Kiss confident Irish will stop the Slam
In launching a guarded verbal assault on referee Jonathan Kaplan, and particularly touch judge Peter Allan, Kiss was still smarting over Mike Phillips’ score.
“We found their try difficult to take and how some of the systems of officialdom let us down,” he said.
“I think Dec (Kidney) and Brian (O’Driscoll) summed up the feelings of the squad perfectly on it already, but I think all we can do now is move on and look forward to this weekend.
“This group is especially good at picking out the positives from any situation and I expect we will do that this week. There are things we need to work on and it is about trying to combine all the good things from the last four games and pulling it all together to play England.”
He was happy with the team’s defensive display and complimented Kaplan on his management of the breakdown.
“While they (Wales) had good territory and got some penalties, which is inevitable in any international game, I felt our defence was always comfortable and we were really smart on how we defended the channels.
“We expected they would challenge in the wide channels and they got some leverage there, but we absorbed it well, adapted and scrambled to close them down when they looked dangerous.
“The guys talked about their belief in our defence and they showed that at the weekend and I was really happy with our completion rate, accuracy and ability to adapt to the situation. While the penalty count came down, the ref made the tackle area a good contest and we showed we are a team that as soon as the game and tackle hits the deck, we want the game to flow.”
But Kiss realises England will offer the biggest challenge to his defensive structure this year.
“They combine a balance of power and a sharp cutting edge. While the other teams asked us questions in one or two areas, I think England will ask those questions right across the park, whether that be around the rucks, in midfield or out wide.
“They also have the ability to mix it up, but it means that we have to be equally as sharp and put pressure on them in the right areas to ensure they have to think long and hard about where they want to attack.”
Irish prop Mike Ross wasn’t happy with the outcome but generally pleased with the performance of the Irish pack in limited set-piece action.
“I thought we went well,” he said, “and the set piece overall took another positive step forward.
“We talked about upping our concentration levels and the lineouts went really well. To come away with such a high return on our own ball and also nick one off what was a good Wales unit was great and is a testament to how much hard work Gert (Smal), Paul (O’Connell) and the rest of the boys put in to get that right.
“From my own perspective in the set piece, there were only a few scrums in the whole 80 minutes and I don’t think I have ever played in a game with so few of them.
“All three came from us holding them up in the tackle and forcing the turnover, something that Les (Kiss) has had us working hard on. We have to be our own harshest critics after that game and look at what we did do well and what we did not do well.”
And better is what Ireland need to be on Saturday, with Ross taking up the story.
“While we were gutted at the result and how that one decision for the Wales try had a big influence on the end score line, when we look back we can be both happy that we are putting ourselves in the position to win games but also disappointed that we did not keep the pressure on them to get that important result.
“In the other games this year, we may have scored more tries, but maybe we were not as tight in our discipline.
“We need to keep faith in what we are doing. Eventually all of those little jigsaw pieces that are in our control can fall into place. We have confidence that we can produce that big all-round performance that is in us.”
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