'It’s has to start showing, doesn’t it?' - Andrew Goodman admits Ireland need to start performing

NOT SO GOOD, MAN: Assistant coach Andrew Goodman says Ireland need to start improving. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.

Attack coach Andrew Goodman admits that the time has come for Ireland to transfer the calibre of work they insist is being done on the training ground to the Aviva Stadium grass after two underwhelming efforts in recent weeks.

Andy Farrell’s side fell away in the final quarter against the All Blacks in Chicago then rescued another underwhelming effort against Japan at home last week with a flurry of late tries in that closing 20 minutes to claim a 31-point win.

Neither performance or result has impressed. Quite the opposite. The suspicion is that this is a team whose graph is pointed in the wrong direction, with claims from camp that training has been top of the class starting to sound hollow.

“It has to start showing, doesn’t it? We’re into our fourth week now together and there have been some good moments through the training weeks but, as a team, we have talked about the need to transfer that to the field this Saturday.

"We can’t be talking about the training going really well. We all know it is about what’s on Saturday. Well aware of that.

“The competition has been good because it has been competitive. There is genuine intensity there. There are 33, 35 guys, depending on who’s fit, going at it, wanting to impress the coaching group to get opportunities on a Saturday.

"The great thing is we don’t name on a Monday so there is belief if you train well there is a chance to play Saturday.”

Ireland have Mack Hansen back in harness after a foot injury which saw him sit out the first two Tests of the window. Stuart McCloskey has also taken a full part in training after he was unavailable for the Japanese encounter.

Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier have taken a reduced role in sessions to date but both are also expected to be available for the visit of Joe Schmidt’s Australian side to Dublin. Ireland welcome the world champions South Africa a week later.

Schmidt’s Wallabies lost to Italy in Udine last week, a catastrophic result for their hopes of claiming a top six ranking place before the World Cup 2027 draw is held because, with six pools this time, a place in the top half-dozen is a huge advantage.

The Aussies have struggled to just five wins in 13 Tests this year but they remain a dangerous outfit sprinkled with talent and, in Schmidt, they have a head coach with a decade’s worth of knowledge on the Irish players and systems.

“We just know that they'll have a great plan coming into the weekend,” said Goodman. “We know he has a great mind, this will be a big game for Joe coming back to Dublin, it always is. It was a competitive, tough affair last year and we expect no different this year.

“As a coaching group we've all had experience with Joe, we've all got huge amounts of respect for him, and we know that the team, especially what happened in Italy and the disappointment there, they'll be coming with a point to prove.”

Maybe the top priority for Ireland right now is a lineout which has malfunctioned for large stretches of their recent games. Once a source of such strength and attacking opportunity for the team, it has become an Achilles heel.

Farrell voiced his backing for forwards coach Paul O’Connell and the rest of the staff and players responsible for the work out of touch after Japan. All “world-class” operators, he said. Now is the time to show that again.

For Goodman, it would be a huge boost to his attacking schemes but he didn’t reveal anything new when remarking how the problem with the setpiece isn’t just one thing and that it’s an obvious focus between this and the weekend.

Ultimately, his attack can only work with what comes its way and that means a concentration on passing precision and running lines. The nuts and bolts, all of which, he admits, need tightening if that attack is to really fire from here on in.

“It's been inconsistent in the first two weeks, hasn't it? When you look at Jack Crowley's try at the start of the game, the phases that were put together, the bodies at the line, people running proper intent and skill sets at the line and through the line and keeping the ball alive, I thought that's where we want to be as a team.

“So we need to chase that down more consistently and we're working on that hard through our training week. And I know the country, you boys and us, as well as a coaching group and a team, we want to see that more consistently as well.

"So there's plenty of work going on behind the closed doors here at training to make sure we can produce that for everyone.”