DONAL LENIHAN: Examination of character will stand to Ireland
Points galore, tries aplenty and the prospect of a cracking second round to look forward to in Dublin next Sunday. But the result of the weekend was undoubtedly in Rome where Italy were magnificent in victory against a French team thoroughly outplayed. It must rank as the best opening weekend to a championship in years.
Ireland will be thrilled to have escaped from Cardiff with a win that looked a foregone conclusion at one stage Full marks to Wales for never accepting the inevitable. How prophetic the words of George North on the eve of this Six Nations opener when he said his biggest concern was “being ambushed in the opening 20 minutes when Wales are guilty of not getting up to the speed and intensity of test rugby quickly enough”. On this occasion they were completely off the pace for the entire opening half and just couldn’t live with an Irish side whose tactical excellence left their hosts reeling. It was as close to the perfect performance as you will to see.
The one thing I felt absolutely sure about going into Saturday’s game was that the Irish management would have absorbed the lessons of their last three defeats by Wales. Where once we were passive in defence, Ireland now smashed their hosts with an intensity that would surely have registered with Welsh defensive guru Shaun Edwards. The blitzer was being blitzed. Ireland also identified that Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies are poor passers of the ball under pressure and Irish line speed forced them into constant error.
With the lead extended to 27 points two minutes after the restart, we were scrambling for the record books with Wales in tatters. Quite how Ireland were outscored by 19 points over the remaining 38 minutes of the contest will concentrate the minds of all concerned before England arrive next weekend. In some ways that is no bad thing as it helps to bring everyone back to earth fairly quickly.
Once Wales introduced Justin Tipuric off the bench to play in tandem with Sam Warburton, a combination they should have started with, they were transformed. Indeed had the erratic Alex Cuthbert passed to the unmarked Roberts with 18 minutes remaining to reduce the Irish lead to 13 points, anything could have happened. That Ireland hung on to win this gripping clash was due in on small measure to heroic defence, characterised by outstanding split-second decision-making by Johnny Sexton, Craig Gilroy and Simon Zebo.
P laying out the final quarter with 14 men — the pressure exerted by Wales forced a series of penalties and yellow cards for Rory Best (magnificent once again) and Conor Murray — Ireland’s resolve was tested to the full but they were in no mood to be beaten. That examination of character will stand to them over the next few weeks. Sexton, in particular, gave an unbelievable display of selfless tackling and must be still feeling the pain this morning. Up front the real work horses were Sean O’Brien, Mike McCarthy and Donnacha Ryan with 23, 18 and 16 tackles respectively.
The question that will dominate the management’s review of this contest is how Wales managed to dominate all facets of play in that extraordinary second half. One obvious route was denying Ireland the line-out platform they used to such good effect in that opening half. In victory in Dublin 12 months ago, Wales restricted Ireland to four throws over the entire 80 minutes. This time Best fed nine Irish line-outs in the opening half alone and through clever variations, managed to create situations for O’Brien to run at the inexperienced Dan Bigger from quick ball off the top. That worked a treat.
However, 60 minutes elapsed before Ireland fed another line out in the second half and without any possession to punish the Welsh, were forced on the back foot for long periods. If Wales had been half as clinical as Ireland were during their period of dominance they could even have clawed back what appeared an unassailable lead.
The other areas that need addressing is Ireland’s loose kicking in that second period which only served to hand hard earned and scarce possession straight back to Wales. England will be far more ruthless in profiting from that. Ireland’s discipline also faltered in that period, much of that due to the pressure being applied by the Welsh. Owen Farrell will gratefully convert those opportunities into points.
That Ireland found themselves in such a dominant position at the break was down in no small measure to the brilliance of Brian O’Driscoll. If this proves to be his last appearance at the revered home of Welsh rugby, he could hardly have left on a more positive note. His ability to make the right decision at the right time, all the time, is what still separates him from the rest. If the Welsh midfield combination of Roberts and Davies had aspirations of extending their partnership with the Lions this summer, they had better think again.
T he Great One gave a masterclass in the art taking and delivering the crucial pass under pressure.
One of the big pluses from this performance with England looming was the efficiency of the Irish scrum against such a high powered and experienced front row. From the outset Ireland had a clear edge which, for once, was recognised by referee Romain Poite, with Cian Healy putting in a powerful shift against Adam Jones. Zebo’s try on his championship debut — made by O’Driscoll and delivered with Zebo’s first touch of the ball — had its origins in a scrum where Healy fought like a beaver to work an angle on Jones.
The other plus was the impact made by Zebo — apart altogether from that audacious moment — and Gilroy who fully justified their inclusion in the side ahead of some more experienced campaigners. Everybody knew they could run and finish but it was their application in defence that will please Declan Kidney most and answer any lingering questions associated with that aspect of their play.
Coming into this game the pace and power offered by Cuthbert had him earmarked for a summer in Australia with the Lions but so poor was his decision-making both in attack and defence, he has now fallen down the pecking order. The same can be said for many of his team-mates.
England will offer an altogether different challenge and showed enough against an improved Scotland on Saturday to suggest their superb win against New Zealand was no flash in the pan. Ireland have now put two very good performances back-to-back and entertaining England at the Aviva Stadium will only serve to force them up another level.
To beat them, they may have to.
