REGARDLESS OF THE tactical ebbs and flows of top-level rugby, one thing never changes.
Winning collisions is paramount.
It’s a somewhat ugly way of framing what can be a beautiful game, but there’s no hiding from it. Ball-carrying, tackling, and rucking will always remain decisive in this sport.
Physicality is a core element of rugby and there is beauty in the brawn. Momentum generated in contact on both sides of the ball goes a long way towards deciding who wins and loses. And from that momentum flows so much of the highlights-reel skill.
Last week in Paris, Andy Farrell’s Ireland were on the wrong side of this equation.
“No matter how much you try to shape it, it’s a confrontational game and our intent within our game wasn’t where it needed to be to win a high-profile match like that,” said Farrell today.
It’s not the first time this has happened to an Irish team against a French side, but it has stung Farrell and his squad since last Thursday. For the boss to publicly call out his players for their lack of intent demands a ferocious response this weekend and beyond.
Ireland have tended to be superior to Italy in the collisions, but the gap has seemingly closed. Last weekend’s feral performance against Scotland showed that the Azzurri continue to improve. They won many more collisions than they lost in the rain in Rome.
Ireland, on the other hand, lost too many collisions in Paris and Farrell will be well aware that this is part of a concerning trend since the heights of 2023.
One simple measure of how Ireland came off second best is that France had 18 dominant tackles, whereas Ireland had eight, according to Opta’s data. And that’s despite the French having more possession than Ireland.
France are an excellent team, but those numbers still set out a challenge for Ireland. They need to be the ones dominating in the tackle this weekend against Italy.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. Gary Carr / INPHO
Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO
Over the last couple of seasons, Ireland have had a decline in their average dominant tackles per game.
From a peak of 10.7 dominant tackles per game in 2023, they dipped to 10.2 in 2024, then dropped off to 8.5 per game last year. So the eight they delivered against France holds to this trend.
The decline in dominant tackles goes hand in hand with Ireland giving up an increasing number of linebreaks to the opposition over the last three years.
Ireland’s defensive peak came in 2022 when they were down at just 3.2 linebreaks conceded per game. The following year, the figure was still as low as 4.0 linebreaks against per game.
The number rose slightly in 2024 to 4.3 linebreak concessions per game, before a notable increase to 5.6 linebreaks against per game in 2025.
Against France, Ireland conceded 13 linebreaks. So addressing this disimprovement is a major focus for Simon Easterby, who is in charge of the Irish defence.
Tackle success percentage can be a very misleading statistic because some ‘missed tackles’ are actually good defence. However, anyone who watched last week’s game in Paris could tell Ireland were falling off tackles they usually make.
A tackle success of 80.6% against France backs up the eyeball impression and continues an incremental dip in Ireland’s percentage over the last few years from a whopping average of 88.8% across their games in 2022.
One aspect of the defensive performance that was more pleasing was the seven turnovers Ireland won against the French. This includes breakdown turnovers and turnovers forced in tackles.
This was a reversal of the trend, with Ireland having averaged 7.1 turnovers per game in 2023, down to 5 per game in 2024, then just 4.8 on average last year. Irish teams at their best tend to generate momentum from turnovers so Farrell’s men need to keep up that element of last weekend’s display.
But overall, Ireland will be looking to hammer home every single chance of dominance in defence against Italy, having come up short against France.
A moment in the fifth minute in Paris stands out. Ireland have just survived an early French try-scoring chance.
Ireland captain Caelan Doris has worked hard on kick chase from an Irish scrum on their five-metre line and he recognises early that he might have a chance to light up Nicolas Depoortère as the French look to counter from the clearing kick.
It’s a moment to seize control of momentum with physical dominance in a big collision.
But Doris misses the chance.
He doesn’t manage to land a shoulder on Depoortère, who spins out of Doris’ tackle attempt and accelerates upfield.
Depoortère then swerves past Tadhg Beirne and fires up a fend at Josh van der Flier, making it all the way over Ireland’s 10-metre line before he is grounded.
