Wales Whipped

Reigning champions Wales were mauled by Ireland on Saturday past. To be fair to the visitors, they made no excuses afterwards and have taken their humbling on the chin. Admittedly, Mr Gatland questioned Ireland's refusal to run the ball a bit more, but a little sting in the tail is what we come to expect from the Kiwi maestro. Happily, the Emerald Isle has got its own New Zealand genius now in the guise of Joe Schmidt. Like his predecessors, Declan Kidney and Eddie O'Sullivan, Joe is keeping himself very grounded after the second successive convincing victory of the tournament.

Here is where the fence-sitters and sceptics amongst the press pack suddenly hype Ireland as world-beaters when only two weeks ago, the Oirish were previewed as potential also-rans in the competition. I just adore the media 'experts'. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Ireland hit the ground running against the Welsh and the forward display was a sight to behold. The famed Alun Wynne-Jones and Adam Jones were bulldozed into submission. The away team missed a trick in omitting Justin Tipuric, and in spite of a couple of admirable gallops from big Coombs, the men in red rarely got into any ball-carrying stride. As a consequence, their dangerous back division had no forward advances to take advantage of. The ball that they received was frequently static and the hosts lay in ambush. Even big Phillips looks one-dimensional now. Those pesky forays around the fringes of a ruck or a scrum are now so telegraphed. Murray by contrast has really stepped up to the mark. Whilst he looked a couple of years ago like he was merely keeping the number nine jersey warm until somebody else came along, it now seems that big Conor could be the scrum half for quite some time. His relieving kicks from the back of the scrum or ruck out of his twenty-two are a welcome facet [or asset] to his game. Jonny Sexton of course ran the show, although I thought Jonathan Davies was less than incisive as usual, as he paid tribute to Sexton as having orchestrated the Irish triumph. Certainly, Sexton stood head and shoulders above his opposite number, big Priestland, but for me, Ireland's surprising rout owed itself to forward power.

Ironically, Ireland's pack have possibly performed better without Sean O'Brien, which is all the more surprising, given that big Sean has been arguably our best player in the last couple of years. The trouble with the absent Leinster flanker is that he is liable to burst forth into enemy territory, with no-one on his shoulder to take an offload nor even a colleague nearby to assist at the inevitable breakdown. Therefore, O'Brien has been rampaging forward, partially in isolation. Now, we have an Ireland team mauling and ball-carrying in unison. There is such cohesion about our front eight that they invite comparison with an orchestra. Every individual in the orchestra may be playing different roles, but they are combining so well. It was a measure of Ireland's confidence and strength in depth that the ever-reliable O'Connell was hauled off early in the second half to make way for Dan Tuohy. Elsewhere, the giraffe Toner continued to boss the line-out alongside his second-row colleague, and ably assisted by our tail jumpers. What of the back three, then? Chris Henry grabbed the vital first try and is letting nobody down. (It was also good to see young Paddy Jackson provide the icing on the cake in the dying seconds, thereby completing an unusual Ulster 'double' and providing the score with a more realistic margin.) Henry's back-row partner, Jamie Heaslip, is still in fine fettle, an ever-willing work horse. As for Mr O'Mahony, well this guy fascinates me. He probably is slightly less effective at ball-carrying than Stephen Ferris and maybe fractionally less forceful in the tackle too, but his all-round belligerence and aggression brings a smile to Oirish faces and gets right up the noses of opponents. Moreover, whenever a scuffle emerges, O'Mahony is usually first on the scene - not to break up the skirmish, but to join in! Yes, like Phillips of Wales, big Peter plays on the edge and he is often teetering on the brink of a lapse in discipline. It came as no surprise that the majestic referee, Wayne Barnes, had to remind Phillips that he was the referee and didn't need any screaming advice from the big scrum half. Similarly, Barnes was called upon to admonish O'Mahony once or twice. On this occasion, O'Mahony stayed just the right side of the law, but he needs to be careful that his abrasive style and his self-appointed role as agent provocateur doesn't fall foul of the officials in the near future.

As for our backs, well there was no fluent passing, a fact mitigated by the customary deluge in the last quarter of the 'contest' [or no contest]. To their credit, our backs each played well in isolation. Young Kearney looks a slippery customer. The bearded Darcy has found a new lease of life. O'Driscoll refuses to accept the fact that he is a has-been. Meanwhile, Andrew Trimble probably played better this week whilst not scoring a try than last week when he did. I'm always wary of so-called pundits who feel that someone has played well when they have recorded a try or scored a goal. If Andrew was satisfactory last week, then this time, he was more than satisfactory, having to field Welsh re-starts and delighting the crowd with one splendid solo run in the first half.

O'Mahony has provocatively suggested that Ireland "wanted it more." Jamie Roberts begs to differ. I like to think that both teams in any such tussle are equally motivated. To suggest that the Welsh were going through the motions simply fails to acknowledge that impressive Ireland made them look ordinary. A team is only as good as you allow them to be.

Well Ireland now face the peculiar prospect of securing a triple crown in February if their imminent excursion to Twickenham proves to be successful. Perhaps England, guided by the admirable Stuart Lancaster, may prove to be a better 'team' than Wales, but frankly speaking, John Bull possesses few superstars and I am struggling to think of who in the England team would be selected for Ireland. Kate Bush in her 1985 hit single 'Running Up That Hill' sang about 'make a deal with God'. Well, Almighty One, as much as I would like a grand slam and a defeat of those French folk in Paris, I'd settle for making a deal and claiming a triple crown. Amen. Mind you, maybe I'm limiting Ireland and not recognising that the team's progress appears to be leading to a showdown with les Bleus in the very last encounter of the campaign. Is it set up to be the European grand finale, or an anti-climax?

Certainly, the Twickers shindig has all the appearance of a triple crown decider, but perhaps England may defeat Ireland and then lose again to Wales, thereby nullifying any triple crown for anyone. In a few weeks time, we will have all the answers, and I suspect that the British media will be stating that they had faith in the men in green all along. They just kept their high regard for the Irish well hidden. 

IRELAND 26 Wales 3; at Lansdowne Road; Saturday 8th February 2014

15 Kearney.R

14 Trimble

13 O'Driscoll

12 Darcy

11 Kearney.D

10 Sexton [4 penalties, conversion] replaced by Jackson [TRY, conversion]

9 Murray

8 Heaslip

7 Henry [TRY]

6 O'Mahony

5 O'Connell (captain)

4 Toner

3 Ross

2 Best

1 Healy