Ireland 22 - 26 France Post Match Discussion

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BBC I PLAYER LINK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b013sd7v/Rugby_Union_2011_2012_Ireland_v_France/

Ireland's worrying World Cup build-up continued as they were again beaten by France in Saturday's clash in Dublin.

Cian Healy's try helped the Irish lead 8-0 but French hit back with 16 unanswered points before the break including a Cedric Heymans try.

A wild Tomas O'Leary pass gifted a second French try to Francois Trinh-Duc after the break.

Jonathan Sexton and Sean O'Brien scored late tries but injuries to Healy and Felix Jones compounded Irish concerns.

Healy hobbled off after half-time while Jones' hopes of being in the 30-man World Cup squad to be announced on Monday could be in tatters after he was stretchered off with a suspected ankle injury.

With Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy both starting after missing the recent defeats by Wales and the French, the Irish made a lively start and the early pressure yielded a sixth-minute penalty for Sexton.

As the Irish backs exhibited quick hands, a bulldozing run from O'Brien increased the pressure on the French in the eighth minute and the move concluded with Healy barging his way over the opposition line.

France's early difficulties included losing injured fly-half David Skrela who was replaced by Trinh-Duc.

However after being on the backfoot for the opening 15 minutes, France suddenly began a fightback.

Irish scrum-half Tomas O'Leary is the son of former Cork hurling star Seanie O'Leary
Alexis Palisson's run needed a crucial tackle by young Irish full-back Jones with a lean-looking Paul O'Connell doing the mopping up on the ground.

Parra's penalty got the French on the scoreboard in the 24th minute after Keith Earls had been caught in possession.

A dreadful clearance by O'Leary was then punished by Trinh-Duc's thumping drop goal from 48 metres in the 28 minutes as the momentum swung France's way.

O'Driscoll appeared to be at fault for Heyman's try on the half hour as the Irish captain allowed Aurelien Rougerie to step inside him in midfield.

Parra converted the try and with the Irish rapidly losing their way, another penalty from the scrum-half increased the French lead to 16-8 by half-time.

As France continued to produce all the pressure after the break, Parra added another penalty in the 44th minute to leave 11 points between the teams.

O'Leary's nervy display culminated with his wild pass, after a botched scrum move, being intercepted by Trinh-Duc who ran in a simple try from the edge of the Irish 22.

Eoin Reddan was introduced moments later but Parra's conversion had extended the French lead to an apparently out-of-sight 18 points.

Possibly of even greater concern to Declan Kidney was the sight of prop Healy hobbling off after the score and young full-back Jones' World Cup dreams may be over after he was stretchered off with a suspected ankle injury.

With the French appearing to ease up in the closing stages, Sexton and O'Brien were able to barge over for late tries but the scores didn't mask Irish struggles.

Stephen Ferris was introduced for his first action since January after injury while Luke Fitzgerald produced a late cameo but there were few positives for the home side as Ireland's misfiring build-up to the World Cup continued.

The scorers:

For Ireland:
Tries: Healy, Sexton, O'Brien
Pen: Sexton

For France:
Tries: Heymans, Trinh-Duc
Con: Parra 2
Pen: Parra 3
Drop: Trinh-Duc

Ireland: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Shane Jennings, 6 Sean O'Brien, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Jerry Flannery, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Stephen Ferris, 20 Eoin Reddan, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Luke Fitzgerald.

France: 15 Cedric Heymans, 14 Maxime Médard, 13 Aurélien Rougerie, 12 Fabrice Estebanez, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 David Skrela, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Louise Picamoles, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascale Papé, Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Replacements: 16 Guilhem Guirado , 17 Fabien Barcella , 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Thierry Dusautoir, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 David Marty, 22 Vincent Clerc, 23 Luc Ducalcon.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television match official: Iain Ramage (Scotland)

They are a brilliant side Cari. By far the best in the NH

COME ON IRELAND!!!! SEANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try for SOB. Deserved but good to see some fightback

O'Brien good try there, excellent power

All in All very happy with the performance you take O'Leary out we win the game with ease today

Well it tarts up the scoreboard...and the disco shirt saved him!

SOB, a ray of sunshine.

