Resources are there for fresh approach

Last October a wave of great depression swept over Irish rugby after Ireland had led Argentina by 21 points to nine into the second half and still managed to lose the match and, with that defeat, made an inglorious exit from the World Cup. In the interim we had been told that the lessons of Lens had been absorbed and they would be applied in the Six Nations Championship. Eleven of the players who played in Lens were there again last Saturday when the first evidence of whether or not we would see any improvement came in Twickenham. The performance was a damning indictment on Ireland.

After the match in Lens it was stated here, and indeed elsewhere, that the Ireland coach had been loyal to some Irish players for too long. Once more there was a wake-up call in that direction against England. It is true that, but for injury, the Ireland side last weekend would probably have differed in a few respects from the side that took the field. But substantially it was a case of stand by our men.

Those of my generation, and indeed some of more recent vintage, are well used to seeing Ireland beaten. Through the years we have been well conditioned to that. However there were many occasions in those years when, despite defeat, you were not left with the kind of hollow feelings that came in the aftermath of Lens and now Twickenham yet again.

We will always go in hope when Ireland play, and even if defeat is the portion as it so often is, there can at least be the consolation - even the satisfaction - of seeing Ireland give a performance of some substance before bowing to a superior force.

Prior to the match I felt that surely the team would produce a performance that, if not good enough to win, it would at least suggest we have come some way from what we saw last October. That we would see a team that would make England work for victory. We were told after Lens that the Irish players were "gutted" and that we would see a performance of a different dimension this time.

Well we did, it was worse than what we saw in Lens and it was the loyal Irish supporters - and there are none more loyal - who left Twickenham feeling embarrassed and "gutted". There was not a shred of substance in the Irish team last Saturday and they never looked remotely like giving England even a meaningful challenge.

The match was the 24th I have seen between Ireland and England at Twickenham. This ranks near the top of the list of Ireland's worst performances in that spell of almost 50 years at this ground and elsewhere for that matter. The opening half was a total nightmare.

The Ireland coach Warren Gatland has stated he has never seen England play so well. Well I would say to the coach I have seldom seen an Ireland side play so badly as his team did in that first half. There was not a redeeming feature in that initial period from an Irish perspective. We hear talk of a keen study being made of the video of the match. Well I hope he has some sustenance at hand when he looks at it. Personally I have not had the heart to slip it into the video machine.

When the coach sits in video judgement he will surely come to the realisation of just how easy his team made it for England. I counted 11 missed tackles in that opening 40 minutes, I saw the ball being turned over half a dozen times. I saw penalty kicks given away and I saw an Ireland side yards slower to the breakdown than their opponents.

Let us not kid ourselves either that we did well in the second half. Just three minutes had gone in that period when England struck and then it was case of a few prayers that we might stop England from hitting the half century.

The Ireland side was tactically bereft and quite candidly never raised a challenge. "We retained possession well on occasions in the second half" was another quote I have seen from the Irish camp.

England scored 25 points in the second half including three tries as they had done in the first. But what did Ireland do with possession? This team is no longer competitive. The qualities of resilience, heart and application are lacking in too many of the players in whom the management has placed faith. Ireland will not win matches on spirit and heart, but without those ingredients, be sure we will not win or even perform.

How many times through the years have we seen Ireland, often even when beaten, play with tremendous spirit and will, and walk from the field after signing the scene with their honour. How often do we see that now?

Culpability does not rest just with the coach. The Irish players are all full-time professionals. They get paid as professionals - quite frankly it is time they played like professionals. This season Munster beat Saracens home and away, Leinster defeated the reigning English champions Leicester home and away. In the very recent past, Munster beat a Wasps team that included a host of internationals and a Harlequins team equally well endowed.

Ulster won the European Cup last season. The character shown by those Irish provincial teams was a vital ingredient in their wins.

I am an avid admirer of the schools' scene in this country, something I share with countless thousands. More schools are playing the game than at any time in history. Would that the Ireland team played with the spirit I see demonstrated regularly by schools even when opposed by superior forces.

More youths are also playing the game in this country than at any time as well. Our international record at schools, youths, under-19 and under-21 levels are excellent. All elements of those structures may not be perfect, but that line of progression is vital. Break it and we can forget about Irish rugby. We can beat England seven times out of the last 10 meetings at under-21 level.

What is happening to Ireland at senior level, where there is an obvious breakdown, is a cause for grave concern for the IRFU, the players themselves and their management.

In conclusion here is something to dwell upon in relation to Ireland's ongoing success at under-21 level and their failure in the senior sphere. Every single England player at Twickenham last Saturday played for his country at under-21 level. When they played against the Ireland under 21s, they knew what it was to feel the weight of a full-hearted challenge.