ONE OF THE more interesting fallouts from Ireland’s defeat to South Africa was just how widely reactions have varied.
Across supporters, pundits, ex-pros, podcasters, writers and commentators, almost every possible opinion has been put forward. Some feel Ireland were a comprehensive second best and that the 11-point difference on the scoreboard didn’t actually do justice to South Africa’s dominance.
Others feel a different team would have indeed succumbed to a heavier defeat, but that Ireland made something of a statement of their own through their second-half resolve. Some feel the Springboks could have easily worked up a higher score if they were in the mood, and not so keen to flex their strength at scrum time. Some blame the referee and his match officials, others feel they got the vast majority of the key decisions right. Some found the game a hard watch, others were captivated.
The only thing that all can perhaps agree on is that it was one of the more unique contests we’ve seen at Aviva Stadium.
Ireland assistant coach Johnny Sexton holds that view, and similarly to head coach Andy Farrell – who was keen to present a positive take on things post-game – he doesn’t buy into some of the more doom and gloom opinions floating about.
“I think the game on Saturday was a stand alone,” says Sexton, who was speaking in Dublin as Laya Healthcare and Leinster Rugby announced the renaming of the RDS Arena to Laya Arena.
Laya healthcare announced a landmark naming rights partnership with the RDS and Leinster Rugby officially renaming the iconic RDS Arena to ‘Laya Arena’. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“Half-time was off the Richter scale, trying to come up with a plan with 12 men, trying to come up with plays with 12 men. This was very unique. It’s not something I’ve ever been a part of before and I hope I’m not ever a part of again.”
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Sexton also dismisses any concerns around lasting scars for the Ireland scrum, which suffered a harrowing day against the South Africa pack.
“In my eyes it’s a one off. That’s never happened our scrum before. I know we have good people involved in that department and a lot of work is being done there. So they’ll come up with solutions and fixes, I know there was a couple of brilliant scrums in there that we didn’t get rewarded for, key parts of the game, which was disappointing but sometimes it’s very hard to change when the scrum is going a certain way for the early part of the game, if you fix it for a couple it’s almost unbelievable.
I’m sure the lads will fix it, like I said it’s never happened before so, I wouldn’t expect it to happen again soon.”
We’ll wait and see. What is clear is that Ireland didn’t get what they wanted from this November window and while the players will now turn their attentions back to the URC and Champions/Challenge Cup campaigns, the Six Nations won’t be long creeping into view – Ireland’s championship kicks-off away to France 10 weeks from tomorrow.
At the moment, they appear a team with much to fix if they are to compete with France and an improving England side, who are feeling much better about themselves following their own November games.
For Sexton, this period draws similarities to the early days of Farrell’s tenure, when the players were confident better times were coming despite stagnant, scrappy performances on the pitch. In that instance, the message from the Ireland camp eventually rang true and Farrell’s men went into the 2023 World Cup as genuine contenders, playing a brilliant brand of rugby.
But this challenge feels different. Back then, Farrell was stepping into Joe Schmidt’s shoes and trying to lift a group burned by the pain of the 2019 World Cup. As Sexton points out, this group are going through their own transitional period, but one which comes after losing some of the most influential Irish rugby players of all time. He doesn’t name the names, but he’s one of the more notable, retiring after the 2023 World Cup, while Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy all stepped away following this year’s Six Nations.
“The big change now is I suppose we’re trying to develop our game but also we’ve lost probably 600 caps worth of experience out of the building, in the space of 18 months, two years,” Sexton says.
Sexton with Ireland boss Andy Farrell. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“In terms of what’s been asked of players, it’s different to what it was before because now they have to be the leaders. They have to take responsibility for the team. They have to do all the things that leaders do. That’s a big change. It’s something that we’re working on massively at the moment.
“With our game, I think bits that went really well against Australia, against Japan at times, we were probably a bit undercooked against New Zealand when you look back. Then obviously against South Africa, at times it looked like it was going to go well and just one thing after another in the game that led to a crazy match really.”
Sexton elaborates on that loss of experience. Players like Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan are the leaders now, and have been building that part of their game for a number of years, but this is the first bumpy window they’ve come through without having the likes of O’Mahony to lean on. An optimist might suggest the experience will eventually stand to those now tasked with being the key voices in the group.
“It’s hard because there are guys that when I was taking over as captain had zero caps. Caelan for example, he’s built up 50 caps pretty quick. Same as guys like James Ryan, Andrew Porter, these type of guys are now the leaders in the group. So it is hard to do it without caps.
“We do have experience, but like I said, even if they have 50 caps, what’s been asked of them now is probably more of what was being asked when there were six senior lads there with close to 100 caps (each). So that’s a small part of it. It’s not everything, but in terms of our performance there’s plenty of things that we need to get better at and need to improve on pretty quick for the Six Nations.”
And like Farrell, Sexton is quick to point to what he sees as the big upside from Saturday – namely how Ireland refused to throw in the towel across that draining second-half effort.
“I was pretty proud on Saturday after the game in terms of being associated with that group of men.
“It was pretty inspiring from that point of view but also you’ve got to go, how do we get ourselves into that situation? What can we do better? There’s always a balance. I think as coaches that’s something that they’d be quite good at. They can be people on one hand and then be coaches on another and say very proud but lads, this isn’t good enough here.
