Playing nine always more than just a passing phase for thoughtful Reddan

UNLESS YOU’RE as indispensable as Dimitri Yachvili is at Biarritz – where he dictates the play, kicks (admittedly ad nauseam), goal-kicks (admittedly brilliantly) and probably drives the bus – pretty much no scrumhalf these days sees out the 80 minutes. Obliged to be serving those outside them off relentless phases of play, they rotate almost as much as props. And as with props, it would be inhuman otherwise.

Eoin Reddan illustrated the point yesterday when revealing that in his 70 minutes on the Twickenham pitch for the Heineken Cup final he was in possession 91 times. It brought to mind that remarkable stat in the first Test of the last South Africa-Lions series when Mike Phillips passed the ball (around 120 times) more than the entire Springboks team.

This is the biggest change the 31-year-old has noticed in a professional career with Connacht, Munster, Wasps and Leinster going back over a decade, and he traces it to the introduction of the ELVs (Experimental Law Variations) in 2010.

“After that season it just went right up. Everything just took a whole new level. You started to see teams winning things that did that, that played lots of phases and lots of rugby. And then other teams see that and they follow on.

“There is a noticeable difference. It is faster and if you’re going well you’re looking at 20 phases. And the later they are [in a game] the more reward you get for good ball.

“The demands have gone up and thankfully, it is a faster game. And for me it’s definitely better news, I think.”

In theory, every scrumhalf should quicken things up when introduced off the bench? “Yeah, they should, but people have different styles too and it does depend on what the coach is looking for, I suppose. You’re either pushing a game or pulling a game. There’s no in between. You’re either pushing the pace of it or you’re slowing it down a bit. But obviously if you’re coming off the bench the aim is usually to push it.”

The Heineken Cup final, à la the PRO 12 semi-final and final, involved an unusually extended stay on the pitch for Reddan in light of the quadriceps injury which ruled Isaac Boss out of Leinster’s run-in and this tour to his native land.

He enjoyed this rare run but acknowledges it wouldn’t have been possible without the frequent rotating with Boss at Leinster.

“I have to respect the way we run it. It has worked very well the way Joe [Schmidt] has used us both. You need to be big enough to get on with it and take those calls and I think we have quite well.”

While the third Test will be the 51st week of Reddan’s season, which also applies to many of his team-mates, it is worth recalling Michael Cheika’s remark that his international contingent are treated like Persian cats, and the scrumhalf admitted: “At the same time we are the best managed team in the world.

“You look at the stat that it is a 51-week season but it isn’t [really] because we get weeks off, other countries don’t. We get rested for games, other people don’t. So I think it is a mindset you don’t want to be falling into, especially when it is not true. Guys have a lot of time off and I don’t think training is a downer.”

Now Reddan returns to his Test rivalry with Conor Murray, who has been first-choice for Ireland since starting the epic World Cup pool win against Australia in Eden Park until being ruled out of the final Six Nations games against Scotland and England with a bruised knee.

There remains an argument for going with the winning Leinster formula as much as possible and Reddan’s sharpness to the breakdown and zippy service, not least because Jonathan Sexton and by extension both Leinster and Ireland, look better when he is there.

However, the memory of that Eden Park game only enhances the likelihood Declan Kidney and co will opt for Murray’s physicality around the fringes and defensive sweeping against the All Blacks, with Reddan to spring from the bench for the last 20 or 30.

Either way, Reddan (who has started 21 of his 42 Tests) maintains he enjoys a good working relationship with all his fellow scrumhalves, including his fellow Limerickman.

Scrumhalves hone each other’s passing together endlessly, and given the constant inter-changing, it’s also a question of needs must.

“The other thing about ‘nine’ is that you all the need the forwards rucking and you all need forwards talking to you and you all need the same things. So when you go and say ‘look the rucking is not good enough’ and there’s a nine beside you saying ‘he’s right, it’s not’ then it gets sorted.

“So I think it’s important that you get on, you all talk about the way the team is going and especially the way the team plays.”

With a refreshed and “newish” squad, Reddan maintains this group of Irish players are not looking back at an historically imposing and weighty winless record against the All Blacks, all the more so as it will be a dozen years before Ireland return here.

Reddan praises the training and analysis done so far for what is, he admits, the ultimate challenge in Test rugby.

“It’s absolutely huge and I think it would be bigger than anything any of us would have achieved so far. I can’t say that for the lads who won the Grand Slam but I can say from my personal achievements if we were to beat the All Blacks it would be the biggest thing.”