What could have been a moment where Ireland dominated the French, potentially even opening up a turnover chance, is instead a big loss of ground and forces them to retreat straight after a big chase upfield.
Ireland gave France too many of these chances to generate momentum, particularly in the first half.
Below, we see Ireland in phase defence in the 20th minute when France out-half Matthieu Jalibert wins a collision against Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and second row Joe McCarthy.
While Jalibert is explosive, he obviously isn’t a heavy-duty ball carrier, yet he gets over the gainline for France off a late pass out the back.
If we go back one phase, we get an idea of why Ireland end up soaking this double tackle on Jalibert.
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As we can see below, Ireland win the gainline on the phase before as they come forward aggressively and out-half Sam Prendergast makes a good low tackle on France hooker Julien Marchand.
But as Prendergast is making his tackle, we can see that McCarthy is still holding onto Jalibert after the out-half’s inside pass to Marchand.
McCarthy probably wants to let Jalibert know that he’s going to be looking for him all game, but the Irish lock is wasting precious seconds in resetting into the defensive line.
Ireland talk a huge amount about their ‘speed to set’ and McCarthy is leaving himself with work to do.
Meanwhile, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park is hesitating in making a decision whether to join the defence at the right fringe of the breakdown.
Gibson-Park seems to briefly read that Ireland may make a turnover, moving towards the contest, but again precious split seconds are ticking by.
It all means that Ireland aren’t well set to come forward again and be aggressors on the next phase.
As France scrum-half Antoine Dupont scoops the ball, McCarthy [red] above has only just got back onside, with Gibson-Park [blue] arriving on his inside.
So centre pair Stuart McCloskey and Ringrose [yellow] don’t have the confidence of a well-set line to encourage them to come forward with particular intent. McCarthy, meanwhile, is chasing to catch up from the inside.
And as we saw before, that means two Irish players soak a tackle on the French out-half.
That, in turn, means France are able to generate lightning-quick ball, allowing Dupont to send back row Oscar Jègou into a one-on-one against Gibson-Park, which he dominates.
France have major momentum and Ireland never get it back. Les Bleus very nearly score at the end of this passage, only for Prendergast to intercept an offload and carry the ball back over his own line, where he throws a dangerous offload to Tommy O’Brien.
France score through Jalibert from the ensuing scrum as the out-half cruises over too easily.
In attack, there are some concerning trends over the last three years for Ireland too.
Ireland have tweaked their tactical approach towards kicking the ball more often in the last few seasons, meaning they have been making fewer carries per game on average.
From 136 carries per game in 2023, they had dropped to 113 carries per game last year.
116 carries against the French again held to that trend.
What has been concerning is that Ireland have made fewer metres per carry on average in that time.
So from 3.6 metres gained per carry in 2023, Ireland had dropped to 3.0 metres per carry last year.
Roughly half a metre might not seem like a huge amount, but those centimetres can sometimes be the difference between making a linebreak on the next phase or stressing the defence by making them shuffle backwards continuously.
Ireland’s average dominant carry percentage has been over 32% in each of the last three years but that figure dipped to 29.6% against the French last week. Again, it might not seem like a huge difference, but every moment of dominance counts.
None of the figures above are particularly disastrous and Ireland remain ahead of many teams in their physicality, but the drop-off is concerning. Farrell knows his team need to get better in all collisions if they’re to start beating the best sides again.
It’s not always just about pure physical power in the carry. As with defence, speed to set and details around the ball can make a big difference in allowing players to unleash their physicality.
The Michael Milne try in Paris is a good example. Having failed to drive over with a maul, Ireland move the ball to McCloskey, who uses a late step off his right foot and a fend to dominate the collision.
McCloskey’s work makes life easier for Jacob Stockdale and Ringrose, who are the two first supporting players on the scene.
Stockdale and Ringrose do a good job of instantly clearing the French bodies away from the breakdown, giving Gibson-Park clean and quick access to the ball.
As McCloskey carries, we can see loosehead prop Michael Milne is ahead of the ball after his involvement in the maul.
But watch Milne’s speed to set for a carry on the very next phase.
And it’s an explosive one from Milne.
