Kelleher confident that 'small fixes' will suffice as Ireland turn towards Pumas

Small details could be explained with other words. Like minimal gains or ‘the one percents’ that we hear about so often in modern sport. If Ireland are off by just that amount in a handful of areas – lineout, discipline etc – then that leaves them miles off.

Fri, 15 Nov, 2024 - 07:06

Brendan O'Brien

Twelve minutes against Benetton, then 58 against the All Blacks. Fair to say so that Rónan Kelleher skipped a few of the usual acclimatising steps in between when facing New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium last Friday.

Picking up that ankle injury in Italy back at the start of October looked even then like awful timing. Not just for him but for an Ireland staff that was already working around Dan Sheehan’s long-term absence from his own injury.

All of that was compounded by the fact that Rob Herring was on his own journey back to full fitness and unable to play a single minute of rugby before coming on as Kelleher’s replacement in the first of the November internationals.

The Leinster man gave a good account of himself in open play in the end and, if the loss of a few lineouts compounded similar issues seen the last year or so, then it still made for a solid return after so long on the sidelines.

“It was okay, yeah,” he said. “Obviously I had the injury early on in the club season, which was disappointing, but a lot of work went in behind the scenes from the S&Cs and the physios to make sure I was back and was fit out there.

“It was a tough game, it was very physical and very physically demanding, yeah, so I was happy to get through it. For the most part the body felt good.”

Those lineout issues make for one of the more alarming aspects to the defeat seven days ago given we have seen this before going back to the Rugby World Cup last year when Andy Farrell’s side struggled time and again out of touch in France.

It’s a source of obvious concern given the bounty of scores that Ireland have scored off this facet of the game for a number of years now. The groans of the crowd each time one is lost and a potential attack with it has become too frequent a soundtrack.

There is no shortage of keen minds to work on this, assistant coach Paul O’Connell not least among them, but Kelleher is among those to stick to the same script when describing the issue as one needing a minor tune-up rather than an engine overhaul.

“It’s just small little fixes, us getting on the same page. We did a good bit of work [on Sunday] trying to fix small things. No, it is not trying to reinvent the wheel or anything. It is just small, minute details.”

Kelleher spoke of the volume of technical talk that has happened this week. Other have mentioned the honest truths that have spilled from lips in reaction to a performance that was light years off their best.

The fruits of all that will be seen on Friday night against Argentina.

“I suppose it is up to each individual to make sure that mentally you are in a good place. That includes bouncing into this week, no loss of enthusiasm really to get going for Friday night.

“Obviously it was very disappointing what happened last Friday but you can't dwell on it too long. You have to take the learnings and you have to be pretty clinical, I suppose, do your critical analysis on it.

"But you have to move on very quick because this game is coming around and, yeah, we need to put our best foot forward. So it is up to each individual to make sure you are in a good place.” Intentions are one thing but they don’t come unchallenged.

Argentina will be chasing a first ever win in Dublin at the eleventh attempt and they will go about it having claimed wins against France, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia this year. And the win against the All Blacks was secured in Wellington.

The mastermind behind all this is Felipe Contepomi who spent four years working at Leinster as backs coach while Kelleher was breaking through and establishing himself with the province so the Puma threat won’t be unfamiliar.

“They have some great players, some great attacking play. We have just been analysing them for the last two days but we know Felipe from Leinster and a bit of what he will bring. It is just about us and putting our plans in place to try and stop them on Friday night.”