Donal Lenihan: Ireland must avoid being drawn into All Blacks’ loose, unstructured game
MAKING A STAND: New Zealand’s Ofa Tuungafasi takes a novel approach to training during Tuesday’s All Blacks squad training at UCD Bowl, Dublin.
It’s all about perspective, a recognition that these autumn internationals are a means to an end, not an end in itself.
The ultimate goal is silverware, be it in the Six Nations Championship or at the World Cup. On so many occasions in the past, Irish rugby success in the November window has proved a less than reliable barometer for what lies ahead.
This current series needs to be viewed in that context. On the opening weekend of action, two of the four sides who contested the Rugby Championship down south came up short. Scotland enjoyed a great win over Australia, France beat a sticky Argentinian side while the Springboks just about subdued a Welsh team missing several of their leading lights.
Despite winning the Lions series, South Africa lost both their Rugby Championship games against the Wallabies, who were deservedly beaten on Saturday by a Scottish side continuing to make positive strides. With eight players on the Lions tour, Gregor Townsend is building a decent squad. Both South Africa and Scotland are in Ireland’s World Cup pool in France in 2023, meaning Andy Farrell will be keeping a close eye on their clash in Murrayfield this weekend.
Argentina, who lost all six games in the Rugby Championship, pushed France all the way in a fiercely competitive game at the Stade de France before new captain Antoine Dupont took the game by the scruff of the neck, as he so often does, and propelled the French to a well-deserved win.
In a sign of their ever-evolving squad and willingness to promote young blood, only four players who featured for France against the same opposition at the World Cup two years ago were on duty in Paris. That is a huge turnaround in personnel in such a short space of time.
Despite a losing streak that now extends to seven games, Farrell will have taken note that Argentina remain a very difficult and irritating team to play against. They thrive in dragging you into a war of attrition, are always up for the fight and will prove difficult opposition in our final November outing.
Their coach, Mario Ledesma, will be hopeful of arresting their losing streak against Italy next weekend which would set them up for one monumental effort against Ireland. After four long months on the road, cocooned in a Covid bubble, in South Africa, Australi, and here in Europe, they are on their last legs.
Rugby Championship winners New Zealand rotated their side for their third outing on tour with a predictable 9-47 win over Italy in Rome. While the scoreline did a disservice to the effort put in by the hosts, operating under new head coach Kieran Crowley, it also failed to camouflage a very scrappy and error strewn effort from New Zealand. You don’t get to say that too often.
As a consequence of this disjointed performance from what in effect was a second string side, not only will coach Ian Foster spring multiple changes for Saturday’s contest in Dublin, you can be sure New Zealand will be a lot more accurate and clinical in their execution.
The New Zealand display at the Stadio Olimpico revealed signs of wear and tear after what has been an extraordinarily demanding period for all the southern hemisphere sides given the level of travel and amount of time they have had to spend in restricted Covid bubbles.
They must be sick of the sight of each other at this stage. Last weekend’s game in Rome was New Zealand’s 13th test since July 3 as the bean counters in the NZRU chased every opportunity to recoup the losses incurred throughout the pandemic.
At least when our players were operating under similar restrictions throughout the Six Nations championship and the July tests in Dublin, they had the luxury of being able to head home for a few days between games.
With just three tests under their belts since the 2019 World Cup, Japan had different issues to address. Yet, despite their lack of games, they looked incredibly sharp and as industrious as ever when pushing the Wallabies all the way in a narrow 23-32 defeat only two weeks before the Irish game. When viewed in the context of that performance and result, the manner in which Ireland ripped them apart and denied them any opportunity to launch their high tempo attacking game was highly impressive.
Ireland hit the ground running with the familiarity and understanding that comes from starting 12 Leinster players very evident. That said, this Irish side had a different structure and pattern in attack to what Leinster employ, yet everyone was note-perfect.
The offload was anathema to the way Ireland sought to play for a long time but, given we lack the bulk and physicality that comes as a given with teams from South Africa, England, Argentina, and France, we have to find another way to survive the high attrition levels required in tournament rugby.
Attempting to play out of the tackle, thus reducing the number of collisions required to retain possession, is a very exciting development and long overdue. Yes, there are caveats. The Japanese conceded space, defended far too narrow and lacked the suffocating line speed that so many international teams bring to bear these days.
Even New Zealand, who have seen their mercurial attacking skills stifled by teams blitzing them with a well coordinated defensive line speed — think back to the 2017 Lions series — have incorporated similar traits into their defensive armoury. Suffice to say, Ireland will find it more challenging when trying to implement the same attacking shape on Saturday.
That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try but need to do so on their terms. They must also be conscious of not being sucked into a loose unstructured game that New Zealand, with their audacious handling and running skills, thrive in.
Farrell is building a front five very comfortable in traffic with ball in hand without compromising their primary function at the set piece.
The soft hands and decision-making of Tadhg Beirne, Andrew Porter, and especially Tadhg Furlong against Japan was a joy to watch. Then again, their New Zealand counterparts in Brodie Retallick, Codie Taylor, Dane Coles, Nepo Laulala, and Sam Whitelock have been doing that at all levels for years.
The big difference is all their forwards have been developing those skills from a very early age. There is little or no kicking allowed in under age rugby in New Zealand with the technical bits surrounding the scrum and lineout added to the mix at an older age.
In the early 2000s, New Zealand struggled to compete with the likes of Australia, South Africa and England when they lost sight of the importance of the set piece at international level and started playing back row forwards in the second row.
When Graham Henry and Steve Hansen returned from their sabbaticals in Europe with Wales, they recognised the errors of their predecessors and set out to address those shortcomings. They now have supreme athletes operating in the second row in Whitelock, Retallick, and Scott Barrett, with two exciting new prospects in Tupou Vaa’i and Josh Lord being unleashed on this tour, who are every bit as proficient in the set-piece grunt as they are in making key play-making decisions in broken play.
Thankfully, the Irish management are now adopting a similar approach. Saturday’s mouthwatering clash against New Zealand offers a true test of far we have yet to travel.
