Ronan O’Gara: There’s nobody or nothing running over Keith Earls these days
GREEN GIANT: Keith Earls’ stunning try in Ireland’s win over England illustrated that this is a man operating at the top of his game at the age of 33. Ronan O’Gara believes the Munster man must now be in Warren Gatland’s thoughts for Lions selection. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland
The confidence surge from Ireland’s first try against England last Saturday could be measured in fathoms.
It provided validation for the coaches, self-belief for the players. Both groups got their analysis right and the execution spot on. That’s a big win. It’s no exaggeration to say that pop off the tail would have been walked through 10 times and done at running speed a further 20 or 30 times. So there’s a fair buzz when it comes off.
The English analysis might be slightly different. What shocked me was how Tom Curry went to defend it. The England players would have done all their video analysis, but the golden rule is go for the ball only if you know you can get it.
What threat is Jack Conan at that moment, in that position? And yet Curry has taken the bait. You couldn’t have fished him out of the water any more beautifully than Ireland did for Conan to release Keith Earls.
The overthrow is for the first England defender, which was Owen Farrell.
Conan still has to backpedal to catch and he isn’t driving a Ferrari. He is on two legs. But he is hoping against hope to tease Curry out of the line to create the lane and the mismatch for Earlsie with Mako Vunipola. When you talk about fine detail, that’s it. But you’d be very disappointed if you were England and it was a reliable indicator of how far they were off the pace mentally in Dublin.
What are the chances now of Earls going back to South Africa with the Lions a full 12 years after the 2009 tour there?
The 33-year-old has never been in a better place and has been championed here more than once.
Earlsie is a man at peace with himself now. He’s a very deep person, a genuine, solid man. He has overcome obstacles only those close to him would know — he was crippled with insecurities and doubts at the start, coming into an environment where he couldn’t be himself with so many strong characters about. He spent too long playing not to leave people down, which is not a good way to be. Putting pressure like that on yourself is never good.
He was impacted badly watching Axel suffer as Munster coach and way worse seeing him pass away so prematurely. That stuff weighed heavy on us all, but Earlsie more so because he was of that generation. In many respects, he is the last remaining one of the Munster up-and-at-‘em group that were told they were privileged to be getting to finals.
To then have a Kiwi like Joe Schmidt coming in to coach him, with an everyday expectation of victory, I’d say his head was in a bit of a spin.
At some point he decided, I just have to do this for me. I felt he was always trying stuff as much because folk he respected recommended it, and he wouldn’t want to be seen to leave anyone down. It’s no coincidence that he retains that vital, explosive pace. He was arguably the first ‘pro’ in Munster in terms of modern-day prep, as good in the gym as he still is on the pitch.
If anything, he is probably playing 10-12kgs lighter now than he ever was. I can remember Earlsie having a small bit of a belly, but now he’s ripped.
He’s got to be in Warren Gatland’s thinking for South Africa. He will know himself and his body and that there’s the mileage of at least two more seasons in him. Physically he is well at it, even for the Springboks. This notion that South Africa will run over him is a total misnomer.
Just like Johnny Sexton and Jack Conan bring form into saturday’s PRO14 final in Dublin, so do Stander and Earls for Munster. Chance telling them next week’s game against Toulouse is more important to the province and you might get a clip around the ear.
No-one, least of all the Munster camp, should be fooled by the easy talk about the decider, and who will or won’t be rested with Europe in mind. If you are Munster, you just need to beat Leinster in a competitive game and shut them up. Change the record books and shut down the negative commentary; stop talk of title drought and waits for silverware.
Plus, what the Ospreys did last week to Leinster stung. It’s not about who was missing; it’s the fact that the Leinster jersey, the club, the team, the group blew a 19-3 lead at home to lose 24-19. Leinster are good and they’re proud.
Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster were as worried last Friday as they are now about who wasn’t available to them — which is to say, not at all. This is a game Leinster have been looking forward to for a long time. This ain’t no Carabao Cup. Munster, with Carbery and Murray, will be full-on, and desperate for the title. Toulouse can wait.
Warren Gatland will be one of many outside interests keeping a very close eye on the Six Nations climax in Paris this evening. Finn Russell’s claims on a Lions Test jersey have gone backwards during this tournament, and his performance for Scotland tonight is effectively a final audition for South Africa.
Russell was electric in last season’s Champions Cup semi against Saracens but didn’t back it up in the final so this is last chance saloon to provide a timely reminder to Gatland to say: ‘See, I can change a game for you in a positive way’.
Russell needs to show in the international test arena that it’s not all duck and no dinner, that his risk-reward philosophy can deliver big.
He is a brilliant passer with great vision, but you’d love a bit more of the Steady Eddie in him. It’s there for him because the Lions nine-10 axis is in a slightly suspended state at this moment. It’s not so long ago the idea of Murray and Sexton was considered past its sell-by date for Ireland, much less the Lions. Right now, if the first test was next Saturday, is anyone usurping the Irish partnership? Gareth Davies? Owen Farrell? I don’t see their respective form or reputation for the big occasion better than Murray’s or Johnny’s right now.
The loss of Mathieu Jalibert is substantial for France Friday night. He is the closest thing this side of the world to a Beauden Barrett in terms of pace. He doesn’t always get to show it in test games, but if you see him in the Top 14, he is scoring tries from 40-50 metres.
Will France finish the job? Look at Scotland against England and for 50 minutes against Wales — then compare what they produced at home to Ireland where they couldn’t win a lineout. Which side will show up for the visitors tonight? To beat Scotland by 21 points seems an ask but anything is possible with so many try-scoring options for France.
Those seven-pointers stack up in a hurry and things get out of control very quickly. If the French get their tails up, watch out because they will attack from everywhere.
The talk this week is that Galthie has basically picked a team for the first half and another for the second in case they need to throw the kitchen sink at it.
That’s how they have trained this week, with a full focus on the introduction of their tactical subs. I believe there’s been a massive emphasis on that.
They will launch Teddy Thomas after 50 minutes when Scotland have a lot of their defending already done. Give him any margin and you’ll be under the posts, even if he isn’t going into the game in top, top form.
Just as I am delighted for the form of Keith Earls, so too for the Six Nations Brice Dulin has had. He turns 31 in a few weeks but he’s as sharp as a blade and is very serious about his rugby. Hat-tip to Dan Carter, when they were together at Racing, for changing Brice’s mindset, for giving him a true insight of what professionalism is and what test pros need to do when they are weak or vulnerable.
He is now very comfortable at a high level, and he’s in the peak of his form even if French rugby traditionally seems to write off anyone over 30.
