IRELAND… 41
JAPAN… 10
It might be something to do with the lunchtime kick off. Because it certainly tends to be the case in souccer that, the lunchtime kick off in the Premier League tends to have faded from memory by the time Match Of The Day comes on a Saturday night.
I’m not sure if there were highlights of this game shown later on Saturday evening/night but if there were producers thereof could scarecly justify use of the adjective to describe whatever clips of the fare at Lansdowne Road may have been worth a repriese.
Yes, Paddy McCarthy did add to his rapidly evolving reputation when introduced and Tommy O’Brien again left viewers wondering why it took him so long to make it to this level but other than that the only ones who will get any value from the film of this mish mash.
Simply because in all my years of being properly attuned to the nuts and bolts of rugby, a more error strewn, dithering Irish performance cannot be recalled.
Of greatest concern will undoubtedly be the fact that, for large portions of the game, the Irish lineout was an utter shambles. You don’t want any facet of your setpiece game malfunctioning, but with so much of what Ireland do predicated on quick ball off the top of the lineout, any reduction in its productivity leaves Andy’s engine room struggling for oil.
The thing is, it’s hard to know where the glitch was, whether it was from the throwing side, the Ûûyuu or an all round lack of confidence.
Yes the latter could be a factor after such a drab display against the All Blacks last week and all the attendent outside noise which goes along with that.
What’s more, when one considers the brilliance this team in its several variations has produced in the recent past, standard by which they’ll be judged. Rightly so too.
And, judged on those metrics, they wouldn’t even win the toss against an admittedly austere Australia, never mind the marauding Springboks.
You’d just be slightly afraid Andy Farrell might fall into the same trap as previous Irish coaches – most notably Declan Kidney – of being too loyal to some of his greatest generals.
Sure, the likes of Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Jamieson Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw and Garry Ringrose have been and indeed still are impeccable servants but you’d like to think there would be some outline of a succession plan in place. At the minute it has a whiff of taking the last sup of water out of the kettle and not topping it up.
Mind you, as if Andy Farrell was able to interprate my thoughts mid game, the introductions of Cian Prendergast, Paddy McCarthy, Gus McCarthy and Jimmy O’Brien were at least a step in the right direction.
Though you’ll notice that, with the exception of O’Brien, the other ‘opportunists’ are all forwards. And, while fly half seems to be fairly well covered between Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast, the other half back position doesn’t have the same cover obviously available.
Presuming it can be taken as read that Gibson-Park is nearer to the end of his career than the beginning or the middle, you’d assume Craig Casey then inherits the No. 9 jersey, but then there is the conundrum of who brcomes the back up.
Admittedly, the same question could be slated with regard to the centriie pairing and possibly full back. Doubtless, the point will be made that Tom Farrell is a new addition to the setup, but the question must then follow rapidly as to why it took so long for the Munster man to receive Ireland’s call.
Full back, though, A? Hugo Keenan? Jordan Larmour? And, though unlikely, if it was the case none of the above were available, what’s Plan B?
Between Calvin Nash and Mac Hansen and the aforementioned Tommy O’Brien, there would appear to be an amplitude of cover for the wing spots should anything happen to either James Lowe or Jacob Stockdale.
A lot done, more to do.
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