Plenty of column inches will be dedicated to Josh van der Fliers’s lineout throws and the scrum penalties won with Cian Healy at hooker, and rightly so. Yet if one individual performance summed up Ireland’s evolution in this World Cup cycle, it’s hard to look past Mack Hansen on Sunday in Murrayfield.
In Andy Farrell and Mike Catt’s now well-documented attacking system, wingers are asked to work harder in-field than in the past. On Sunday, Hansen saw the required attacking workload, to the tune of 11 carries. Duhan van der Merwe (12) was the only other back to have more.
Hansen’s standout moments with those contributions were his try, an assist via a beautiful delayed pass to send Jack Conan over and a successful aerial contest that launched the attack for James Lowe’s try.
However, that volume of touches brings with it risk, and errors did come from the Connacht wing. Hansen coughed up the ball as many times as he got in over it at the breakdown – twice – while he also registered three handling errors. Tack on three missed tackles too.
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Yet there is no arguing that he was the best player on the park, Ryan’s best efforts not withstanding. Not only did Hansen succeed in the big moments that truly mattered – in stark contrast to opposite man Van der Merwe whose lacklustre last-ditch tackle attempts allowed Hansen and Conan to score – but his high workload increased his odds of being on the ball when the deciding moments came.
It was widely known already, but Sunday was the best example yet: gone are the days of the wingers who only chase kicks and hold their width to finish scores when the ball comes their way. In a microcosm of the team’s attitude across the board, Farrell et al are more than happy to take the bad with the good that accompanies such demands.
Crowley frustrated with refereeing
“I’m getting sick of going through the right channels and getting a response that says ‘sorry, we got it wrong’. That just wasn’t good enough today.”
Italy coach Kieran Crowley was not afraid to voice his frustration with the officials after his side’s defeat to Wales in Rome. Specifically, Crowley took issue with what he saw as a penalty try for an offside tackle when Ignacio Brex dropped the ball over the line.
Crowley may well have a point, but the most egregious officiating call actually went Italy’s way when wing Pierre Bruno saw yellow instead of red for an elbow to the neck of Welsh prop Wyn Jones.
Despite the clear nature of the laws regarding incidents such as these, Australian referee Damon Murphy brandished the wrong colour card, even with Joy Neville in the TMO booth seeming to lean towards the correct decision of red.
Once a ball carrier sticks out his non-carrying arm away from his body and makes contact with the head/neck of the defender, they’re in trouble. The law is clear; Bruno’s was a textbook, open and shut case.
To be fair to referee Murphy, when Neville seemed to have convinced him to go with red, his assistant Karl Dickson confused the matter by asking if Bruno’s contact to Jones’ neck was a “push or a strike.” Said push is only relevant if Bruno keeps his arms close to his body, braces for contact, then pushes the defender away after the initial collision. Bruno’s elbow was well away from his body on contact, rendering Dickson’s question a puzzling one.
In 2021, Wayne Barnes posted a helpful video to his YouTube channel explaining precisely this process clearly. It has 7,500 views. It could still do with a few more.
Humpheys set for big cricket move
Former Ireland and Ulster outhalf David Humphreys is set for a stint as director of cricket operations with the England and Wales Cricket Board, according to reports in UK media in recent weeks.
The appointment was first reported by The Telegraph, with sources on this side of the Irish Sea later confirming the move to this publication.
Somewhat bizarrely, many reports suggested that this would be Humpreys’ first position in cricket, after stints as director of rugby with Ulster, Gloucester and as a high performance consultant with Georgia. As a cursory glance of the 72-cap Ireland outhalf’s LinkedIn reveals, Humphreys has sat on Cricket Ireland’s high performance committee since 2021, a role he will vacate for his move to England.
Not that Humphreys is the only crossover figure between cricket and rugby on these shores. Also on the same committee is Brian MacNiece, the current international rugby TMO who played both cricket and rugby for Clontarf. MacNiece is also Cricket Ireland’s chairman.
To round off the sporting crossover, the chair of the same high performance committee is none other than Gary Keegan – who has also served as a Cricket Ireland board member. Keegan is an influential member of the current Grand Slam-chasing backroom staff as a performance coach.
In words
“We were second by a long long way, but it’s not that big of a gap.” – Former England head coach Clive Woodward after England were beaten by a scoreline of ... *checks notes* ... 10-53, a record defeat at home.
In numbers: 2
Tries scored by Ireland captain Nichola Fryday for Exeter Chiefs in their dominant 52-14 win over Sale in the Premier 15s on Sunday. The women’s Six Nations starts on March 25th.
