Wrestling glory and frustration
At the end of two enthralling contests, despite a combined total of 19 tries, that margin remained exactly the same.
Twenty-seven point victories for both France and Ireland insured the Six Nations trophy stayed in Paris for a second successive year.
From an Irish perspective this year’s championship can be summarised in two words “if only”.
If only Ireland had won the last restart of the game against France in Croke Park; if only Italy hadn’t scored at the death in Rome; if only television match official Simon McDowell didn’t award the last gasp try by France against Scotland last Saturday.
Rarely have I seen such a deflated Irish support as that which retreated from Rome on Saturday evening on the back of such a spectacular Irish performance.
Never before has an Irish team defeated any international opposition by 8 tries to 2 and found itself left in limbo. The try at the death by Roland De Marigny from a position where Ireland refused a kickable penalty was the most frustrating of the day. In your heart you just knew it would be costly.
Fast-forward two hours when Scotland prop Euan Murray scored with four minutes remaining and it looked as if our Celtic cousins had gotten us out of jail. A winning margin of 20 points for the French would not be enough. Alas, it was a false hope and the controversial injury time try by Olivier Milloud meant that Ireland finish as the bridesmaids again this year.
In analysing last Saturday’s game one must first give due credit to the Italians. Despite being forced to start without five first choice players in props Andrea Lo Cicero and Martin Castrogiovanni, back row dynamo Mauro Bergamasco and influential three quarters Gonzalo Canale and Andrea Masi, they remained competitive.
The question before kick-off, particularly in the light of the missing players, was did the Italians feel they had achieved enough from this year’s tournament? After 60 minutes one might have said yes as Ireland led by 34 points with the Italians on their knees.
At that stage their defence was in tatters and Ireland were scoring spectacular tries at will. Under those circumstances, to outscore Ireland by 12 points to 5 in the last 20 minutes was an amazing achievement.
The key moment for Ireland was the try scored by Gordan D’Arcy on the stroke of half time despite the fact that the movement contained two forward passes. Psychologically extending the lead from one point to eight at the break was massive. The fact that Ireland’s tormentor in chief in the opening period Ramiro Pez, injured his shoulder when defending that move also proved decisive. His second half replacement Andrea Scanavacca lacked the composure and authority of the figure he replaced.
That opening half produced one hell of a dogfight. As anticipated, Italy targeted the Irish set piece and created all sorts of difficulties. The Irish lineout was unsure from the moment they lost the opening throw and on too many occasions the delivery was so laboured that Peter Stringer was placed under huge pressure.
The most worrying aspect of the opening half was the pressure imposed on the Irish scrum. On an excellent day for running rugby, this Irish back line was capable of scoring from first phase — D’Arcy’s try being the perfect example. However time and again Denis Leamy was forced to pick on the retreat.
When the going was toughest early on two Irish men stood head and shoulders over the rest. In Shane Horgan and David Wallace, Ireland had two players capable of wreaking havoc, particularly from broken play.
The opening score of the second half was vital and the fact that it was scored by Ireland’s Girvan Dempsey put the result beyond doubt. From that moment on the contest became a question of how many points Ireland could rack up in their quest for championship glory. Ireland’s performance in that third quarter was mesmerising. The interplay and offloading between backs and forwards was of the highest quality and some of the tries scored were reminiscent of the All Blacks at their best. The skill levels were awesome.
At that stage the Italian defensive system suffered a complete overload and at times Ireland were able to generate two and three man overlaps. Incredibly they outscored the Italians by 26 points to nil during that period.
Quite what happened in the last quarter remains a mystery. Ireland were forced into defensive mode and played the majority of that period in their own half. Ultimately, it cost them the championship. The fact that it coincided with Brian O Driscoll’s departure was no co-incidence. With him and Paul O’Connell on the sideline, Ireland made some poor decisions.
Despite the resounding defeat Italy had their heroes, none better than captain Marco Bortolami, veteran scrum half Alessandro Troncon and outstanding No. 8 Sergio Parisse. Some of their early hits were reminiscent of the Samoans at their best, Parisse on Dempsey and Pez on Wallace particularly bone crunching.
Apart from Horgan and Wallace, Ireland had many others who stepped up to the mark. D’Arcy was worthy of his “man of the match” award while O’Driscoll, Dempsey and Denis Hickie all had outstanding games. Once again Ronan O’Gara pulled all the strings and despite a rare 55% kicking return from him has had an outstanding championship, scoring 82 points including tries in 4 of the 5 games.
The overriding feeling remains that a Grand Slam and a championship were there for the taking. The failure to beat Scotland by more than a point and a double whammy of injury time tries by eventual winners France proved the difference between glory and frustration. If only….
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