Ireland assistant coach John Fogarty: Risks with 7-1 bench split would spook us

Fielding seven forwards replacements and just one back, as the French are thought likely to do for a second fixture in succession, would be a risk too far according to Fogarty.

SPOOKY: National Scrum Coach John Fogarty during an Ireland training session. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Ireland will not follow South Africa and France down the road to a 7-1 bench split between forwards and backs and the 20-minute red card law trial currently in place during this Guinness Six Nations campaign has confirmed their mistrust of the strategy.

Ireland face the French in Dublin this Saturday for what has long been seen as the pivotal fixture of the 2025 the championship. Simon Easterby’s side may be the only team left capable of winning the Grand Slam but France and England will have a chance to end their bid for a historic Six Nations three titles in a row on the final day if they lose at Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Fielding seven forwards replacements and just one back, as the French are thought likely to do for a second fixture in succession, would be a risk too far in that regard, according to assistant coach John Fogarty, who cited Ireland’s second-round opponents Scotland’s game ending clash of heads between wing Darcy Graham and fly-half Finn Russell’s as a prime example of the gamble involved.

Ireland deployed a six-two bench during last year’s run to back-to-back titles, against France, Wales and England but have stuck to a traditional five-three split through the opening three rounds this time around.

They were grateful for it last time out against Wales when Garry Ringrose’s sending off on a 20-minute red card allowed them to bring on Bundee Aki in addition to their half-back substitutes.

Aki’s contribution helped the Irish turn an 18-10 deficit into a 27-18 victory Rassie Erasmus’s Springboks were the first to break the mould and rely on a single backline player on the bench, using the configuration on their run to the 2023 World Cup, while Fabien Galthie faced Italy in round three of this year’s championship with scrum-half Maxime Lucu held in reserve and the French relying on the versatility of starters Antoine Dupont and Thomas Ramos to fill any gaps if a second back went down.

“They’ve a lot of faith in their backs to stay fit,” Fogarty said of France.

“We know they’re interchangeable in their back positions, they can play, and they’ve got some very useful forwards, so you can understand it.

“Were they trying it out for us (against Italy)? Maybe I don't know. It doesn't change our plans a huge amount. We haven't overly discussed it. When we played South Africa in the World Cup, there were the same questions around, what do you think? How do you manage it?

"We've got a very fit group of forwards that we have a lot of confidence in and we've got real change-up as well. So, you know, we're confident in the way we're selecting the side.

"And, yeah, we haven't spoken a huge amount about 7-1.”

Fogarty agreed Ringrose’s dismissal was a reminder of the risks of the 7-1 option, adding: “It would spook us. It’s something we wouldn’t do. We don’t necessarily want to go there with a 7-1 for those reasons.

“You saw against Scotland, you lose two players to a head collision early in the game. They went six-two for that game and it hurt them… It happens during a game, these things happen where you lose players, and it becomes very difficult then to play the game the way you want to play it.”

If things go your way, the impact of a seven-man “bomb squad” can be a devastating weapon, particularly with France’s arsenal of big-bodied specimens and scrum coach Fogarty laid out what it will take Ireland to counteract the implications of such physical barrage across 80 minutes.

"We need to be accurate in our maul, height becomes a really important factor for us as well around our carries, our breakdown, our maul, our scrum, all those pieces, we need to be really accurate and we need to be at our height.

"We feel we're as physical as any team. We're a big side, we're powerful, we need to be smart in how we're doing things and that leads to nice accuracy. So there's a focus on those things throughout the week.”