Ford a driving force in defence

HE MAY be a member of the backroom staff of Irish rugby's international travelling circus but there is no shortage of people willing to let the work Mike Ford does go forgotten in this moment of triumph.

For Ford, a former rugby league star recruited by Eddie O'Sullivan as Ireland's defensive coach at the start of his tenure last December, keeping the world champion Wallabies tryless for almost 87 minutes constitutes a very good day at the office indeed. Ireland's rookie captain Brian O'Driscoll put aside his own elation to make special mention of Ford's work with the players over the last 11 months, while Ronan O'Gara brushed aside his own stellar performance to say defence was the key factor in turning over the Australians so successfully.

And after a stint in the commentary box, Welsh wizard and former Great Britain rugby league hero Jonathan Davies made much of Ireland's unsung coaching hero.

"They've gained a lot from Mike Ford's defensive coaching. He's obviously making a world of difference. When a team feel confident about their defence, they tend to trust the pattern and stick to their guns and don't give penalties away."

The statistics back up Davies' view and give an indication of the pressure Ireland were under. The Irish made 93 tackles and won eight turnovers, the top five tacklers in the game were all wearing green: Gleeson, Maggs, Foley, O'Gara and O'Driscoll.

And not only did the home side keep the Wallabies tryless, they kept them scoreless for the final 33 minutes, which included nearly seven agonising minutes of time added on by New Zealand referee Steve Walsh when the visitors were camped inside the Irish 22.

It really was a truly heroic effort. Ford, however, is a modest, quietly spoken Lancastrian not given to superlatives.

When he took the job he said it would take at least a year to get things going in the right direction and he suffered more than most when Ireland were put to the sword at Twickenham just weeks into the O'Sullivan reign.

The players had to get with the programme, he had said, if they were to benefit. On Saturday, they got their just reward. "I was really pleased with the boys," Ford said. "Especially with the contact and the aggression we showed was the best since I've been here. "The conditions helped us, obviously, and I'm not getting carried away. They're the world champions but at the same time the conditions do help the defence more than the attack with the ball slipping everywhere. They broke us once or twice and we'll have to look at on the video but in general I was very, very pleased. Ford was not just happy with the win, though, but also the mindset of the players as they go about their defensive duties. Echoing Davies' comments he said: "I'm pleased because the confidence in the side now will grow and grow and grow. They believe in what we're trying to achieve but at the same time I'm holding back a little bit because, you know, we've got a World Cup to prepare for in Australia when it will be a little sunnier and the ground will be a lot harder and it's going to be a different kettle of fish." Eleven months into his dalliance with the 15 man game, the former Salford Reds player coach admitted to still suffering withdrawal symptoms after a lifetime's addiction to the league code. But, given the fact he is only on a short term, 12 month IRFU contract, he is looking on his time with the Ireland set up with an eye to the bigger picture of a career in coaching.

"I've had a couple of job offers from rugby league but at the end of the day I'm learning a lot of stuff myself in this management team and I feel like I'm in the ideal situation. I've had 20 years in rugby league and here I am learning everything I can at the top level of rugby union.

"There are pangs to go back but at the same time I want to be part of what Ireland are achieving under Eddie O'Sullivan and with the World Cup coming up. That will be so exciting and I feel very privileged and lucky to be where I am."

Especially on a day like Saturday, savouring an Irish victory over the mighty Australians having spent the dying minutes fighting a rearguard action on their own try line.

"I'm very pleased with that part of their defensive play. If they'd have scored then it would have been 18-16 and that would not have been a true reflection on the game. You've got to defend when you haven't got the ball, no matter what the scoreboard says. And that is what makes me pleased. We could have easily let the Aussies score that late on and still won but they didn't. They kept the line intact and it's what the players say about that afterwards, not me. They are more pleased than me that they kept them tryless.

"World champions, tryless, and they were trying everything to cross the line at the end. On this particular occasion we came up with the goods. Now we've just got to repeat it on a consistent basis."