THE WEATHER TRACKER left us all expecting tough times ahead. An angry smudge of rain and promise of high winds swirled together with anxiety fueled by memories of Cardiff 11 months ago.
The Grand Slam winners, it seemed, could be the perfect outfit to take advantage of Ireland if they offered up a stuttering display as they had on opening night.
Instead, Andy Farrell’s side looked as impatient, determined and assured as a hungry golfer on day two of a Major. An early tee time allowed them to get to work before the weather closed in, and the impetus sent them sizzling around in 68.
Jordan Larmour cut back sharply like a delicate chip-in from off the green. Tadhg Furlong and Josh van der Flier were the steady 10 to 15-footers. Hadleigh Parkes was this week’s Stuart Hogg, or a fortunate bounce around the edge of a hazard. There were a few other elements of the Welsh display that left Ireland a good lie: poor early clearances Tomos Williams and Dan Biggar and later spills from the same half-backs among them.
It was a performance we hoped for, but could not have expected from Farrell’s side after their first foray a week earlier. It was tough to reckon with the reasoning that suggested the team needed time to adapt to a new system, yet was still filled with old campaigners.
From Peter O’Mahony to Tadhg Furlong to Conor Murray, the head coach’s faith in past deeds was rewarded in spades. CJ Stander is playing like it’s 2016 all over again, stringing together man of the match performances. Yesterday’s gong came with a very unfamiliar look to the stats sheet as the man of many carries had left himself in single figures, his numbers rounded out by eight passes before contact.
Nine points after two home games is about where Ireland must have planned to be at this point. Yet just as Larmour’s opener couldn’t be described as a run-of-the-mill finish from 15 metres, it’s the manner of this victory that inspires confidence in Ireland more than the 10-point margin at the close.
This was an Ireland team that is capable of promising those flowing through the turnstiles more than just effective methods. They can entertain.
True, two of the four tries came off set-piece, the others didn’t come from deep and there was no shortage of heavy collisions. But if this was the first example of how Farrell wants his team to play: tee to green they show intent, invention and a willingness to improvise – not least before kick-off when O’Mahony introduced President Higgins down the line while Sexton attended to a matter of massage oil and strapping on his leg.
Ireland were a pleasure to watch. Even when they were at their peak in 2018, it wasn’t often we could label them as such. Impressive more often than not, but rarely fun.
“Yeah,” said Jonathan Sexton, the man who so much of the show still relies on, when asked if he had enjoyed the Test more than most.
“It wouldn’t be hard after last year… when you get the ball into our back three’s hands, something can happen.”
It was the second time this week that the skipper lapsed into a wry laugh when 2019 came up. Talk of 2018 is batted away too with an insistence of keeping the focus on what’s ahead. On Friday he gathered the squad around him to ensure that focus was maintained, but the theme of enjoyment was on his mind too.
“What we spoke about last night was what the coaches had given to us all week, and trying to put responsibility on ourselves to deliver that. We felt that we didn’t do that, last week, to the best of our ability,” said the out-half.
“It was just about fixing up those little bits that would allow us to get back into the game and show some of that stuff that we were working on.
There was some motivational stuff that you want to get across. We wanted to show what it means to us to play for Ireland. We didn’t see that as much last week as it was a stop-start game, and you don’t get to celebrate tries.
“We got a bit of everything today, so that was great.”
During his post-match media, Sexton moved to reiterate how much of Joe Schmidt structures and methods had been retained under Farrell. The early sight of Jacob Stockdale chasing his own chip towards the try-line was far from new, but the willingness to set up forwards as passing links to allow the attack more easily stream wide felt like very much a breath of fresh air.
While Andrew Conway was all-action in every facet yesterday, Larmour is the most invigorating addition to the back-line and his running threat was far more in sync with his team-mates a week on from Scotland. Long before he slipped outside Ross Byrne and put Conway away for the bonus point-sealing try, the Leinster fullback set the tone for the day with his brilliant individual finish.
The slow-motion replay is worth re-watching. The tight angle following Larmour makes it seem as though he is contained and being pushed to the edge. Until the moment he hammers on his right foot. Even before he powers beyond Nick Tompkins, the centre’s face tells us he’s toast. Leigh Halfpenny and Williams can only leave fingerprints.
The fullback is beginning to elicit Pavlovian responses from the Lansdowne Road crowd. When his hands are on the ball, they stand.
They rose too for Keith Earls yesterday. A veteran with immense pedigree, he was among the few to lose their place after the World Cup / Schmidt to Farrell handover. Yet when called from the bench, he slipped into the centre like it had been his home since Brian O’Driscoll retired.
Selecting an experienced campaigner, a former certain starter, as their utility back replacement is a move that feels like a further positive indicator.
It speaks to the culture, that nobody must be cast fully out with bridges burned just because they are not called to the first team. To the competition in a side, that a long-serving and high-performing veteran is vulnerable to the chop. And to the enduring class of the displaced star.
Earls certainly showed the latter in an excellent 35-minute run that had a superb improvised long pass into the path of an on-rushing Larmour as a highlight.
Post-match last week, O’Mahony took obvious exception to an interviewer calling the win ‘stuttering’. Yesterday, Furlong picked up on and denied the first descriptor post-match when interviewed on Virgin Media.
The tide has been flowing against Ireland for over a year, so it’s natural that combative forwards still feel the need to reach out and try to control the narrative. But in sport, the clearest messages always shine through performances on the pitch. A bonus point-win over Wales was Ireland shaking off the weight of the World Cup and beginning something new.
They’re nicely placed going in to round three. Moving day in Twickenham.
