After victory against Wales over a fortnight ago, Andy Farrell labelled Ireland’s defence as “top drawer.” Coaches can be reluctant to hand out high praise to their own side, for whatever reason. If a coach comes out with a line like that, they are absolutely ecstatic.
After Ireland’s victory over Italy in round two, statistician Russ Petty pointed out that, in their last 12 Six Nations games, Ireland had conceded just 12 tries. The next stingiest side over that period was France with 27. Ireland allowed only one further score against the Welsh. Farrell had every reason to be pleased.
England did what very few sides have been able to do to Ireland: carve their defence open. Returning to Mr Petty, he also points out that in their first three games of this competition, Ireland allowed only three tries, 13 entries into their own 22 and seven clean breaks.
In one game alone, England did more damage: three tries, 13 entries to the 22 and eight clean breaks.
At the World Cup, England kicked away 93 per cent of possession in their best display, a defeat to South Africa. Just two weeks ago, they shipped 25 handling errors in a disjointed attacking performance vs Scotland. On Saturday, they completed their attacking evolution by dismantling the Six Nation’s best defence. How did they do it?
The problem was exacerbated by Irish errors, particularly in the kicking game. England’s first two tries come directly from running back kicks that ought to have found touch. Not only was the execution a problem, but so was decision-making on the chase.
In the first instance, for Ollie Lawrence’s try, James Lowe clears but fails to find touch. In the face of English pressure, Ireland are not kicking on their own terms. There is therefore no organised kick chase before the clearance, with most of the Irish players positioned near the ruck.
Once the kick stays on the field, only two Irish players hold any sort of width. George Furbank spots this and quickly takes the ball wide. Jamison Gibson-Park calls for more bodies to push across, but most of the disorganised Irish line is clustered within 15m of each other.
Ireland do make a tackle, but from that breakdown, Caelan Doris makes an error. Tadhg Furlong calls on him to push wide and support his outnumbered defenders, but he instead bites on scrumhalf Alex Mitchell. This leaves four England attackers running at three green jerseys — a situation not helped by wing Calvin Nash’s injury. Basic catch-pass skills send Lawrence over in the corner.
Yet to lament Irish errors would be to ignore England’s attacking evolution, one that should be both a compliment and source of frustration to the Irish coaching staff.
Under attack coach Mike Catt, Ireland have become renowned for holding on to the ball and patiently breaking teams down with plenty of carries. Not on Saturday. England had the ball for 52 per cent of the contest.
They also beat Ireland in essentially all attacking statisitcal categories: post-contact metres (372m vs 183m), line breaks (eight vs two), defenders beaten (25 vs 18) and, most unusually for Ireland, carries (114 vs 93). Put simply, England gave Ireland a taste of their own medicine.
Arguably the most ‘Irish’ element of England’s attack was their persistence. Ireland’s defence, under pressure as it was, still secured four ruck turnovers, eight overall. England went for an approach of quantity over efficiency, a clear departure from previous attack plans and an embrace of Ireland’s approach of attacking volume.
The above post-contact metres figure is the highest figure Ireland have conceded in this tournament. Part of the problem was size. Often on first phase strike-plays, England sent the likes of Ben Earl and Ellis Genge down Jack Crowley’s channel. Collision dominance and quick ball followed.
Power alone wasn’t Ireland’s kryptonite. England’s forward carriers displayed footwork close to the collision, an ability to confuse defenders with short tip-on passes and the guile to swing into their running lines late, giving defenders no time to adjust.
Ben Earl was England’s best example of the power-guile combination, bashing and stepping his way to 99m from 25 carries.
Steve Borthwick’s selection calls also worked beautifully. With Henry Slade and George Furbank in the backline, England had extra distributors that caused no end of problems when given front-foot ball. The best example was a gorgeous Slade pass on the run that sent Tommy Freeman away. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was also a constant running threat.
Tying it all together was another familiar staple. Sixty two per cent of England’s rucks lasted fewer than three seconds. That is the highest quantity of quick ball Ireland have conceded all tournament.
A group of large men displaying footwork, skill and ingenuity, playing with quick ball and providing numerous backline passing threats a superb quality of possession … it’s almost impossible to defend.
If it sounds familiar, it’s because it is. England took Ireland’s own attacking blueprint and used it against them.
To devastating effect.
