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Ireland 'literally couldn’t string five phases of rugby together'
By Ian Cameron
Former Scotland head coach turned television pundit Matt Williams and Lions’ winger Shane Horgan did not hold back in their critique of Ireland’s tactics against New Zealand in the opening Autumn Nation Series game in Dublin on Friday night.
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Ireland’s 19-game winning streak at the Aviva Stadium ended with a 23-13 loss to New Zealand. The All Blacks capitalized on Ireland’s errors and indiscipline, securing the win through six Damian McKenzie penalties and a late try by Will Jordan, marking their first victory in Dublin since 2016.
Ireland’s refusal to play the conditions vexed both pundits.
Williams singled out both Ireland’s fly-half performances as he slammed the team’s tactical shortcomings on Virgin Media Sports. The former Leinter boss suggested that Ireland’s game management care of Jack Crowley – and Ciaran Frawley when he came on – was not up to standard.
“We’re sitting here going, it’s a wet night. Why haven’t we got a kicking game that’s banging the ball into the corners? Why are we not playing territory on a wet night?” he questioned.
Williams also pointed out that Ireland seemed to be playing as though they were in completely different conditions, remarking: “We’re still playing like we’re down on the Highveld in South Africa in July.”
Williams singled out Ireland’s fly-halves, who in his view had missed the mark. “Both the 10s had poor games. They didn’t guide the Green Team around in any way,” he stated. “Compared to McKenzie, who kicked very well off the tee and ran well, and in the end set up a very good try… That was a poor game for both those Irish 10s.
“We didn’t kick judiciously in general play, and it was a wet night. They tried to play a highly structured, short-passing game in very difficult conditions,” Williams said.
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Ulster second-row Iain Henderson was also highlighted for his poor discipline.
“You had Ireland giving away some crazy penalties there late in the game that invited Damian McKenzie and New Zealand into your half with ridiculous penalties,” he said. “There was one there by Henderson, who I really respect, but that was a crazy penalty. He makes a tackle, he’s off his feet, and he won’t let the ball go. Three points, three points, three points, and all of a sudden you invite New Zealand back into a game and they don’t need a lot of inviting.”
According to fellow pundit Shane Horgan, Ireland’s inability to retain possession stymied any chance of an effective kicking strategy. “One of the issues they had was they failed to retain possession so many times they never even got in a position to kick the ball, that was an element of,” he commented. “They literally couldn’t string five phases of rugby together. It was quite remarkable. It was very error-prone.”
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“There was space on the field, and in fairness, they were close to breaking through on a number of occasions, but just the pass wasn’t right, or there was an overrun, or there was a slight delay.”
“I’m not saying it’s necessarily hubris because when they play like that, they often get rewards for it, but it wasn’t firing tonight, and they kept on going,” he said. “It’s almost in their minds they’re going, ‘Actually, it’s almost there. We can get it, we can get it.’”
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Its a game of Rugby , played today, Next week the result could or would be totally different, The games were great to watch, mistakes aside , heads dropped , a couple of teams maybe read too many press releases and forgot to stick to the old school rules, Different ref , Different day , Different Result
James Lowe at 10 Ireland need to think outside the box
New Zealand were also infinitely better in the air from both their own kicks and Ireland's kicks
They expected to win. They believed they were better and they can't lose. Is that so surprising that they lost? Underestimating any team, good or bad, and the chances are that you will lose. Winning is a habit. To continue winning, you have to take every game as serious as a WC final. Expecting to win, or claiming to be the best, doesn't make you the best not will it make you win. To compete against the best, you have to become a serial winner.
In saying that, the Irish are good. They will come back with a bang, but to be honest, the 6N besides France, the Irish don't really have competition. It's easy to fall into the trap where you think you are better than you really are.
I wasn't very impressed with this performance. They've put everything they had into the Bok series in SA that was drawn and what a great 2 tests those were. Despite losing to NZ in the quarters, they believed it was just a blip and some of the Irish fans claimed only the Ref gave NZ that victory. Now the AB's have won again, and this game by the AB's was just not very good. They should've scored at least 3 more tries with all those mistakes. Same with the Irish. This is a test that will quickly be forgotten.
I think that England are pretty good. Just need to be a little more ballsy/confident, and I think that their setup could be a top 4 one. France have been a little undercooked lately, it will depend on how French they are feeling on the day.
Ireland were just thinking about more important things like the open top bus ride when they win the World Cup.
Jeepers. One bad game.
I hope our Irish friends appreciate this doom and gloom treatment from the so-called pundits. Twonks like Williams. He should be fired.
Lambastes Ireland and then admits that there were essentially rusty. What a Poophol.
I believe they have lost 3 of their last 5 games?
Ireland just rusty (I hope?).
They'll be back (I hope?).
The more quality teams the better... in any sport.
NH struggling to explain this result. Start with the ABs defense nullifying Ireland's attack efforts. Conditions were obviously slippery but first half stats (possession, territory, etc) showed which team was making all the plays.
Of the two tests NZ has played , both England and Ireland look to concentrate their attention to defence and dont bother with attack.