Recently I have been wrapped in a cocoon of rugby nostalgia, good for the soul, but it also got me thinking about what lies ahead for the sport.
Clongowes hosted an enjoyable evening to honour past pupils that had played for Ireland. Michael Dargan, Sean MacHale, Tom Feighery and Rory Moroney represented the amateur era to nascent professionalism, where Brian Carney and I tried to navigate the early days of the paid ranks, and then to the school’s latest, shiniest international, Dan Sheehan. There were plenty more in between.
In my life rugby provided a bonding agent for friendships that are impervious to time spent apart. I was further reminded of that when catching up with former team-mates at Lansdowne rugby club’s 150th anniversary ball in the Burlington hotel.
Looking across a table at Liam Toland, Stephen Rooney and Mark McHugh, the only one with an All-Ireland League winner’s medal which the current Lansdowne head coach won in 2000; guess which club he beat while playing for St Mary’s College in that final? Conversation carried easily from one topic to the next as we solved life’s conundrums.
Some of those were rugby related. It drew me back to being welcomed as a teenager into a dressingroom 24 years ago and how playing for Lansdowne provided me with some of my fondest memories on a rugby pitch.
There was a different kind of fuzzy feeling in watching the Steve Thompson documentary on BBC, which chronicled the former England hooker’s battle with dementia. It’s a horrific tale and a salutary warning to World Rugby that there can be no turning in the road to try to make rugby a safer experience at all levels.
The gathering legal storm and the ongoing longitudinal studies into brain injuries sustained in rugby that not only increase the chance of suffering dementia later in life but also motor neuron disease are a reminder that the sport must adhere not only to best medical practice but be unforgiving in punishing head shots.
I remain a hopeless optimist and I believe that the game is starting to walk the path it needs to take from a disciplinary perspective, perhaps too slowly, but it will be better for it in the long run.
What should have been a celebration for the northern hemisphere at the end of last season in terms of results on various summer tours was tarnished slightly by the dialogue around red cards and head injuries, an attitude that differs north and south of the equator. That must change, and it must be a consensus globally for it to be effective.
In the formative weeks of the new northern hemisphere season, it appeared that coaches and players were absorbing the message about the requirement for better tackle technique. Three red cards last weekend and some questionable impacts that went unpunished suggest that there is still a way to go.
Not for the first time England head coach Eddie Jones balks at the global trend to prioritise attacking rugby with his edict that players to commit to tackling or face the axe. Perhaps he is looking to double down on defence underpinning England’s challenge for World Cup glory in France next year.
The headwinds may not favour this approach, not only with the forensic scrutiny on the collision side of the game but also the heavier punishments to dissuade those who are cavalier or careless in tackling technique. Bundee Aki’s eight-week suspension is yet another warning to players who are loose technique wise in that aspect of the game.
The first four rounds of the United Rugby Championship (URC) have offered contrasting fortunes for the provinces, something that has fuelled the debate about the benefits of the Emerging Ireland squad’s three-match tour to South Africa.
On the face of it, I can imagine what an incredible experience it was for most of those young players. It was an opportunity to play games, feel part of an elite squad in a tour environment, and to be coached by 75 per cent of the national coaching ticket.
There are so many obvious positives to the venture, but it would be remiss not to examine the bigger picture too. I wonder how many players are likely to displace anyone above them in the provincial pecking order, aside from those already established in match day 23s.
There is a perplexing element to the tour. It has been billed as a mechanism to build strength in depth but where exactly will this experience manifest itself? Will the coaches genuinely select based on performances here when the November series arrives if the provincial selection status quo remains in situ.
Will Nathan Doak get the nod for the New Zealand XV game if he is still behind John Cooney at Ulster and the same for Jack Crowley if his game time at Munster continues to be very limited between now and November?
It might be hard for a large number of players that travelled to build on any momentum they generated as opportunities at provincial level are likely to be thin on the ground.
When players are unfamiliar with a process mistakes follow but you must persevere to progress. Players who make decisions make mistakes and that’s part of an evolution in style
Crowley might be able to buck that trend and may be an immediate beneficiary on his return to Munster. His performances in South Africa offered a reminder of his talent, one that was left to largely languish under Munster’s previous head coach Johann van Graan.
Graham Rowntree and his new coaching team might take a different view, especially after the poor start to the campaign. It’s not so much the system as “pilots’ error” and when that happens it is time to look at to whom you are entrusting the game plan. Munster have opted for a quick fix mentality in the past with little success.
Change takes time and that’s rarely afforded without the pressure of having to get results. Munster are committed to changing how they play. Under Van Graan they played a brand of rugby that didn’t prioritise individual responsibility and decision making to adapt to changing circumstances in a match. It’ll take a while to flush out the old system.
When players are unfamiliar with a process mistakes follow but you must persevere to progress. Players who make decisions make mistakes and that’s part of an evolution in style. The hope is they learn quickly and improve week on week, and at the moment that isn’t happening or is hard to see the incremental improvement.
It is clear they are trying, looking for solutions such as playing Joey Carbery at fullback to get a second playmaker on the field and asking forwards to be a bit nimbler with the ball in hand. That is chalk and cheese to what they were doing for the last couple of years, where forwards rumbled into the nearest contact. Now, as a result, they look a little predictable.
Ben Healy was the best option playing behind the Munster pack last year, a reliable and long kicker. However, a tendency to stand deeper than most, does not align with their current ambition. Munster’s breakdown work has been substandard, they’ve tried to play off slow to medium ball, and are too deep in their alignment, rendering them easier to defend against and creating problems of their own making in terms of the set-up. It’s a brave team that goes backwards first to try to get around an opposition defence off slow ball.
All good teams elevate the basics to a high level and that’s something that Munster players need to focus on. You can have the best attacking patterns in the world, but they are about as useful as a cannon in a canoe if the fundamentals keep breaking down under pressure.
Rowntree is fast reaching a stage where players cannot be allowed the trade on past achievements as a currency to retain their places; there is a tipping point in every player’s career and with that comes some hard decisions whether initiated by coach or player.
I wonder if Crowley fits the way they want to play, more of an attacking threat with the ball in hand, playing flatter to the line and with the footwork and acceleration that will keep the defence honest. He has also shown himself to be an effective tackler.
There is a balance to be struck between Healy, Crowley and Carbery and they need to find it soon, as qualifying for Europe might already be out of reach if they don’t turn a corner soon.
