Liberated Ireland attack takes big leap forward before ABs arrive
We came to a windy but sunny Lansdowne Road in search of signs against Japan of a continuation from last March that this ‘New Ireland’ under Andy Farrell was a project worth cheerleading following their clinical dismissal of England last time out in the Six Nations. We left enthused by what was witnessed, a sumptuous 60-5, nine-try display that will have Farrell salivating that his team can now confidently have cut off the All Blacks next weekend.
Ireland may have edged Japan by eight points in a summer series encounter since that schooling of England but not much concrete could be read into that fixture given that this Jamie Joseph side had only just emerged from its post-2019 World Cup cold storage.
Having run Australia close in recent weeks in Oita, this November 2021 meeting was instead going to be the real deal 26 months on from the infamous Japanese ambush that still has Irish fans waking up in a cold sweat. Shizuoka is a name that to this day sends Irish heads into a spin given the upset that unfolded on that September Saturday two years ago.
That was a Joe Schmidt Ireland team with Farrell lurking in the background as his wingman, his guilty fingerprints all over the defeat as much as the Kiwi’s who has lately emerged as a consultant for the Blues in Auckland after handing in his notice as World Rugby’s high-performance boss.
In nominating an XV containing a whopping twelve starters from Leinster, Farrell was going with just four survivors from that awful day of days in the Far East in the guise of Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose up against a Japanese XV featuring nine of the very same starters who bloodied a tier-one giant that was then put out of its misery a few weeks later by a rampant All Blacks in Tokyo.
PLAYER RATINGS: Ireland impress on Sexton's big day, with some players fully deserving of 9/10 ratings#AutumnNationsSeries #IREvJAP #Ireland https://t.co/xRmlYUDoHB
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2021
You could be misled if this statistic of Ireland having eleven different starters was definitive evidence that this is indeed a new era under Farrell. Whereas Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison-Gibson Park, Ronan Kelleher and Caelan Doris are all newcomers on the ex-England assistant’s watch, the continued reliance on Johnny Sexton – who missed the Japanese match in Shizuoka through injury – suggested an evolution with the handbrake still on.
Now 36, ever since Sexton saw off Ronan O’Gara in 2013 after their feisty selection battle, the No10 Ireland jersey has unmistakably belonged to the Dubliner and no one has come near to giving him some O’Gara-like competition in the eight years since then. It is a huge concern. Look at how his absence through injury also proved costly at the 2015 World Cup.
But what can you do when the pretenders have yet to convince you they can knock the veteran off his perch? On this auspicious occasion of his 100th Test cap for Ireland, the skipper was excellent, looking more like the youthful buck he was from a decade ago than the flaky version that Warren Gatland said thanks but no thanks to earlier this year with the Lions.
With Gibson-Park producing by far his best display yet at Test level, Sexton had every opportunity to remind everyone that he continues to be the main man for Ireland and while his afternoon started with a duff pass that required rescuing by Gibson-Park, he went on to supremely marshal his team around the joint and he signed off against Japan with a tremendously celebrated try on 48 minutes.
It was no surprise he left chuffed by what unfolded, gushing to the crowd in the aftermath over the stadium PA: “I will remember it forever so thank you very much.” His few words brought the house down in an enthusiastic fashion and Irish supporters headed away into the afternoon sun giddily wondering if Farrell can now repeat the twin successes enjoyed under Schmidt against the All Blacks.
Whereas Farrell came in for some damaging slings and arrows following a bogus start to the 2021 Six Nations where matches were consecutively lost and major questions were asked about how poor their attack appeared under the baton of assistant Mike Catt, here they looked excellent going forward. Their play was jammed with variation, the sort of unpredictability that they didn’t have in their armour during a February to forget.
The pity about it all was that the IRFU got their ticket pricing wrong. Instead of marketing this game as a festival of rugby aimed at getting the grassroots in through the gates for the first match since February 2020 with the stadium opened to full capacity, they went all out looking for top dollar and were left embarrassed by an attendance where the number of seats left vacant was as daft as the purple coloured kit they played in.
Those optics aside, there was plenty to otherwise cheer. With Gibson-Park demonstrating a slickness in his execution previously not much seen in his game at Test level, Ireland started like a Shinkansen and they accelerated three tries clear inside 19 minutes with crisp passes from the scrum-half pivotal to two of the scores from Lowe and Andrew Conway and his liberating grubber central to the another from Conway.
You just knew he would! 🤩 @JohnnySexton marks his 100th cap in style with a try, and what a reception from the crowd!#AutumnNationsSeries #IREvJPN @IrishRugby pic.twitter.com/DQrjE5fdhX
— Autumn Nations Series (@autumnnations) November 6, 2021
With their forwards all enjoying positive moments, the question was could Ireland now keep this momentum going and ensure they delivered an acceptably complete performance? The answer was affirmative, Gibson-Park the deserved beneficiary of a fourth try before an interval where the only disappointment was that Ireland failed to convert from a pair of five-metre scrums in the closing minutes, the second with Japan a man down to a yellow card.
In fairness, it was the only obvious attacking setback in an otherwise polished performance as Ireland kept the foot on the accelerator in the second half to bag further tries from Sexton, Bundee Aki, Ringrose, Conway again and finally from Cian Healy. No wonder ‘Bring on the All Blacks’ was the end-game message on a day when the Farrell era took a positive few steps forward.
One particular aspect of being an international player used to deeply frustrate Ireland's Keith Earls off the pitch…#AutumnNationsSeries #Ireland #IREvJAPhttps://t.co/cNL7luCguK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments