Ireland must target Farrell and Dickson
Ireland have turned what proved to be a weakness in the opening game against Wales (as it had been against the same opposition at the World Cup) into a strength in their last three outings. Lacking urgency, line speed and decisiveness in that opening defeat with 14 missed tackles, Ireland regrouped and switched from employing a lateral drift defence to an aggressive umbrella formation, with instant results. With a total of only three tries conceded since, this Irish side is in a far better frame of mind to cope with the attacking prowess of an England side that has been bolstered by the return of Manu Tuilagi to midfield after missing the opening two games against Scotland and Italy. He offers a serious threat, with an imposing mix of power and pace, and Keith Earls will no doubt need no reminding after being brushed aside by the Leicester colossus in the World Cup warm-up game back in August.
Earls was in the process of reacquainting himself with the demands of the outside centre role at the time, having played the majority of his rugby in the back three throughout the previousseason. He now looks far more comfortable with thedemands of the most challenging defensive position on the field after a continuous run there with Munster and Ireland. The key to dealing with the physical presence Tuilagi offers is to close the space early and tackle low around the ankles. Ireland are far more cohesive now as a unit in defence with improvedlevels of communication and assurance than there wasinitially when denied their long-time defensive coordinator, Brian O’Driscoll.
While England found try-scoring practically impossible before their visit to Paris — two fortunate efforts in three outings — the key to their success in this championship is their work indefence, with just four tries conceded to date. The return of Tuilagi has facilitated a switch for Owen Farrell to out half, inside his Saracens team-mate Brett Barrett, and has solidified the English midfield channel, even further as Farrell is light years ahead of Charlie Hodgson when it comes to defending.
Just ask Imanol Harinordoquy, who Farrell smashed in the closing stages in the Stade de France. It gave England the resolve they needed to hold out for a famous win. It will be very interesting to see which defensive system cracks first.
This could be the key area when it comes to separating the two sides. Jonny Sexton and Eoin Reddan are a very experienced duo with countless games behind them as a pairing with Leinster andIreland. Sexton has shown on numerous occasions at Heineken Cup level that he has the temperament to turn potential defeat into victory with that inspirational second-half performance in the final in Cardiff last May the standout moment of his career to date. He is finally beginning to deliver that consistency at international level and knows Reddan’s gameinside out. Reddan, after his time with Wasps in thePremiership, has a similar edge. The Leinster pairing need to bring all that game management and understanding to bear today against an English duo who would scarcely have spoken to each other up to a few weeks ago.
At 6’2” and 15st, Farrell cuts an imposing figure at out half where his technique and hunger for the tackle marks him apart. Playing with the No 10 jersey on your back, however, requires so much more at international level and Farrell, undoubtedly an England star of the future, has only experienced two full internationals in that key role to date. It doesn’t help either that the majority of his games for Saracens this season have been at inside centre, playing outside Hodgson. Therefore, the jury is still out as to whether or not he has yet acquired the game management skills to boss an international contest. Ireland must therefore target him, cut down his time and space and rush him into making decisions. It doesn’t help Farrell that his half-back partner, Lee Dickson, is another novice at this level who owes his starting place to the fact thatLeicester’s Ben Youngs is suffering a complete lack of confidence at present. Dickson played in both of Northampton’s games against Munster in this season’s Heineken Cup and was out-performed on both occasions by Conor Murray.
In the absence of Murray, Reddan must seek to put as much pressure as he can on the Saints scrum-half and ask questions of a player who would not be near the side if Youngs was in form or if Danny Care wasn’t suspended. Ireland must seek to capitalise on the potential advantage they have at half back but ultimately that will depend on a solid set-piece platform from the forwards.
England’s set piece has improved with every outing in the championship, with their best performance to date coming in Paris. When one considers that both of their props, Alex Corbisiero and Dan Cole, are not guaranteed starters with London Irish and Leicester respectively, they have done an excellent job in anchoring England’s scrum. Corbisiero has been a revelation, complementing excellent work in the tight with some powerful carries and superb defence.
Ireland’s scrum has also improved and was totally dominant last time out against Scotland. Mike Ross is another with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the English scene and will work assiduously with scrum coach Greg Feek to create an edge in this area. All that Ireland need to do here is get their angles and their step-on engagement right and they should not be under any undue pressure. It is vital that Cian Healy holds square on his side when England have the put-in because if Cole can manufacture an angle on the right-hand side of the English scrum, then new No 8 Ben Morgan has shown that he has blistering pace off the mark to hurt Ireland.
The lineout also promises to be a fascinating contest as England use the highly explosive Tom Croft to roam up and down the line in the same manner as Harinordoquy does for France.
Croft was outstanding last weekend and is England’s go-to man out of touch when under pressure. Ireland will know this in advance and will be required to deploy Donnacha Ryan to man-mark him when he shifts to the front of the English lineout in their defensive zone. Croft’s Leicester team-mate Geoff Parling is another newcomer to impress and Donncha O’Callaghan must pick up responsibility for him when Ryan is engaged with Croft. Throughout this championship, teams have refrained from kicking to touch against Ireland knowing that they use the lineout as an attacking weapon. Rory Best’s try against Scotland will remind England that Ireland’s line-out maul isn’t their only attacking weapon close in and will look to tighten up their defence on the ground.
Ireland have been guilty of poor execution in one or two key lineouts in every outing so far and need to reduce those errors given the reduced frequency of lineouts they are being offered.
For Ireland to win today they need to be massively focused on the challenge that England will bring to the set-piece. Invariably against any English side, that is where the contest is won and lost.
