Wednesday, March 24, 2010
IF Declan Kidney’s adage that you learn more in defeat than in victory is correct, then Saturday’s reversal to Scotland could prove the greatest education of all for a side offered the ultimate reality check.
It is always soul-destroying to end a campaign with a defeat at home to a side you would expect to beat. None of the Irish side on Saturday had ever experienced a defeat by the Scots in Dublin prior to the weekend. The last time such an event occurred was back in 1998. Maybe they began to believe in their own hype prior to this fixture.
After winning the Grand Slam last season, the Irish management sat down and conducted a full review of the campaign and identified areas that required improvement. No doubt Kidney will conduct a similar exercise this week after a disappointing tournament despite a second-place finish that was broadly anticipated prior to the championship.
A number of areas require attention. However, the one which requires the most immediate attention given the upcoming games against the All Blacks, New Zealand Maori and Australia, is adapting to the new interpretation around the tackle area.
This refinement in law has cost Ireland dearly this term. One of the constant themes of any side under Kidney is that they are always a well-disciplined outfit. It is therefore a surprise to learn that over the course of the championship, only the Italians, who consistently have issues on that front, conceded more penalties than Ireland (60 to Ireland’s 57).
England conceded nine less than Ireland while new champions France were the most disciplined with 41 penalties against them. They have come a long way over the years on that front – a legacy of the Bernard Laporte era.
The chief reason for Ireland’s increased penalty count would appear to be the failure to adapt to new issues surrounding the tackled player. Against Scotland, five of the seven penalties awarded were for not adequately releasing the opposition ball carrier. Dan Parks converted four of those, including the winning effort, to register 12 points.
I would question the legitimacy of the final penalty, however, as it appeared Simon Danielli failed to release Rob Kearney in the tackle before Nick De Luca arrived to contest for possession. Once again we are back to the area of consistency from officials.
The other concern surrounds the scrum where a further penalty was awarded in addition to five free kicks. That is reflective of a scrum under pressure.
A major concern for Kidney is that the change in emphasis in favour of the team in possession at the tackle/breakdown renders a big part of Brian O’Driscoll’s and Gordon D’Arcy’s game vulnerable to penalties and negates their ability to win turnovers.
Another problem for Ireland is that their scrum has become a target not only for the opposition but also the referee. In successive games, the South African officials have taken up a position opposite John Hayes, waiting to penalise. They have preconceived attitudes with regards the binding of the Munster man. Australian tight head Al Baxter developed a similar following from referees which ultimately led Wallaby coach Robbie Deans to omit him from the team in order to reduce the penalty count against his side. Ireland must address those scrummaging issues before June.
Because of the issues surrounding the scrum, Ireland have developed an over reliance on their lineout not only as a means of securing possession but also as a launch pad for an intricate series of moves that almost uniquely enables them to score off first phase play. Opposition teams are now seeking to counter this not only by focusing on their defensive organisation from lineouts but also denying Ireland the platform in the first place. England and Wales attempted to do it with limited success by not kicking to touch to reduce the number of lineout opportunities on offer while Scotland successfully went the direct route by mounting a sustained challenge in the air on every Irish delivery.
That reduced the margin for error in the throw and Rory Best suffered as a result.
IRELAND are now at a crossroads in determining the type of game they want to play. Struggling on the possession front, there was an emphasis in the defeats against France and Scotland to keep the ball in hand a little more to extract the maximum from the game-breaking talents of O’Driscoll, Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls and Rob Kearney, which is understandable. Ireland are looking to kick less as possession is becoming harder to come by in the first place.
The problem is that when it comes to keeping ball in hand and playing high octane rugby, New Zealand and Australia, with their Super 14 franchises, seem to be developing exciting talents in the centre and on the wings capable of playing that style.
Additionally they are used to playing at a greater tempo than we are on this side of the world.
Australia are in Ireland’s pool in the World Cup next year and despite the problems encountered on their recent tour – their loss to Scotland may not seem so surprising now – are once again timing their run to the tournament to perfection.
Like Ireland, they too had issues with scrummaging in recent years but have overcame them and will be a major handful. That is why the trip down under offers Kidney and his management team a huge opportunity to examine how the southern hemisphere sides are adapting to the changed circumstances at the breakdown.
It should also afford the management a chance to get a handle on some of the new young talent like Crusaders centres Robbie Fruean and Ryan Crotty; flying wingers Sean Maitland and Lelia Masaga in New Zealand, along with Will Genia, Quade Cooper and Luke Morahan in Australia.
Nothing stimulates the mind of the modern professional player more than defeat and a realisation that in order to improve, key technical adjustments may be required. The challenge for Declan Kidney and his management team is to identify, foster and stimulate those subtle changes. Perhaps another visit to Enfield is required.
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