France have a nice squad for the World Cup.

Full Time 22 - 26 France.

Not a bad game, just a pity it went away from Ireland at the end of the first half. Ireland should of done better though, defence let them down at times.

At least Ireland scored more tries than France. Thats something isnt it??

eirebilly wrote:At least Ireland scored more tries than France. Thats something isnt it??

Every cloud Billy!!

Watching BBC, I have to agree with Guscott and thats a rare occurence.

Yes, at least they played right to the end judging from the scoreline. Was it a better performance than the last 6N match or about the same?

Cari wrote:

eirebilly wrote:At least Ireland scored more tries than France. Thats something isnt it??

Every cloud Billy!!

Got to find one

Linebreaker wrote:Yes, at least they played right to the end judging from the scoreline. Was it a better performance than the last 6N match or about the same?

I think they played better against England in the Six Nations.

Panel slating TOL.

So much for the famed Leinster backrow,they had a great first 10 minutes. Did sweet F all after that. O'Leary's passing was a lot better today his backrow and forwards did him no favours. Yeah,he threw an interception but Reddan threw one in the 6N. I think O'Gara-Sexton 10-12 combo could be really exciting. Plus it would keep the Paddy Wallace haters happy.

Ireland were utterly rubbish. OLeary gifted France 10 points. He probably wouldnt make the Russia team he is so bad. Does he not have a back yard he can practice his box kicks and passing in? You would swear he had never played rugby before.

Earls really disapointed me too. Love him as a player but he was aweful. Didnt think Sexton was great either, needs to wake up a little as does Drico, hes meant to be captain and failed miserably to rally the troops.

Trimble, O'Brien and Healy werent too bad.

Sorry Cari, I meant the France match... similar scoreline wasn't it? The England game was the best performance by Ireland for sure.

ah Linebreaker I can't remember that one very well.

Thomond wrote:So much for the famed Leinster backrow,they had a great first 10 minutes. Did sweet F all after that. O'Leary's passing was a lot better today his backrow and forwards did him no favours. Yeah,he threw an interception but Reddan threw one in the 6N. I think O'Gara-Sexton 10-12 combo could be really exciting. Plus it would keep the Paddy Wallace haters happy.

Oleary was utter muck. He isnt good enough to play magners league. Only himself to blame. He IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH DO YOU NOT GET IT?

I don't think he should start,I've said it before. I'm defending him as his pack did him no favours in giving him secure ball. He was poor today,Murray is our best option.

TOL had a poor game but that does not make him a bad player. I too thought that the O'Gara-Sexton 10-12 combination was impressive.

eirebilly wrote:TOL had a poor game but that does not make him a bad player. I too thought that the O'Gara-Sexton 10-12 combination was impressive.

Yeah it looked good, I liked the way they both went for the ball at kicks though... "GTFO that's my job kinda situation"!

Thomond wrote:So much for the famed Leinster backrow,they had a great first 10 minutes. Did sweet F all after that. O'Leary's passing was a lot better today his backrow and forwards did him no favours. Yeah,he threw an interception but Reddan threw one in the 6N. I think O'Gara-Sexton 10-12 combo could be really exciting. Plus it would keep the Paddy Wallace haters happy.

Oh deary me .....................................

Tol was dire and not just because of his intercept - woeful box kick but also because of his ponderousness poor passing inability to read a game ..........

Isaac Boss probably wont be selected by Kidney and Tol will instead, I genuinely feel for Boss.

His passing was better,it couldn't get a lot worse.He cost the side ten points but he wasn't the only one at fault for the loss. The pack had a great first ten minutes in the breakdown and a great less 20 minutes. They were non existant besides that.

O'Leary is a terrible scrum half, but we already knew that (well most of us). What disappointed me more was the performances in the backs of Sexton, D'arcy, O'Driscoll and most of all Earls. These are quality players but they were crap today. Earls being the worst. I actually think he's our best winger so hopefully that's just a once off terrible performance. If he continues that form Trimble will easily take his place.

In the pack, the scrum and lineout were mostly fine which is one plus. But Heaslip and Jennings were not close to good enough. I always find it difficult to tell how the second rows are playing in open play, but I think O'Connell had a good game. O'Brien was decent.

