Byrne gets the bubbly but O’Driscoll gets Hansen plaudits
But two tries down the line, Shane Byrne had the pleasure of being accorded the accolade in yesterday’s RBS Six Nations victory over Wales.
No matter that he is under severe pressure to hold his place in the side against the vigorous challenge from Frankie Sheahan; no matter that Welsh coach Steve Hansen would have given it to Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll, Byrne got the bubbly and the standing ovation he truly merited when replaced by Sheahan in the last quarter.
Notwithstanding that, it was the more predictable and decisive contribution from Brian O’Driscoll that had Welsh coach Hansen positively drooling afterwards.
“He is the best centre in the world, very positive going forward, full of tricks and a huge contributor in defence. I can’t remember, and don’t want to either, how many times he turned possession over in the tackle.
“The only way you can deal with a guy is to bump him out of the way but he always seems to get back up on his feet again,” said Hansen.
Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan said: “Take a look at the video and see how much he contributed.”
It was O’Driscoll’s first action in six weeks but the lack of match practice hardly appeared to make a difference as he cut the Welsh defence to shreds on at least four occasions and scored two of Ireland’s six tries.
Surprisingly, he didn’t take much of the credit. “I think that all has to go down to the pack. They provided us with plenty of quality possession and that makes games like this so much easier.”
Coach Eddie O’Sullivan set himself, and the team, the task of dominating the Welsh forwards and he praised their success afterwards.
“I think a lot of credit has to go to Niall O’Donovan for the way the forwards were prepared but at the end of the day it was all down to themselves.
“They gave us a platform. We were aware how dangerous the Welsh backs, particularly the back three, were and we needed stability to ensure they didn’t get opportunities to counter-attack.
“We knew from the World Cup and the game against Scotland how Wales like to play. We decided to play a pretty old-fashioned game to counter that, to get the basics right and take it from there.
“The opening score in the first minute set down a marker and the type of quality ball our backs received afterwards from the pack was very pleasing. It gave our backs latitude and opportunity to run and I was very pleased with our defence for the first hour of the match. It got a bit shaky after that but it was inevitable that Wales would eventually get a bit of possession and string a few phases together.
“Wales are very good at going into the tackle and getting the offload. Our aim was to stop them and we succeeded to a great degree. Eventually they got their game together and it was disappointing to concede two tries late in the game.
“We will go back to the drawing board in that sense and find ways and means of stopping England fromscoring in a couple of weeks time.
“I thought the sin-binning of Girvan (Dempsey) was quite harsh. Their half-back had the ball in his hands when Girvan tackled him. I don’t want to criticise anyone but I still feel Girvan was hard done by.”
O’Sullivan will err on the side of caution as he helps prepare his team for England, probably without Donnacha O’Callaghan but most likely with the other injury worry Gordon D’Arcy.
O’Driscoll’s midfield partnership with D’Arcy was a major talking point and his colleague came in for high praise from a range of observers.
“The important thing to remember is that Gordon is playing very well at the moment, for Leinster and now for Ireland. It doesn’t matter what position he’s in but he just seems to be doing the business and that’s very encouraging. He’s a great player who has had his ups and downs but right now he is certainly up,” O’Sullivan said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
