Ireland overcome trying times to retain title in style

Much of the criticism proved misguided in the end. That impatient worry about the way Ireland play, their style.

Beating Italy in Rome was an operation in efficiency with Ian Keatley eventually growing into his first Six Nations match. Tommy O'Donnell was another to shine when dropped in at the deep end after Seán O'Brien twinged a hamstring in the warm-up.

A third Munster player, Simon Zebo, played nine successive Tests before making way for Luke Fitzgerald against Scotland. Like Jonathan Sexton and O'Brien, he was another Joe Schmidt player who captured European titles in unmistakable fashion for Leinster.

But such a style wasn't transferable to Test rugby. So Schmidt evolved. France and England were drained by Ireland's slavish loyalty to their maul, by the tactical kicking of Conor Murray and Sexton.

Running hard

Three wins from three outings and still Schmidt’s Ireland shipped criticism for their approach. Columns needed filling. In Cardiff they changed again, attempting, unsuccessfully, to avoid an aerial battle with Wales and instead running hard at the Shaun Edwards constructed defence. A total of 289 tackles will never be forgotten as a heroic Welsh effort delivered one of the greatest ever Cardiff Test matches.

Most galling of all was the attack on Jared Payne’s ability, the Kiwi bringing an important nuance and solidity to Ireland’s midfield as Robbie Henshaw’s power game continues to evolve.

“We’ve been trying to do it,” said Murray after Ireland tore open the Scottish defence. “The games we played were really tight so far, different games. The press does filter back into camp. You can’t avoid it. We knew there was a bit of unrest about the way we play.

“We’ve seen ourselves play like that before. We know we are capable of scoring tries. I didn’t have any fears that we could go out and score tries like that.”

So the Ireland rugby players are stylists now, on the field as well as off.

New age or traditional rugby, effortlessly switching between the two. That’s how World Cup’s are won. That and all the other little things combining in a perfect storm.

“We are in a good place now, we know we can do either,” added Murray.

Anything fashionable out of Murrayfield? Irish teenagers have been mimicking international players for 15 years so be warned: they will attempt to replicate Peter O’Mahony’s impression of a salmon.

Freakish high ball

“Tommy Bowe took a freakish high ball,” said Schmidt, “but Peter O’Mahony, perhaps mistrusting a couple of the backs after last week when we didn’t win those, decided to take a big one on himself and was all over it.”

Schmidt blames O’Connell for men like O’Mahony leading by example.

“The big fella decided to grab the group by the neck this week and drag them into this game with a fair bit of energy and resolve. Thankfully that was just enough to get us over the line.”

O’Connell, the line-breaking, try-scoring old man of Test rugby has been a key component as Ireland’s attacking methods evolved throughout the campaign.

“It’s very satisfying,” he said. “There is a lot of trust in the playing group with what the coaches do. That’s important, particularly after days like last week, when you lose a game and it is hard to avoid the criticism. I think that trust shone through this weekend.

“We would love to produce rugby like that more often. And at times we did but just didn’t finish it, so it probably didn’t look like it. This is my 13th championship. Any time you win a championship it is just incredible. I don’t care what way we play.”