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ON SUNDAY, JOSH van der Flier became just the third Irish player to be named World Rugby men’s Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of Ireland greats Keith Wood and Johnny Sexton.
It was a remarkable achievement for a player who is often one of the unsung heroes in Andy Farrell’s side. Ask any coach or teammate about Van der Flier’s qualities, and they’ll often mention his workrate and the unseen toil he does around the pitch, but he’s now also started to add more impactful moments to his game.
Here are just a few examples from some of Van der Flier’s key performances for Ireland this year.
Ireland 29 Wales 7 – Six Nations
“He’s a phenomenal athlete, quick and his engine and endurance is ridiculous. Josh is still able to sprint in the 80th minute. He has that natural running ability that’s incredible to have as a backrower, especially someone who gets through so much work like he does.” – Sean O’Brien
We’ll start with a clip that highlights Van der Flier’s attacking threat, a linebreak in the Six Nations win over Wales which leads to Andrew Conway’s second try of the day.
The move starts with Van der Flier positioned just off Tadhg Beirne’s left shoulder, a few yards ahead of Johnny Sexton and Bundee Aki, who are tucked in behind. This is a shape we see time and again across any Ireland game, with Van der Flier often acting as the decoy runner.
As Beirne turns inside, you can see the Wales defenders begin to drift as they anticipate the pass in behind to Sexton or Aki. However on this occasion Beirne hits Van der Flier instead of the two backs, and the flanker accelerates through the gap. You can actually see the surprise on some of the Welsh players’ faces as they allow the man nearest Beirne take possession and punch through the line with a powerful charge forward which brings Ireland deep into the Wales 22.
From here, Ireland are able to get their attacking game into motion and a few phases later, Conway gets over.
England 15 Ireland 32 – Six Nations
Van der Flier was instrumental to Ireland’s win at Twickenham in March. With Ireland leading by three points with nine minutes to play, his ball-carrying and defensive smarts were central to the visitors extending their lead in a game they went on to win 32-15…
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