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England's woes compounded by Six Nations-ending injury
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Finger of blame pointed at South African in Ireland loss to France
By Ian Cameron
Two days on from Ireland’s defeat to France, the loss prompted a soul-searching discussion on Virgin Media Sports on Irish television.
The panel of Joe Molloy, Shane Horgan, Rob Kearney and Ian Madigan repeatedly returned to one central theme: whether the skill-set painstakingly built at Leinster under Joe Schmidt and later refined by Stuart Lancaster has begun to erode under Jacques Nienaber, with the consequences now surfacing at Test level under Andy Farrell’s Ireland.
Opening the debate, anchor Molloy set the context by tracing Ireland’s attacking identity downstream to its Leinster foundations.
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“To give a very quick potted history, Joe Schmidt arrives into Leinster and says we’re going to become the best passing team in Europe. Practice over and over again. Those passes going to the right part of the body, at the right time, at the right pace,” said Molloy.
“That buys everyone time. That speeds everything up. That’s what made Ireland what they could be under Farrell.
“Now, I’m not saying it’s Jacques Nienaber’s fault. I can’t stress that enough. But it is notable that the last two or three years there’s been a change in emphasis in Leinster.
“Even in year one of Nienaber, they came out and said, ‘Look, we probably did spend a little more time on defence as opposed to honing attack.’”
“It’s hard not to feel, and again it’s Nienaber’s prerogative and Leinster’s prerogative, but it’s hard not to feel a sloppiness that Schmidt would never have allowed has just been allowed to fester, when it comes to the basics that are essential for a team of Ireland’s size.”
Shane Horgan suggested that the Nienaber effect might be tied to the differing experience of rugby in Ireland and his native South Africa.
“I think that’s a very fair point and it’s maybe an unforeseen consequence for Nienaber. In somewhere like South Africa, everybody grows up with a ball in their hand and never stops passing.
“Ireland players don’t naturally have that. Joe Schmidt came in and changed everything. We thought we were good passers. He came in and said, ‘You’re not good enough,’ and we weren’t.”
“You’re seeing that through Leinster and you’re seeing it through Ireland. The consequences are more than just the pass and the catch.
“If you look at Ireland’s alignment, one of the big issues was players weren’t going to the right man or putting players through holes. Everyone’s too flat because they’re nervous about the pass and nervous about the pace.”
That contrast, he felt, was brutally exposed by France.
“That’s the difference between France and Ireland. France are so comfortable with their pace. They’re so fast. They’re electric.
“At this level, even Ireland’s fastest players don’t look like the athletes that France have.”
Rob Kearney also highlighted the importance of Stuart Lancaster’s role in Leinster’s previous attacking clarity.
“The guy we’ve not mentioned is Stuart Lancaster. Joe came in and made us a really good passing team. Stuart came in and ensured our forwards could ball-play just as well as the backs.
“That’s why you got the Leinster and Ireland shape with multiple options at the line at any given time.”
He warned that Ireland’s reliance on provincial standards leaves little room for correction once players reach Test camp.
“Ireland are reliant on provincial coaches and players doing their basic ball skills all the way through the year. So when they come into camp, their catch-pass is already at a certain level.
“It’s almost too late for international coaches at that stage. It has to happen day-to-day at provincial level.”
Kearney was blunt in his assessment of where Leinster now stand.
“I do think Leinster in particular, their attack and their handling have regressed since Stuart Lancaster has left.”
The discussion then turned to defensive alignment, with Madigan outlining the contrast between provincial and national systems.
“Defensively they’re very different. Leinster’s system, they’re much more a press defence or rush defence, getting up in the face of the opposition, getting really high, and then if you do get broken you can rely on your scramble.”
“Leinster are a counter-rucking team. They don’t look to poach the ball as much. They’re looking to counter-ruck, slow the opposition ball down.”
“Ireland are looking to poach the ball, but as you saw there in that instance, we’ve got four players in some breakdowns, and then there’s some instances where we’re way too tight around the breakdown and other instances where we’re way too wide.”
“And that’s because, in my view, players are caught between two different systems.”
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