ANALYSIS:ALASTAIR CAMPBELL must have been in the Aviva last Saturday. He surely handed the continuity announcer a slip of paper because in the 52nd minute it was announced that 30,995 was a record for an Irish–Samoan fixture.
In around this time Brian O’Driscoll, the Rolls Royce of Irish rugby, was running over and back across the pitch in a vain attempt to eke out an opening. Is this what we’ve come to, creating spin?
It won’t be the first question to be asked today. Was last Saturday an achievement because we were part of a record crowd and that we won? Next Saturday Samoa take on England. I wonder what match would have evolved had Wales or England played the Samoans last Saturday. Are we over-coached or under-coached?
If you had a blank sheet in front of you would you be able to fill in two crucial parcels of information; Ireland’s best starting team and the style of rugby to be employed against the All Blacks and on into the future?
The Autumn series was always to be a balancing act between winning and evolving. On leaving the Aviva Stadium I had a sinking feeling when rummaging through simple match facts. How many go forward platforms were created from first phase? How many times did a vastly improved Irish lineout provide an opportunity for Luke Fitzgerald to pounce?
With the exception of Peter Stringer running around the tail of the lineout taking the inevitable contact, no Irish back was afforded go forward space to run onto. This is a pretty damming statistic. Samoa scored a powerful try in the 22nd minute. There was a major defensive booboo in midfield that allowed the behemoth Alesana Tuilagi and his buddy Seilala Mapusua through. This attacking ploy came directly from Samoa’s first full lineout having started with shorts.
The Samoans had vast amounts of the ball but always understood the value of going forward from first phase and broken play.
As the clock ticked past 80 minutes Ireland led by double scores. O’Driscoll ended the game retreating backwards over his 10 metre line and fly kicking the ball into touch. What has happened to our game that such a talisman sought refuge from touch, in the wrong direction? When the pressure of victory is upon us we go back to type, fringe runners, narrow attack, massive use of the boot, no counter-attack and now very poor first phase penetration.
It took 48 minutes before Ireland launched something akin to a counter-attack. A box kick of sorts was fielded by Ronan O’Gara on the left hand tram tracks. He found Tommy Bowe 20 metres inside him. All the space available was right but Bowe headed back to where the ball came from, made yards but ultimately found the comfort of traffic and his pack. Yes it was a counter-attack, but it was measured, boring and unambitious. Counter-attack is a combat indicator. When the Welsh back three get the ball you can immediately see the tempo of the ball increase where all 15 players flick a switch and you can almost read their mind; “it’s on”.
Counter-attack indicates the ambition and skill set of the team and that is what immediately divides this Irish team from its brethren across the water.
Ireland lost to South Africa last week when, regardless of performance, they could have won. On Saturday they secured a much-needed victory but at huge cost to our evolvement. The statistics will have improved and having new internationals to select from is a huge bonus but the indicators are worrying.
Of course there were positives. A win is welcome. Fresh blood was added to the international ranks. The lineout went very well but much bigger tests await it. The restarts have also improved both in variation and length. Against the Springboks they were deliberately long which allowed the Boks back three time to kick back into our half and force an Irish lineout. And we know what happened there.
O’Gara’s restarts gave Toner a real chance to regain the ball. He also put them into different spots on the pitch. It looked like dummy pods were employed by Toner to allow a catch from behind, which is risky. Peter Stringer’s box kicks afforded the chasing mob a real chance and limited a return kick or run from Samoa.
I still believe it was an error not to have started Jonny Sexton for all four games. O’Gara is class but the gain line is where Ireland need to live and Sexton is more comfortable there. Short of half -time Toner stole a Samoan lineout, deep in their 22. A rumble ensued and O’Gara spotted space on the blind side and did well to rewind from Peter Stringer. If he had had more confidence in his gain line ability he could have held the ball a second longer to allow O’Driscoll into the space for a certain try. Unfortunately he offloaded and the ball hit the deck. Danger averted.
It’s difficult to judge an individual’s display when there is no real team performance or pattern. Devin Toner did all asked of him but then the front five didn’t create meaningful go forward ball. So do you blame him or his colleagues? Sean O’Brien learned valuable lessons that will drive him forward and Cronin’s technique, although shaky at times, came on hugely. Fitzgerald was not used.
What’s so frustrating about the performance is our expectations at the lower level of Magners League and Heineken Cup has given us a running game where our players look comfortable on the ball, going forward. There were glimpses of it last Saturday especially for Jamie Heaslip’s try. Not the try itself but the interchange between Heaslip and Sean Cronin much earlier in the move. Cronin is the only front five player who has the understanding of running lines, injection of pace and passing out of contact. It was a precious few seconds he had on the ball when Heaslip popped back inside to him primarily because of its effect on the move but equally because it was the only one I can remember.
To make next Saturday a day to remember the Irish will have to front up physically (a given), hold onto possession for dear life (limited kicking), dominate set piece (50:50) and go forward with the ball. As a curtain raiser to the All Blacks, last Saturday’s performance against Samoa provided precious few examples.
