Irish pack front up to the challenge

By Diarmuid O'Flynn

Monday, February 08, 2010

IT WAS the one area, they said, where Ireland were vulnerable against the Italians, the one area where Italy could make Ireland suffer.

The front row.

"The scrum did come into focus a bit, didn’t it?" said coach Declan Kidney. Cast your mind back to November, when Italy put on one of their greatest displays, shunted the vaunted All-Blacks all over the San Siro in an awesome display of forward power, which, had they had a more sympathetic referee than Stuart Dickinson, would surely have resulted in the Italians finishing much closer to New Zealand than the eventual 20-6 scoreline.

There’s more to the scrum of course than just the front-rows, and on Saturday afternoon, Kidney went on to point this out. "It’s amazing what happens when eight fellas scrummage, as opposed to three," he added. But still, when it comes to the scrum the front row is where it starts, and for the macho Italians – and their near next-of-kin, the Pumas – the front row is where it’s at, the place to make your reputation. There aren’t too many names that jump off the current Italian team-sheet but in this Six Nations opener they had Perugini and Castrogiovanni, not so much props as pillars, and known wherever rugby is truly appreciated. Between them was the Italian captain, Leonardo Ghiraldini, a fearsome force in his own right.

Facing the might of that Italian front row, then, a much-maligned Irish trio. At loosehead, 22-year-old Cian Healy, at hooker, the returning Jerry Flannery, making his first start in months and at tighthead, the old man of this Irish team, the venerable John Hayes (36), making his 98th start for his country. What chance, then, Ireland?

Every chance, as it transpired. Eight men, said Declan Kidney, and eight men it was, but it started at number one, with Cian Healy and it started early. First minute, first scrum, Ireland defending deep inside their own half, and Healy set down a marker – not an inch. And from there ‘til the time the giant Castro was taken off, in the 56th minute, this pair were like two hard-hitting heavyweight boxers, first one scoring a knockdown – penalty against Castro in eighth minute for pulling down the scrum – then the other – penalty against Healy in the 26th minute for not going in straight, converted by Craig Gower for Italy’s first points.

Overall, not a clear win for Healy by any means, but against one of the world’s best he more than held his own, impressing the man immediately behind him in the scrum, Leinster teammate Leo Cullen. "Cian is really developing – still has a bit to learn, a lot to do to master the basics of his job, but he has a kind of a natural power that very few of us have. He’s got a lot of potential, will only get better and better as the year goes on."

On the other side of the scrum, John Hayes was indestructible. ‘The Bull,’ he’s affectionately called (that affection evident in a massive ovation when he trotted from the pitch in the 73rd minute) ‘the bulwark’ he was on this day, and not for the first time in a magnificent career. John Kelly said it in this parish on Saturday – given the exertion required in a scrum, he doesn’t know where a tighthead gets the energy from to do anything else in a match, yet there was John Hayes on Saturday, blocking, clearing, even carrying, but most of all, doing his one-man lift in the lineout, to such telling effect that Ireland stole seven of the 17 Italian throws – a massive haul.

"Paulie (O’Connell) set out the lines of defence, that worked well, a good team effort," said Cullen, who helped himself to a few. "But it’s not just the jumpers, it’s the guys on the ground as well. In many ways the jumping is the easy bit – it’s actually lifting guys in the air I find hardest." Yet that, perhaps even above scrummaging, is probably John Hayes’ forte, from first minute to last.

And what of the man in the middle, Jerry Flannery? Why, it was like he’d never been away. His darts were right on the money, not a lineout lost, his scrummaging powerful, his effort round the park non-stop. All in all, a very creditable performance by the men of the front row, substitutes Rory Best and Tom Court included, a very creditable performance by the pack as a unit. No longer is it an almost complete Munster scrum; now there’s a very good blend, with Leinster (especially) and Ulster also contributing. "I think we have good operators in the scrum," added Cullen, pack leader of the powerful Leinster Lions; "Italy have a very strong reputation, you’ve seen what they’ve done over the years. Everyone was fired up for that today, we’re reasonably pleased.

"(But) we have a big game now again next week in Paris. It’s a tough place, they’re particularly confrontational up front; it’s going to be a very difficult challenge. It’s probably one of the fiercest places to go, as rugby-player, to challenge yourself in Paris, France at home in the Six Nations."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, February 08, 2010