Time to firmly tackle recurring problems

Ireland still have so much going for them but they must stop employing tactics at the tackle that are outdated and counter-productive writes MATT WILLIAMS RUGBY ANALYST

SURVIVAL IN the world of elite professional sport requires thick skin; brutal honesty being the cornerstone of any successful team. Telling your mates what they need to do to improve is no easy task. Tough love is necessary because players and coaches require feedback after every game or they cannot progress.

Whenever I organised a feedback session, which I did weekly when a club coach, it followed a very simple structure: what do we as a team and individuals need to keep doing, stop doing and start doing? Funnily enough, whenever I transferred these methods to the business world the executives would squirm in their seats. A thin skin tends to develop when there is usually only an annual appraisal. A coach and a team face these questions after every game (if not from within then from the media and public), so they must learn to accept honest analysis of their performance.

So, with that in mind, what must Ireland keep doing? The players must keep hold of their passion and determination. Clearly, wearing the green jersey means a lot to this group. They must keep improving on their scrummaging. The process is working but the behind-the-scenes industry and development can never slow.

They must maintain current defensive standards, which have returned to the excellent levels of 2009 after the dramatic dips of last summer and November.

Keep creating and scoring tries; seven in three games is an excellent return by any nation’s standard. They have the confidence and crucial experience to do this while also lifting other areas of their game.

The coaching staff must keep pushing themselves and the players. It is only human to feel satisfaction after a great achievement. Winning the Grand Slam produced a comfort zone for the coaches but they are well and truly out of that now and the players are responding.

What must Ireland stop doing? They must stop employing tactics at the tackle that are outdated and counter-productive. Such repetitive behaviour at the breakdown can only be classified as stupid rugby. It must not be tolerated by players or coaches.

Constantly saying: “We are a team that competes in the tackle”, and using tactics no longer accepted under the new law interpretation puts Irish players at a massive disadvantage.

A player having his hands on the ball after the tackle is dumb rugby. Plain and simple.

The coaches must also look at themselves. That means no longer advocating that players compete in the tackle. Look at the penalties given up in the last three games and cut out the actions that led to them. The coach must now insist failure to stop doing this, without the referee’s permission, will lead to a change in personnel. That threat usually has the desired effect.

And do it now or the close shaves against Scotland and Italy will become embarrassing defeats.

The solution can be found by asking, what must Ireland start doing? Start having the tackler and second defender drive past the ball at the ruck. By doing so Ireland will force back the offside line. By putting their hands on the ball, Irish players are playing high-risk rugby but by staying on their feet and driving past the ball they can regain the initiative like the top five teams are doing. Ireland were ahead of the rest before the referee interpretations changed. Failure to react quickly enough now has them considerably behind.

The forwards must start using footwork to surprise the defender and allow support runners get on their shoulder for an offload. Brian O’Driscoll threw a beautiful offload to Seán O’Brien by sidestepping just before he made contact with a Scottish tackler.

The Irish team must also start talking straight to the Irish people because, ultimately, they answer to the people. The media in this country are incredibly supportive. My experiences in both Australia and Scotland holds the Irish fourth estate as the exception to the general rule.

An international has a responsibility to pass on the team message to the public. The team and management must start getting this across in a more coherent manner. Having players and coaches at odds in public leads to a corrosive element whereby intense scrutiny becomes inevitable and that, in turn, creates a deepening strain between the squad/coaches.

At best, the message provided to the media in the last few weeks has been sloppy. At worst, it was the coaches blaming the players and the players defending themselves.

This should all be done behind closed doors and should never be for public consumption. When the national team talks it must provide a united front. One message. To me, this is the same as what is happening around the tackle area – lack of a real plan and discipline. Right now, that is the message the nation are getting.

This should not reflect on the character of these men. This generation of Irish players are from the top shelf when it comes to integrity and pride in the jersey. One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been to coach many of these men. They do not deserve the charge of undermining or disloyalty to management.

The media pressure is massive but getting their message out there is important. Otherwise, it will eat into the positive culture and energy of the team.

However, the perception of cute hoorism coming out of many a media event is unacceptable. Don’t sugar-coat it. Be honest. Just say: “We played well for an hour, gave away some dumb penalties and stuffed up the bench for the second week in a row. We’re sorry. We’ll get it right next week.” Such talk will win the nation over and keep any begrudgers at bay. But trying to spin a way out of such obvious deficiencies only makes people more curious about what is being hidden.

The fear now is they will say even less. Again, that would indicate that there is something to hide. The true supporters, the vast majority, will appreciate honesty.

More stops. Stop selecting players who give away dumb penalties. Stop running the ball 30 metres from your own goal posts with 78 minutes on the clock and the score at 21-18 (see dumb rugby). Stop giving away breakdown penalties while the possession is five metres from the opposition try line (again, see dumb rugby). Stop throwing to O’Brien at two in the lineout against a 6ft 9in colossus. It tends to be a low percentage option.

Start selecting on form.

Keep with Eoin Reddan at scrumhalf and Ronan O’Gara at 10. They played too well to be rotated. Keep Luke Fitzgerald at fullback because he remains the best option.

However, Luke must address his aerial fielding of the ball. Scotland, like France before them, targeted him in the air as they perceived it as a glaring Irish weakness. Luke is arriving at the catch zone too early. He must lead with his knee, keeping his shoulders parallel to the sideline. Think Girvan Dempsey. The current All Black catching and kicking coach, Mick Byrne, a former AFL player, coached Girvan at Leinster several years ago. A few sessions with Girv, who is still around the Leinster scene and remains the master of this art, could prove very useful.

Start counter-attacking from kicks. I can see the team is trying to counter with ball in hand but the confidence is so low it just isn’t working. Maybe they can take a leaf out of Kevin O’Brien’s handbook – just have a bloody go! Thank God for Wales. May they keep the same attacking system, also used by the Cardiff Blues, they have used these past six years. This same offensive pattern has not shown one hint of evolving. The mediocrity and predictability is staggering.

I was sure they would change up this year but it remains the same; forward runners go towards the sideline and a full line of backs and backrowers attack the other way. For Ireland’s sake, I hope it remains the same because they can repel it all day.

What can Ireland control? Well, they can control their own words to the media. They can control their actions at the breakdown. They can control whether they want to play most games in their half or the opponents’. They can control selection and the use of the bench. And they can control their own self -belief (these men are natural born winners).

They cannot control the actions of the officials or the opposition. They must just accept this.

Recently my 15-year-old daughter didn’t like the feedback she was getting from school over her study habits or social life. She was told she had to work at things she did not like and had to change. I gave her a message in a gift. It was a t-shirt with a logo printed on it: ‘Princess, toughen up’. There it is; not criticism but feedback. Toughen up. It’s just the way it is.