All week long the message has been the same from the Irish players. They must turn the page and empower themselves to play a similar sort of game they played against France, only better, with more accuracy and greater discipline. They want to move quickly on, understandably.
Assistant coach Andrew Goodman called it a “grieving process” earlier in the week. But he, like Irish secondrow James Ryan, knows they have no alternative but to turn the page.
Deep down the players understand that while a Triple Crown win is something, they themselves have set up Irish expectations for more than that. And they have also come to know that making history with three championship wins in succession is no mean feat.
The week also marks the true beginning of the changing of the guard. With Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray leaving and other players creeping into their mid-30s, the feel and mood is one of shifting sands. Ryan will be there while that takes place. At 28-years-old he recently signed a contract that will keep him in Ireland until the end of the 2028 season at least.
“I suppose the message has been that we were a little bit off, so the last couple of days we’ve been very honest and open around our performance and some of our shortcomings,” he said.
“So that’s been important, and then it’s just been about turning the page and getting excited about another week and the message has been this is the last week probably as a group together. Different guys will go, and other guys will come in now going forward, so it’s important we enjoy it.
“But you enjoy it when you put in a performance that’s a proper performance, not just by having the week together. So, I suppose the message is delivering a proper performance on Saturday that can mean we finished the tournament on a good note.”
Cold comfort. But personally, Ryan is in a good place. Of the four matches he has started two and come off the bench for the others. The constant rotation of himself, Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne makes for a competitive group of players with their fortunes ebbing and flowing.
McCarthy’s tug on the jersey of French fullback Thomas Ramos was too rash for Test match rugby and showed the instinct of a player still on the learning curve. It was a sharp lesson for the lock. Another yellow card and a collapse to France over 30 minutes in the second half is the more difficult piece to explain and accept. That’s McCarthy’s ill luck. Had Ireland won, the conversation would be elsewhere entirely.
“I don’t think he said anything,” said Ryan of McCarthy, adhering to the wise system of player omerta. The coaches in the reviews do the talking and that’s where it begins and ends.
“I think he knew himself that he made an error there, and sometimes those things happen, so it is what it is? He put his hand up and it’s time to move on, I think.”
Yes, but a conversation that took place in Portugal in January during warm weather training was around Irish penalty counts and discipline. The penalty count has come down in the Six Nations, but the cards are probably higher than they should be, particularly compared with leading up to the 2023 World Cup.
Playing on the edge and having physical agency on the pitch is pivotal and in that risk-reward game, cards have proven fatal.
“It is difficult to strike the balance,” said Ryan. “We pride ourselves on being sort of a smart team, but it’s the difference between those unavoidable penalties and the avoidable ones. We’re always trying to limit the amount of avoidable penalties and I think by and large we’ve been okay with that.
“Then sometimes there’s just unavoidable ones that you give away by playing on the edge and wanting to be aggressive and get after teams. So, it is always a balance we’re trying to strike. A team like France, you don’t want to be giving them too much access into the game and Italy will be the same this week. It’s something we’re aware of.”
Turning the page, beginning a new chapter.