Drico said "it's not the world cup" so what we lost at home and Ireland were rubbish as were you as captain, get a grip Drico.

OLeary should be sent back to AIL. Agree with Hook for once the last ten minutes meant nothing. Ireland played like they were completely clueless.

I dont blame Tol for the loss, he was part of it and had a very poor game but Darcy and Drico also had poor games (not near as bad as TOl), Earls had a poor game and needs to focus on one position i.e. the wing.

Feckless Rogue wrote:O'Leary is a terrible scrum half, but we already knew that (well most of us). What disappointed me more was the performances in the backs of Sexton, D'arcy, O'Driscoll and most of all Earls. These are quality players but they were crap today. Earls being the worst. I actually think he's our best winger so hopefully that's just a once off terrible performance. If he continues that form Trimble will easily take his place.

In the pack, the scrum and lineout were mostly fine which is one plus. But Heaslip and Jennings were not close to good enough. I always find it difficult to tell how the second rows are playing in open play, but I think O'Connell had a good game. O'Brien was decent.

+ 1

Although Sexton wasnt that bad and is Earls rugbys Theo Walcot??

Aparently Hayes and G Murphy have already been told they are not traveling??? However Jones is injured??

Ok Sexton wan't THAT bad. But he wasn't actually stamping his authority on the game either. The most annoying (and predictable) thing is Ireland complete lack of composure when France put them under pressure. Terrible passes, Felix Jones kicking out on the full, knock on's etc. etc. It's always the same against France. We wobble badly as soon as they string some good play together, they sense it and go for jugular, we implode. That's 10 defeats in 12 games against them now I think. Thank god it looks like we're unlikely to meet them in the world cup (fingers crossed). Sometimes, when faced with Les Blues, it looks like the Irish players would rather be playing the All Blacks.

leinsterbaby wrote:Ireland were utterly rubbish. OLeary gifted France 10 points. He probably wouldnt make the Russia team he is so bad. Does he not have a back yard he can practice his box kicks and passing in? You would swear he had never played rugby before.

Earls really disapointed me too. Love him as a player but he was aweful. Didnt think Sexton was great either, needs to wake up a little as does Drico, hes meant to be captain and failed miserably to rally the troops.

Trimble, O'Brien and Healy werent too bad.

Agree, terrible match by Ireland.

Healy was good, I thought court was decent when he came on as well.
Best/flannery both decent.
Ross was probably by irish motm, I was very impressed by his workrate.
Doc was appalling.
Poc was good. Great bravery a number of times to jump on the ball when boots where flying in.
Sob was alright.
Jennings was poor.
Heaslip alright.
Tol was tol unfortunately, very disapointed, I thought he started well but fell apart under pressure.
Sexton was alright.
Trimble was good again.
Darcy can f**k off, absolutely appalling for a player not to jump on the ball because they are afraid off getting hurt.
Bod was poor, very disappointing, I would say that earls was probably better than him last week.
Earls was poor, when its not you day don't try stupid offloads. I thought he did a lot of good things but he had three terrible moments.
Jones was okay, nothing special and obviously needs more time with munster to challenge for the 15 shirt, gutted that he will miss the world cup due to injury now(probably) but not sure if he really deserved to go.

McCarthy not on long enough to judge.
Rog was alright.
Reddan huge improvement on tol but still not better than okay.
Ferris, thank god he is back, absolute monster in contact, has to start if fit, some of his hits were huge.
Fitz beside one appalling pass he was impressive, nearly screwed up the sexton try by not passing but overall his best performance in a while.

Really disappointing performance but I hope people don't go over the top in their criticism as it is afterall a warm up. Unfortunately this will serve as great ammuntion for hook to attack kidney.

Ferris was monsterous, really ran himself ragged. Flying into the tackles and really fronting up to the french forwards. Would like to see him start against England.
Well I kind of don't... but I do like him as a player. The more game time Ferris gets, the better for Ireland.

My overriding feeling after that game is that we havent got rid of Gaffney soon enough.

