Let’s stop helping the opposition
Success in the opening game is everything in this competition and already the first visit of the French to the Aviva Stadium next Sunday looks set to decide Ireland’s fate.
If they play anything like they did in the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday, Ireland can forget about making any further impact on the championship. Ronan O’Gara can only pull off his Houdini act so many times.
Had Ireland faced any opposition other than Italy on the opening weekend, they’d have lost. Had Mirco Bergamasco managed to convert Luke McLean’s late try, things could have been even worse for Ireland as they would have required a try to win this contest. Bergamasco’s miss opened the door for O’Gara and he does not need a second invitation.
Tactically, once again, Ireland played into the opposition hands as they did when handing line-outs to the Springboks in the opening quarter of the first international game at the Aviva last November.
Ireland continue to explore the possibilities when keeping the ball in hand — and that is commendable — but it should not mean that tactical kicking becomes an optional extra.
Leinster play a very good off-loading game, but they intersperse with a solid kicking game. Only once in the opening half, other than free kicks or penalties, did Jonny Sexton kick for territory.
As I pointed out during the week, Italy are a better team without the ball and with Ireland seeking width at all times the Italians were lining up with relish, ready to smash them. Ireland played far too much of the gamebehind the gain line and their execution at vital times was poor. They did manufacture some good line breaks but Italy’s scramble defence was exceptional, Alberto Sgarbi’s miracle cover tackle on Sexton in the opening half typifying their commitment in the contact area.
Right from the start of the second half, Ireland changed their approach, with Sexton launching some magnificent spiral kicks that drove the Italians back. In the end, it’s the basics of the game that decide matches. Ireland’s crucial score two minutes into the second half was living proof of this. For once, Italy creaked at the line-out with a crooked throw and Ireland were awarded an attacking scrum. For the first time in the contest Mike Ross provided the perfect angle on the tight head side which facilitated a move launching Keith Earls off his wing. The net result was a try for Brian O’Driscoll.
The fact that Ireland were unable to kill off the game was due in no small measure to a mix of slack execution and poor decision-making. A dreadful pass from O’Driscoll to Fergus McFadden denied the debutant a certain try and Gordon D’Arcy made a bad decision minutes later in not passing to Earls when another try went a begging. D’Arcy had a poor game, making a series of uncharacteristic handling errors.
Once again the scrum was the focus of far too much attention from referee Romain Poite, with a total of nine free kicks or penalties awarded in total. Unfortunately, the fact that Italy were awarded seven of those – four penalties and three free kicks – tells a tale.
Cian Healy was in serious trouble against the Leicester powerhouse Martin Castrogiovanni while Ross was also involved in a ding-dong battle with Salvatore Perugini. In fairness to Ross, while under pressure at times, he fought in every scrum. He either stood up or went to deck but never backwards. I fear that without him Ireland’s scrum would have been in even more trouble and he has earned the right to start against France next week which, on Saturday’s evidence in Paris, will be another daunting task.
THE other issue that needs to be addressed is the balance in the back row. The trio that started on Saturday are all similar in style, all accomplished ball carriers. Unfortunately, all three were carrying in isolation and Sean O’Brien, who got through a mountain of great work, is learning that it is harder to smash through opponents at international level. If Ireland wish to pursue the offloading game, which they did quite well at times on Saturday, they need a link player of Shane Jennings’ ilk to provide a better mix. I was amazed that he was the only Irish replacement not to see any game time.
On the positive side, Earls and Luke Fitzgerald, two poor passes aside, showed up well, with Fitzgerald rock solid under the high ball and his positional play at full back was excellent. In addition, Donncha O’Callaghan fully justified Declan Kidney’s faith with a storming performance. However, the fact remains that Ireland are still unsure of the type of game they want to play; if they are, then their execution is still an issue. They just seem to lack conviction at present.
One has to commend the calm and decisive manner in which the players held their heads after McLean delivered what looked like the killer blow with just five minutes left. All they needed was field position.
When the Italians failed once again at the basics by knocking on at the restart, Ireland were offered the lifeline that O’Gara was only too happy to accept. What the game may have lacked in quality it certainly made up for with that intoxicating drama at the end.
Serious issues need to be addressed before the French arrive next weekend. They looked very impressive with the ball — scoring four excellent tries but vulnerable in defence — conceding three to a Scottish side that has had real problems in recent times scoring any. Ireland are capable of producing a lot better than what we witnessed in Rome but if they don’t deliver it soon then their championship aspirations are set to evaporate.
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