JOE MCCARTHY IS one of the Irish players who prides himself on the physical side of his game, so it stung that little bit more for him to hear Andy Farrell and his coaches questioning the “intent” Ireland brought against France.
While the Irish set-piece went well in Paris – with McCarthy a key part of the scrum, lineout, and maul – he wasn’t able to make the kind of impact around the pitch that he likes to.
With two carries and three passes for Ireland, along with 10 tackles, it wasn’t one of McCarthy’s standout games away from the set-piece.
“We had a few days off to think about the game and look at it,” said McCarthy of the aftermath.
“You probably watch yourself and from a team perspective. We were probably a bit reactive during the game; we’re kind of reacting to what they’re doing. We’re not really proactive. Maybe a little bit slow to set, thinking a little bit slow in the game, and definitely not at the standard we hold ourselves to.
“So it was a tough review on the Monday morning because a lot of the stuff that we pride ourselves on – working back a bit quicker, getting set a bit quicker – were probably a second or two off, which makes a big difference against a good team like France, so dangerous on counter-attack and in transitions and stuff like that.”
From a personal perspective, McCarthy was disappointed not to carry more often for Ireland.
“I didn’t get a lot of carries in the game,” he said. “It was the way the game went, or maybe I could have gotten the ball a bit more. I think I had two carries in the game.
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“I probably could have gotten into better positions, looking back at it. There were times I could have worked into an area a bit better to get in a position, but I thought their defence was very good.
Ireland second row Joe McCarthy. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
“They’re good at reading off players and double defending and things like that. So you had to be properly on it to sit them down or get into holes.”
Ireland’s discipline overall was much-improved, but there was a frustrating moment for McCarthy when he had a moment of first-half misjudgement in the Irish 22.
He thought the ball was out of a French ruck and rushed forward, but was penalised because referee Karl Dickson ruled that the ball was still in. France kicked the penalty for a 15-0 lead.
“It was a poor penalty from me, definitely avoidable, which are definitely the ones you don’t want to give away,” said McCarthy.
“I was probably trying to just make a bit of an impact or maybe get a big tackle and then I knew I got the timing wrong a bit and tried to pull out but yeah, it was just a poor penalty from me and it gave them three points.
“It was just a poor judgment from me. Obviously, they put pressure on you and they’re playing on top of you, so you’re looking to try and stop it, but I’m definitely going to avoid that one.”
Ireland had discussed the fact that France’s lethal attack would probably mean setbacks at different stages of the game – an early French score, a sudden French lead – but they were disappointed that they didn’t do a better job of “regathering ourselves” in the damaging first half.
Along with addressing the things that went poorly, Ireland did touch on the positives from the trip to Stade de France.
Their set-piece was a huge talking point in the lead-up to the game but the Irish scrum went well even without some key players, while the Irish lineout was strong with a 94% return.
Best of all was the excellent Irish maul defence as they shut down one of France’s main strengths.
“It wasn’t all terrible,” said McCarthy. “Definitely, the set-piece was quite pleasing.
“I wouldn’t say it was like completely dominant, but in the first half, real good at scrum time, I thought. We got a penalty, felt really strong on our ball and their ball.
“A big part that we were talking about going into the game is that France probably maul more than any team in the Six Nations, outfield especially, so we had a plan.
“We wanted to be real physical around that and stop that and I thought we did that. We turned them over, didn’t give them a great platform off that. So I suppose from that perspective, it was quite pleasing.
“On our own ball, I think we only lost one lineout, which is generally a pretty solid day at the office in that respect. But obviously, a few other areas slipped in the game.”
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Wanting more carries, a penalty under the posts, and maul defence
JOE MCCARTHY IS one of the Irish players who prides himself on the physical side of his game, so it stung that little bit more for him to hear Andy Farrell and his coaches questioning the “intent” Ireland brought against France.
While the Irish set-piece went well in Paris – with McCarthy a key part of the scrum, lineout, and maul – he wasn’t able to make the kind of impact around the pitch that he likes to.
With two carries and three passes for Ireland, along with 10 tackles, it wasn’t one of McCarthy’s standout games away from the set-piece.
“We had a few days off to think about the game and look at it,” said McCarthy of the aftermath.
“You probably watch yourself and from a team perspective. We were probably a bit reactive during the game; we’re kind of reacting to what they’re doing. We’re not really proactive. Maybe a little bit slow to set, thinking a little bit slow in the game, and definitely not at the standard we hold ourselves to.
“So it was a tough review on the Monday morning because a lot of the stuff that we pride ourselves on – working back a bit quicker, getting set a bit quicker – were probably a second or two off, which makes a big difference against a good team like France, so dangerous on counter-attack and in transitions and stuff like that.”
From a personal perspective, McCarthy was disappointed not to carry more often for Ireland.
“I didn’t get a lot of carries in the game,” he said. “It was the way the game went, or maybe I could have gotten the ball a bit more. I think I had two carries in the game.
“I probably could have gotten into better positions, looking back at it. There were times I could have worked into an area a bit better to get in a position, but I thought their defence was very good.
“They’re good at reading off players and double defending and things like that. So you had to be properly on it to sit them down or get into holes.”
Ireland’s discipline overall was much-improved, but there was a frustrating moment for McCarthy when he had a moment of first-half misjudgement in the Irish 22.
He thought the ball was out of a French ruck and rushed forward, but was penalised because referee Karl Dickson ruled that the ball was still in. France kicked the penalty for a 15-0 lead.
“It was a poor penalty from me, definitely avoidable, which are definitely the ones you don’t want to give away,” said McCarthy.
“I was probably trying to just make a bit of an impact or maybe get a big tackle and then I knew I got the timing wrong a bit and tried to pull out but yeah, it was just a poor penalty from me and it gave them three points.
“It was just a poor judgment from me. Obviously, they put pressure on you and they’re playing on top of you, so you’re looking to try and stop it, but I’m definitely going to avoid that one.”
Ireland had discussed the fact that France’s lethal attack would probably mean setbacks at different stages of the game – an early French score, a sudden French lead – but they were disappointed that they didn’t do a better job of “regathering ourselves” in the damaging first half.
Along with addressing the things that went poorly, Ireland did touch on the positives from the trip to Stade de France.
Their set-piece was a huge talking point in the lead-up to the game but the Irish scrum went well even without some key players, while the Irish lineout was strong with a 94% return.
Best of all was the excellent Irish maul defence as they shut down one of France’s main strengths.
“It wasn’t all terrible,” said McCarthy. “Definitely, the set-piece was quite pleasing.
“I wouldn’t say it was like completely dominant, but in the first half, real good at scrum time, I thought. We got a penalty, felt really strong on our ball and their ball.
“A big part that we were talking about going into the game is that France probably maul more than any team in the Six Nations, outfield especially, so we had a plan.
“We wanted to be real physical around that and stop that and I thought we did that. We turned them over, didn’t give them a great platform off that. So I suppose from that perspective, it was quite pleasing.
“On our own ball, I think we only lost one lineout, which is generally a pretty solid day at the office in that respect. But obviously, a few other areas slipped in the game.”
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Big Joe Six Nations Edwin Edogbo France Ireland Joe McCarthy