Front five need to add more to their specialist tags

RUGBY ANALYST:Specialists in each position play a vital role but we desperately need rugby players, writes Liam Toland

LAST SATURDAY I chose to watch Wales in Cardiff ahead of England and the All Blacks in Twickenham. And if push comes to shove a Welsh fixture may, in time, even take precedence over an Irish one. Maybe it's the red jersey but I love losing myself in the Welsh game. All their players play. All their players smile. All their players have a go. All their players get on the ball and all their players off-load. And with a great victory over Australia I imagine all their players party too!

For eight years or so, Irish players have been at the forefront of European and International rugby, winning three Triple Crowns, three European Cups and four Celtic Leagues. We have achieved this primarily due to the IRFU's embracement of professionalism but mainly due to the provincial coach's 'creating' the environment for development. Take Victor Costello while with Leinster, for so long a one-trick pony according to many, until Matt Williams' arrival. Very quickly Williams recognised the value in Costello and through careful coaching transformed him into fully fledged backrow forward with a game plan that brought Leinster (and Ireland) to new heights.

Over the weeks I've tried to figure out the key differences between Ireland and Wales. Both Celts but they are playing a very different game. At international level Ireland has become a team of specialists. Rugby requires specialists in each position but it desperately needs rugby players. Once you have done your 'specific' job you should default to becoming a rugby player. Over the coming months I hope Declan Kidney and his team focus on the rugby player and not the one-man specialist.

How can we involve the front five more in rugby? The game of rugby by its very nature allows for all shapes and sizes interplaying and adding value. Abdelatif Benazzi is probably the best all-rounder to have played international rugby. He had the distinction of playing in numbers four, five, six, seven and eight for France over a 10-year period and accumulated 78 caps. Why mention him? I would simply like to focus on the development of secondrow and backrows in Ireland.

So to Benazzi! He was able to do it all. Lineout, scrummage, defend and carry. What is the relevance?

In this time of recession Ireland is rethinking, re-evaluating and developing strategies to combat the ever-evolving challenges. The IRFU, too, have their strategic plan until 2012 which outlines their position on a variety of areas. However, Irish rugby needs to rethink rugby. How can we get into the top four?

The great athlete Haile Gebreselassie with 26 world records accumulated is still hungry for more. At 34 one might expect him to be resting on his laurels, but he's done the opposite, breaking the marathon record this year. There's more in him!

There are 200 players drawing a wage of varying degrees from the IRFU at present. Declan Kidney needs to ensure that each player masters their speciality but every session conducted in the provinces must produce a better rugby player. Clearly each provincial sub-structure will have styles and methods at odds with the others but the focus must be on the 'player'.

The Autumn Series Irish front five has 246 caps between them. They are all excellent players in their specific position. But how many could mimic Benazzi? Over the years have they improved as specialists? But, how comfortable are they in open space? Can they pass off both hands, accelerate into space, off-load in traffic, create two-on-ones and counter the drift defence? As I've mentioned recently there is far too much time dedicated to unit skills which is to the detriment of the player.

That is why the players themselves need to evaluate their play. They need to understand what they are not doing at international level and start testing it at provincial level. Then each provincial coach must manage their development over the months in order to get the most out of the fast approaching Six Nations.

Since the age of 12 I would find the tackle bag, zero in on it, hit it, pump my feet and then go to ground, exhausted. For years I understood the tackle bag holder was to be smashed as hard as humanly possible until Willie Anderson introduced me to a novel concept. "Why not avoid the bag or at least hit it on your terms?"

I gained enormous confidence as a ball carrier from specific continuity drills carried out ad nauseam. I found over time that I became subconsciously conditioned into a positive reaction to traffic. I entered the contact zone on my terms, where I suddenly began breaking tackles. Furthermore, where once I'd offload out of panic to a more skilled carrier I soon realised that by implementing specific fundamentals that others did naturally I could transform my play.

The Heineken Cup this weekend provides the ideal platform for all players but specifically those who need to broaden their game. Maybe I'm a dreamer but wouldn't it be great to see evidence of the four provincial coaches and the 60 players this weekend tuned into specific preparation for the Six Nations?

Having recently returned from Kosovo with the Irish Defence Forces it's interesting to compare the Irish soldier with other armies. Where one army did one thing excellently, the Irish soldier would do a range of things excellently. Hence a more rounded army. Over the coming months the Irish front five need to exploit every opportunity available to extend themselves beyond being a 'simple' specialist.