Midfielders maestros
IRELAND’S FOUR-POINT win over Scotland was by no means pretty, but there were still commendable performances to take note of.
Garry Ringrose is the obvious star of this group of players, but when he backs up the hype he is a joy to behold. The centre gave Ireland a vital leg-up in this fixture, his 11th minute break carved open the Scottish defence and his pass gave Billy Dardis a chance to accelerate on to the ball and go on a straight race for the line (watch it here).
It was telling that, on Ireland’s next central attacking scrum, Joey Carbery found a large gap to exploit as the blue shirts had renewed focus on the midfield channels.
Ringrose’s midfield partner Sam Arnold was also critical in this result. The Ulster man stamped his physicality on the game at vital times and made telling contributions when Ireland were struggling to escape their 22. Perhaps the most important intervention was to get in behind the try-line early in the second half, he flung his body under Ruairidh Knott by any means to prevent the powerful Scottish back row a chance to ground the ball against the post.
Breakdown beauty
Almost as important as getting your breakdown approach technically right is to make sure the referee thinks you’re doing it right. With minimal possession and territory, this is how Ireland managed to hold on for victory.
When Scottish attacks didn’t end with a spilled, they ended with hands slapping green backs because of turnover penalties.
Two of the men added to the starting line-up after the win over Argentina led the way on the ground. Sean McNulty proved an immovable object when arching over to get hands on the ball and openside Conor Oliver was a constant pest for Sean Lineen’s attack – he was eventually punished nine minutes from time. Debutant Liam O’Connor also got in on the action with a text book separation from the ruck before reaching in to force one of many crucial turnover penalties.
Feeling the heat
Unquestionably it was an odd sight, but it was pleasing to see players allowed a water break after 20 minutes of each half.
This World Rugby directive kicks in when the temperature is above 30 degrees Celsius and 60% humidity and has the purpose of assessing players medically for heat stress while cooling and hydrating them.
Scotland’s back-room team certainly seemed to make a more obvious effort, carrying out parasols at both stoppages to shade their players.
How much of a difference that makes in a two minute break is down to the individual, but the interval didn’t overly disrupt the game – though it was a stop-start fixture at the best of times.
Big defensive effort
Though Scotland had a big hand in their own downfall today, the tenacity shown by Nigel Carolan’s men in defence deserves enormous credit.
The opening onslaught from Scotland’s pack seemed to be a matter of when, not if, Ireland fell behind. Yet thanks to big displays from lock David O’Connor, Josh Murphy and Arnold, the green wall remained unbreached after seven intense minutes with the sun beating down. From there on, doubt seemed to creep in for Scotland and the errors (forced and unforced) started to flow.
