Barring Sheehan and Casey, Ireland have a clean bill of health for second Test

Irish defence coach Simon Easterby

Ireland defence coach Simon Easterby confirmed that all players, barring Dan Sheehan and Craig Casey, are available for selection for the second Test against the Springboks at Kings Park.

It’s good news as there were some question marks over the likes of centre Robbie Henshaw and fullback Jamie Osborne.

Henshaw’s mouthguard pinged after a hefty collision with Bok captain Siya Kolisi in the first half and he was substituted at halftime as a precaution. But Henshaw has since passed his concussion protocols.

“Yeah, everyone trained today, Heff (Dae Heffernan) and Doaky (Nathan Doak) came in and took part in the session. Everyone apart from Dan and Craig were available and training.

“There was a good reaction in training but we didn’t expect anything different from the lads.

“When you put in a performance that doesn’t match the levels the lads have put in across the last couple of seasons, then there is clearly disappointment. There is no better group to take responsibility for that, to get a second opportunity this weekend.” Defence was an area where Ireland were found out in the first half of the first Test, which the Boks won 27-20.

The Boks played with more width than before and while Ireland expected to see a more attacking approach from the home team, they didn’t adequately deal with it, especially in the first half of the Loftus clash.

“They put the ball into space which we anticipated but we didn’t deal with that as well as we should have done,” Easterby conceded.

“Sometimes a team will find a way to get into space, we didn’t shut that down in the way that we would normally do. There are plenty of fixes for that but essentially, we have to be better on both sides of the ball especially in the first half.

“As the game went on we grew massively into the game and we finished strongly. We will take a lot of confidence from that. You can’t give a side like South Africa the type of space that we allowed because they have too many quality players to put you under pressure and take advantage of that space.” 

Easterby put it down to losing collisions rather than any technical or tactical issues with the defensive system.

“If you lose a few collisions, you are on the back foot, it is a bit of a spiral of negativity,” Easterby said.

“You have to try and create something within that, whether that is the communication, whether that is individuals working within that working a little bit smarter and finding a way to find solutions.

“It is probably a combination of many things that we didn’t quite get right in that first 20 minutes when they got some decent gains from us.

“After halftime we fixed a lot of those things, and we were much more difficult to break down. I thought in the second half we were much better on both sides of the ball.” Although No 8 Caelan Doris admitted after the first Test that Ireland were a little surprised by the Boks’ width from first phase and that it was tricky to defend against, Easterby presented a picture of calm in the Ireland camp.

“I think the ability to play into that space, the width has always been there (for the Boks)," Easterby said. 

“They can play a couple of styles of game with their forward pack, the ability to win the gain-line and the collisions in (playing) a little bit tighter, “But they also have since we have been playing them over the last few years they have some backs that can play with space, play with footwork, have that kicking game and with Tony Brown’s inclusion that adds another dimension to the way they can attack.

“Like anything, you win the collision and it makes it easier for you to play a number of different ways. It’s harder when the ball is slower to play in that space earlier. We allowed them to gain front foot ball that gave them the opportunity to play through us, or play wider.

“When you win collisions in defence and when you’re able to create time in tackle and slow the speed of the ball up, it becomes more difficult for any team to put the ball in space. If they do that then, they’re doing on your terms as a defensive team, as opposed to their terms.

“We know that we can better in that area in making sure we defend off nine, but also that we defend wider out. Most teams in the world now are multi-faceted and you’ve got to be able to defend more than one way.”