D’Arcy needs to convince today

DECLAN KIDNEY has rung the changes in the back-line.

He has hasn’t hesitated to make controversial switches throughout the Six Nations’ championship.

Sexton and O’Gara have tussled over the out-half berth.

Reddan, Stringer and O’Leary have all had a go at nine.

Andrew Trimble will be the fifth player to slot into the back three, with Luke Fitzgerald finally paying the price for his poor form.

In fact, the only area on the pitch that Declan Kidney’s dreaded axe hasn’t fallen on is Ireland’s long incumbent centre partnership.

Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll have been pivotal in so many of Ireland’s greatest victories and campaigns. The Leinster duo have featured as 12 and 13 for Ireland since 2004. They have forged the most enduring and effective centre partnership in international rugby. The introduction of D’Arcy at 12 was a departure from traditional Irish tactics.

Inside centres in Ireland were usually strong, powerful and direct. D’Arcy burst onto the scene in 2004 and he was different. Rather than attacking as a battering ram, D’Arcy had ability to find clear gaps in flailing defences.

Teams defending against Ireland have focused so much of their attention on O’Driscoll’s attacking prowess that space has been afforded in other areas. D’Arcy thrived on these opportunities and showed his ability to exploit gaps left by the opposition.

Since the 2000 season, Irish rugby had always relied on Brian O’Driscoll to provide an attacking spark in the back-line. D’Arcy’s ability to run intelligent lines added a new dimension to Irish back-line attack.

Ireland has relied on its two centres to score and create a multitude of tries. However the most impressive aspect of the D’Arcy-O’Driscoll partnership was their unyielding defence. Ireland’s greatest victories in the last 10 years were usually founded on a rock solid defensive performance. The two centres are usually the leaders in defence.

D’Arcy and O’Driscoll have always been comfortable defending the wide channels. When teams try to beat Ireland on the outside, they are inevitably hunted down by D’Arcy and O’Driscoll, pushing across or ‘wedging’ to use the defensive language.

Ireland has traditionally played a drift style defence with patience, communication and good decision making being the vital ingredients. D’Arcy and O’Driscoll have developed an almost telepathic understanding of how the other player defends.

Alan Gaffney, Ireland’s back-line consulting coach, always described 13 as the hardest position to play in defence. This is where all the decisions are made.

A good 13 has to decipher whether the opposition are attacking down the 13 channel or are they hitting wider around the 15 channel. Good attacks will send decoys at the outside centre, attempting to pull him wide or make him sit down on his heels. A momentary hesitation could result in a disastrous line-break.

Brian O’Driscoll doesn’t hesitate in defence. He waits and watches the developing attack, assessing the running lines and angles of the opposition and then he makes his call. It’s usually the right one. Brian O’Driscoll also relies on the call of his inside defender, Gordon D’Arcy, to reassure him that his inside shoulder is covered.

D’Arcy at 12, has a somewhat more straight-forward, but no less difficult job. Besides hunting Brian O’Driscoll’s inside, he has to own the 12 channel. Everything that comes down that road has to be knocked. He also has to protect his out-half and occasionally hit in from the outside in order to double-team big runners, aiming to steamroll the Irish out-half.

England’s attack is obvious, brutal and effective. Toby Flood attacks the line at pace and lays the ball off to his big runners. Nick Easter, Chris Ashton and Mike Tindall have done the damage for England so far in this Six Nations’ Championship.

By running off Flood in the inside channels they have forced the space. There is no sign that England have adjusted their attacking plan for their clash with Ireland today. Indeed they have added even more brawn to their back-line by replacing Tindall with the behemoth bulk of Matt Banahan.

The English have no doubt studied the tapes of the Irish match against the French. Their video analysts are sure to have identified D’Arcy’s costly missed tackle on Aurelien Rougerie as an inherent weakness in the Irish Defence.

Banahan will test the under-fire D’Arcy, who has had a mediocre Six Nations to this date. Declan Kidney’s back-line selection for today’s match must have been influenced by England’s direct attack.

D’Arcy remains in the starting line-up purely because there is no obvious replacement. Paddy Wallace’s refusal to distribute to Keith Earls when the tryline was beckoning was frustrating. He’s lucky not to lose his place on the bench to Luke Fitzgerald and was certainly not an option to replace D’Arcy.

The selection of Sexton ahead of O’Gara is surprising, seeing as the older out-half has impressed in every minute he has been allowed on the pitch. Kidney must believe Sexton will add an extra physical edge to Ireland’s defence and take some of the pressure off D’Arcy.

It’s unfortunate for O’Gara that D’Arcy’s shaky performances have resulted in his exclusion. But O’Gara has already shown that he can turn a game in Ireland’s favour when he has sprung from the bench.

Today’s match is surely a make-or-break for the current Irish centre partnership. The World Cup is looming and Declan Kidney needs a big performance from a man who has served at 12 with distinction so many times.

Otherwise. it will be time to rethink his centre options.