Toner: Ireland will find leaders to step up in lineout

So much has been written about the loss of Paul O’Connell to the Ireland cause in terms of the former captain’s leadership, that it is easy to forget there will also be a direct impact on the Irish lineout.

The veteran lock has gone and Joe Schmidt’s Ireland have to make do without their former lineout leader, “probably the best lineout forward in the world”, according to the head coach last week.

As O’Connell’s former partner in the Irish second row for the past three years, no-one recognises that more than Devin Toner but the Leinster lock, 29, is more than happy to assume responsibility for the lineout and will willingly lead his unit into their championship opener against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“Obviously there’s a lot being said about Paulie being gone and that there’s a few people that need to stand up and take leadership.

“For myself and Donnacha (Ryan), we need to stand up and take control of the lineout situation and just try to get on the front foot because obviously everyone knows that the heart of the game is the set-piece and if we don’t get that right, we’re at a pretty big disadvantage.”

Since O’Connell left the World Cup final pool game against France in Cardiff last October on a stretcher to prematurely bring his Test career to an end on his 108th appearance in the green jersey, Toner, with 31 caps, has been aware of the need to assume extra responsibility in his role as Ireland’s lineout leader.

“I think I pretty much knew coming into this that obviously with Paulie being gone I’d need to take a lot more on myself. Leadership-wise, lineout wise, I needed to take a lot more onus that way. I suppose in the actual game, not too much, I don’t think. I think all you need to do if you’re calling the lineout is to keep calm and keep your head.”

With no O’Connell, Johnny Sexton and Peter O’Mahony, as well as the suspended Sean O’Brien, Ireland struggled to overcome those losses in the World Cup quarter-final. Argentina capitalised on a slow start and were deserving winners in Cardiff, leaving Irish players to experience the despair and hurt of defeat that still lingers four months later.

“We’re trying to forget about it, but we can’t really,” Toner said. “Wednesday was our defensive session and in the meeting beforehand we had been looking at Wales and some of the stuff that went wrong against Argentina.

Pointing to an error-strewn opening quarter hour which allowed the Pumas to jump into a 17-0 lead, Toner is adamant Ireland will not be able to repeat the same mistakes against Wales this weekend.

“A lot of it was to do with our discipline, a lot to do with our defensive shape. We just didn’t get it right. Last year, for example, we went 12-0 down in first 12 minutes. Getting on top of that first 20 minutes is huge and not letting them get that head start. For us, one of the biggest things is discipline and not giving away stupid penalties, not doing stupid stuff.”