Reproduced with permission from WhiffOfCordite.com
SIX TRIES, NO injuries and some minor selection dilemmas for the visit of the real minnows next week – virtually everything you’d want out of a game against Georgia really.
We wrote on Friday about the very few thing we might be able to take from the game, and so it came to pass. The match followed a very familiar pattern of good team vs. minnow: low-scoring first half followed by floodgates opening as the pressure takes its toll on the little ‘un.
In general, the pack will be happy they did their job and the backline less so. The much-vaunted Georgian scrum seems to be better on paper than in actuality, as a few canny punters predicted would be the case.
Ireland weren’t on top in the scrum, but they were ok there, comfortable in the lineout and strong in the maul. They found plenty of gaps to exploit. They created umpteen chances but found their finishing a bit off, in the first half in particular.
The front row will be reasonably happy. Rosser needed to get some game-time because… er… just because, right. He managed 46 minutes of difficult scrums and one hilarious mini line break before giving way to Rodney Ah Here.
The most relevant thing from the weekend for Ross was probably the pillaging the Wobbly front row took in Paris, followed by the incompetence of the backups, who were milked by the French. We’d almost feel comfortable letting Ah Here loose on the Wobs (who have resolved to play a few new faces), but Rosser it will be. And he’ll be better after yesterday.
Dave Kilcoyne enjoyed a slightly less troublesome time than Rosser, had one even better run and scored a try. Job done, and a decent showing against tough opponents. Took one step towards an RWC plane ticket, did Killer. Scoring tries is not bread and butter for props, but it’s a handy habit to have and Kilcoyne chips in with plenty.
In the row, Dave Foley was man of the match and out-shone his partner Mike McCarthy. McCarthy appears to be a good scrummaging second row [citation needed!] but his star is very much on the wane, and has been since his man-of-the-match award against South Africa two years ago.
Calling Foley ashore early was a probable sign a bench slot on Saturday has been earned, and his performances this year warrant it.
In the back row, all three men showed up reasonably well, with Dom Ryan especially busy on his debut. None shot the lights out, though, and we suspect all will drop out of the team for the Wobs match.
In the back division, it was a case of good top ‘n’ tail, poor middle. Felix Jones had a fine match and both half-backs played well but the entire three-quarter line was pretty middling.
If Schmidty wasn’t happy with depth at centre before, he certainly isn’t now – Dorce and Darren Cave did very little of note in the 80 and only a spicy cameo from Stuart Olding (admittedly against tired and run-out opponents) brightened up the Milky Bar Kid’s options there.
If Henshaw is now nailed on to start, who his partner is will be interesting – if Payne is fit, he looks set to continue, but what if he isn’t? D’arcy is most likely to get the call, but he looked rusty here. No doubt there will be a clamour for Stuart Olding and on the evidence of his glitzy cameo here, it’s not hard to see why. In retrospect, we may have learned more from starting him, but hindsight is always 20-20.
If this series was to be Simon Zebo’s time to shine, he’s running out of time. The jet-heeled Corkman controversially (at the time anyway) lost out to Andrew Trimble and Little Bob last Six Nations and was a minor cause celebre – he hasn’t exactly set the world alight and you think if there were better options than Craig Gilroy to choose from, he might lose his place for the Wobbly game.
In particular, his moment of trying a redux of his ankle flick instead of jumping on the ball will have been noted by Joe Schmidt – this is the type of play from wingers that will have him spitting bullets.
Zebo has clearly taken Schmidt’s feedback of the last 12 months on board, but in his case, there is more to do.
