Ireland’s Triple treat

NO doubt, some day we’ll pay for this! You could say it was the luck of the Irish in St Patrick’s week but to hell with that. Ireland were overdue a rub of the green and it came in spades on Saturday when they caught England on the line to claim a second Triple Crown in three years, complete a hat-trick of victories over the “auld enemy” and even run up a record total of 28 points.

Can you just imagine the uproar that would have ensued at Lansdowne Road had it been Ben Cohen scoring the first try rather than Shane Horgan.

How irate we would have been if it had been Horgan and not Cohen whose touchline throw immediately prior to Denis Leamy’s try was disallowed. I have no doubt the ball was out of play immediately before Horgan availed of his hapless opponent’s gaffe and so the score should not have been allowed. Fault Scottish touch judge Rob Dickson who actually raised his flag only to take it down again.

“It allowed Ireland back into the game and I can’t see how the touch judge allowed that to happen,” claimed beleagured England coach Andy Robinson. “I’m staggered by that because the ball was on the line. It wasn’t even 50/50. There was another on our line when Ben Cohen took a quick throw and kicked to touch and the other touch judge brought him back for no reason. Things like that happen and you see the writing on the wall. You knew something was waiting to happen in the last minute.

“It was a shame. These were just some of a number of decisions that disappointed me.”

There is no doubt Robinson was on safe ground where the first try was concerned and very possibly for the second as well, with tv images confirming Cohen hadn’t stepped into the field of play before making his throw.

To give grim-faced Robinson and the shellshocked skipper Martin Corry their due, they did pay credit to the Irish performance with the coach going so far as to congratulate Ronan O’Gara for his magnificent 79th minute touchline conversion of Horgan’s try that gave the side a vital four point advantage. Nor were they having any of it when an English journalist accused the Irish players of allegedly bullying the referee as he decided whether Leamy’s try should stand.

When English displeasure was pointed out to Eddie O’Sullivan, the Ireland coach immediately went on the offensive. He, too, was unhappy with a few of Nigel Whitehouse’s calls, especially the yellow card for Simon Easterby which he claimed could have played a major part in the outcome. While accepting there were some tight calls, he also declared that “the big one for me was the yellow card for Simon that turned the game against us at the time. Matt Dawson took a quick tap and ran into Simon and he gave another ten metres, the kick went over and we were on the back foot. It was a very big call and I was upset by it.”

It was inevitable O’Sullivan should see things from an Irish perspective and so, too, his elation at the outcome. But he acknowledged that the team is a work still very much in progress. Few will relish the prospect of taking on Australia and New Zealand in what we once used to call the “off season” and really there’s hardly any rest for these guys, especially as the World Cup looms in 18 months. By and large, O’Sullivan seems to have got his squad to a point with which he can be reasonably pleased.

You look at the back line and think, well, it’s not broke so there’s nothing to fix. True, the execution of the basics was inconsistent and short of the desired standard. Once again on Saturday the passing was frequently poor and one or two either ended up in touch or went miles forward. However, a half-back partnership with the experience and expertise of Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara continues to serve us in good stead. Geordan Murphy has yet to reach his full potential at full-back but we all know it’s there. Much of the same can be said of centres Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll, although they are discovering with every game that, just as they are perfecting the art of defence, opposing teams are doing likewise.

It was only fitting that Shane Horgan should score the decisive try because he has been Ireland’s most committed and influential three-quarter through the entire campaign. You just love his attitude. Andrew Trimble hasn’t nailed down the left wing spot and has plenty of challengers to ward off.

The area where I would like to see most improvement is the interaction of the Munster forwards and half-backs with the Leinster backs, which really should be a lethal cocktail. And while O’Sullivan is blessed with talent in the back five, he should be seriously concerned at the absence of depth in the front-row which was put under fierce pressure the longer Saturday’s game went on. Individually, Marcus Horan, the irrepressible Jerry Flannery and John Hayes were terrific but even the coach admitted the set piece was in trouble.

Furthermore, his 80th appearance in an Irish jersey failed to inspire Malcolm O’Kelly who was hauled ashore for the third time in five matches not long into the second half. With Donncha O’Callaghan and Mick O’Driscoll, who had yet another blinder in leading the A team to a decisive victory over England on Friday, chomping at the bit, Big Mal stands once again on the precipice. O’Sullivan’s faith in David Wallace and Denis Leamy in the back row has been fully justified although some will retain doubts about Simon Easterby for all we are told about the great work he gets through at close quarters.

True, it wasn’t a Six Nations of high quality but a win is a win and a Triple Crown is, well, something we should cherish and not make light of just because it’s becoming commonplace!