Rugby Ireland v France: RUGBY ANALYST:To win by nine points against opposition of this calibre was a serious beating
EIGHT SECONDS is all it took for this group of Irish players to display to the world what we know they’re capable of.
Eight short seconds where five Irish players with 266 international caps between them could bring a nation to its feet to witness pure magic.
What makes our game so unique is the components required to get the ball from Jerry Flannery on the touchline into Brian O’Driscoll’s hands for a try.
In the 42nd minute Ireland had a lineout in the French half and Flannery stood in the loneliest of places. Start the clock. He released the perfect ball to Paul O’Connell at full stretch (one second). O’Connell then delivered the ball to Tomás OLeary who hit Ronan O’Gara, wide and flat (three seconds). O’Gara’s pass had 88 caps of experience built into it that allowed O’Driscoll a chance and four seconds later he touched down.
To achieve this so many components had to click and it only took eight seconds!
I couldnt help but ask myself where were Sebastian Chabal and Imanol Harinordoquy, Lionel Beauxis, Florian Fritz and co when Ireland produced the perfect execution of skill and precision at such pace.
When Ireland put pace on their play then even this outstanding French team struggled. I drew some comfort with this score as the aforementioned French players were having big games!
But I still maintain that French selection with Chabal is flawed.
When he carried, four times, he was immense but each carry lasted only 10 seconds. That’s a total input of 40 seconds which leaves 79 minutes and 20 seconds. What else did he do?
However, his number eight colleague, Harinordoquy, was right up there with Jamie Heaslip as the performance of the day. Harinordoquy is a phenomenal athlete whose one-handed take in the lineout was sublime.
O’Driscoll’s try is relevant because 23 minutes earlier Heaslip broke from a struggling Irish scrum in midfield and made huge ground towards the Hill. A terrible pass to Rob Kearney ensued and the French stole the ball. This passage of play also took eight seconds but lacked the precision that followed.
And, as I scroll through my notes from the match, there are vast periods where we struggled to keep pace with the French and but for key French indiscipline at the break-down in particular things could have been much worse at half-time. So to be up at half-time and win by nine points against opposition of this calibre was a serious beating.
Ironically Ireland’s tries came from three Leinster players who were struggling for form for one reason or another and simply couldn’t buy a try even if they tried! Then like buses three come along. All three are very much in the Lions race.
Of the rejuvenated D’Arcy, what must Greystones centre Conor Cleary, way down in the second division of the AIL, be thinking?
Two weeks running D’Arcy scores tries. The first was for Lansdowne FC, marking Cleary and then the second against Yannick Jauzion. Twelve months of patience and, of course, an awful lot of leg weights powered D’Arcy over the line yesterday.
Another power player is Rob Kearney where by the 11th minute he had made his hat-trick of catches all from kick-offs; the third being his best. He continues to be enormously ambitious on returning to terra firma, where he explodes forward not accepting his fate.
In order to stamp his Lions Test place he could add a very offensive defence.
In the middle of all this we must look at areas for improvement! Ireland’s kicking game was far too long and allowed a French back three to counter at ease which is exhausting for those charged with defending the strong runners. We subsequently out-tackled the French 95-71, but missed considerably more at 14 to five.
All told, the Irish defence did incredibly well to survive the French running, which is at its best in the five-metre area through traffic. Tellingly RTÉ’s build-up to the match showed the French in their state-of-the-art training ground.
And for those who saw it they may have noticed the drill the French were executing. All based on a 25-metre squared area where the ball carrier must get past a defender, pull him one way in order to create space for the support runner.
This they were able to replicate with ease throughout the game.
Secondly, Ireland need to increase speed on the ball from dead rucks. D’Arcy’s try came from the Irish forwards bravely pummelling the French close in. But further out we need starter moves and this is where big ball carriers like Paul O’Connell can come in. His circle pass that resulted in Heaslip’s try displays the advantage of offloading to a better placed player whose eyes are up and who is running hard.
David Wallace, too, has more to offer from play. His dummy decoy offload played a huge part in that first try.
So to next Sunday’s selection. Paddy Wallace is a player with a specific skill set, where he can control, kick and pass but not so much bosh. Therefore Kidney’s selection at 12 must hinge on its role.
As Ireland focused on slow ruck play it prevented a more consistent flow of ball to 12 hence neutering Wallace to some extent. He was prevented from alternating between 10 and 12 and adding his influence. But next week he could be very valuable against the Italians in order to unhinge a stiff and aggressive defence.
Finally, the Lions watch! To the obvious contenders you can now add Jamie Heaslip. Fantastic.