-TOL after a great opening 10mins had a mare.
-Earls had a shocker in the first half but improved in the second. (at the minute Trimble has the 11 jersey with Bowe returning at 14)
-gutted for Jones- He wasnt brilliant today but given the situation was doing well enough i thought.
-BOD looks well off the pace (bad mistake for the first try)
-Trimble looked decent again and given how relatively lightweight our backs were made to look his size is important.
-D'arce was just d'arce. Decent first outing.
-I find it hard to be too critical of sexton but i do think ROG has him under pressure for that shirt
-heaslip was our best backrower imo. Competitive at the breakdown and always looked dangerous going forward
-jennings- sorry gibbo but i dont think he will go on the back of that
-SOB was devastating in patches but also slipped off some tackles. Definately in the positive column but knocked on at least twice aswell
-POC looks in good nick. You can see he is itching to get involved and i think he is linking up better with other than before. DOC was a nuisance as usual. we dont really have alternatives
-Ross was good in the scrum but isnt great around the park. Still vitally important to us
-Best. So pleased the lineout went well. still not at his best around the park.
Healy. Our best player when he was on the pitch and i hope to god he is ok. Animal

Ferris looked decent and no reports of an injury which is all that matters really
Flannery looked up for it. deserves to start next week
Court- i thought he did admirably. he needs to maintain that level of performance. he might get a chance next week
Fitz- has booked his seat imo. Couple of good breaks and is in front of McFadden for me.
mcCarthy- didnt really notice him tbh.
ROG- again looked in good nick.

POC needs to get in our boys faces more

Just after releasing that in my last post after saying people shouldn't go over the top in their criticism, I then proceed to exactly that in regards to darcy. I may be a bit over the top but I hate when players don't dive on the ball and it was sickening after seeing poc do it on a number of occasions and ross doing it as well.

Kidney was poor today though Val.

Not calling Tol ashore earlier, leaving healy on when he was in obvious discomfort (only to be forced to take him off a few minutes later). What was the point of Court on the bench.

Bringing McCarthy on with 4 mins remaining to "prove" his worth was insulting to him.

Not saying "sack Kidney" but poor day for him too.

Standulstermen wrote:My overriding feeling after that game is that we havent got rid of Gaffney soon enough.

-Earls had a shocker in the first half but improved in the second. (at the minute Trimble has the 11 jersey with Bowe returning at 14)
-gutted for Jones- He wasnt brilliant today but given the situation was doing well enough i thought.
-D'arce was just d'arce. Decent first outing.
-heaslip was our best backrower imo. Competitive at the breakdown and always looked dangerous going forward
-SOB was devastating in patches but also slipped off some tackles. Definately in the positive column but knocked on at least twice aswell
-Ross was good in the scrum but isnt great around the park. Still vitally important to us

Agree with most of what you say, except disagree slightly on these.
I think earls will get the oppurtunity again next week to impress, I think overall he played averagely but he had three absolute shocking mistakes and the pass to bod was just a poor decision especially as bod had made the mistake of overrunning him as well.
I thought heaslip was average but I might agree with you if I can manage to make myself rewatch it.
I thought ross was impressive outside the scrum again this week, last week it was only when I rewatched it that I saw how effective he was, this week I watched out for him and he was very good again.

I think that sob may lose out in the backrow battle. Heaslip, ferris and wallace are all looking fairly vital in their positions at the minute.

Val

Again i may be proved wrong in some of those. Heaslip i now remember was involved in the intercept try. On the Ross front i think we all know how vital he is. healy was excellent for me.

Just now remembering that Earls pass.. for me he has been overtaken by Trimble and should be our bench option. The centre is a worry. i t hought D'arce was better than BOD actually but it was these guys first game.

i shoudl add Fitz really spoilt his good cameo by asking for a card

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:My overriding feeling after that game is that we havent got rid of Gaffney soon enough.

