WELSH RUGBY IS clearly in a difficult place at the moment, but the message from the Ireland camp is that those troubles don’t rule out the possibility of Wales coming to Dublin and disrupting Ireland’s Triple Crown charge on Friday night.
A statement win in Twickenham leaves Andy Farrell’s squad shooting for Six Nations silverware. France remain on course to win the championship, and land a Grand Slam, but home games against Wales and Scotland offer Ireland a chance to ensure their own campaign ends with a trophy in their hands.
Given how low the mood music was after the opening round loss in Paris, that prospect is not one to be sniffed at.
First up it’s Wales this Friday, a game Ireland will be heavily fancied to win. The home side have been improving week-to-week in this championship and have the momentum of Twickenham behind them. The visitors have lost three from three so far, with a points difference of -86.
Unfortunately, Welsh rugby’s current problems extend far beyond this tournament, with tensions ongoing between the WRU and regions and the senior Test side stuck in an ongoing dismal run of results. They were unlucky to come up short against Scotland last time out, but even the catalyst for that improved performance – out-half Sam Costelow – won’t be involved in Dublin.
It all looks ominous for the Welsh, but they were also in troubled waters last year when they gave Ireland a real scare in Cardiff, leading at half time before Simon Easterby’s team fought back to win 27-18.
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A year on, Ireland assistant coach Paul O’Connell looks at the challenge coming this week and sees a coaching group capable of stirring something special from their players.
“I really like the coaches they have,” O’Connell said.
“I know Danny Wilson really well from his time in Harlequins. They wouldn’t have had the fastest lineout jumpers in Harlequins. Herbst, the big South African, Joe Launchbury. Great players, but probably not the greatest lineout jumpers in the world. He’s a really good set-piece coach.
Rónan Kelleher during Monday's training session. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“Scotland have always been very tough for us to attack against under Steve Tandy. You know exactly what he stands for. There’ll be so much pressure at the ruck all the time. They’re very connected.
“Obviously, Matt (Sherratt) last year, we turned up in the Millennium Stadium and in a very short period of time he had them playing some really good attacking rugby. We’ve seen it already how their forwards are interplaying. They’re passing a lot more at the line. They attack short sides really well. They flatten up.
“I think they’ve probably got a coaching group that really know what they stand for. To me, they have really good players. They have really good athletes. They just need that direction and guidance from a good coaching group. I think they’re going to get that.
I know they’re going through tough times in the last few years but they’re still going to have to go through them. But they’ll get better.
“I was thinking this morning about some of the players that have left, the Sam Warburtons of this world, Justin Tipurics, Alun Wyn Jones. The influence they have around the playing group is absolutely massive.
“We’ve experienced it ourselves here with the likes of Johnny, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray going. Guys that are in how they train and how they prepare and how they care about the team. The difference they make to everyone around them is phenomenal. So I’m sure a few of those leaders are going to begin to emerge now from them over the next few years.
“So I think they have what it takes to start getting better. We’ve seen it already. I don’t think some of the results we’ve seen in the past from Wales are going to continue.”
The comparison with Ireland’s own recent loss of Test experience is an interesting one, given it’s something Andy Farrell has often pointed to as his team have struggled for consistency. The likes of Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Keith Earls are not easily replaced. Yet the core of the current squad retains a familiar look, and the Ireland coaches are hoping the good and the bad from this Six Nations will all stand to the group going forward.
Guys need experiences to learn what it takes. In the past few years we’ve had a very, very experienced team on the field. That’s changed a little bit.
“The French experience for so many of the guys, the South African experience for so many of the guys, even the Italy game is a great experience for them. I think our best players, the guys that have the most influence, are the guys that are the most consistent in how they train and how they prepare. And on the back of that, they’re the most consistent in how they play.
“We need that across the board but guys need experience to learn that as well and you get better on the back of that. So I would hope that we continue in the vein that we were in England in terms of some of the habits, in terms of some of the relentlessness we saw from the players. I would hope that will continue and improve this weekend.”
As forwards coach one of O’Connell’s main areas of concern is the lineout, and across the opening three rounds of the championship the former Munster and Ireland player has been reasonably satisfied with what he’s seen.
“It was probably OK,” O’Connell said.
“We conceded a maul try against Italy which was disappointing. We haven’t mauled much ourselves but we haven’t scored a maul try. A little bit sloppy against Italy, certainly towards the end of the game.
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“Our ball winning was good against England but we won great ball at the tail, we didn’t deliver it properly. It probably goes down in the stats as a 100% lineout but really we didn’t get a lot out of it.
Head of Athletic Performance Aled Walters with Josh van der Flier at training on Monday. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s an important part of the game for us and a part of the game that the lads have worked really hard on. It’s probably a little bit better than it was in that New Zealand game in the autumn for sure, but there still is room for improvement.”
A strong set-piece is just one part of the puzzle Ireland need to put together to avoid a slip on home soil this Friday.
“It’ll be down to a load of small things. It won’t be any one thing. I think we’re good when we have clarity around what we’re doing and we’re doing every little bit of our game as well as we can.
