RUGBY:THEY SAY the game has come back around to Peter Stringer. This theory centres around the new breakdown interpretations and how his snappy service, allied by a rapid thought process, makes him more essential than ever to Ireland's attempts to evolve.
The opportunity presented to the 32-year-old scrumhalf, on this his 95th cap, cannot be overstated considering Tomás O’Leary’s broken thumb has now healed and Eoin Reddan didn’t do enough to retain the number nine jersey despite starting against both the Springboks and All Blacks.
“He will play with a view to helping Ireland win and setting down a marker to get his place back with Munster,” said Declan Kidney yesterday.
That remains the problem. O’Leary returned for the red province last night. But Stringer knows all about taking opportunities. See the clever tap and go that created Ronan O’Gara’s try against Samoa to ensure Ireland’s only victory so far this month.
Or go back to another era. During the 1999 season, while Tom Tierney and Jeremy Staunton were in the Ireland squad, a younger version of coach Kidney cemented the Stringer and O’Gara axis at Munster.
International honours followed and now the pair are honing in on 200 combined appearances in green yet are also embroiled in the fiercest internal scrapes of their professional careers.
“When you haven’t had an opportunity over the last couple of years, to get two starts in four games means I’m buzzing at the moment,” said Stringer.
It also provides the opportunity to generate a progressive partnership with Jonathan Sexton at halfback. The first exchanges between them, as New Zealand disappeared into the distance last Saturday, seemed promising.
“Communication-wise, it was great, there were no dramas there. I had a couple of minutes of working with him and things moved quite fluidly. It’s good.”
Fluidity of service is a banker when playing alongside Stringer. Now armed with a decade of experience, the Stringer pass can always bring the first receiver up to the gainline, forcing him to attack aggressively.
“Jonathan is a guy who likes to take the ball quite flat at times. He’s not a player who likes to sit in the pocket and distribute, he likes to get involved. For me that’s great, I like to get the ball out in front of a guy and and get the backline moving.”
Firstly, though, the pack must shift the Argentinian carthorses off grounded ball to enable Ireland to build on last week’s positive approach.
“I hope so,” Stringer agrees. “If the front five can get on the front foot at the set-piece and also at the breakdown, then it makes our job a lot easier.
“Our forwards realise it’s going to be a tough day at the office. We have to keep battering, battering with a simple game plan, try and get over the gain line and release ball to the back line and give them quality ball they can work off and show their quality.”
The word “tempo” is mentioned. “It’s about not letting them set the defensive line, not letting them get organised and to put doubts in their head and to take advantage of gaps they might have if they haven’t had time to get organised.
“Every team tries to play with tempo and if the ball is quick then game plans and game patterns seem to go out the window. Guys just have to use their natural ability and instincts to play and that’s what the coaches have been saying to us, we’ve all these structures in place for when the ball slows up and to try and get quicker ball again but if you get over the gainline and make a line break then it’s just ‘play ball’. You just try to read what’s in front of you.”
And that is how Ireland have endeavoured to attack since the IRB changed how the tackle area is policed. Hence, while O’Leary was away, the game has come back to a smallest yet most efficient man in Irish rugby history.