-Earls had a shocker in the first half but improved in the second. (at the minute Trimble has the 11 jersey with Bowe returning at 14)
-gutted for Jones- He wasnt brilliant today but given the situation was doing well enough i thought.
-D'arce was just d'arce. Decent first outing.
-heaslip was our best backrower imo. Competitive at the breakdown and always looked dangerous going forward
-SOB was devastating in patches but also slipped off some tackles. Definately in the positive column but knocked on at least twice aswell
-Ross was good in the scrum but isnt great around the park. Still vitally important to us

Agree with most of what you say, except disagree slightly on these.
I think earls will get the oppurtunity again next week to impress, I think overall he played averagely but he had three absolute shocking mistakes and the pass to bod was just a poor decision especially as bod had made the mistake of overrunning him as well.
I thought heaslip was average but I might agree with you if I can manage to make myself rewatch it.
I thought ross was impressive outside the scrum again this week, last week it was only when I rewatched it that I saw how effective he was, this week I watched out for him and he was very good again.

I think that sob may lose out in the backrow battle. Heaslip, ferris and wallace are all looking fairly vital in their positions at the minute.

Bod didnt over- run that pass, Earls took the ball facing back the direction from where the ball came expecting to ship a big hit, and then flung it out the back door. Earls made two mistakes here not being brave enough and then the dreadful pass to try and compensate. Bod was poor but he didnt over run that.

Bod cut him with some look afterwards.

Yeahhh... Bod did not look happy at all.

9, 10, 12, 13 had no penetration, but where are the lines of running? Where are the dummy runners, where are the wingers cutting back on the inside, where are the support lines? Where are the first phase moves even? Where is the imagination? Lateral, insipid rugby that doesn't look like opening anyone up. We should be serving up so much better. We just don't create opportunities. Coaching issue as much as anything else...

Thought O'Leary and Earls had individually very poor games, some of O'Learys passing was ridiculously poor for an international 9, the pack actually did decent but we don't know how to use possession at times to hurt teams and our halfbacks didn't ask the questions we need.

Bottom line is; we had to huff and puff and work incredibly hard to put scores on the board and we let France onto the front foot and get on the scoreboard by making individual errors and it's too easy for them to capitalise against us.

Feagh McHugh wrote:

valjester wrote:

Standulstermen wrote:My overriding feeling after that game is that we havent got rid of Gaffney soon enough.

-Earls had a shocker in the first half but improved in the second. (at the minute Trimble has the 11 jersey with Bowe returning at 14)
-gutted for Jones- He wasnt brilliant today but given the situation was doing well enough i thought.
-D'arce was just d'arce. Decent first outing.
-heaslip was our best backrower imo. Competitive at the breakdown and always looked dangerous going forward
-SOB was devastating in patches but also slipped off some tackles. Definately in the positive column but knocked on at least twice aswell
-Ross was good in the scrum but isnt great around the park. Still vitally important to us

Agree with most of what you say, except disagree slightly on these.
I think earls will get the oppurtunity again next week to impress, I think overall he played averagely but he had three absolute shocking mistakes and the pass to bod was just a poor decision especially as bod had made the mistake of overrunning him as well.
I thought heaslip was average but I might agree with you if I can manage to make myself rewatch it.
I thought ross was impressive outside the scrum again this week, last week it was only when I rewatched it that I saw how effective he was, this week I watched out for him and he was very good again.

I think that sob may lose out in the backrow battle. Heaslip, ferris and wallace are all looking fairly vital in their positions at the minute.

Bod didnt over- run that pass, Earls took the ball facing back the direction from where the ball came expecting to ship a big hit, and then flung it out the back door. Earls made two mistakes here not being brave enough and then the dreadful pass to try and compensate. Bod was poor but he didnt over run that.

Bod cut him with some look afterwards.

Would disagree with you on earls lacking bravery, he was going to get clattered onE way or the other, I thought bod overran the pass but I wasn't there and I don't remember them showing a replay so I may be wrong. Earls doesn't lack bravery, he just has a habit of at times pushing plays instead of holding on to possession, at that stage we were in desperate need of some inspiration and he tried something which didn't come off. Earls had a poor day but hopefully he has that out of his system now and will be better next week when I'd say he will play next week as trimble will need to be rested.

Agree Trimble will be rested and couldnt have done more over the last few games.

Earls will get another game but where next Saturday?? I hope he is left to his wing spot (to get some continuity) and not pushed into the 15 jersey now that Jones looks to be crocked.

Didnt mean to sound like I was saying Earls isnt brave (he is) but felt he should have played simple hands and not turn in, bracing for the big hit that didnt come.
Anyway as you said we were really chasing the game at that point.