Milne’s timing around the corner means he can accelerate onto Gibson-Park’s pass, dipping his body height to win the collision with France’s Kalvin Gourgues and Antony Jelonch.
Milne drives inside them as they fail to wrap him in the tackle, then the prop shows off slick work on the ground to get a clean placement of the ball as Ringrose arrives at this breakdown too.
Like the other Irish carriers, Milne lands ‘out’ to present the ball, meaning he’s placing it towards Ireland’s right-hand side, where they want to play around the corner, beating the chasing French defenders from the inside.
Milne’s carry means Ireland can continue to play at speed as James Ryan carries next.
Ryan rides the triple French tackle very well and, again, he presents the ball on the outside.
Ryan’s carry leaves three French defenders on the ground and they now have to work back around the ruck if they’re going to keep up with Ireland’s speed.
Next up is Nick Timoney, who adds some variety by picking and carrying himself rather than taking a pass from Gibson-Park.
Timoney obviously doesn’t make it over the tryline here, but he takes the contact on his terms, dipping very low and using the ‘cannon arm’ technique that involves the carrier planting a hand on the ground for stability as they carry.
We can see Timoney’s left hand planted above as he drives forward with a latch from hooker Dan Sheehan.
Having engaged three more French forwards, Timoney is able to rapidly recycle the ball and Ireland are ready to strike for the score.
The threat of Beirne making another pick and jam is important because that ties in France loosehead prop Rodrigue Neti [red below].
And with France having spent so many forwards in the previous couple of tackles, that in turn means Milne gets a one-on-one chance against France centre Gourgues [yellow above].
It’s a physical mismatch and Milne wins it easily, not even needing a full latch from Jack Conan on his outside.
Ireland only make five metres of gains in this sequence, but it’s clear how much of a difference the smaller details can make in terms of going forward and winning collisions.
There is plenty of collective hard work involved in all of this, but it obviously helps to have big, explosive athletes who can dominate collisions even when the work around them isn’t perfect.
France have more than a few of those large, dynamic athletes and coaches like Farrell are always looking to integrate this kind of power player.
Blindside flanker Cormac Izuchukwu, who will make his Six Nations debut on Saturday as he gets his fourth Ireland cap, offers strong lineout defence and a creative offloading game, but the 6ft 7ins, 118kg forward also tends to win lots of collisions.
Opta’s data shows that no other back row or lock in the URC has committed two or more tacklers into his carries than Izuchukwu over the last three seasons. Any carrier who drags in defenders obviously leaves space for team-mates elsewhere.
Izuchukwu has committed two or more defenders into 78.6% of his carries in that time, as well as managing to make 0.54 linebreaks per game, which puts him in the top five in the URC.
6ft 5ins, 127kg second row Edwin Edogbo comes onto the Irish bench and will make his debut against Italy on Saturday. He is also a collision winner and defender magnet.
His gainline success of 57.6% in the carry has him in the top seven of all URC locks in league and Champions Cup games this season, while he has also shown a handy try-scoring knack in the last couple of seasons.
It takes size and power to get over from close range.
Edogbo is destructive defensively too, winning 1.46 turnovers per game in the URC and Champions Cup, which is the best of any lock by quite a distance.
Ulster’s 21-year-old Bryn Ward was called into Ireland’s wider Six Nations squad this week and though he won’t feature against Italy, his ability to win collisions could lead to a cap sooner rather than later. Ward weighs 118kg and packs a punch in contact.
His 0.54 turnover tackles per game is the third best among URC back rows in the league and Champions Cup, while he is also in the top five back rows for committing at least two defenders with his carries.
Ward’s time will come, but Izuchukwu and Edogbo will aim to win plenty of collisions as Ireland look for a big upturn in their form in this area against Italy. Farrell wants his senior men to set a tone for the fresh faces.
“People need to step up to show them the way of what it takes to be an Ireland international,” said Farrell.
“It’s up to everyone in the room, certainly our experienced guys, to show the way as far as that’s concerned. Because if that’s shown to them in the right manner, those two kids will follow that.”
