Shaking off indiscipline now crucial as Ireland go in search of 80-minute performance
LEADING THE PACK: Ireland captain Caelan Doris. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho
There is still much for Ireland to put right after a couple of inconsistent November performances but Caelan Doris believes fixing his side’s current disciplinary issues can go a long way to making that happen against Fiji on Saturday afternoon.
Having conceded 13 penalties to both New Zealand in a 23-13 defeat and Argentina in a 22-19 victory on consecutive Friday nights at Aviva Stadium, reducing the count to single figures is top of the priority list for Andy Farrell’s much-changed Ireland team in this third game of the Autumn Nations Series.
The Fijians have arrived in Dublin smelling blood following their successes against Wales and Spain after seeing their next opponents fail to trouble the scoreboard in each of their second halves this month.
Yet the Ireland captain is confident that shaking off indiscipline, which against Argentina also saw both Finlay Belham and Joe McCarthy sin-binned, will help the team regain their attacking fluency after half-time.
Ireland were sparkling in attack against the Pumas in the first 40 minutes, scoring two tries inside the first five minutes and adding a third on 32 minutes while Tadhg Beirne had another ruled out for an incomplete grounding while a Jack Crowley drop goal helped them to a 22-9 interval lead.
Allowing for some hard-nosed defending from both the All Blacks and Argentines in those second halves, the skipper and No.8 denied Ireland’s failures to score were a symptom of a misfiring attack.
“I think it’s more the discipline,” Doris said. “We had five consecutive penalties against New Zealand in the second half in that period and that gave them a ton of momentum, possession, field position. Against Argentina, between the 35th and the 65th we gave away a number of penalties as well. They had nine lineouts, we didn’t have any.
“So it’s largely down to our discipline, when it’s coming and the effect of it more than anything to do with our attack, I believe.”
Cut down the penalties, then, and Ireland’s attacking fluency should return, while another double-digit count against them would be unacceptable.
“Yeah, definitely. It’s something we’ve spoken about a lot over the last couple of weeks. There’s no panic buttons being pushed but it’s just about not being desperate. I gave away two last week which were just sloppy offsides. There’s an onus on everyone to be a little bit more focused, a little bit sharper there. And take no chances.”
That certainly chimes with Andy Farrell’s assessment, the head coach calling for better discipline against Fiji, as well as “more continuity in how we play, which leads to more pressure being put on the opposition constantly".
“The same intent we had in the first half (against Argentina), the same desire we had in the last five minutes to see out the game. All in all, there's a mixture of things.”
Ireland’s cohesion will also be under scrutiny following Farrell’s decision to make seven changes and two positional switches from the previous week in the starting side to face the Fijians.
Besides the tourists’ weapons from their multi-talented players, it could be a bloke named Bert who poses the biggest threat to proceedings on home soil come kick-off time.
With Storm Bert set to hit Ireland in a meteorological sense, Doris accepts his team’s gameplan may have to be adapted to the potentially difficult conditions.
“Possession, territory become a lot more important. The breakdown, set-piece, discipline again, it’s going to be even more important. Building a score, if you go two scores clear then the opposition has to play the game a different way and start forcing things a little bit which will be tricky in the conditions.
“It’s still a little bit of unknown how it’s going to be. It’s supposed to be lashing overnight, whether it will be greasy or actually raining during the game I’m not sure but it’s definitely a factor we’ll have to consider.”
Whatever the weather, Ireland need to continue building towards that long-awaited 80-minute performance.
J Osborne (Leinster); M Hansen (Connacht), R Henshaw (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Stockdale (Ulster); S Prendergast (Leinster), C Casey (Munster); A Porter (Leinster), G McCarthy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht); J McCarthy (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster); C Izuchukwu (Ulster), J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster) – captain.
R Kelleher (Leinster), T O’Toole (Ulster), T Clarkson (Leinster), I Henderson (Ulster), C Prendergast (Connacht), C Murray (Munster), C Frawley (Leinster), S McCloskey (Ulster).
V Karawalevu; J Wainiqolo, W Nayacalevu - co-captain, J Tuisova, P Loiganimasi; C Muntz, F Lomani; E Mawi, T Ikanivere - co-captain, L Tagi; M Vocevoce, T Mayanavanua; R M Derenalgi, K Salawa, E Canakaivata.
S Matavesi, H Hetet, S Tawake, S Turagacoke, A Tuisue, P Matawalu, V Botitu, S Maqala.
Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
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