Ireland got lost in unknown territory

RUGBY ANALYST:For Ireland to win on Saturday they needed to respect their opposition, build momentum and ruthlessly exploit the dividends, writes LIAM TOLAND

GIVEN A choice before kick-off I’m certain Declan Kidney would have chosen just two Scottish players over his own. Although Ireland lost on Saturday with the lineout malfunctioning, the scrum creaking and serious opportunities lost Kidney would still take just two Scottish players. Why then did Ireland not coast past the bottom feeding Scots and in not doing so why did they then lose? To get a window into the Scottish world we can contrast and compare the Irish and Scottish performances in the past few weeks over England.

In every facet of play Scotland outplayed England more so than Ireland could muster. Like Ireland, Scotland kept England to 15 points, but they couldn’t cross the try line. For Ireland to win on Saturday they needed to respect their opposition, build momentum and ruthlessly exploit the dividends. But everything changed on Saturday, Ireland weren’t kicking the ball away, in fact their opening salvo had the hall marks of the Hong Kong Sevens. With so much running and line breaks, scores were bound to come. And maybe that’s how the players felt. With all the changes of angles, hard running and line breaks in the opening quarter came six dropped balls. The Scots must have had an electric pulse on the ball! Due to a lack of exploitation Ireland soon lost momentum and with it their shape. In a sense they were in unknown territory and they couldn’t quite drive out of it.

The lineouts were very telling. For the first time in this championship Ireland found themselves battling in the air. How did the Scots manage to upset Rory Best and co so much? Firstly they made the key tactical decision to put as much distance between Paul O’Connell and John Hayes. The very first Scottish lineout, inside two minutes they shortened it and put Allan Jacobsen to the tail. Hayes followed and for the first time in years an opposition hooker threw intentionally to O’Connell’s zone. O’Connell’s height for hire was in the wrong place. Time and again the Scots moved Hayes to the tail and time and again they won ball where he wasn’t.

They applied similar logic on Ireland’s throw. This time they followed Hayes and stacked jumpers in his zone. To be fair to Best several of his throws were spot on but the Scots were in the air. It’s a very lonely place to stand on the Croke Park touch line knowing that the air space is very limited. This forced him to the tail and with it high percentage stakes that fell Scotland’s way. Leo Cullen’s bird’s eye view from the stand could have helped.

Dan Parks was declared Man of the Match in a mighty performance of crucial scores. But he was not the critical component of the Scottish win. The backrow were immense where Johnnie Beattie led the way. However, it was Graeme Morrison at inside centre that epitomised all things Scottish. In the end it was Morrison who tackled Rob Kearney at the death. In the opening 10 minutes Ireland attacked all points in front of them. Once again Tommy Bowe and Keith Earls were encouraged into play all along the line. The Irish were full of precise decoy running searching for chinks in the Scottish armour. Bar the electric ball the Irish would have scored. Certainly Bowe had a guilt edged opportunity from 50 metres out but the pass drifted aimlessly into touch.

In a sense Morrison is the antithesis of Irish back play. At 6ft 3in and 16 and a half stone Morrison doesn’t look for the subtle creation of space. He simply creates it. Time and again Morrison was able to get on the ball and gain 10, 15 and more metres. The Killer B’s were feeding off his surges and momentum was there to be exploited. None more so for Beattie’s incredible try. Both Kelly Brown and Morrison had big parts to play in it. As half time approached I found myself wondering had the Scots found their missing piece and discovered how to score.

The man in the middle Jonathan Kaplan had his part to play at the breakdown and especially at scrum time. Big calls were made on both sides. The Scots, however, managed to exploit the breakdown laws with ferocious counter-rucking which affected Irelands momentum even more.

It appears that our substitution psychic remains routed in the 15 man concept. Most top class teams look at their assets in terms of 22 players. The logic remaining that value can be added, even by ‘lesser’ players.

Introducing players can affect the tempo of matches so it must be part of the culture for it to become the norm. This will take time. Otherwise, when they are most needed they may appear too risky an option and left on the bench. Saturday was a case in point. Clearly the best players started the match but for Ireland to win they needed all 22.

Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara are the obvious example. Clearly there is space in 80 minutes for them both. The challenge for Kidney is establishing what circumstances dictate the starter and the ratio of pitch time they both experience. The manner in which O’Gara replaced Sexton was extraordinary. Clearly there was no intent by anybody but when a player of O’Gara’s class and standing in the game arrives to the touch line it will give the home crowd an enormous lift. Timing then becomes important, not just to affect influence over the players but also the people. How Sexton managed to kick his final penalty under such pressure only he will know. But it will stand to him in the years to come.

O’Gara for his part hit the pitch at a million miles an hour, hitting the gain line, hitting rucks and hitting that amazing right touchline conversion. The competition for the starting slot has brought a whole new ambition to his game.

With 15 minutes to go in Ireland’s last visit to Croke Park the massive crowd found their voice, Ireland had drifted back to their more natural game and Scotland got their only win of the championship. Was it a good championship for Ireland? For many reasons my answer is yes . . .