course is not the first time Ireland went to New Zealand with a depleted squad and lest we add lazy analysis to the above injury setbacks I would like as always to introduce a wee bit of homework and ask yourself 20 years on how did that Irish team with many first timers such as Neville Furlong and Ronnie Carey on the wings, Kelvin Leahy at number eight or Peter Russell at outhalf (with a total of one cap between them and nine caps on retiring) manage to push the All Blacks all the way into a 24-21 victory in that first Test?
For all the major negatives, O’Connell’s absence will allow more leaders to come to the fore, a little like my point some weeks back in leaving Ronan O’Gara at home for this tour. Obviously no coach is going to leave out an O’Connell or an O’Gara when there’s so much at stake, especially as O’Connell is still a contender for the Lions and possibly for RWC 2015.
Of the four second rows Ryan must be Declan Kidney’s first choice which is an interesting development considering how he hadn’t captured Kidney’s imagination recently in the Six Nations. That said as I watched the Leinster-Ospreys game unfold in the RDS last Sunday I was struck by the thought that Ross didn’t scrummage as well without the monster Thorn in his backside, which brings combinations into play. John Afoa struggled immensely at tighthead for Ulster in Twickenham under the controlled wheel pressure from Leinster. Behind Afoa that day was Dan Tuohy who at times completely split from his partner Johann Muller.
Fitzpatrick and Tuohy had no such problems against Edinburgh in the semi-final. The scrum, being as crucial as ever, will exercise Kidney in selection and scrum coach Greg Feek in making the best of that selection. The obvious choice for the conservative Kidney is to pair up Ryan with O’Callaghan and, pending the backrow set up, have the versatile McCarthy on the bench.
Having watched McCarthy so often this season it’s not hard to see his value. He is very athletic and hungry for grass with massive hands and likes to get on the ball, testing the tackle better than most. He also enjoys a really good offload through the tackle which will be crucial in NZ, and appears to be comfortable in the patterns of Connacht, knowing when to get on the ball and to offload.
Dan Tuohy’s highlight carry for me this season was dumping Seán O’Brien back on his rear end in the Heineken Cup final. Has O’Brien found himself in this position before? Either way Tuohy managed it and we need more. His lineout is good and his abrasiveness is right on the money.
For some time I’ve noted Ryan’s athleticism on the park, especially his power over five metres. He is the only secondrow on tour to consistently power into a strong running line, giving the scrumhalf or ball carrier a real target to cross the gainline. He also hits with ferocity and has the energy (and dog) to take himself the full 80.
With Stephen Ferris, Kidney has even more conundrums with his starting six. Clearly O’Callaghan is hardly finished but he has struggled to add a more global game to his famed work rate. As said above the risk is Kidney will plump for him in the opening Test or at least on the bench, and that would lose crucial impact around the ball that any of the other three can provide.
If Ireland adapt to the Leinster template during this tour where Eoin Reddan keeps the targets going forward in a structured varied way then they can afford to have two real mullockers in the engine room with the more athletic guys on the bench to add pace and energy after 50 minutes. They will also need runs from deep – such as Seán Fitzpatrick offered in the above clip on 1’10” in the above clip – and the comfort Devin Toner displayed around the 10 slot electing to carry or offload or run decoys with ease. With this in mind third choice hooker Mike Sherry could become a real find in New Zealand as the best blend between Rory Best and Seán Cronin.
This week I jotted down core Leinster building blocks that should be transferred into the green jersey. Rugby, however, is not a simple game and that switch is not an easy one, unless you pick the Leinster team. If there is one thing I have learned from the YouTube clip of 20 years ago and from watching Leinster all season the breakdown is key, but what Reddan and Conor Murray get the team doing off it is more so; advantage Reddan. The exception was that very last Leinster breakdown carry by Brian O’Driscoll, tackled by Osprey’s openside Justin Tipuric, which turned the ball over and the RaboDirect race was run for an exhausted Leinster team.
I’m genuinely excited by the prospect of Ireland’s opening Test in New Zealand as I recall the 1992 tour, which had a massive injury list leading to many less-known players becoming capped and I see a vastly superior Irish team starting this June first Test.
Ireland are not the only ones on tour this week as I am heading off on a trip to Zambia with the Brent Pope-led Habitat for Humanity ( habitatireland.ie). It's a beautiful country where unfortunately almost 20 per cent of the population are infected with HIV/AIDS. Brent tells me that as the vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live, a typical day on-site for me will include brick laying, mixing mortar and collecting water; no mention of talking!
Along with living and working in the community we will also play a rugby match against the locals. Interestingly a fellow tourist to Zambia, Paddy Johns, was in the secondrow alongside Michael Galway in Carisbrook 20 years ago. And as Angus McKeen is an Irish International tighthead from RWC 99 the locals will get specific scrum coaching that may be needed in New Zealand!
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