Ireland squad set for 'frank discussions' after Twickenham defeat
Andrew Conway expects a “few frank discussions” in the Ireland camp as they begin the inquest into the crushing Guinness Six Nations loss to England.
Ireland’s Triple Crown and Grand Slam dreams were shattered after they were comprehensively outclassed at Twickenham.
A sloppy start and costly mistakes from Johnny Sexton and Jacob Stockdale contributed significantly to the first defeat of the Andy Farrell era.
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Asked how the team will respond to Sunday’s 24-12 reversal in London, Munster wing Conway replied: “Just have a look back, see what went wrong, have a few frank discussions, make sure everyone’s aligned, everyone’s on the same page.
“These things happen in rugby. I’ve been lucky enough to be playing the game for a fairly long time and luckily enough we’ve got a match in two weeks.
“It’s not the end of the season, it’s not a final, and we’re not going on our summer holidays.
“We’ll have an opportunity to put in a better performance in a couple of weeks and that’s the beauty of the game.”
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A fumble from captain Sexton and hesitancy from wing Stockdale led directly to England’s opening two tries, while the former was guilty of some wayward kicking.
Ireland, who began the tournament with successive homes wins over Scotland and Wales, were 17 points down at the interval and never seriously threatened a comeback, despite second-half tries from Robbie Henshaw and replacement Andrew Porter.
Farrell’s men return to action on March 7 when Italy visit Dublin, ahead of a potential championship-decider against current table-toppers France the following week.
Conway had no complaints about the weekend result but believes the Irish remain well-positioned to regain the title he helped win in 2018.
Eddie's major post-RWC addition – Matt Proudfoot – played a major role in today's dominant performance at HQ
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He said: “We just got beaten by a better team, didn’t we?
“If you take away those two errors behind the goal-line they were all over us but that’s two errors that gives them 14 points. When you go 17 points behind against England in Twickenham you’re in a bit of trouble.
“We’re two from three, we’ve got Italy in Dublin next and we’ll put all our concentration into that and hopefully we can get a better performance and a result there.
“And then we’ll see where the table lies and what happens in other games and, all going well, we’ll be going to Paris with the championship on the line, that’s the honest answer.”
George Ford and Elliot Daly pounced on Ireland’s first-half errors to give England the control their dominance deserved before Luke Cowan-Dickie added the clinching try after the break.
Owen Farrell also contributed nine points with his boot against the team managed by his father as the hosts moved level on nine points with their opponents, four behind the new-look French side.
Star @AllBlacks loose forward @ardiesavea has revealed he is keen to make a shock code swap to rugby league before the end of his career. https://t.co/NawSiWzUhF
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Conway has not been surprised by France’s blistering start to the competition under new head coach Fabien Galthie but insists it is important not to look beyond perennial wooden spoon winners Italy ahead of the possible winner-takes-all trip to Paris.
“I actually thought they were going to beat England on that opening day. I just had that feeling from talking to a few guys and watching them,” the 28-year said of France.
“Watching the young guys who are coming through, (Antoine) Dupoint’s a world-class player, he’s the heartbeat of their side at the moment, (Romain) Ntamack has got all the ability in the world, and the likes of (Virimi) Vakatawa, when they get it right, they get it right.
“I’m not surprised by how they’re going, they’re a great team to watch.
“(However) we can let other people talk about the France game, we know we’ve got a Test match against a fiery Italian side coming to Dublin who will play off the fact that the media and the likes are going to be talking about the French match.
“But that’s for them to talk about, we know we’ve got a tough task.”
Watch: All Blacks star Ardie Savea reveals shock rugby league ambitions.
Comments on RugbyPass
This article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
1 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
226 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
226 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
18 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
18 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to comments