We’ll always remember the one to forget

THIS is not the way it was meant to be.

When Vincent Clerc spoiled the party on the very first outing in Croke Park three years ago France had dominated the fixture for some time and a win for them was not entirely unexpected. With England looming large on the horizon within a fortnight there were more nourishing and historically significant fish to fry and Ireland duly delivered.

Saturday’s defeat against Scotland with President McAleese poised with silverware in the Hogan Stand has left a very hollow feeling. Unfortunately, in terms of redemption, the door is now closed. Croke Park may never see an Irish rugby side in action in a Six Nations championship again. For a trophy that for some reason has become undervalued in certain quarters, failing to secure another Triple Crown has left a deep sense of disappointment and frustration that can only now be arrested over the next few months by a positive showing from Munster and Leinster in Europe.

Scotland delivered what they had threatened to do in the Millennium Stadium against Wales a few weeks ago and the frailties that surfaced in Ireland’s games against France, Wales and England in terms of possession and missed place kicks finally came home to roost.

From the outset Ireland approached this game as if they were preparing for their next outing against the Barbarians in Thomond Park in June. Having encouraged this team to express themselves and cut loose, if anything they were too adventurous and neglected to put the foundations in place first with a solid set piece. The clinical edge that was so apparent off limited opportunity in the earlier outings was missing and replaced with hesitancy and uncharacteristic handling errors.

Right from the off, Ireland created problems for the visitors out wide and sought to play Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls into the game as much as possible. Yet despite a super try from Brian O’Driscoll (despite a forward pass from Jonny Sexton) as early as the 11th minute, Ireland had the appearance of a team whose heads were in the wrong place. Perhaps all the talk of a fifth Triple Crown in seven years shifted their focus and there is a clear lesson there, especially for the younger brigade, that if you’re mental focus is not what it should be at international level, you’ll be punished, even against teams of inferior quality.

What was also transparent from the off was that Scotland desperately wanted something from this championship. Ireland’s level of intensity was not anywhere near where it should have been and once again the team displaying far greater physicality at the breakdown caused Ireland endless problems with the back row of John Barclay, John Beattie and Kelly Brown winning the battle against Ireland’s Lions trio.

Struggling in the possession stakes throughout the tournament, the saving grace for Ireland has been the lineout. Run with such spectacular efficiency it enabled them to camouflage problems elsewhere. That was until this highly-effective Scottish unit came to town. They were the first side to scoff at reputation with the towering second row pairing of Jim Hamilton and Alastair Kellock constantly challenging Ireland in the air. It is a long time since Ireland lost seven lineouts in a game and while Rory Best will receive warranted stick for his wayward throwing, that does a disservice to the Scottish lineout who read Irelands playbook well and constantly challenged in the air as opposed to on the ground.

THE biggest issue for me was the failure of the team leaders on the field to alter their approach and instead of constantly going wide, they needed to, but didn’t, take on the Scots up front and tie them in. They also needed to kick a bit more. The fact that this tactical sea change only happened after the half time break suggests that the call had to be made by the management. That is disappointing given how many experienced captains were on board. When Ireland started to maul with spectacular success early in the second half, the benefits were there for all to see with a series of penalties won and a Bowe try an immediate reward.

The other issue that impacted on the result was Sexton’s performance with the boot. His confidence has been affected by a very poor return of just five kicks from 15 – only one conversion from six and four penalties from nine attempts – in this tournament. A miserly return of 33% could not be tolerated and once he missed a relatively straight forward kick early in the second half it was only a matter of time before Ronan O’Gara was introduced. It was clear that when Ireland were awarded a further penalty minutes later the Irish management were attempting to get O’Gara on board before the kick. Unfortunately the fourth official was not as accommodating but it said everything about Sexton’s temperament that he nailed the kick even thought he knew it was to be his last action of the game.

I admire him for that and just like O’Gara had to get used to the introduction of David Humphreys off the bench at crucial times in tight games, Sexton will have to get his head around the fact that the battle for the No. 10 jersey will continue right up to the next World Cup. O’Gara was masterful when he came on but despite some outstanding kicks could not rescue a desperate situation.

On the day Scotland got their tactical approach spot on and played to the maximum of their ability. When guys like Graeme Morrison end up outplaying players of the calibre O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy, both of whom seemed to be carrying injuries, you know there is something seriously wrong. Their kicking game – with a twin assault platform through the siege gun boots of Hugo Southwell and Dan Parks – continually drove Ireland into retreat. By way of contrast Ireland kicked a miserly 29% of possession compared to over 50% in their previous outings.

One could only sit back and admire the contribution of the much maligned Parks who had an outstanding game even before his magnificent touchline penalty despite a disgraceful cacophony of hissing and boos from an unappreciative Irish audience.

PARKS has won the man of the match award in three of his four championship appearances after being surplus to requirements for Scotland’s opening assignment against France. I am sure that Glasgow Warriors now regret letting him go to Cardiff Blues. .

With demanding tests against New Zealand and Australia in June, this was a shattering way for Ireland to end a Six Nations championship which lacked serious quality and produced very few memorable games. The best team by far won the honours and France, notwithstanding a nervy and sub-standard performance against England are deserving champions. For Ireland, Declan Kidney’s famed man management skills will be required to get the show back on the road for that demanding sojourn down under in June as the focus for the Irish management now shifts to the World Cup.