Rugby

The British press react : ‘Wales were physically battered at every point’

Welsh rugby seems in a rut but Ireland are flying with Tadhg Furlong defying all logic

Ireland rugby captain Johnny Sexton has praised Connacht winger Mack Hansen, who picked up a man of the match award on his debut as Ireland kicked off their Six Nations campaign with a 29-7 win over Wales. Video: VOTN

Nathan Johns
Sun Feb 6 2022 - 13:53

You could imagine if Ireland were beaten as soundly as Wales were on Saturday how negative the mood of the rugby public would be.

It is no surprise then to see the Welsh press concerned not just about the lopsided nature of the defeat, but also about the wider implications for the state of the game there.

Steve James of The Sunday Times points to a history of Welsh sides losing in Dublin, but is keen to reflect that Saturday was more than just part of a predictable trend.

“Much better Wales teams have suffered badly in Dublin” he claims. “For instance in 2014, when a side containing such greats as Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones, Adam Jones, Taulupe Faletau, Mike Phillips, Jamie Roberts, George North and Leigh Halfpenny were thrashed 26-3 - but this had the feeling of a defeat with much wider consequences and explanations.

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“The Welsh game in general appears in real trouble from top to bottom, off the field as well as on it, with the golden years of Warren Gatland having papered over the cracks, an impression bolstered by Wales Under-20 losing 53-5 to Ireland on Friday night.”

The Guardian’s Michael Aylwin tries to find some positives in the Welsh performance but is left with a small list.

“Easier to eulogise Ireland; not so easy to find anything positive for Wales” he admits.

“Taine Basham’s growing reputation was sort of enhanced in adversity. His intercept try with five minutes to go was the ugliest try of the day, but reward the flanker was well worth.

Taine Basham was one of the few Welsh positives from Saturday. Photograph: Paul Faith/Getty/AFP

“Josh Adams had his moment in attack in the first half, albeit down the wing, but his yellow card for a weird body check on Sexton helped those bewitching runners score Ireland’s third.”

Delme Parfitt of WalesOnline is quick to look at what defeat means for Wayne Pivac’s job security.

“Pivac is under pressure now - and running out of excuses” he says. “He highlighted weeks ago the 700 caps worth of experience Wales were missing going into this championship, but let’s remember his starting XV boasted more appearances than Ireland’s, 487 compared to 468.

“He’s won 10 matches out of 23 since taking over at the start of 2020 and Wales have Scotland at home next week followed by England at Twickenham and the visit of tournament favourites France to Cardiff.

"If none of those three matches go Wales' way he'll be left with a win percentage of 38. Not good enough by a long chalk. His predecessor Warren Gatland won 42 Six Nations games out of 60 in 12 years.

“Pivac may point to last season’s title win, but victories are Pivac’s only currency from now on.”

Ireland’s performance

But what did the visiting journalists make of Ireland’s performance?

Aylwin points to the famed Sexton loop and the involvement of Ireland’s forwards in their attacking play - two themes with which we on this island are all too familiar by now.

“Ireland have long favoured what is known as the Sexton loop, Johnny loving the licence to lurk behind the front line and pick his moment, but now any number of players are given licence to spring each other through gaps.

“Tadhg Furlong, for example, is a tighthead prop. At one point he put Sexton through a gap with the deftness of a man half his size. It is difficult to overstate the absurdity of the mere idea of a tighthead doing things like that last century. Do not go thinking he was shirking his other duties either. The man scrummaged and bulldozed as much as ever. But let us not pick on Furlong. Ireland, all of them, were a blur of moving parts.

James also refers to Ireland’s backline that regularly found holes when running behind decoy runners, but perhaps it was the power of Ireland’s front door carriers that commanded much attention and afforded those behind them plenty of space.

“Wales were physically battered at almost every point” explains James, “with the likes of Bundee Aki, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan, Ronan Kelleher, James Ryan, Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong outstanding for Ireland in that respect.

“It meant the home side produced a stream of quick ball, allowing their back line, with Garry Ringrose a magisterial presence, to weave all manner of intricate patterns and shapes off the ageless Jonathan Sexton, and for the debutant wing Mack Hansen to roam menacingly all over the Aviva Stadium turf and his wide partner Andrew Conway to reap the benefits on the scoresheet.”

Now that we’ve mentioned Mack Hansen, we’ll give Aylwin the last word on the Connacht flier. The prognosis is good, the new cap definitely leaving an impression on those who may not have watched much of him out west this season.

“Even connoisseurs of rugby outside Galway would be forgiven for needing to read up about Mack Hansen this week.

“The Aussie-born son of an Irish mother pitched up a few months ago to honour his new contract with Connacht, and here he became a fully fledged Ireland international.

“A minute in, he was away down the left as if he had played with this crack outfit for years.”

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