Scrumhalf points to backline flaws

RUGBY:IRELAND HAVE had better days in Rome and after such a mixed bag of a performance the feelings in the away dressingroom were every bit as mixed. No one was of a mind to mask the Irish problems, with scrumhalf Tomás O'Leary acknowledging the backs' flaws while commending his forwards.

O’Leary acknowledged that the late match-winning drop goal routine “did show great composure but it shouldn’t have got to the stage where we needed that drop goal really. We weren’t clinical enough out wide. I thought the pack were very good and the backs let them down but at least we created those opportunities and hopefully we’ll take them next week.”

Interestingly, though it will perhaps surprise some of the performance’s harsher critics, the Irish scrumhalf also revealed, “I felt we were comfortable for most of the game. We created an awful lot of opportunities but didn’t take them, so that gave the Italians a lot of encouragement and in the last 10 minutes then, they sniffed the win.”

As winning dressingrooms go O’Leary admitted Ireland’s was pretty quiet but against all the negatives the over-riding positive to emerge from the contest was that Ireland had at least extracted a win from a point behind with 14 men away to a fired-up Italian side sniffing an historic victory.

“We could have put the heads down and lost there but everyone’s happy with the character we showed and the resolve we showed.

“Obviously, we’re not happy with our skill level, we were kind of sloppy so that’s obviously what we need to work on for next week. But I’m confident we can improve that and have a better success rate in scoring tries.

“We definitely created the opportunities and we did get into good shape where we had the opportunities, especially out wide, we just weren’t clinical enough.

“So we can create those opportunities again and I feel, given the quality of the boys out wide, that we’ll take those chances next week.”

In any event, whether they like it or not, Ireland are back in the kind of time-honoured, backs-to-the-wall position from which there is usually a positive reaction.

As for motivation against France, O’Leary wryly observed: “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about it. Certainly, the coaches will give us a bit of a kick up the arse. The Italians are always hard to break down but the fact that we spilled a lot of ball and missed our scoring chances gave them extra encouragement.”

All the more so as the French are rejuvenated and buoyed by their win over Scotland. O’Leary wouldn’t quite go so far as to say Ireland wouldn’t have had the same respect for Italy, but in the circumstances France are more liable to concentrate the mind.

“Yes, obviously the French are renowned for their flair and their attacking play and they’ll definitely be a different proposition than the Italians. It’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to.”

And, despite last Saturday’s flirting with a shock defeat, they assuredly will be.