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Ireland's collision-winning has to improve after concerning trends
REGARDLESS OF THE tactical ebbs and flows of top-level rugby, one thing never changes.
Winning collisions is paramount.
It’s a somewhat ugly way of framing what can be a beautiful game, but there’s no hiding from it. Ball-carrying, tackling, and rucking will always remain decisive in this sport.
Physicality is a core element of rugby and there is beauty in the brawn. Momentum generated in contact on both sides of the ball goes a long way towards deciding who wins and loses. And from that momentum flows so much of the highlights-reel skill.
Last week in Paris, Andy Farrell’s Ireland were on the wrong side of this equation.
“No matter how much you try to shape it, it’s a confrontational game and our intent within our game wasn’t where it needed to be to win a high-profile match like that,” said Farrell today.
It’s not the first time this has happened to an Irish team against a French side, but it has stung Farrell and his squad since last Thursday. For the boss to publicly call out his players for their lack of intent demands a ferocious response this weekend and beyond.
Ireland have tended to be superior to Italy in the collisions, but the gap has seemingly closed. Last weekend’s feral performance against Scotland showed that the Azzurri continue to improve. They won many more collisions than they lost in the rain in Rome.
Ireland, on the other hand, lost too many collisions in Paris and Farrell will be well aware that this is part of a concerning trend since the heights of 2023.
One simple measure of how Ireland came off second best is that France had 18 dominant tackles, whereas Ireland had eight, according to Opta’s data. And that’s despite the French having more possession than Ireland.
France are an excellent team, but those numbers still set out a challenge for Ireland. They need to be the ones dominating in the tackle this weekend against Italy.
Over the last couple of seasons, Ireland have had a decline in their average dominant tackles per game.
From a peak of 10.7 dominant tackles per game in 2023, they dipped to 10.2 in 2024, then dropped off to 8.5 per game last year. So the eight they delivered against France holds to this trend.
The decline in dominant tackles goes hand in hand with Ireland giving up an increasing number of linebreaks to the opposition over the last three years.
Ireland’s defensive peak came in 2022 when they were down at just 3.2 linebreaks conceded per game. The following year, the figure was still as low as 4.0 linebreaks against per game.
The number rose slightly in 2024 to 4.3 linebreak concessions per game, before a notable increase to 5.6 linebreaks against per game in 2025.
Against France, Ireland conceded 13 linebreaks. So addressing this disimprovement is a major focus for Simon Easterby, who is in charge of the Irish defence.
Tackle success percentage can be a very misleading statistic because some ‘missed tackles’ are actually good defence. However, anyone who watched last week’s game in Paris could tell Ireland were falling off tackles they usually make.
A tackle success of 80.6% against France backs up the eyeball impression and continues an incremental dip in Ireland’s percentage over the last few years from a whopping average of 88.8% across their games in 2022.
One aspect of the defensive performance that was more pleasing was the seven turnovers Ireland won against the French. This includes breakdown turnovers and turnovers forced in tackles.
This was a reversal of the trend, with Ireland having averaged 7.1 turnovers per game in 2023, down to 5 per game in 2024, then just 4.8 on average last year. Irish teams at their best tend to generate momentum from turnovers so Farrell’s men need to keep up that element of last weekend’s display.
But overall, Ireland will be looking to hammer home every single chance of dominance in defence against Italy, having come up short against France.
A moment in the fifth minute in Paris stands out. Ireland have just survived an early French try-scoring chance.
Ireland captain Caelan Doris has worked hard on kick chase from an Irish scrum on their five-metre line and he recognises early that he might have a chance to light up Nicolas Depoortère as the French look to counter from the clearing kick.
It’s a moment to seize control of momentum with physical dominance in a big collision.
But Doris misses the chance.
He doesn’t manage to land a shoulder on Depoortère, who spins out of Doris’ tackle attempt and accelerates upfield.
Depoortère then swerves past Tadhg Beirne and fires up a fend at Josh van der Flier, making it all the way over Ireland’s 10-metre line before he is grounded.
What could have been a moment where Ireland dominated the French, potentially even opening up a turnover chance, is instead a big loss of ground and forces them to retreat straight after a big chase upfield.