“We’re not too focused on what the result is going to be or what the occasion is. We’re just excited about doing our way better. That’s when we’re at our best. Hopefully that continues this weekend.”
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O'Connell: 'Guys need experiences to learn what it takes'
WELSH RUGBY IS clearly in a difficult place at the moment, but the message from the Ireland camp is that those troubles don’t rule out the possibility of Wales coming to Dublin and disrupting Ireland’s Triple Crown charge on Friday night.
A statement win in Twickenham leaves Andy Farrell’s squad shooting for Six Nations silverware. France remain on course to win the championship, and land a Grand Slam, but home games against Wales and Scotland offer Ireland a chance to ensure their own campaign ends with a trophy in their hands.
Given how low the mood music was after the opening round loss in Paris, that prospect is not one to be sniffed at.
First up it’s Wales this Friday, a game Ireland will be heavily fancied to win. The home side have been improving week-to-week in this championship and have the momentum of Twickenham behind them. The visitors have lost three from three so far, with a points difference of -86.
Unfortunately, Welsh rugby’s current problems extend far beyond this tournament, with tensions ongoing between the WRU and regions and the senior Test side stuck in an ongoing dismal run of results. They were unlucky to come up short against Scotland last time out, but even the catalyst for that improved performance – out-half Sam Costelow – won’t be involved in Dublin.
It all looks ominous for the Welsh, but they were also in troubled waters last year when they gave Ireland a real scare in Cardiff, leading at half time before Simon Easterby’s team fought back to win 27-18.
A year on, Ireland assistant coach Paul O’Connell looks at the challenge coming this week and sees a coaching group capable of stirring something special from their players.
“I really like the coaches they have,” O’Connell said.
“I know Danny Wilson really well from his time in Harlequins. They wouldn’t have had the fastest lineout jumpers in Harlequins. Herbst, the big South African, Joe Launchbury. Great players, but probably not the greatest lineout jumpers in the world. He’s a really good set-piece coach.
“Scotland have always been very tough for us to attack against under Steve Tandy. You know exactly what he stands for. There’ll be so much pressure at the ruck all the time. They’re very connected.
“Obviously, Matt (Sherratt) last year, we turned up in the Millennium Stadium and in a very short period of time he had them playing some really good attacking rugby. We’ve seen it already how their forwards are interplaying. They’re passing a lot more at the line. They attack short sides really well. They flatten up.
“I think they’ve probably got a coaching group that really know what they stand for. To me, they have really good players. They have really good athletes. They just need that direction and guidance from a good coaching group. I think they’re going to get that.
“I was thinking this morning about some of the players that have left, the Sam Warburtons of this world, Justin Tipurics, Alun Wyn Jones. The influence they have around the playing group is absolutely massive.
“We’ve experienced it ourselves here with the likes of Johnny, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray going. Guys that are in how they train and how they prepare and how they care about the team. The difference they make to everyone around them is phenomenal. So I’m sure a few of those leaders are going to begin to emerge now from them over the next few years.
“So I think they have what it takes to start getting better. We’ve seen it already. I don’t think some of the results we’ve seen in the past from Wales are going to continue.”
The comparison with Ireland’s own recent loss of Test experience is an interesting one, given it’s something Andy Farrell has often pointed to as his team have struggled for consistency. The likes of Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray and Keith Earls are not easily replaced. Yet the core of the current squad retains a familiar look, and the Ireland coaches are hoping the good and the bad from this Six Nations will all stand to the group going forward.
“The French experience for so many of the guys, the South African experience for so many of the guys, even the Italy game is a great experience for them. I think our best players, the guys that have the most influence, are the guys that are the most consistent in how they train and how they prepare. And on the back of that, they’re the most consistent in how they play.
“We need that across the board but guys need experience to learn that as well and you get better on the back of that. So I would hope that we continue in the vein that we were in England in terms of some of the habits, in terms of some of the relentlessness we saw from the players. I would hope that will continue and improve this weekend.”
As forwards coach one of O’Connell’s main areas of concern is the lineout, and across the opening three rounds of the championship the former Munster and Ireland player has been reasonably satisfied with what he’s seen.
“It was probably OK,” O’Connell said.
“We conceded a maul try against Italy which was disappointing. We haven’t mauled much ourselves but we haven’t scored a maul try. A little bit sloppy against Italy, certainly towards the end of the game.
“Our ball winning was good against England but we won great ball at the tail, we didn’t deliver it properly. It probably goes down in the stats as a 100% lineout but really we didn’t get a lot out of it.
“It’s an important part of the game for us and a part of the game that the lads have worked really hard on. It’s probably a little bit better than it was in that New Zealand game in the autumn for sure, but there still is room for improvement.”
A strong set-piece is just one part of the puzzle Ireland need to put together to avoid a slip on home soil this Friday.
“It’ll be down to a load of small things. It won’t be any one thing. I think we’re good when we have clarity around what we’re doing and we’re doing every little bit of our game as well as we can.
“We’re not too focused on what the result is going to be or what the occasion is. We’re just excited about doing our way better. That’s when we’re at our best. Hopefully that continues this weekend.”
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