From one mental examination to another for Ireland
STAR MAN: Man of the match Hugo Keenan is tackled by Dan Biggar and Josh Adams at Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
And… exhale.
Ireland head into a Test week against France with this bonus-point victory in Cardiff having earned them the breathing space to prepare with the clarity and confidence necessary to depose last season’s Grand Slam champions in Dublin this Saturday.
SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.
SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.
It is one of the rewards of a successful performance for though it was far from perfect, particularly in a shaky but ultimately resilient third quarter under the roof of the Principality Stadium, Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations campaign is up and running having bagged maximum points.
That was a return Andy Farrell would have bitten someone’s hand off to collect after a testing few days in which, having said Ireland’s preparations in the pre-championship build-up had been the best ever, the head coach then had both his first-choice scrum-half and tighthead prop, and then a Test centurion, fall by the wayside.
Consider also the absence of Lions centre Robbie Henshaw from the selection pool for an opening-round away day fraught with danger and the ghosts of both the 2015 World Cup quarter-final and the whole of 2019 might have begun to assemble in the dreams of anyone with even a fleeting knowledge of recent Irish rugby history.
Given the loss of so many frontline players eight years ago on the eve of that knockout clash, also in the Welsh capital, against Argentina, the enforced absence through injury of Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Furlong and veteran replacement Cian Healy from the ranks fed into the spectre of the same weekend four years ago. That was when Joe Schmidt’s world number one team pitched up at the Aviva Stadium after a powerhouse 12 months and were emphatically humbled by England, the first of several dominoes to fall from then until another last-eight exit in Japan.
That Ireland managed to banish those demons with consummate ease and at the same time not only end a decade-long, four-game Six Nations losing streak in Cardiff but also quieten a 73,391 crowd with a blistering opening salvo that delivered three tries – from Caelan Doris, James Ryan and James Lowe - in the first 20 minutes was nothing short of a masterclass by the men in green.
The Principality Stadium could easily have been added to Eden Park and Stade de France as a venue where Farrell’s men have come unstuck over the last 12 months, the team’s impressive development checked by a powerful team on home soil. For a while after half-time on Saturday as Ireland saw their 27-3 interval lead cut by a converted Liam Williams try on 45 minutes, they very nearly did.
Yet Ireland dug even deeper into their resources and unloaded a bench that steadied the ship and helped add the bonus-point try from Josh van der Flier in a nerveless endgame to give Farrell the momentum that is so vital in such a condensed and intense competition as the Six Nations. Even more so when it is France who are the next opponents.
“We know what an outstanding side they are and the challenges they are going to bring,” the Ireland boss said. “Getting off to a nice start allows you to focus the mind, recover and start the week properly, and build on our preparation of the last 12 days.”
The Irish players who faced the media in Portugal last week repeatedly referenced the work done by IRFU performance coach Gary Keegan in helping them prepare for the wall of noise that was awaiting in Cardiff from a crowd eagerly awaiting the impact returning head coach Warren Gatland would have on their heroes in red. Mission accomplished there but one suspects the sports psychologist will be deployed again this week as another mental challenge awaits in the form of the French.
Ironically, Ireland’s last victory over this weekend’s visitors came in the midst of that angst-ridden year of 2019 and Schmidt’s successor Farrell has yet to overcome Fabien Galthie’s men in three attempts. Last year’s trip to Paris proved an important staging post for his team as a slow start in the first big post-Covid away crowd had an overawing effect and Ireland, without injured captain Johnny Sexton, found themselves 10-0 down after six minutes.
That they clawed their way back into the contest before falling to a 30-24 defeat was admirable yet Farrell will demand better this time around, particularly in terms of mental strength.
“Being ourselves is the main thing, I think … Just playing our game,” he said before pre-empting France’s clash with Italy in Rome on Sunday.
“I think we’ll see that they’re just as dangerous on the break, they’ve got a strong set-piece and they’re going to be powerful and you need to hold your own line. Playing our own game is the main thing.
“I thought we didn’t attack the game (in Paris) like I know we can do in the first 15, 20 minutes of the game and we got ourselves back into the game and had a chance of winning so being ourselves from the start would help.”
There will be more than just a strong opening quarter required to end France’s 13-Test unbeaten run with Farrell outlining the areas he wants to see improve this Saturday.
“Obviously the discipline. Why was it so good in the first half, why was it so clinical? I thought at times what normally happens in and around that is that we get a little too desperate. I’m sure that they (the players) would say the same as well.
“But our attack got a little bit lateral at times. We tried to play things that weren’t on. It was good at times. Our defence was asked big questions of it from time to time and in the first-half they made a bit of inward ground on us there but I thought our goal line defence was outstanding.
“Our breakdown work was outstanding and getting us a load of penalties as far as them falling on the wrong side in the first half but then they were coming barging through time after time.
“A lot of good and a lot of improvement to do as well in most areas as you would expect. I thought our scrum was pretty aggressive in the first half, and we know what a threat they can be. Getting the consistency of our performance is key for next week.”
L Williams; J Adams, G North, J Hawkins, R Dyer (A Cuthbert, 68); D Biggar (O Williams, 67), T Williams (R Webb, 63); G Thomas (R Carre, 54), K Owens (S Baldwin, 60), T Francis (D Lewis, h-t); A Beard, A W Jones (D Jenkins, 60); J Morgan, J Tipuric (T Reffell, 54), T Faletau.
L Williams 65-75
H Keenan; M Hansen, G Ringrose, S McCloskey (B Aki, 60), J Lowe; J Sexton (R Byrne, 68), C Murray (C Casey, 64); A Porter (D Kilcoyne, 73), D Sheehan (R Herring, 73), F Bealham (T O’Toole, 60); T Beirne (I Henderson, 54), J Ryan; P O’Mahony (J Conan, 60), J van der Flier, C Doris.
Karl Dickson (England).
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