CHIEF AMONG THE things for Ireland to improve ahead of their clash with France in two weeks will be the scrum.
They had a tough time there in the first half of yesterday’s 27-18 win over Wales, with referee Christophe Ridley pinging them for four penalties at the scrum in the opening 40 minutes.
Giving the Welsh those platforms to launch themselves into good attacking positions was frustrating for Ireland, all the more so because the first Welsh try through Tommy Reffell before the break originated with a scrum penalty.
Ireland managed better in the second half although there was another penalty against them. The Irish scrum did earn two penalties of their own, the second on debutant loosehead Jack Boyle’s side, but they’ll aim to improve for the France clash.
It remains to be seen if Tadhg Furlong is back from injury but Finlay Bealham, who was excellent off the bench in Cardiff, will probably return to the starting XV after Thomas Clarkson got his first Ireland start against the Welsh.
Advertisement
Clarkson will surely have learned lots at the scrum and, as always, contributed well around the pitch. Getting exposure on such a big occasion will undoubtedly stand to the 25-year-old and he’ll hope for more chances on the big stage for Leinster and Ireland.
Ireland were encouraged by Boyle’s debut off the bench at loosehead and the 22-year-old will hope to stay in the matchday 23 for the France clash, although 37-year-old Cian Healy could return.
Whoever the personnel, Ireland can’t afford to give the French similar access with scrum penalties.
“The dark arts of scrums probably were at play there,” said Ireland captain and hooker Dan Sheehan of his side’s first-half struggles.
“We wanted to get a fair contest and it was just struggling to get nice entries. I was probably asking him [Ridley] just to make sure that we get clean entries before anything happened.
Josh van der Flier with Sheehan.
“We obviously had to adapt a little bit and it probably took us a few scrums to figure it out. We probably need to be better on that front and be able to fix it after the first one.
“It was a big turning point in the game, it definitely gave them a lot of momentum, a lot of access, thankfully were sorted it out at the end of the game and we were able to close it out of the back of it.”
Yesterday was a proud day for Sheehan as he captained Ireland for the first time in the absence of Caelan Doris.
In that sense, it was another learning experience as Ireland made some notable changes.
“Incredible privilege to lead that bunch of men,” said Sheehan. “There’s probably anyone in that team could have led it and there are huge leaders in the team. It was a huge honour to be given the opportunity to be able to lead the side this week.
“A tough one to lead today but that’s exactly what we talk about all week, preparing for the moments when things aren’t going your way and how calm we can stay in those moments and get ourselves out of it. Tricky game but nice to get out on the right side.”
Sheehan was pleased with how Ireland finished strongly in Cardiff having gone 18-10 behind early in the second half.
Ireland didn’t concede again for the closing 35 minutes and scored another 17 points of their own to seal the win.
Related Reads
The player ratings as Ireland survive seesaw battle with Wales
Bloodied and bruised Bundee Aki helps dig Ireland out of a hole
“I thought the intent was there but the accuracy lacked a little bit and we had to regroup at times so that we could really focus on it,” said Sheehan.
“It got better in the last 30 minutes. Some of the lads off the bench had a great impact, Bundee, James Ryan coming off the bench gave us huge energy so I think that was the difference.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
50 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Ireland aim to sharpen up after struggle with 'dark arts of scrums'
CHIEF AMONG THE things for Ireland to improve ahead of their clash with France in two weeks will be the scrum.
They had a tough time there in the first half of yesterday’s 27-18 win over Wales, with referee Christophe Ridley pinging them for four penalties at the scrum in the opening 40 minutes.
Giving the Welsh those platforms to launch themselves into good attacking positions was frustrating for Ireland, all the more so because the first Welsh try through Tommy Reffell before the break originated with a scrum penalty.
Ireland managed better in the second half although there was another penalty against them. The Irish scrum did earn two penalties of their own, the second on debutant loosehead Jack Boyle’s side, but they’ll aim to improve for the France clash.
It remains to be seen if Tadhg Furlong is back from injury but Finlay Bealham, who was excellent off the bench in Cardiff, will probably return to the starting XV after Thomas Clarkson got his first Ireland start against the Welsh.
Clarkson will surely have learned lots at the scrum and, as always, contributed well around the pitch. Getting exposure on such a big occasion will undoubtedly stand to the 25-year-old and he’ll hope for more chances on the big stage for Leinster and Ireland.
Ireland were encouraged by Boyle’s debut off the bench at loosehead and the 22-year-old will hope to stay in the matchday 23 for the France clash, although 37-year-old Cian Healy could return.
Whoever the personnel, Ireland can’t afford to give the French similar access with scrum penalties.
“The dark arts of scrums probably were at play there,” said Ireland captain and hooker Dan Sheehan of his side’s first-half struggles.
“We wanted to get a fair contest and it was just struggling to get nice entries. I was probably asking him [Ridley] just to make sure that we get clean entries before anything happened.
“We obviously had to adapt a little bit and it probably took us a few scrums to figure it out. We probably need to be better on that front and be able to fix it after the first one.
“It was a big turning point in the game, it definitely gave them a lot of momentum, a lot of access, thankfully were sorted it out at the end of the game and we were able to close it out of the back of it.”
Yesterday was a proud day for Sheehan as he captained Ireland for the first time in the absence of Caelan Doris.
In that sense, it was another learning experience as Ireland made some notable changes.
“Incredible privilege to lead that bunch of men,” said Sheehan. “There’s probably anyone in that team could have led it and there are huge leaders in the team. It was a huge honour to be given the opportunity to be able to lead the side this week.
“A tough one to lead today but that’s exactly what we talk about all week, preparing for the moments when things aren’t going your way and how calm we can stay in those moments and get ourselves out of it. Tricky game but nice to get out on the right side.”
Sheehan was pleased with how Ireland finished strongly in Cardiff having gone 18-10 behind early in the second half.
Ireland didn’t concede again for the closing 35 minutes and scored another 17 points of their own to seal the win.
“I thought the intent was there but the accuracy lacked a little bit and we had to regroup at times so that we could really focus on it,” said Sheehan.
“It got better in the last 30 minutes. Some of the lads off the bench had a great impact, Bundee, James Ryan coming off the bench gave us huge energy so I think that was the difference.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Dan Sheehan dark arts Ireland six nations 2025 Skipper's View Wales