Ireland need more intensity, no more standing off

FROM THE BLINDSIDE:Even if we had beaten Wales (while playing badly) we would still be left with the problem of why it's so hard to translate outstanding provincial form to the Six Nations, writes ALAN QUINLAN

THE WORST thing about losing to Wales on Sunday was that the biggest difference between the teams wasn’t ability. It was mindset. Wales just seemed to gel a lot better.

They’ve had the upper hand over Ireland for a few games in a row now and a big reason is that when those Welsh players put on the jersey, they have an air of confidence and enthusiasm about them that the Irish players don’t.

That hasn’t always been the case in the past for Ireland and it won’t always be that way in the future. But right now, that’s how it looks.

Wales played with more certainty than the Irish lads. You can’t see any sign of baggage around them because they seem assured in nearly all the plays they attempt. There’s an obvious confidence in them at the minute that looks like it’s been with them their whole lives, like it’s been bred into them as Wales rugby players.

Irish players have had to work hard to get to that point because confidence is something that just doesn’t come naturally to us as a country.

Everybody knows we don’t deal with high expectations that well. It restricts us sometimes and makes us nervous. We go into our shell a little bit and maybe don’t take the game-breaking risks that we would otherwise. Wales weren’t lacking in that ability to try something out of the ordinary on Sunday and they haven’t been lacking it against us for a couple of years now.

We can scratch our heads forever wondering why it is that we’re better underdogs than favourites but what I’m more interested in is the nitty-gritty of what that leads to.

It was very clear on Sunday the Welsh mentality was different to Ireland’s. You could see they totally believed they should be coming to Dublin and leaving with a win, regardless of all the injuries they had and regardless too of the fact most of them would have lost to Irish sides in the Heineken Cup since the World Cup. None of that bothered them and they came out and played with freedom. Whereas Ireland just looked out of sorts. They were disjointed and hesitant and they deservedly lost the game as a result.

You’d think we’d be okay with the favourites tag by now but we still struggle with it at national level. The provinces have overcome that problem through the years but even though a lot of the same players are involved, you’re talking about two different levels. With your province, it’s a more natural situation. You’re that bit more partisan, that bit more us-against-the-world. There’s more forgiveness between guys who see each other every day, a bit more togetherness.

Whereas international rugby can sometimes weigh players down. The Heineken Cup is a brilliant competition and the standard of rugby in it is phenomenal week-in, week-out. But when you leave it and go into camp for Ireland, you know straight away that you’re stepping onto a much bigger stage. Not only that, you’re leaving the comfort of the team-mates you see and work with every day. If that means you lose even just a couple of per cent of the confidence you have in yourself, you’re automatically something less than the player you were with your province.

It doesn’t happen to everybody but anyone who’s been inside an international squad has seen it. A guy who’s normally laughing and joking back home can sometimes have less to say for himself among a group of lads he only meets up with a few times a year. The stage is bigger, the stakes are higher, there are more people going to be watching come match day.

And when Ireland are favourites, it gives an added weight to the whole thing. Mistakes will feel like a bigger deal because people are expecting you not to make them against a team you should be beating. So you’re more careful and you take fewer risks. If you go into your shell even just a little bit, you shy away from trying things that you normally would for your province. You don’t mean to but it happens. Next thing you know, the game is over and you’ve let it pass you by.

On Sunday, I felt too many of the Ireland players were waiting for somebody else to do something. The bit of expectation the whole country had beforehand seemed to translate itself to nerves on the pitch. Maybe we’re all guilty of expecting success because the provinces have been doing so well and maybe that didn’t help them. Or maybe the only way to go was down after what had been achieved in the Heineken Cup. One way or the other, the team looked restricted in some way. It was as if they were playing with the handbrake on.

People will say we only lost by a last-minute penalty but that’s not the point. It just wasn’t a good performance. The decision against Stephen Ferris was 100 per cent wrong in my opinion but even if Wayne Barnes hadn’t made that call, it would still have been a disappointing display from Ireland. Sometimes you get out of a game by the skin of your teeth and if Ireland had managed to get away from a backs-against-the-wall match like that, it would have set them up for the rest of the competition. But they still wouldn’t have played well and we would still be left with this problem of why it’s so hard to translate outstanding provincial form to the Six Nations.

The other side of that coin is that these Welsh players were able to turn very patchy Heineken Cup performances into an away win that they totally deserved. Once they pulled on the jersey, they became cocky – and I say that with respect and even a good bit of admiration. Of course they’re cocky in a Wales jersey – as I said here last week, they come from a country that believes it deserves to be at the top table.

And their mentality was expressed by the certainty they had when they were in possession. They ran right at Ireland, right down the players’ throats. They didn’t care that they were underdogs. Or if they did, it was only because they were pissed off that people would think of them that way given how good they’d been in the World Cup. So they cut loose and played positively while the Ireland players struggled to get into the game.

I wouldn’t blame the Irish management for what happened. I’ve heard people say it’s down to a conservative management and all that kind of thing but that’s not what stood out against Wales. This defeat was down to the players. They needed to step up and take control, demand the ball and make plays that wouldn’t be expected of them. They just didn’t do it enough.

It wasn’t a time to be nervy and unsure, it was a time to express themselves and bring the confidence that they’d had with their provinces along with them. They just looked far too shackled and uneasy and unwilling to take a chance. I don’t mean they should have been flinging the ball around every time they got on it, just that they needed to lift the tempo and force the issue.

A Six Nations match goes by so quickly and if you’re overly careful and you wait for something to happen, it’s gone before you know it. These players didn’t get where they are today by letting others take responsibility. All their rugby lives, from schools level all the way up to the Lions, they’ve stood out because they’re the ones who’ve been prepared to go and do it when others have been hesitating. What has made them exceptional is being willing to put their hands up and say, “I’m the man here – give me the ball”.

But that was missing on Sunday. Not from all of them but from enough of them to make a difference. I looked at some of them from the stand and they were playing with the head down, not screaming for the ball, not looking to step outside themselves. It was as if too many of them were telling themselves to just do the basics well, hoping that would be enough. They lacked the energy and enthusiasm to go and blow the game open. It’s not like they don’t have it in them.

There were periods where Ireland upped the tempo and showed what they could do. When Bradley Davies got his second try, Ireland responded well and dominated for the next while, ending up with Tommy Bowe going over in the corner. But in the final 10 minutes, when Wales were behind and Ireland should have been closing the game out, we just looked a bit passive and stand-offish. We invited them onto us and they seemed to make ground with every run.

Right through the game, I thought Ireland fell into the trap of falling back on structure. With the amount of individual talent they have on the team, there should have been more lads making big plays and grabbing their moment. Even our defence seemed more based on safety of numbers than any massive hits or huge aggression. Wales did a fine job of recycling the ball but would they have been able to keep doing it if the intensity of the defence that we saw against Australia in the World Cup had been repeated? I doubt it.

Ireland need to get back to that this weekend in Paris. Their body language has to be right from the minute they step on the pitch for the warm-up. No more standing off, no more waiting for others. They have to be aggressive from the off – start a row or make a huge tackle in the first few minutes. Find that spark and leave the passive stuff behind. Show us something. Show that will and desire that has them where they are. There’s no reason why they can’t do it.

They know themselves they had a bad day at the office on Sunday. They’ll go to Paris after a week where everyone has been down on them with a chance to turn it around in the one place where a win would mean more than it would anywhere else. Beat France in France and nobody will remember the Wales game.

Who’s going to put their hand up?