The McCaw-like play from Van der Flier as Ireland's pack rolled over Wales
Ireland showed their credentials as favourites for the title in this year’s Six Nations, it took less than 90 seconds to meticulously enforce their will over Wales.
Within 10 minutes the Irish pack had scored twice, outsmarting Wales at the ruck and manipulating numbers in their favour.
Ireland’s pack battered Gatland’s troops until they wilted from their very first opportunity after Wales fullback Liam Williams had little choice but to clear the lines and hand them a five metre lineout.
Following a peel play with hooker Dan Sheehan running into the 10 channel, quick carries by the Irish pack began to create a lag between Taulupe Faletau (8) and Jac Morgan (6) coming around the corner.
Justin Tuperic (7) made an ill-timed decision to compete at the ruck, Faletau continued fanning out and Morgan stopped in close to form the pillar defence.
The split-second decisions by all three left a small vulnerability in the defence which was enough for Ireland’s ruthless attack to take advantage of.
Ireland’s maestro Johnny Sexton injected himself into the attack preciously when this opening presented and played lock James Ryan into that space with an inside ball.
This slight gap became a serious issue for the defence as Ryan’s strong carry drew five Welsh defenders to the ground.
Faced with the threat of Ryan scoring, too many Wales defenders scrambled to attempt to hold him up.
It took Jac Morgan, Justin Tuperic, Joe Hawkins, Gareth Thomas and Alun Wyn Jones to bring him down, with a few questionable decisions to join the pile instead of folding over and bolstering the line for the next phase.
With Wales facing a severe numbers shortage, No 8 Caelen Doris finished the job on the next recycle, running into space for Conor Murray.
Peter O’Mahoney’s line helped hold George North for an extra split second and Doris crashed over.
It was just a cascading problem for Wales, as Ireland turned a small crack into a large one and rode the momentum and speed to take advantage.
The next try was constructed again through the forwards, using the pack from a set piece tap to deliberately create a two-on-one in short space.
Hooker Sheehan took the tap and hit up to set a ruck, before the first latch-carry by Ireland.
Prop Andrew Porter played scrumhalf and provided the pass for the first battering ram, Caelen Doris and Peter O’Mahoney.
Josh Van der Flier was in the boot to clean and provided a pivotal role in the ensuing carnage.
Wales ended up again committing many bodies in order to bring Doris to ground, four defenders got dragged into proceedings.
Van der Flier’s job was to be the ‘pin man’ and come in late and hold down as many players as possible.
The Irish openside managed to engage both props, Tomas Francis and Gareth Thomas, and prevent them from reloading.
The dirty work by Van der Flier allowed the second battering ram featuring James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne to find a two-on-one situation on Wales No 12 Hawkins.
Jac Morgan (6) was the closet defender to the ruck and had to be drawn away from the battering ram to preserve the two-on-one.
The Welsh blindside flanker was forced to cover a prop in the hole, tighthead Finlay Bealham, so couldn’t really hedge his bets.
If he was to prevent Bealham from barging over at that range, he had to anchor down and get off the line fast.
Bealham expertly played a deft pass to the second battering ram which committed Morgan into contact and took him out of play.
The physics were in Ireland’s favour with two giant locks combining to power over a midfielder for the second try.
A scrum penalty from right in front added three more points for a 17-3 lead, all earned by the eight men up front.
A James Lowe intercept minutes later all but killed off the contest a little over 20 minutes into the game.
Ireland’s pack may have had a third try late in the half when Sheehan powered down inside the five but a knock-on by Doris after a chop tackle by Ken Owens spoiled the opportunity.
The Welsh defence improved greatly in the second half while the home side enjoyed much more possession than the first but the damage was already done.
Van der Flier bagged a late try for good measure after similar lead up work from the forwards.
While Sexton is a genius orchestrating their attack, Ireland’s greatest strength right now is up front with the best pack in the world.
The power combined with their game speed and precision is unmatched. South Africa and France might have power and physicality in spades up front but they do not have the work rate, precision and the ball skills of the Irish forwards.
They have the collective nous to run precise lines and perform each role to a high level, whether it be the supporting line on a carry, the clean out, the block line, the tip pass, all with accurate timing.
They play so close to the defensive line at times they are almost on top of it. The pound bodies at the breakdown in ruthless fashion to maintain fast recycles.
No one else’s forwards are as well-rounded as Ireland or asked to do as much in a game.
And they interlink with Johnny Sexton and the backs seemingly perfectly, understanding where to be and what to do in near every situation.
Ireland’s pack are ready to make a statement next week when France come to visit.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments