A bit of Irish madness, please
While most professional teams spend hours perfecting their set-piece game, New Zealand place their primary focus on winning the battle in the contact area.
Every New Zealand player, regardless of whether he is a front row forward or a winger is made acutely aware of his role at the breakdown — when to commit and clean out bodies, when to stand off and defend or how they can contribute to winning vital turnover. No side in the game at present have a better ratio of converting turnovers into points on the board.
If they sense an opposition player in a compromised position in contact which could result in turnover possession, they flood that area immediately. They have a calling system in place so that when the smell of a turnover presents itself, they are put on red alert for a counter-attack. You will never see them kick away possession in that instance unless their try line is compromised.
Australia finally beat them in Hong Kong because they competed ferociously in this sector and in David Pocock, they had a forager on the deck able to challenge and compete on an equal footing with Richie McCaw. The key to stifling the All Blacks is to match that ruthlessness in the contact area, commit sufficient numbers to slow their delivery and drive beyond the ball.
The bottom line is that New Zealand want to play at pace at all times. On the flip side their outstanding back row of McCaw, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read do everything, not always within the confines of the law, to ensure that you have no opportunity to operate at a similar tempo.
Ireland were bullied in the contact area against South Africa and Samoa. If that is allowed to happen again today then it will be curtains for Declan Kidney’s men. The withdrawal of Brad Thorn due to a hamstring strain is a major plus as he is their chief enforcer. Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip, Donncha O’Callaghan and David Wallace must make them feel that loss or yet another opportunity to down the colours of the All Blacks will go a begging.
THIS Irish team must have a clear vision of how they propose to compete and win today’s test. At present they seem to be falling between two stools. While attempting to kick less and retain possession for longer periods, Ireland became slaves to something that was clearly not working against South Africa and Samoa, failing also to react to circumstances and weather conditions in the heat of battle.
Jonathan Sexton and Eoin Reddan, who both started against the Springboks, have been offered a vote of confidence by Declan Kidney for this key test. As the half-back pairing, they must now dictate the approach and make the key decisions of when to pass and when to kick. Ireland need to scatter the All Blacks early in the game by controlling the tempo as England cleverly did in Twickenham two weeks ago. This was orchestrated from scrum-half by Ben Youngs, who constantly kept New Zealand on the back foot with a series of tap and goes from free kicks and penalties. England were full of energy, were far more dynamic and direct than anything we have seen from Ireland recently. We must learn from this. Across the three quarters, Ireland are better equipped than England to make it work.
Sexton will control proceedings but be mindful that if you kick to the back three of Mils Muliaina, Hosea Gear and Corey Jane, it’s imperative that at least one Irish body arrives at the same time as the ball; otherwise they will skin you.
Ireland need to mix their game and not be afraid to re-launch their lineout maul. This will stop the New Zealand forwards from standing out and occupying the space that Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy need to attack. Most of all they need to reproduce the bit of madness that is part and parcel of all Irish teams when facing a touring side. Munster’s young guns showed once again on Tuesday night just what can be achieved when you constantly force the opposition onto the back foot and arrive in numbers. New Zealand need to be on the receiving end of that type of pressure today.
FOR whatever reason, Ireland have lost their creative spark. How often in this November series have we seen a player stand up an opposition midfield back by use of clever footwork, get his hands in behind and have options to offload to supporting runners? I think the team has become fixated with operating off pre-rehearsed moves and the flash of spontaneity that you regularly see from Tommy Bowe with the Ospreys, or Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy for Leinster, is absent.
Today’s back-line is liberally sprinkled with players who line out regularly for Leinster and as we saw in their recent Heineken cup game against Racing Metro, that their ability to strike from broken play is alive and well. That creative streak has gone missing when playing for Ireland.
The only time we have seen it of late is when chasing lost causes as happened against New Zealand last June and against the New Zealand Maori on that tour. The same thing happened in clawing back two tries against South Africa two weeks ago. Ireland seem to get to a stage in games when they release the shackles and just go for it. The problem is, it is usually happens too late.
As with all good teams, New Zealand make things look easy. This comes from a deep understanding of how to exploit space, to fix defenders with the clever use of decoy runners and the confidence to offload, more often than not on the blind, in the certainty that support runners will be there.
Ireland look a little short in confidence in attempting a similar approach but the frustrating thing is they have the personnel to do it. They must produce it from the off today. The certainty is that New Zealand will score at least two tries. The question remains, how many are Ireland capable of scoring.
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