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Power plays, sweeping scores, and pure strength - Ireland's attack fires

Dan Sheehan’s second-half beauty was the pick of the bunch against England.

IT TOOK A while for Ireland to get there in terms of try-scoring but the second half against England must have felt brilliant as the Irish attack got some flow.

For the opening day of a new campaign, it was pleasing stuff and Ireland will be excited that they can still make notable improvements next Sunday against Scotland. They believe there is plenty more to come from their attack.

Dan Sheehan’s try was probably the pick of the four scores that earned a bonus point against the English. It was a sweeping move that sealed Ireland’s victory with 15 minutes to go.

It comes on kick return attack after fullback Hugo Keenan fields an English box kick on his own 10-metre line.

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As Keenan is fielding the ball, some of the Irish forwards are working back to set their shape to the left of what will be the breakdown.

Ireland didn’t always find ideal shape straight after receiving kicks yesterday but this is a good example of how early work-rate and organisation can be a game-changer.

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Andrew Porter [black above], Tadhg Beirne [blue], Sheehan [yellow] and Jack Conan [red] retreat downfield in order to set up a pod to the left of Keenan, while out-half Jack Crowley [pink] is moving across the pitch to drop in behind that pod as it forms.

Garry Ringrose and Mack Hansen are the closest players to Keenan so they resource the breakdown along with the retreating Thomas Clarkson.

As we see below, Iain Henderson [19] recognises that the breakdown is won and he also shifts over to the left with the pod of Irish forwards.

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And so, Ireland throw an unexpected picture at England with their set-up off scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park.

We have previously taken an in-depth look at how Ireland and Leinster have sprinkled unusual four-man pods into their game – particularly when running out of their own half – in order to surprise defences.

This is just the latest example as England fail to deal with the unique set-up, which ends up being a five-man forward pod including Henderson.

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The flat alignment of the Irish forwards makes it difficult for England to predict who Gibson-Park will pass to. With Henderson having been a relatively late arrival, the most obvious recipient of the pass is Beirne.

We can see that England back row Tom Willis [blue below] is initially worried about Beirne in front of him.

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But Gibson-Park fizzes a classy pass straight across the face of Beirne to Sheehan and England are forced to adjust on the move, with Willis turning out towards Sheehan.

But in the meantime, England hooker Theo Dan has begun to turn in onto Sheehan [yellow], worried about the carrying threat the Irish hooker poses on his inside shoulder.

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With English hooker Dan jamming in onto Sheehan like this, they now need centre Henry Slade to jam in onto Conan but Slade has another concern out the back.

Crowley darts to take a possible pullback pass from Sheehan behind Conan, and that’s where Slade jumps.

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While England will be frustrated with how they read the attack here, it’s excellent work from Ireland to create a confusing picture.

Sheehan does superbly, disguising his intention as he eyeballs Dan’s inside shoulder to make him jam in, all the while giving Slade no real cue as to where the ball will go.

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Ireland have breached the English defence and they’re clinical in sealing the deal after Conan surges upfield.

It’s easy to get isolated and turned over in these situations but the replacement back row manages to buy time for support to arrive after Fin Smith closes up from the backfield and gets him off his feet.

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Again, Ireland are in good shape to the left of the breakdown as Gibson-Park moves the ball away quickly.

Doris is at the heart of a three-man forward pod, with Henderson on his inside and Porter running a good line on his outside, while Robbie Henshaw [pink] is loaded in behind.

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This simple shape allows the Irish forwards to initially engage defenders in front of them as they run ‘square’ up the pitch before Doris swivels to play the sweep pass out the back to Henshaw, who can move the ball wider.

Having worked hard to stay on his feet after the initial tip-on pass to Conan, Sheehan has worked to Henshaw’s outside and he then accelerates and throws a confident pass wide to James Lowe.

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Lowe has to leap to gather the pass overhead and he still has a lot of work to do as he comes back to the ground with England wing Tommy Freeman closing in on him.

But Lowe does a typically excellent work job to the touchline, accelerating rapidly upon landing and using his powerful right-hand fend to take him past Freeman.

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It’s excellent wing play as Lowe shows his balance on the far side of the tackle attempt, just about keeping his feet before he straightens up and spots the rampaging Sheehan on his inside.

Sheehan’s athleticism is impressive as he brings another explosive burst post-pass, sprinting up on Lowe’s inside to take the ball and blast into the last tackle effort from Marcus Smith and Fin Smith.

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On his return after six months out, he was not going to be stopped and the resounding finish is a delightful moment for Ireland and their fans.

Sheehan’s free-flowing score on transition attack from inside the Irish half sealed the bonus point and came after a different type of try had given Simon Easterby’s men breathing room on the scoreboard for the first time in the game.

Their third try through Tadhg Beirne was an excellent two-phase power play from a lineout on the left as attack coach Andrew Goodman’s plan unfolded ideally.

As was the case for most of the evening, Ireland played off a shortened five-man lineout and out-half Crowley hit Henshaw to set a midfield ruck.

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England back row Willis manages to get a decent breakdown effort in so it’s not the lightning-quick recycle that Ireland might have hoped for as Doris, van der Flier, and Clarkson eventually remove him, but they still strike and score on second phase.