Ireland gave France too many of these chances to generate momentum, particularly in the first half.
Below, we see Ireland in phase defence in the 20th minute when France out-half Matthieu Jalibert wins a collision against Ireland centre Garry Ringrose and second row Joe McCarthy.
While Jalibert is explosive, he obviously isn’t a heavy-duty ball carrier, yet he gets over the gainline for France off a late pass out the back.
If we go back one phase, we get an idea of why Ireland end up soaking this double tackle on Jalibert.
As we can see below, Ireland win the gainline on the phase before as they come forward aggressively and out-half Sam Prendergast makes a good low tackle on France hooker Julien Marchand.
But as Prendergast is making his tackle, we can see that McCarthy is still holding onto Jalibert after the out-half’s inside pass to Marchand.
McCarthy probably wants to let Jalibert know that he’s going to be looking for him all game, but the Irish lock is wasting precious seconds in resetting into the defensive line.
Ireland talk a huge amount about their ‘speed to set’ and McCarthy is leaving himself with work to do.
Meanwhile, scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park is hesitating in making a decision whether to join the defence at the right fringe of the breakdown.
Gibson-Park seems to briefly read that Ireland may make a turnover, moving towards the contest, but again precious split seconds are ticking by.
It all means that Ireland aren’t well set to come forward again and be aggressors on the next phase.
As France scrum-half Antoine Dupont scoops the ball, McCarthy [red] above has only just got back onside, with Gibson-Park [blue] arriving on his inside.
So centre pair Stuart McCloskey and Ringrose [yellow] don’t have the confidence of a well-set line to encourage them to come forward with particular intent. McCarthy, meanwhile, is chasing to catch up from the inside.
And as we saw before, that means two Irish players soak a tackle on the French out-half.
That, in turn, means France are able to generate lightning-quick ball, allowing Dupont to send back row Oscar Jègou into a one-on-one against Gibson-Park, which he dominates.
France have major momentum and Ireland never get it back. Les Bleus very nearly score at the end of this passage, only for Prendergast to intercept an offload and carry the ball back over his own line, where he throws a dangerous offload to Tommy O’Brien.
France score through Jalibert from the ensuing scrum as the out-half cruises over too easily.
In attack, there are some concerning trends over the last three years for Ireland too.
Ireland have tweaked their tactical approach towards kicking the ball more often in the last few seasons, meaning they have been making fewer carries per game on average.
From 136 carries per game in 2023, they had dropped to 113 carries per game last year.
116 carries against the French again held to that trend.
What has been concerning is that Ireland have made fewer metres per carry on average in that time.
So from 3.6 metres gained per carry in 2023, Ireland had dropped to 3.0 metres per carry last year.
Roughly half a metre might not seem like a huge amount, but those centimetres can sometimes be the difference between making a linebreak on the next phase or stressing the defence by making them shuffle backwards continuously.
Ireland’s average dominant carry percentage has been over 32% in each of the last three years but that figure dipped to 29.6% against the French last week. Again, it might not seem like a huge difference, but every moment of dominance counts.
None of the figures above are particularly disastrous and Ireland remain ahead of many teams in their physicality, but the drop-off is concerning. Farrell knows his team need to get better in all collisions if they’re to start beating the best sides again.
It’s not always just about pure physical power in the carry. As with defence, speed to set and details around the ball can make a big difference in allowing players to unleash their physicality.
The Michael Milne try in Paris is a good example. Having failed to drive over with a maul, Ireland move the ball to McCloskey, who uses a late step off his right foot and a fend to dominate the collision.
McCloskey’s work makes life easier for Jacob Stockdale and Ringrose, who are the two first supporting players on the scene.
Stockdale and Ringrose do a good job of instantly clearing the French bodies away from the breakdown, giving Gibson-Park clean and quick access to the ball.
As McCloskey carries, we can see loosehead prop Michael Milne is ahead of the ball after his involvement in the maul.
But watch Milne’s speed to set for a carry on the very next phase.
And it’s an explosive one from Milne.
