SPEAKING TO IRELAND head coach Andy Farrell and a handful of his players after yesterday’s 57-6 defeat of Italy, you got the sense they really didn’t know what to make of the whole thing.
Nine-try wins aren’t usually to be sniffed at, but it was difficult to view this game as a genuine contest, the laws which saw Italy reduced to 13 men early on spoiling the spectacle for all involved.
Ireland actually looked a little confused in their approach as they tried to take advantage of their extra two men on the field, the mismatch initially seeing them overplay their hand and force things. Italy had to dig deep knowing they had 60 minutes of damage limitation ahead of them. For large parts, the crowd felt a little disinterested, the lure of catching the early train or finding a table in the pub proving too appealing for the many who made an early exit.
Yet the bottom line was that Ireland went into the game looking to register a big score, aware that their points differential could prove decisive further down the line, and they did just that. So on paper, at least, it was job done.
“Obviously a very weird game,” said scrum-half Craig Casey.
Obviously (Italy) going down to 13 made it a bit weird. (It was) Points difference that we were after… so it’s good going forward definitely. We’ve put ourselves in a good spot that will do us well hopefully coming up.”
Ireland can expect a much more fierce challenge when they head to Twickenham in a fortnight. By the time that fixture arrives, it will be exactly a month since they came up short against France in Paris. Will all due respect to an Italian side who did their best to make life awkward for Ireland, that’s a long wait between fights.
Farrell was clearly disappointed with how the afternoon played out, the Ireland head coach describing his players as a ‘little bit flat’ in the dressing room post game, while accepting his team’s skills ‘were not good enough’ as their accuracy and decision-making repeatedly let them down.
“You could see it out there,” Casey continues.
“There was space to be exploited and we were trying to play to the space but sometimes it didn’t work and we gave away a few penalties that we didn’t need, which didn’t help. It was obviously frustrating. But the lads did well just to calm it down and get back to basics. Luckily it worked.”
There were of course some positives scattered across what was ultimately an underwhelming day at the office. Michael Lowry will have been delighted with his first taste of Test rugby, the Ulster fullback staying out on the pitch to check his messages and make a couple of phone calls long after the stands had cleared.
Casey also enjoyed the day after he came in to win his fifth cap and help Ireland see out the final quarter, with the Munster scrum-half singled out by Farrell after the game.
“I was happy enough with how it went,” Casey said.
“It wasn’t perfect and our team performance wasn’t perfect either, but it will be good to go back and look at the game and take what we can from it.
I’m loving the environment, it’s a great place to be. It’s an absolute honour to be in camp and put on the jersey, especially with everything going on. Absolutely loving it and trying to get better every single day. It’s a great squad to be a part of.”
Casey has had to be patient in this Six Nations, the Italy game providing his first minutes in the competition this season.
“Every chance you get to put on an Irish jersey… I was delighted to get a chance, especially with everything going on at the minute, you’ve got to really enjoy putting on that Irish jersey. I loved every minute that I was able to get out there and hopefully I did well.”
Next up it’s England, before Ireland welcome Scotland to Dublin on the final weekend of action. With Gibson-Park seemingly established as Farrell’s first-choice scrum-half, and Conor Murray likely to continue in the bench role he held against Wales and France, Casey faces a difficult battle to break back into the matchday squad.
“Of course you’re hoping to be involved every week, it’s just what the coaches think. If they think I can bring what they want to the game, hopefully I’ll be involved but there’s two other class 9s in the squad as well so it’s definitely heated competition. We’ll see what happens, but hopefully (I can challenge them) anyway.”
Comedian Michael Fry is our special guest on this week’s episode of The Front Row, in partnership with Guinness. Joining host Seán Burke, Eimear Considine and Murray Kinsella, he chats about his family’s rugby background and his short-lived playing days, before using his musical ear to rank the anthems of each Guinness Six Nations team. Click here to subscribe or listen below:
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