“There’s definitely a balance to all that but like I said, to hold them out with 12 men, with 13 men to win the second half, all those little positives, we definitely have to use them going forward.”
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'We're trying to develop our game, but also we've lost 600 caps worth of experience'
ONE OF THE more interesting fallouts from Ireland’s defeat to South Africa was just how widely reactions have varied.
Across supporters, pundits, ex-pros, podcasters, writers and commentators, almost every possible opinion has been put forward. Some feel Ireland were a comprehensive second best and that the 11-point difference on the scoreboard didn’t actually do justice to South Africa’s dominance.
Others feel a different team would have indeed succumbed to a heavier defeat, but that Ireland made something of a statement of their own through their second-half resolve. Some feel the Springboks could have easily worked up a higher score if they were in the mood, and not so keen to flex their strength at scrum time. Some blame the referee and his match officials, others feel they got the vast majority of the key decisions right. Some found the game a hard watch, others were captivated.
The only thing that all can perhaps agree on is that it was one of the more unique contests we’ve seen at Aviva Stadium.
Ireland assistant coach Johnny Sexton holds that view, and similarly to head coach Andy Farrell – who was keen to present a positive take on things post-game – he doesn’t buy into some of the more doom and gloom opinions floating about.
“I think the game on Saturday was a stand alone,” says Sexton, who was speaking in Dublin as Laya Healthcare and Leinster Rugby announced the renaming of the RDS Arena to Laya Arena.
“Half-time was off the Richter scale, trying to come up with a plan with 12 men, trying to come up with plays with 12 men. This was very unique. It’s not something I’ve ever been a part of before and I hope I’m not ever a part of again.”
Sexton also dismisses any concerns around lasting scars for the Ireland scrum, which suffered a harrowing day against the South Africa pack.
“In my eyes it’s a one off. That’s never happened our scrum before. I know we have good people involved in that department and a lot of work is being done there. So they’ll come up with solutions and fixes, I know there was a couple of brilliant scrums in there that we didn’t get rewarded for, key parts of the game, which was disappointing but sometimes it’s very hard to change when the scrum is going a certain way for the early part of the game, if you fix it for a couple it’s almost unbelievable.
We’ll wait and see. What is clear is that Ireland didn’t get what they wanted from this November window and while the players will now turn their attentions back to the URC and Champions/Challenge Cup campaigns, the Six Nations won’t be long creeping into view – Ireland’s championship kicks-off away to France 10 weeks from tomorrow.
At the moment, they appear a team with much to fix if they are to compete with France and an improving England side, who are feeling much better about themselves following their own November games.
For Sexton, this period draws similarities to the early days of Farrell’s tenure, when the players were confident better times were coming despite stagnant, scrappy performances on the pitch. In that instance, the message from the Ireland camp eventually rang true and Farrell’s men went into the 2023 World Cup as genuine contenders, playing a brilliant brand of rugby.
But this challenge feels different. Back then, Farrell was stepping into Joe Schmidt’s shoes and trying to lift a group burned by the pain of the 2019 World Cup. As Sexton points out, this group are going through their own transitional period, but one which comes after losing some of the most influential Irish rugby players of all time. He doesn’t name the names, but he’s one of the more notable, retiring after the 2023 World Cup, while Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy all stepped away following this year’s Six Nations.
“The big change now is I suppose we’re trying to develop our game but also we’ve lost probably 600 caps worth of experience out of the building, in the space of 18 months, two years,” Sexton says.
“In terms of what’s been asked of players, it’s different to what it was before because now they have to be the leaders. They have to take responsibility for the team. They have to do all the things that leaders do. That’s a big change. It’s something that we’re working on massively at the moment.
“With our game, I think bits that went really well against Australia, against Japan at times, we were probably a bit undercooked against New Zealand when you look back. Then obviously against South Africa, at times it looked like it was going to go well and just one thing after another in the game that led to a crazy match really.”
Sexton elaborates on that loss of experience. Players like Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan are the leaders now, and have been building that part of their game for a number of years, but this is the first bumpy window they’ve come through without having the likes of O’Mahony to lean on. An optimist might suggest the experience will eventually stand to those now tasked with being the key voices in the group.
“It’s hard because there are guys that when I was taking over as captain had zero caps. Caelan for example, he’s built up 50 caps pretty quick. Same as guys like James Ryan, Andrew Porter, these type of guys are now the leaders in the group. So it is hard to do it without caps.
“We do have experience, but like I said, even if they have 50 caps, what’s been asked of them now is probably more of what was being asked when there were six senior lads there with close to 100 caps (each). So that’s a small part of it. It’s not everything, but in terms of our performance there’s plenty of things that we need to get better at and need to improve on pretty quick for the Six Nations.”
And like Farrell, Sexton is quick to point to what he sees as the big upside from Saturday – namely how Ireland refused to throw in the towel across that draining second-half effort.
“I was pretty proud on Saturday after the game in terms of being associated with that group of men.
“It was pretty inspiring from that point of view but also you’ve got to go, how do we get ourselves into that situation? What can we do better? There’s always a balance. I think as coaches that’s something that they’d be quite good at. They can be people on one hand and then be coaches on another and say very proud but lads, this isn’t good enough here.
“There’s definitely a balance to all that but like I said, to hold them out with 12 men, with 13 men to win the second half, all those little positives, we definitely have to use them going forward.”
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