If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs – maybe you've a false assessment of the situation!
I’m exhausted, I’m tired, I’m emotional, I’ve not been to bed and I don’t want to go. Yes, those around Irish rugby kept their heads when others were losing theirs.
Video analyst Mervyn Murphy at the heart of 'nerd-dom'; Andy Farrell at the heart of defence, Greg Feek and Simon Easterby in the trenches, Richie Murphy kicking them, Jason Cowman running them, Mick Kearney the gentle hand guiding them, Willie Bennett's gentle hands massaging them.
But Joe Schmidt and his leadership team actually did it, they kept their heads when so many simply could not.
And those wonderful, wonderful players.
From the outset I wondered what impact asking questions could have on a brilliant, world -class team hunting for 19 wins in a row. So how and why did Ireland win?
Well I noted on Friday how the All Blacks were better than us at millions of things but that they had weaknesses. Many scoffed but check the words. Their depleted second row was an immediate opportunity.
And to understand this we need to look at two aspects; firstly possession stakes.
When you’ve ‘light’, mobile front five players you maximise the value of your possession.
However the same mobility can become a disadvantage when, like Ireland on Saturday, the opposition deny you the ball. Tactically Ireland had a strategy to hold on to possession, trust themselves and exit on their own terms. This they did in abundance and they elected to kick, only when it suited them. On their terms.
Intense concentration
It takes huge confidence and intense concentration to get it right on the money every time.
Conor Murray’s first excellent box kick that was wonderfully fielded by Ben Smith in heavy Irish traffic was an example of what happens when the precision drops even a nano-level. Moments later behemoth winger Waisake Naholo rips up our midfield for centre George Moala to score. Ireland were totally aware of the dangers but danced their dance nonetheless; wonderful.
Ireland stuck to their possession stakes where times past would have seen them giving the ball away cheaply and suffering the horrible consequences further down the track.
New Zealand couldn’t physically bully their way back into possession. But, more importantly, the precision required to perform at the level Ireland did on Saturday takes months, even years to perfect.
That Ireland had only a handful of pitch sessions to get back to this level was extraordinary. But the lazy conclusion in Saturday’s build-up suggested New Zealand’s time together would dominate our lack of time.
I disagree now and did so on Friday as Ireland exposed the new All Black formation. For all you lovers of all things Barbarian look away for a moment, for Ireland’s biggest asset was their ability to execute a Joe Schmidt plan with extraordinary precision even when faced with the toughest obstacle.
The 9:18min kick into the left hand corner by Johnny Sexton was followed by a short lineout.
The target was Devon Toner and once hitting terra firma the ball and entire focus pivoted in a clockwise direction, old school rolling mauls, towards the tram tracks with Donnacha Ryan and Jamie Heaslip getting around the corner. The All Blacks reacted but in the wrong place and Ireland inched their way over. Barbarians rugby?
Far better
It was far, far better. The new front five All Black pack, confused, couldn’t match the Irish precision. But the level of corporate knowledge displayed in this moment of time tells you all you need to know about Schmidt; and possibly his greatest achievement. His players know exactly what to do. That doesn’t guarantee success but when the opposition, even the All Blacks, don’t know exactly what to do they are vulnerable.
The All Blacks were sloppy, messed up their lineouts continuously and their scrum was no way as powerful as it appeared in the Championship. This we knew; this is what Ireland exposed. And it continued to the end for Henshaw’s try off another powerful Irish scrum.
Mistakes are one thing but they have a variety of impacts; where they occur, why they occur and when they occur.
There’s no better team than New Zealand to convert from mistakes. On Friday I wondered about Andy Farrell’s defensive system under All Black transition. Well the stats tell us much but nowhere will it log CJ Stander’s monumental track back and almost intercept on Kieran Read’s fumble as New Zealand centre George Moala scored their opening try.
Likewise the stats won’t show Tadhg Furlong’s lung -bursting run before a monster hit on an All Black transition from deep on from Murray’s 36:51 minute kick. Murray missed fullback Smith, so too Van der Flier but having sprinted 50m to be the first man to land a ‘big hit’ on the famed All Black transition; sensational.
Or Jack McGrath ripping the ball off Beauden Barrett on 28:58. Robbie Henshaw must have been in triple figures of hits as the Irish never overcommitted and altered their defensive systems constantly to limit world class threats.
Finally: it has been a sad, sad time for us all in rugby but the pre-match number eight facing the Haka fronted by the Munster players brought such emotion and joy to this man with the Gods shinning down upon us.
Fifteen years ago Anthony was playing against New Zealand to the exact same score line as Saturday but reverse result. What a beautiful moment for all of Killaloe that 31st October 1978, 17th November 2001 and 5th November 2016 were linked for Brendan and Anthony et al; pure class you beautiful, beautiful, beauties.
liamtoland@yahoo.com
