An Extremely Frustrating Result

A decade ago, triple crowns were won with a certain regularity by the Irish rugby warriors. Now, regrettably, we are back in the territory again where triple crowns are difficult to achieve. On the one hand, how hard can it be to string together three wins against the home unions? On the other, perhaps Meat Loaf [or Jim Steinman to be precise] is correct to state that "two out of three ain't bad."

It was almost a case of deja-vu, as for the second successive year, Ireland appeared to hit the heights against the formidable obstacle of Wales, only to go back into their shell when John Bull threw down his gauntlet.

One major plus about the Twickenham setback was the absence of any scuffles or on-field fisticuffs which one might expect when the Oirish lock horns with their old adversary. The nearest we came to any handbags was when the feisty Mike Brown took exception to something that Brian O'Driscoll mentioned in his shell-like. [Incidentally, Mike Brown's acrobatics are inspired by his hero, Peter Schmeichel. One more reason to hate Manchester United perhaps?]

Yes, one could argue that Owen Farrell might easily have been asked to sit out ten minutes after a naughty challenge on his Lions team-mate Conor Murray. Although Farrell's shoulder barge was extremely late, I do hate to see team games destroyed by one outfit enjoying numerical superiority. Besides, the referee can be forgiven for lending Farrell the benefit of the doubt. Once you dish out an early yellow card for a dubious offence, then you are subsequently obligated to do likewise every time a player makes a questionable violation. In other words, a match official can be digging a hole for himself when his well-intentioned aim at laying down the law and making an example of someone means that others must also be equally penalised at regular intervals. Anyhow, rugby is supposed to be a man's game and the man that he is, Conor Murray, quickly recovered from the skullduggery of young Farrell. The trouble is that the highly-regarded duo of Murray and especially Sexton did not do themselves justice in a contest where Murray's opposite number raced through for a crucial try, while Sexton's attempts to be clever and add his 'x factor' did not produce any dividends.

Furthermore, Sexton and Murray were both culpable for England's match-turning try. It was kind of tragic for the visitors because they were maybe only one score away from shutting the match out, when they led ten-six after their whirlwind start to the second half. Instead of which, Sexton kicks the ball out on the full from a re-start. It isn't the crime of the century, and although this is a schoolboy error, ill-befitting a modern 'great' at fly half, the subsequent advantage derived from a scrum on halfway is scarcely any better than a re-start which is pouched by the opposing forwards who then launch into several phases from just inside their own half anyway. In the event, even the scrum on halfway typified the afternoon's bizarre proceedings. The English struggled to provide good possession for their backs and after the ball squirmed backwards from a subsequent melee, Jack Nowell managed to scoop up a bouncing ball and skilfully dance past the despairing tackle of Murray. He then reached halfway where he offloaded to captain Robshaw. The latter then did likewise for Brown who burst through the Irish ranks, with Care on his shoulder to provide due 'care' in finishing off what was essentially a counter-attack from a non-promising position. It is to Ireland's detriment that they allowed England to feed off such a scrap of possession so spectacularly.

Herein lay Ireland's major failing of the afternoon. Time and again, our efforts to launch the ball long to England's back three were totally undermined when the first chaser and the first point of contact failed to nail his man, and therefore England's elusive-running back three were able with alarming regularity to bring the ball out of defence and up to the safe bosom of their pack, thereby launching a fresh wave of attacks. Unfortunately once we finally tackled the man in possession, he was no longer in dangerous isolation when he caught or retrieved the initial kick. Instead, the first tackle wasn't landed until the ball-carrier had reached the rest of his team. Ireland's defensive lapses were ultimately their undoing. This is all the more surprising when it was our once-suspect scrum which ruled the roost, while our line-outs were untouchable. Even our back movements were not afflicted with the customary butter fingers, apart from a pass from Trimble to Kearney which went to ground when a try was in the offing. Again, our wings played well in isolation, but one wonders whether they are an improvement upon the gifted duo of Gilroy and Zebo. D'Arcy tried time and again to force an incursion or two, but his pace has long since deserted him, and the bearded wonder is a shadow of the guy who tormented the same opponent on the same turf ten long years ago.

It is certainly not a case of back to the drawing board for Ireland. This is a match that they could have won, and probably deserved a share of the points. There was precious little to choose between the two combatants, although England could contend that they hit a post with a penalty and ought to have scored an early try, thus suggesting that the hosts left at least eight points out there. As for Ireland, ten points was a poor return for a team whose pack provided plenty of ball, but we appear to lack the guile and pace to unsettle England's well-marshalled defence.

Congratulations to England, through gritted teeth, on their victory. The trouble is that their hysterical media tend to hype such performances to the heavens. It remains to be seen whether the class of 2014 will be a marked improvement upon the under-achievers of recent years. It wasn't so long ago that they raved about Chris Ashton, Ben Foden, and Manu Tuilagi. Now suddenly, they've found new idols. Will they stand the test of time or also prove to be one-year wonders? Time will tell.

Ireland would do well to freshen the team ahead of the clash against Italy and rest some key personnel for the finale in Paris which just might prove to be a happy ending, after another Twickenham hard luck story. Ah well, they'll be a-rejoicing in the public schools after this hard-fought win. Sniff sniff. 

England 13 IRELAND 10; at Twickenham; Saturday the 22nd of February 2014

15 Kearney.R [TRY]

14 Trimble

13 O'Driscoll

12 D'Arcy

11 Kearney.D

10 Sexton [penalty, conversion]

9 Murray

8 Heaslip

7 Henry

6 O'Mahony

5 O'Connell (captain)

4 Toner

3 Ross

2 Best

1 Healy