If resting players, testing others and better use of the ball was the goal yesterday then it was a success, writes LIAM TOLAND
WITH THREE games, three victories and all but one player used we have much to mull over. What have we learned? Can we bring the same level of intensity each week? And can Ireland make better use of the ball to ensure a win?
For a start Russian number eight Victor Gresev has a serious hand-off. Ronan O’Gara is a class act that will trouble selection for next week. Declan Kidney will earn his money this week to manage his two generals. Tony Buckley, unfortunately, is not to be trusted at scrum time and Seán Cronin’s lineout hits the target but not as precisely as Rory Best’s. Ireland’s breakdown has improved immeasurably over the weeks, so too their use of the ball and, most importantly, it all looks like great fun. You can never under-estimate the value of fun on a long tour but especially the 80 minutes on the pitch.
When it’s fun the lessons and hard work that are still required to prepare for much greater challenges ahead are always easier to learn. For instance, there has clearly been much work done on the breakdown since the USA match – in three areas.
Firstly, the ball carrier is much more aggressive in contact, electing to get their body into a great ball placement position. The clearout has become much more intense but interestingly it is following through more thoroughly, getting beyond the ball, preventing any wanderings from the Russians.
Of all the players on show yesterday Keith Earls can struggle with his body position when in traffic. Clearly he is no Seán O’Brien, and we can’t expect him to bludgeon through a defence, but as an outside centre he will find himself a little isolated before the troops arrive and hence he will become a target for turnovers. Because of his speed and leg pump while riding the tackle he burrows for every extra inch available, but he is light and the oncoming defenders are disrupting his ball placement.
However, the biggest improvement on our breakdown has resulted from the work done away from it. As early as the third minute Ireland gathered the ball inside their half and headed off down the pitch for 14 phases. Each phase was dictated by the speed of the breakdown and the first receiver on the gain line. O’Gara looked very comfortable there, as did Paddy Wallace who offloaded to O’Brien who was powering down the field. But it was Donnacha Ryan’s line from Isaac Boss that was superb. He has long been an energetic player but has struggled finding space when on the ball. This time he sprinted around the ruck, 10 metres wide, and you could see him looking up to where the opposition were not and ran a line, timed it to perfection, taking Boss’s pass flat-out to gain a further 10 metres for the attack.
My point? When Ireland have players who run flat out at the appropriate distance from the ruck and on the gain line, the subsequent breakdown is quick and easily won.
Although Russia missed 24 tackles and conceded nine tries the Irish attack at times was plodding. Ireland’s lineout has always been a source of brilliant attacking phases. Cronin threw his sixth lineout on the 33 minute, finding Jamie Heaslip at the tail. The lineout was ideally placed on the Russian 10-metre line and the score stood 17-0. Heaslip went off the top to Boss as the camera panned back to see the Irish back line matched by the Russians number for number. O’Gara led his attack up taking the ball close to the gain line and had Wallace on his shoulder. Earls ran a hard dummy line to fix the Russians for Wallace to pull the ball back to Fergus McFadden, coming in off his blindside wing.
The move will be remembered for McFadden’s pass into touch but that he found himself with just Andrew Trimble outside him and facing five Russian defenders from an off-the-top line-out ball is worrying. The move was pedestrian by their standards and failed to fix any Russians – in fact they had more players available than Ireland. A once-off, most likely, but it needs to improve, especially when you contrast it to the Russians’ attempt.
On the 58th minute Russia had a lineout in the same place as Ireland had in the first half. The back line was almost identical, with their blindside winger Vladimir Ostrushko coming off the right wing to take the pull-back from outhalf Konstantin Rachkov before powering through the Irish defence and offloading to Vasily Artemyev on the left wing for a try. The only difference in both moves was the extra pass from O’Gara to Wallace. The fact the Russians went off the top from two in the lineout and not the tail like Ireland had done makes their score even more difficult.
I’ve long been a fan of Cronin, especially his instinctive knowledge of the “support line”. Not unlike All Black full back sensation Israel Dagg he manages to hover around flowing rugby and accelerates into the gap vacated by the ball carrier just before an offload. This talent will provide Ireland with much-needed spark when he’s on the pitch. That said, and although he finds his target in the lineout, the trajectory of the ball is a little concerning. The lineout was more successful than against Australia but Russia rarely competed, which may allow for Cronin’s safe shot selection. With better lineout defences ahead the ball must be exact. He is such quality around the ball it would be shame not to become world class at the darts.
If resting players, testing other players and better use of the ball was the goal for yesterday then it was a well-deserved success. It was also very nice to see Rob Kearney start a counter-attack from very deep and finish it with Ireland’s seventh try. It was nice too to see Heaslip on the ball powering through contact. The fact it looked like great fun was an added but welcome bonus. What must the fun be like in Scotland and France?
