Mack Hansen the real deal
Mack Hansen was named player of the match on his debut, silencing any remaining doubters of his. It would have been tough to look past the work of James Ryan and Andrew Porter when making that decision, but Hansen definitely did as advertised. His first involvement was a dangerous run down the left flank minutes into the game, cashing in on a loose ball to break and chip into the Welsh 22.
Andy Farrell and Mike Catt have clearly created a roaming role for a left wing who looks for work and who can both break and bring others into the game, and that’s exactly what Hansen set out to do. On many occasions he combined with Garry Ringrose in midfield - especially on first phase - clearly targeting a defensive weakness in the Nick Tompkins-Josh Adams midfield axis.
He asked plenty of questions of defenders while getting over the gain line, albeit without quite making a deadly line break. Still, an assist for Bundee Aki’s score shows that he has the skills required to thrive in this hybrid wing/distributor role.
There was even one impressive 29th minute one-on-one tackle on Louis Rees-Zammit that dislodged the ball and prevented a potentially dangerous break from the Welsh flier - one for those who questioned his defence.
Ireland not made to pay for profligacy
It seems strange to ask for more after sticking 29 points and a bonus point on Wales, but this wasn’t the vintage Ireland in attack that we saw in the autumn. The weather undoubtedly played its part.
“The conditions were terrible out there” explained Andy Farrell afterwards. “It was difficult to kick and play, it was slippery and blustery.”
No doubt there were still some beautiful touches as Sexton and Keenan found holes behind decoys in the first 20 minutes. 973 total metres made is definitely not to be sniffed at, neither is an attacking display that forced Wales to miss 21 tackles.
The one gripe would efficiency inside the 22. A quarter of the game was played inside the Welsh 22, with 27 per cent of Ireland’s possession coming in that area. Ireland scored two points per visit, which is fine when you have 15 entries with which to score nearly 30 points, but you can’t help but feel that against better teams, chances in that part of the pitch will be harder to come by.
Add in the period between minutes 20-40 where Ireland looked a touch devoid of ideas inside the 22 and you can see why both Sexton and Farrell spoke of improvements and leaving scores out there.
Regardless, Ireland deserve credit for creating so many opportunities. Their ball-retention in the face of a dangerous, jackler-filled Welsh backrow was excellent, as was the ruck speed with half of the successful rucks securing the ball in three seconds or less.
To be looking for improvements after a result like that shows how good a position Ireland are in.
Awesome Irish defence
The flip side of Ireland’s territorial advantage is that Wales struggled to get any attacking platform. The visitors only had nine per cent of their ball in Ireland’s 22 and spent a much smaller portion of the match in the opposition half.
Moments such as breakdown turnovers from Porter, Jack Conan, and Peter O’Mahony were undoubtedly crucial to this, while a Sexton/Tadhg Beirne combination for an early choke tackle is also worth noting.
Five total breakdown turnovers, just four line breaks surrendered and a limited amount of fast ruck ball allowed all make for good reading. Discipline was also excellent as not a single penalty was given away in the first half.
Andy Farrell was particularly effusive with his praise of the defensive effort after the game: “Our defence was awesome. Something that we really pride ourselves on but the best part of our game by a country mile is our defence.”
Dan Sheehan the dynamo
You have to feel sorry for Rob Herring. He hasn’t done a lot wrong to lose his place in Ireland’s 23 but with modern coaches desperate for impact off the bench (the French now call them finisseurs) it’s hard to argue with the importance of Dan Sheehan.
He didn’t get through a massive amount of work - not playing the required minutes to avoid the post match sprints under the supervision of the S&C staff - but two significant impacts stand out.
One lovely step before contact was supplemented by a powerful carry to break through a tired defensive line in the 79th minute, while moments later his monster hit on Louis Rees-Zammit set Wales on the back foot as Ireland flooded in on the counter ruck.
To make such positive impacts with so few touches is a sign of a level of dynamism that makes him undroppable from his bench spot.
Slow start for new scrum rule
One for the scrum aficionados. It took Jaco Peyper a few set-pieces to start enforcing the new scrum law, that both hookers need to plant a brake foot before the “engage” call to avoid axial loading - ie to keep a gap between the frontrows.
It was interesting to see the new rule enforced from the off by referee Julianne Zussman on Friday night in the Under-20s match. Jaco Peyper at the Aviva was not so stringent, taking two scrums to start asking Ronan Kelleher and Ryan Elias to comply.
No sanctions were made but it will be worth keeping an eye on how this new law is refereed as the tournament progresses.
