Ronan O'Gara: But for individual errors, we'd all be talking about Simon Easterby's defence
CASE FOR DEFENCE: Rhys Ruddock gets a little one-on-one from defence coach Simon Easterby at Carton House. Lapses in tackling last weekend, according to Ronan O’Gara, were not system errors.
Television pictures in France showed some of Fabien Galthie’s players dazed and close to tears in the Twickenham dressing room after Saturday’s loss to England.
What to make of that?
Disappointment, of course. France hasn’t won at Twickenham since 2005. In the rush to coronate France as the hosts with the most in 2023, beating England away was a box that needed to be ticked. They wanted that monkey off their backs.
Those hundred-yard stares? More to do with the realisation that Galthie hasn’t turned them into world-beaters, at least not yet. If the World Cup was this autumn, would you fancy the French? Put it this way: let’s see how France rebound tomorrow night against the Welsh. There is a flawed presumption that everything will be fine. I wouldn’t be so sure.
Against England, they ran into a side with as many gears.
Ireland hasn’t those gears at the moment, but England can go up through them better than most top-tier outfits. Eddie Jones is tinkering with gameplans. Right down to a massive kick focus for games where the conditions make handling the ball a no-no.
Last Saturday was an occasion for putting down a marker, for setting aside the future and putting France in their place. The maturity of the English squad means they can simultaneously play in the moment and progress their future. There is trust in the 23. Elliot Daly hasn’t been having a good time and Max Malins got his chance, but Daly came in and responded, and gets the start at 13 tomorrow. It was an accurate cameo for the side — being under pressure and delivering. They have another gear, something France were left pondering Saturday evening.
There is a ‘but’ however. Daly is a 15 and sitting him at 13 gives Ireland plenty to be licking the lips about. The Saracen and George Ford should expect a lot of defensive stress off Ireland scrums in Dublin.
I write this prior to the announcement of the Irish team, but I am assuming the back three is Keenan, Earls, and Stockdale, Larmour on the bench. The end so for James Lowe? Not by a long shot.
For the sake of keeping everyone on their toes and creating the competitive environment they need, Lowe starts the first game of the summer tour, if it proceeds.
For now though, the errors go beyond just costing him his place on the team. There’s a body of defensive work to be done with James, and it will get done. Poor old Simon Easterby, the irony is that he’s the coach everyone would be talking about for his defence were it not for these missed tackles. These are not system errors, but at this level, it’s amazing how when one fella gets it wrong, how many suffer as a result.
We’ve addressed this issue previously and there’s no appetite to review old ground. This is mental muscle stuff.
Lowe’s capacity to be able to process info quick enough on what man he is meant to take and where’s the ball is not where it needs to be. By getting that wrong at test level, he gets cruelly exposed. We have seen that in the Wales, France, and Scotland games.
The Finn Russell episode on Saturday was unrelated, that’s work rate off the ball. But there is a broad connection. It takes 21 days to learn a new skill. That creates habit. If your lifetime habit is to get excited when your team is in attack and free-flowing, then you haven’t trained for those switch-on defensive moments. In training, if you knock off for two seconds, he’d have Stuart Lancaster or Simon Easterby’s voice in his ear, but he’s missed the jump at Murrayfield.
If he’s alert and trained, he can cruise back and sort the problem. But if you’re late to the party, that’s a problem that takes serious reps to correct.
At a more general level, Ireland are getting better. They’ve made big improvements in their spacing. Even with a red card against Wales in Cardiff, Ireland weren’t pulled from pillar to post. At 24-10, last Saturday had the makings of a really good day at Murrayfield.
CJ Stander told his Ireland colleagues of his decision to retire on Monday night. Most were as shocked and taken by surprise as the rest of us. From a purely physiological perspective, 31 (next month) seems young to be finishing up, even for someone who thrives on the attrition of the back row.
He was in protracted negotiations with the IRFU and there was a bit of chatter among agents that he might go to Bordeaux. There were rugby plans for the future, but critically his wife and baby have been at home in South Africa since the second lockdown and that must have been a drain.
When in camp with Ireland, what often keeps you going is the prospect of returning home to your normality. You just need to see them and it only takes two or three days to restore equilibrium. Stander hasn’t had that.
His statement was very definite and indicated he was content and fulfilled. I would be surprised if there was any substance to the rumours of him eyeing a return to the Blue Bulls.
Of course, there will always be the temptation, with the beautiful weather in Bloemfontein and the embrace of his own, after some months to say to himself, ‘the body feels good, I’m keen to give it another go’. But there was a tone of finality in CJ’s statement.
Irish rugby will move on. There was no great fuss when David Wallace retired from the game and he was one of the greatest I played with. I don’t believe Stander’s decision was as a direct result of a contract stalemate, but it might have made his decision easier. He won’t be the last to stare long and hard across the table at the union, but with the CVC injection of funding, the IRFU has less of an excuse not to look after their best players.
There’s a barn of back-row talent coming through in Leinster and Munster but in true Irish fashion, CJ’s ability to smash holes and set tones will only be properly appreciated when he is gone.
His departure adds an interesting dynamic to the rest of Munster’s season. He’s well-got in that dressing room — has been from the night he ran 60 yards against Glasgow at Thomond Park to claim his first try for the province. He hasn’t enjoyed the success he would have anticipated but he has two goes at putting that right over the next few weeks. And his team-mates have a great carrot to produce silverware for the boy from George.
CJ Stander has been a very respectful, humble, team-mate, a proper person. If he had difficulties with the language barrier coming into Limerick, improving his English wasn’t going to help much. I never had any communication problems with him but that’s probably Cork refinement…
