Andrew Goodman: 'We have to be better around dropping our height into collisions so we’ve got 15 men on the field'

Ireland to capitalise on a strong first quarter of attacking pressure and then allowing themselves to be outgunned when shipping two yellow cards either side of half time.

SIZE DOESNT MATTER: Ireland will stick to the belief size does not matter as the defending Guinness Six Nations champions aim to rebound from their 42-27 humbling at the hands of France against Italy this Saturday. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Ireland will stick to the belief size does not matter as the defending Guinness Six Nations champions aim to rebound from their 42-27 humbling at the hands of France against Italy this Saturday.

Despite the consensus outside the camp following their Grand Slam-ending loss to new title favourites France in Dublin last weekend was a victory for the visitor’s power and pace, Ireland will travel to Rome on Thursday believing it is not the dimensions of a player that count, rather what he does with it.

Attack coach Andrew Goodman on Tuesday said the Irish as a team fell short in that regard, on both sides of the ball, failing to capitalise on a strong first quarter of attacking pressure and then allowing themselves to be outgunned when shipping two yellow cards either side of half time. With the home side a man down, the French rolled out their seven forwards replacements and turned on the afterburners, scoring 34 unanswered second-half points to come from 13-8 down to romp to a bonus-point victory and take control of the 2025 championship heading into the final weekend.

“I look at our forwards and I think we’ve got some pretty good power through our team at the moment as well,” Goodman countered at the suggestion Ireland had been beaten by power and pace. “It’s just … we probably didn't utilise it well enough with the variety we showed inside the 22.

“There’s a number of little different options or variety we could have used in our attack to give our big lads more energy on the ball. One of them was our backs stepping up a little bit more.

“They (France) have an amazing spread of speed and power and when you’re a little bit on the wrong side of its collisions like we were, we weren’t winning the collisions, their speed of ball, they’re hard to stop when they get that speed of ball. So a lot of it was around making sure we get time in tackle and defence and we're a bit more dominate with our first-up collisions.” 

For Ireland, Saturday’s demoralising loss was more about a failure to ability to play to their capabilities and the numbers of bodies on the field rather than the size of them.

“I think around that first 20 minutes and the start of the game, the intent we had and the way we managed the flow to get into the 22 to give us the opportunities, yeah, we were just a little bit off when we got inside the 22 in terms of our decision-making and variety that we had there.

“Coming out after half time, once we had a full quota of men back on the field it looked like us and we looked our best at the start of that half. We had an attacking lineout where we got two carries over the gainline, we were playing on top of them, we managed to get a penalty, we were in the corner. We're driving, we’re scoring, at that stage of the game, at 47, 48 minutes we felt pretty good.

“But off the back of that, for whatever reason, we didn't quite nail our next exit and our next defensive set, which led to another yellow card and it’s another massive momentum swing against us. So when they get their flow like that and they're getting speed of ball, with 14 men it’s a very tough day.” 

Goodman did not spare Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash, whose indiscipline he believes cost Ireland dearly and he also referenced the previous round’s 20-minute red card for Garry Ringrose against Wales.

Lock McCarthy was called out for “a stupid penalty” when tugging on the collar of Thomas Ramos as France threatened the Irish line in the first half with Goodman adding: “We can't be having that. He knows he let down the team there. He was the first to put his hand up.” 

Nash and Ringrose were punished for head contacts on opponents with the Ireland assistant coach totting up the actual cost of the three dismissals in terms of self-inflicted scoreboard pressure.

“They have been a big issue, I think 35 points, the last two games when we’ve had (during yellow card periods)… something close to it anyway. So it’s definitely something we’ve addressed as a team around those avoidable penalties.

“Obviously Joe’s one, but Nashy, we have to be better around dropping our height into collisions so we’ve got 15 men on the field.” 

Ringrose is set to return from the one-match suspension served for his high hit on Welshman Ben Thomas while Goodman said James Lowe and Ronan Kelleher are both “looking pretty good” to return in Rome, as are Mack Hansen and Tadhg Furlong.

Lowe had a back spasm in the pre-game warm-up last Saturday, while Hansen had a quad injury and Kelleher missed out due to a neck issue. Furlong, meanwhile has finally overcome the calf and hamstring issues that have sidelined since the eve of the campaign and Goodman confirmed on Tuesday that Ireland’s first-choice tighthead prop had been cleared for selection.

Of Lowe and Kelleher, the attack coach said: "They were both out there on the field today running around, so it's looking pretty good. They're both making good progress.

“Tadhg was back training. He's been involved with the team the last little bit but was out there and fully involved today. Obviously Garry is back from his suspension as well and Mack Hansen is available."