Milne’s timing around the corner means he can accelerate onto Gibson-Park’s pass, dipping his body height to win the collision with France’s Kalvin Gourgues and Antony Jelonch.
Milne drives inside them as they fail to wrap him in the tackle, then the prop shows off slick work on the ground to get a clean placement of the ball as Ringrose arrives at this breakdown too.
Like the other Irish carriers, Milne lands ‘out’ to present the ball, meaning he’s placing it towards Ireland’s right-hand side, where they want to play around the corner, beating the chasing French defenders from the inside.
Milne’s carry means Ireland can continue to play at speed as James Ryan carries next.
Ryan rides the triple French tackle very well and, again, he presents the ball on the outside.
Ryan’s carry leaves three French defenders on the ground and they now have to work back around the ruck if they’re going to keep up with Ireland’s speed.
Next up is Nick Timoney, who adds some variety by picking and carrying himself rather than taking a pass from Gibson-Park.
Timoney obviously doesn’t make it over the tryline here, but he takes the contact on his terms, dipping very low and using the ‘cannon arm’ technique that involves the carrier planting a hand on the ground for stability as they carry.
We can see Timoney’s left hand planted above as he drives forward with a latch from hooker Dan Sheehan.
Having engaged three more French forwards, Timoney is able to rapidly recycle the ball and Ireland are ready to strike for the score.
The threat of Beirne making another pick and jam is important because that ties in France loosehead prop Rodrigue Neti [red below].
And with France having spent so many forwards in the previous couple of tackles, that in turn means Milne gets a one-on-one chance against France centre Gourgues [yellow above].
It’s a physical mismatch and Milne wins it easily, not even needing a full latch from Jack Conan on his outside.
Ireland only make five metres of gains in this sequence, but it’s clear how much of a difference the smaller details can make in terms of going forward and winning collisions.
There is plenty of collective hard work involved in all of this, but it obviously helps to have big, explosive athletes who can dominate collisions even when the work around them isn’t perfect.
France have more than a few of those large, dynamic athletes and coaches like Farrell are always looking to integrate this kind of power player.
Blindside flanker Cormac Izuchukwu, who will make his Six Nations debut on Saturday as he gets his fourth Ireland cap, offers strong lineout defence and a creative offloading game, but the 6ft 7ins, 118kg forward also tends to win lots of collisions.
Opta’s data shows that no other back row or lock in the URC has committed two or more tacklers into his carries than Izuchukwu over the last three seasons. Any carrier who drags in defenders obviously leaves space for team-mates elsewhere.
Izuchukwu has committed two or more defenders into 78.6% of his carries in that time, as well as managing to make 0.54 linebreaks per game, which puts him in the top five in the URC.
6ft 5ins, 127kg second row Edwin Edogbo comes onto the Irish bench and will make his debut against Italy on Saturday. He is also a collision winner and defender magnet.
His gainline success of 57.6% in the carry has him in the top seven of all URC locks in league and Champions Cup games this season, while he has also shown a handy try-scoring knack in the last couple of seasons.
It takes size and power to get over from close range.
Edogbo is destructive defensively too, winning 1.46 turnovers per game in the URC and Champions Cup, which is the best of any lock by quite a distance.
Ulster’s 21-year-old Bryn Ward was called into Ireland’s wider Six Nations squad this week and though he won’t feature against Italy, his ability to win collisions could lead to a cap sooner rather than later. Ward weighs 118kg and packs a punch in contact.
His 0.54 turnover tackles per game is the third best among URC back rows in the league and Champions Cup, while he is also in the top five back rows for committing at least two defenders with his carries.
Ward’s time will come, but Izuchukwu and Edogbo will aim to win plenty of collisions as Ireland look for a big upturn in their form in this area against Italy. Farrell wants his senior men to set a tone for the fresh faces.
“People need to step up to show them the way of what it takes to be an Ireland international,” said Farrell.
“It’s up to everyone in the room, certainly our experienced guys, to show the way as far as that’s concerned. Because if that’s shown to them in the right manner, those two kids will follow that.”
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