Feagh McHugh wrote:Agree Trimble will be rested and couldnt have done more over the last few games.

Earls will get another game but where next Saturday?? I hope he is left to his wing spot (to get some continuity) and not pushed into the 15 jersey now that Jones looks to be crocked.

Didnt mean to sound like I was saying Earls isnt brave (he is) but felt he should have played simple hands and not turn in, bracing for the big hit that didnt come.
Anyway as you said we were really chasing the game at that point.

It was the wrong decision but he didn't make it because of a lack of bravery. I thought he was poor today but not terrible, at one stage the commentators and the lads I was watching the match were giving out at him for taking contact instead of passing when if he had passed it would having been an intercept. He really needs to stick to one position though, the fact that he has played three different positions in his last three matches is ridiculous. The fact that the team played so poorly made his mistakes more costly than they were. I have to say as someone who likes him as a player I was really disappointed with him today.

The match really emphasised the fact that if he is fit ferris needs to start, sob just isn't as good defensively as him. The hits he put in today were huge. I think jennings really blew his chance of making the squad today, he was anonymous. Wallace will probably start if he is fit and you can see why after today, Ireland were blown away physically.

Feagh McHugh wrote:
Bringing McCarthy on with 4 mins remaining to "prove" his worth was insulting to him.

A lot of coaches don't completely empty their bench until close to the end. For instance, Butch James didn't get a minute today even though SA were well on top.

Feagh McHugh wrote:+ 1
Although Sexton wasnt that bad and is Earls rugbys Theo Walcot??

Agreed, but Sexton has a long way to go before he is consistently World class, he is far too erratic for Ireland to be successful, 1 bad day and Ireland will be out of the world Cup, and Sexton isnt solid and switched on everyday.

That is true Sin but I think the two situations aren't the same.

Butch is a 40 or 50 test cap player who started 10 last time out for Saffers, and was benched (I think becasue of his kicking last week) this week and Flowery started i.e. getting his chance.

McCarthy is a one cap player (played 6 against Scots) and "was" in competition for the utility forward spot with Ryan (whom got game decent time in both positions). Anyway Mc got 4 mins at second row today - Ryan got a full game there (I think).

If I was him Id be disappointed that I wasn't afforded the same opportunity as my direct competition.

Anyway, not Kidney bashing- side issue.

AlynDavies wrote:

Feagh McHugh wrote:+ 1
Although Sexton wasnt that bad and is Earls rugbys Theo Walcot??

Agreed, but Sexton has a long way to go before he is consistently World class, he is far too erratic for Ireland to be successful, 1 bad day and Ireland will be out of the world Cup, and Sexton isnt solid and switched on everyday.

Ah yea agree he has a long way to go before Id say he is world class! He does need a good world cup and I have every faith in him delivering.
Not making excuses for him but (I guess I am really) 9 and 12, 13 were poor around him today.

Feagh McHugh wrote:That is true Sin but I think the two situations aren't the same.

Butch is a 40 or 50 test cap player who started 10 last time out for Saffers, and was benched (I think becasue of his kicking last week) this week and Flowery started i.e. getting his chance.

McCarthy is a one cap player (played 6 against Scots) and "was" in competition for the utility forward spot with Ryan (whom got game decent time in both positions). Anyway Mc got 4 mins at second row today - Ryan got a full game there (I think).

If I was him Id be disappointed that I wasn't afforded the same opportunity as my direct competition.

Anyway, not Kidney bashing- side issue.

Well, what about Lakafia - got his first cap last week, only French player not to get any time this week.

Or Parra getting only 3 mins last week?

With 2 injuries (Healy & Jones), tactical subbing was going to become secondary. The original plan was probably to leave O'Gara on the bench and sub either D'Arcy or BOD (both were in their first games of the season) with Luke.

Ireland tried to force too much today - they had a great start but should have settled into a pattern, retaining posession and going through the phases steadily. They could never keep that first 10 mins pace up. They need more composure instead of trying to force offensive moves everytime they get the ball - They were throwing it out for fun instead of using that powerful back row to drive up the middle and earn the right to go wide etc. It was naive and leaderless rugby