Leamy mystified at concession of early scores
Teak-tough number eight Denis Leamy is convinced Ireland would have won both tests but for lapses in the early stages of their games with New Zealand, and he is at a loss to understand why it happened.
“We’re very disappointed; unfortunately we gave up points early in the game again, it’s happening too often to explain it away. We must learn to be able to cope with pressure early in these matches. I don’t know why it’s happening, but it is and that’s something we will have to address.”
He went on: “We can’t give that number of points away and expect to win, but when we got a kick in the backside we started to play. At least it was proof that we can play.”
In recognising that Ireland’s scrum was, at best, creaky, Leamy diverted blame away from the front row. “We must take collective responsibility. Again, I think it came down to lack of concentration at times, because there were times in the match when we scrummaged very well. It just means we’ll have to do a bit more work, and keep our concentration better,” he said.
Leamy is looking forward to the Australia game, rather than wishing he was back home in Ireland to enjoy a well deserved rest.
“We have got to be positive, and we are. It was gut-wrenching to lose these two tests, but they were both solid performances and we’ve come a long way since the autumn, although not far enough obviously. The next match is there for us to prove to ourselves that we can go that extra bit of distance. If anything, the last two tests showed us that we can compete with the best, that it’s possible to beat the best.
“We have to pick up the pieces and move on; no point in dwelling on what happened here.
“We competed very well at most of the contact areas; we proved that we’re no shrinking violets. In the end it was probably down to a mental thing; we just didn’t concentrate for the full 80 minutes. When we get that right, and I believe we will, we’ll go that distance. Out here, we’ve listened to praise, listened to people telling us what great guys we were, people saying that we gave the All Blacks a good game. We don’t buy into that; we came out here to win, not just to compete. Unfortunately we have to be happy to say we competed, but we have an opportunity in Australia to go one further, and win,” he said.
Ronan O’Gara was equally determined Ireland should finish the tour with a win. He accepted responsibility for the missed tackle that led to Luke McAlister’s game-clinching try.
“I missed a bad tackle that effectively ended the game, and that was particularly disappointing, but we have to move on from here and put it behind us. It’s not enough just to challenge; we came down here to win and we have a quality team. I think we’re getting better all the time, and we’re disappointed because those two games were there for the taking.
“The conditions in both matches were different, but we progressed more than they did between the two games. Once we got back into the match and crept closer to them, they looked more rattled than they did last week. That’s why we should be kicking ourselves for letting it slip,” he said.
Meanwhile, Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll felt so strongly about New Zealand’s second try that he questioned referee Jonathan Kaplan, arguing that Chris Jack had lost the ball forward. “He told me he felt it had gone back. I haven’t seen the replay but my initial reaction was that it was forward,” he said.
He got no argument from All Blacks coach Graham Henry who admitted: “It was probably forward.”
“I cautioned the New Zealand public not to disrespect Ireland. I think we found out over the last two weeks how good they are. Assuming we win our World Cup group, we play the runners-up of their group in the quarter-finals. It could be them, it could be France or Argentina; the stakes suddenly rose last night. There will be no easy match, no matter who we play.”
“Wayne Smith said midweek that he expected the two teams to move in different directions from last week – the All Blacks on the way up and the Irish on the way down. Well, he got that completely wrong. The reality of the result is that Ireland have only themselves to blame. Ireland’s game on a wet day should have been to kick, bustle and hustle by bringing their forwards into the game. They did the exact opposite.”
“All Blacks 27. Chances of glory if we play like this? 0. The Irish, with their best available 15 on the track , showcased their main inadequacy, an inability to turn pressure into points. Ireland’s cause wasn’t helped by their inane tactic of running the ball from inside their own half in Dublinesque conditions. The Irish tried to crack the All Blacks defence three times in the first 14 minutes and each time ended with a knock-on and an All Blacks scrum.”
“The All Blacks were fortunate to win both tests, although I still don’t think they would have lost either if push came to shove. Ireland pressurised them, but they weren’t clinical enough. Well as the Irish did, you’d have to ask how would they do if a real All Black team turned up?”
“Graham Henry labelled this test as something of a trial and it was a trial all right — a trial of the All Blacks’ mettle and endurance. The Irish clearly misplaced the script, because history told us the All Blacks were supposed to win this in a canter.”
“The conditions helped Ireland and they played as well as they could without ever really threatening to win it. It was good for New Zealand, good that they had to battle for victory. Ireland have come on a lot, but they’re still not good enough to beat us.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
