Gaffney: Backline working hard to cut out errors

IRELAND backs coach Alan Gaffney is confident his backline can cut out the mistakes that blighted the performance against the USA and come out battling in the Pool C showdown with Australia on Saturday.

Handling errors and poor decision-making on a wet evening in New Plymouth last Sunday cost Ireland possibly four tries and with it a valuable bonus point as the Eagles were beaten just 22-10 in the opening game for Declan Kidney’s side, the American try coming after an intercepted Gordon D’Arcy pass in the final minute.

There was a promise to put right the mistakes ahead of this weekend’s clash with the Tri-Nations champions at Eden Park and Gaffney yesterday declared the Irish backs were heading in the right direction to that end.

“We’re working very hard on our skill levels at training and putting the players under an enormous amount of pressure in making decisions under pressure, ” said Gaffney.

“I think we’ve got to understand in certain circumstances with the way the game is played now with shooters coming out of the line that we’ve got to be able to make decisions under pressure and in quick periods of time. And that doesn’t mean trying to push the pass and maybe a 50/50; maybe we’ve just got to go into contact and play from there.

“So it’s a decision-making process we’re putting the players under and we’re never always going to get it right but hopefully the closer we get to it, the better we’ll be.

Accuracy has been an issue for Ireland, not just last weekend but at the start of both the autumn internationals last year and this year’s Six Nations championship.

However Gaffney insisted the issue was just about preparing properly.

“I don’t think it’s anything deeper,” the Australian said. “The skill level of the players is very, very high. I can’t say it’s concentration levels. The performance is there and we’ve just got to eliminate those mistakes. It is keeping things simple. We’ve got to make sure we get our alignment right in those sorts of areas, instead of taking too much out of the ball, going too far into contact and creating too much pressure on the outside support players.

“They’re little areas we’re not quite getting right at the present time. It is not necessarily skill level itself but it is some of those decisions about taking the ball and putting too much pressure on the outside players. That is where a lot of the errors are coming.”