Ronan O'Gara: Seldom will Ireland players go into a Six Nations so undercooked
The Ireland team line up for the anthems ahead of the Six Nations clash with France last year. For the 2021 edition, Andy Farrell's men are undercooked after the cancellation of Rounds 5 and 6 of the Champions Cup. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland
Disproportionate. An interesting word that threads its way through thoughts on the weekend’s Six Nations opening series of games.
Paul O’Connell did his media duties this week and when he wasn’t talking, others were referring to him. Paulie will be glad that’s out of the way. He likes to keep his detail for the pitch and for his preparation, whether that was as a player or now, as Ireland’s forwards coach.
I don’t need to further feed the narrative, so I’ll just say this about his Ireland coaching involvement: Give it time. Things might go pear-shaped for Ireland in Cardiff on Sunday. Let’s hope not, but it will have little to do with Paulie, just as it will have little to do with him if Ireland run amok. There will have been plenty to cram into his first camp, whether that’s intellectually or full metal jacket sessions. It will take time.
People in Ireland seem quick to put the prescriptive days of Joe Schmidt in the rear-view mirror, but detail is important, so important. Paul has been brought in to manage the forward play, and he was a fan of so much of what Joe coached him as a player around the ruck. If he believes in that, he will coach that to this group too.
Right back to his days as a young swimmer, Paul was a perfectionist and really believes in the principle of preparation. He will have them massively focused on ball presentation and how the forwards carry the ball, how they present if for their number nine. For some people, getting it wrong once in 20 is acceptable. With Paul, that figure is up around one in 50. I’m not joking. And he might ask, what happened the 50th time!?
And because we like him a lot, people are in danger of getting carried away with Paulie’s influence this early. The primary thing the Irish players will have gleaned from him thus far is you will get a great standard from him day in, day out. He will bank on players being able to transfer the good work done during the week to game day because of the meticulous preparation he puts in. What that doesn’t take account of is the human condition. He might have to start accepting 48 out of 50!
Something else disproportionate: The shadow round one of the Six Nations casts over the tournament, or more especially the players and management of each nation (with the probable exception of Italy). This is first day at school: Making an early impression, not only for yourself but for the others. The knock-on from Sunday in Cardiff to Monday in Dublin can be electric or brutal. This schedule can feed momentum, but an opening day defeat can kill it stone dead.
The impact of Covid is more intrusive than you might even think. The lack of spectators is one thing, but the lockdown took away Rounds 5 and 6 of the Champions Cup. That is particularly relevant in an Irish context. You sharpened that edge in Europe before coming into camp.
For Wales and Scottish players it is something similar.
With the exception of the Munster-Leinster PRO14 game a fortnight ago, Ireland’s elite-level players have not had a proper examination since November. Never has there been a period when they go into such a big game with so little top-class rugby under their belt. Hence the fact that Farrell, O’Connell, Catt, and co had so much work to get through in camp.
How will Ireland approach their task in Cardiff? Certain people have been putting Andy Farrell under pressure already, but he will have this team prepped to go in under very little pressure. Scott Robertson in the Crusaders said pressure is a privilege, but has Ireland got to grips with that mindset? It’s in our DNA. We are brilliant underdogs. Evolving from that mindset, that culture, will take time. Now, though, is as good a juncture as any to establish a few new non-negotiables.
Paulie did it as a player, he comes in as a serial winner. There are serial winners in that group from club level. Getting everyone to a place where victory is an expectation, however it’s achieved, is a must. Farrell has been keen to develop an offloading game but must Ireland draw the Wales sting first? Driving maul, penalty, to the corner.
The longer Ireland keep Wales on a leash Sunday, the more the home players sense the inevitability of their demise. It was always a big theme of Paul’s: Mentally break them.
The opening Six Nations game is invariably more important for the win than the performance. I’ll be watching the half-back replacements, and their timing, with real interest. Jonny and Conor will set a platform. The zip may come in the last 20.
Whatever the composition of the back row, it’s not like Ireland set the world alight in November. I thought they played distinctly average stuff in those three games, and the Georgia performance was underwhelming.
For the reason there’s a clutch of young talent making a mark, France were the talking horse in the Autumn Nations Cup. Their players will have the advantage too of playing a lot of decent rugby in the Top 14. Their development, and ambition, is undoubtedly helped by playing on better, faster pitches, the game now transitioned from old-school pitches to hybrid surfaces.
They will come to Dublin with an opening weekend win under their belt, unless there’s a catastrophic Saturday in Rome.
