Wallace: maul a vital tool for Italian job

DAVID Wallace hopes the rolling maul can still play some part in Ireland’s bid for success in the RBS Six Nations Championship this year, even though law changes make it largely ineffective in the modern game.

Munster and Ireland gloried in the successful use of the maul for over a decade, but Wallace insists it shouldn’t become redundant now: “It’s a bit unusual now in that it can be brought down so easily, and as a result of that teams aren’t using it as much anymore. But I do think there still is a role for it, especially if it is done right.

“You certainly can’t be preoccupied with using it, which is probably a good thing in that it frees up the game a bit more, but it’s even more of an art form now.

“Of late we haven’t spent much time practising it, certainly not much in the last six months — the beauty of that is that you’re not getting stood on! However, we are going back to it because we probably went too far away from it. You still need to set platforms, still need to drag teams in to get your shape right even if you’re not going to maul 20 metres down the pitch.

“Mentally, a good maul is hugely important for the team and undoubtedly very hard for the other team because it was so difficult to stop. It was something we were very good at but we have had to change, adapt and try, if we are going to do it, to do it in a way that still works.”

A week ago at Croke Park Wallace failed to capture the limelight to the extent he has so often in the recent past for province and country, but he wasn’t perturbed after analysing how adept France were at man-marking.

“Personally, I didn’t get much chance to attack; the French defended very well, but Jamie (Heaslip) was given a bit of room and made some of his own. You’ll never get all of the three back row forwards getting a lot of ball in hand, but we were quite happy to see Jamie do what he did so well.”

Wallace believes that last week’s victory was meant to be, given the unfinished business from 2007, when a last-minute defeat cost Ireland the Grand Slam and Championship titles.

The flanker also agreed with Ronan O’Gara’s assessment last week that the feel-good factor in the camp was evident from early on.

“It was kind of unusual in that we felt we were doing exactly what the coaches wanted us to do in training, that what we were doing came quite naturally; everything just seemed to click for us.

“Before some matches you never have an idea how you might go, but there was definitely a good gut feeling about this one. I think it had something to do that we owed France something in return for two years ago, but also that we knew we couldn’t afford to be complacent against a team like that.”

Wallace added that the feel-good factor in this current Irish camp goes back to a series of meetings with management and coaches over Christmas.

“Lots of issues were discussed, from structures down to possible game plans against different opponents. There was a lot of input from the players, we tinkered with a few things and everyone left that camp feeling comfortable about what was expected of us and about the direction we wanted to go. I think we just kicked on from there in the last couple of weeks.”

Two years ago Ireland demolished Italy in Rome on the last day of the season but the Championship was snatched away from them in the dying seconds of the France-Scotland game in Paris.

Ireland watched that French game on television and could only wonder what might have been had they not conceded a late try to Italy, allowing France to make up the crucial points difference.

This time around, the pressure isn’t so great.

“The game two years ago was unusual in that it wasn’t as close as you would expect against Italy. As far as this is concerned, it’s totally different and we’re going to Rome in expectation of a very tough game. We’re happy with the win over France but it is only one step forward.

“Italy will be a much tougher proposition than they were against England last week. They’ll have learned from it and I think their refusal to cave in when the result was going against them showed how determined they can be. We know how physical they are, how they like to take scalps and we certainly don’t want to be the ones this year.”

Ireland, he suggested, won’t be lulled into any false sense of security on the basis of one victory.

“We can’t look too far ahead, we can be pleased with the French result but simply cannot afford to relax. This week is another hurdle and we will be treating Italy with the same respect we would give to any opposition. We haven’t set our goals too high, it’s very much work in progress thing, one game at a time.”