While Crowley [pink below] and hooker Sheehan [yellow] continue around the corner to the right, we can see that three Irish forwards – Beirne, Henderson, and Porter – hold on the left-hand side after being part of the lineout.

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What isn’t initially obvious in the shot above is that Lowe is hiding in behind Beirne.

Initially, Lowe [blue below] is an option for Crowley on first phase and it looks like he might work to the right-hand side but he then ducks back over to the left.

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Lowe moves in behind Beirne, doing his best to stay disguised before he surges onto Gibson-Park’s pass as Ireland play an ’11′ pattern – one phase infield from the set-piece before going back the other way.

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While Ireland’s plan is a clever one, England’s defence is poor.

Back row Chandler Cunningham-South is obviously worried about Beirne as Ireland come back to England’s right-hand side, but the initial spacing between himself and Ellis Genge at the fringe of the ruck is too wide.

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England probably overfold initially and could have done with one extra defender staying on their right of the ruck, but even still the spacing is an invitation.

Ireland exploit the situation perfectly, with Gibson-Park doing an excellent job of scooping the ball up and scooting a couple of steps to his left to fully engage Genge, ensuring the loosehead prop can’t turn out onto Lowe.

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Watch how Gibson-Park ‘double pumps’ too, feinting to throw a wider pass to Beirne or Henderson but holding onto the ball and then releasing it shorter to Lowe instead.

The Irish wing surges into open field and has options on either side as Beirne works up to his left while Ringrose – fully aware of the planned play – does the same on his right.

With lots of time and space, Lowe executes the 3-on-2 by engaging Freeman before finding Beirne for a pacy finish.

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It’s a clear-cut chance but Ireland will have been pleased to show the clinical edge once they got in behind.

Lowe also provided the scoring pass for the first Irish try, when his impressive power was to the fore.

Ireland had initially been loose with their lineout attack, the ball going to ground out on the right, and appeared set to box kick the ball and contest in the air.

But we can see below that Gibson-Park gets a call to play, presumably from out-half Sam Prendergast.

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It’s basic shape from Ireland to the left of the ruck, with Ryan Baird in the middle of a pod of three forwards, Prendergast [pink below] in the boot behind them, Beirne [blue] ready to run a front-door option for Prendergast, and Ringrose [yellow] out the back of Beirne.

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Prendergast finds Ringrose and the Irish centre throws a long pass over the top of edge defender Alex Mitchell to Lowe wide on the left.

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While it appears that Mitchell will recover out to tackle Lowe, this is a relatively rare one-on-one situation with lots of room.

Lowe probably thinks about kicking and chasing down the left but he recognises that it’s the English scrum-half in front of him and backs his strength on the outside.

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Lowe’s fend doesn’t quite land but he has the balance to shake Mitchell off before he connects with Gibson-Park back on the inside, rewarding the Irish scrum-half for his work-rate in support after his initial pass.

And Gibson-Park seals the deal wonderfully as he feigns to accelerate to his left, luring England fullback Freddie Steward into chasing across even harder, before a wicked step back to Steward’s inside.

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It’s a beautifully fluid finish from Gibson-Park, the sprinkling of panache after Lowe’s power.

There was obvious explosive strength in Bundee Aki’s try in the second half too, the Irish centre thundering past Marcus Smith, Mitchell, and Freeman for a brilliant score.

The passage starts with an interesting lineout launch from Goodman’s playbook, with Lowe [blue below] and Aki [yellow] joining the forwards in the set-piece.

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Both backs are then involved as Ireland play off the top of a lineout win by Conan at the front, with Aki backing off the lineout to give van der Flier a flat passing option as he takes the transfer from Conan.

Aki is onside and much closer to the gainline than would have been the case had he been part of the backline initially. This is something Goodman did regularly with backs during his time at Leinster too.

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Lowe comes from the front of the lineout to give Aki an inside pass option but Ireland want to get powerful hooker Sheehan into the game and he comes around from the touchline to take an Aki pass out the back of Ringrose.

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There’s good clearout work from Prendergast as Ireland get quick ball and carry off Gibson-Park through Doris, James Ryan, and Porter on the next three phases.

Pick-and-jam carries from Bealham and Conan follow, narrowing up the English defence further, before Prendergast makes a decision to pull the trigger and go wider to Aki.

Ireland don’t have particularly obvious momentum after those carries in the tight but Prendergast clearly sees that England have narrowed up, with Aki also presumably communicating that he wants a shot.

Prendergast calls for the ball from Gibson-Park and puts Aki into space with a slick skip pass beyond edge defender Mitchell.

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It’s rare for Aki to have this kind of space in front of him and he takes barnstorming advantage.

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Aki drives down into Smith’s tackle attempt, smashing through the English number 10′s attempt to wrap, before spinning out of Mitchell’s grasp. Most impressively, he absorbs the impact from the 103kg Freeman to drive forward and reach out his right arm.

It would have been understandable to get knocked into touch at the death here but Aki’s belligerent determination and wonderful athleticism take him home.

Even if it took a while to get full reward, there was some lovely attack in the first half from Ireland too but they just struggled for the finishing touches at times.

And in the end, it was a day when Ireland brought lots of menace and poise in their attack.

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