A game of two halves

These Wales Ireland matches seem to kick these 6N tournaments off to an entertaining start. Say what you like about the game - and there's pretty much everything to say - you can't fault the game for entertainment. We shouldn't gloss over the negatives and we shouldn't overstate the positives.

Rugby is no different to any other sport. Winning breeds confidence and Wales haven't won in a while. This is the first time Wales have been defeated five consecutive times at home according to a post I read. Quite a few of Wales' senior players are not in form and they're hurting this side. There was no sense of urgency in the first half. Wales had poor ball security and gave away far too many penalties in the first half. Cuthbert and North are big, fast lads but they look like headless chickens in defence on too many occasions.

Kidney likes the players running from depth. Wales made too much hard work of this. I'm not convinced that it's the best use of Ireland's backline. If you attack from depth, you should be able to defend more easily because you have more time to know where the ball is. Wales' backs were coming up disjointed and gave too much space away. Ireland played well but they had it far too easy and points came all too easily. We shouldn't fault them for that and it has to be pointed out that the Irish at the breakdown and the work in the tackle was superb. Best and Healy are like extra backrow players and when you have the likes of D'Arcy and BOD stealing ball away in the tackle as well and depriving the opposition of vital possession, they can prove to be a real handful for any team. Some of the handling by Ireland was exquisite. BOD's catch and pass for the first try and Zebo's acrobatic effort drew some orgasmic cries from the commentators. No wonder they called Best Breast.

Everything in that first half for Wales was too slow. Warburton should make way for Tupiric at 7. Phillips is too slow and putting extra pressure on Biggar who could do well without extra pressure. Some of the big names like Jenkins and Jones looked ordinary at times and JD and JR looked below par in the first half. Everything Wales threw at Ireland was done with a delay, which gives the defence the chance to set the line and when you have pilferers with the class of these Irish forwards, you're setting yourself up for a fall. Wales had a great passage of play late in the first half but again it was all too predictable and a man got isolated and Best had his usual immaculate body position and got the penalty.

Nobody can understate just how awful Wales were in the first half. They handed the game on a plate to Ireland and they were on the cards for a hiding to nothing. Nobody can understate just how impressive that fightback was in the second half. It got off to the worst possible start with a BOD try making full use of a gaping hole in the Welsh defence. Every time this player gets criticised he answers his critics. What a player and what a leader for Ireland. The day he eventually leaves Ireland frankly is a frightening prospect as the centre pairing is a real dilemma. Earls is not the answer at 12 or 13. He gets caught out on defence too many times and doesn't do enough on attack to justify his selection there.

When Ireland are focused and have their tails up they look a very complete side. When the game speeds up and they can't impose a slow game they look frail and make poor decisions both on attack and defence. They were up by a mile and all they had to do was keep the game nice and slow, nice and controlled. What do we get? Poor kicking in open play, hanging off in defence and allowing the opposition to dictate the pace of the game. You can forgive a player for slipping mentally when the score is so much in favour but this is where Sexton in my opinion has a lot to work on and why ROG is still sniffing about the selection. When the opposition are on a roll, he looks flustered and doesn't control the game as he should. Kick for the line and get the ball out of play. Waltz to the lineout and slow the game down. You've got a big buffer so there's no need to keep the pace of the game up. A flyhalf is the key controller of the match and the pace of the game. Ireland looked great with Sexton in the first half punching grubbers behind the Welsh defence and passing well. But he was all too anonymous in the second half.

Biggar also had changing fortunes as the game progressed. I think that had a lot to do with Phillips going off in the second half and the quicker service he got. Priestland desperately needed a break from the game. Biggar seems the only option now as Hook has been changed so many times I really don't know what his position is anymore and I think neither does Howley or Hook himself. Suddenly there was urgency in the second half and the pace quickened. It's unforgivable playing at home and not starting the match like that. But you have to admire the character of the Welsh players for not letting this match turn into a rout. It was largely the younger players who were creating that sense of urgency and hunger for the ball. When you string phases together you gain confidence. It happened late in the first half but the game really opened up for Wales in the second half and they looked so much more cutting on attack with the increase of pace. Tupiric has to replace Warburton at 7 and Phillips has to go as well.

The only reason Ireland won today in the end was their incredible line defence. In the middle of the field they were dropping off tackles or standing off far too much. But when they were on their line and needed to hold Wales out they did so on numerous occasions. It was incredible and it seemed they couldn't catch a break with the ref's or touch judge's calls and had to make an incredible number of tackles. Wales even more incredibly had the opportunity to win the game but were held out on the Irish line at key moments. But it should be worrying that Ireland couldn't stay with the pace of the game in the second half in open play. Get the ball out. Find touch. Don't kick the ball aimlessly down the middle and not allow your players a break. The penalty count increased and the ref lost patience with the players. I thought the first yellow was harsh but there could have been a number of occasions before when a player could have gone to the bin and that was the key. When they're going backwards and they're trying to slow the ball down and a team is making so many inroads into your defence, it looks much worse to the ref. If your line is holding and the game is slower, then a ref is more inclined to give the benefit of the doubt. Ireland were going back too easily and the ball was coming out quicker so when an Irish hand slows that ball down, it looks much worse. Again it goes back to control of the game. The ball was in play far too much in the second half and it didn't need to be for Ireland. They had to make far too many tackles and they looked out on their feet apart from their own line mainly because they didn't have to do much running!

So an intriguing match and there are positives to be taken away from both sides. But to me there are more glaring deficiencies that need to be addressed on both sides if they have any real aspirations in this tournament. Of course they can point out the positives but a world beating side looks more at ways of minimising their weaknesses as well as accentuating their strengths. The weaknesses of Wales are all too apparent but when they were playing at times during the second half and late in the first half you could see the Grand Slam team of last year in that performance. Unfortunately the mental demons of what happened after the 6N are all too apparent. For Ireland, they look great when beating the drum and doing what they do well. But they seem all too ready to have the game taken away from them and when they meet the likes of France and England, they're going to struggle to impose themselves on the game when their backs are against the wall or when they need to fight back if they don't address a few problems. A great win away by all means but only by looking at what went wrong in the second half will and addressing those problems will they stand a great chance in the key upcoming matches against the big teams England and France. They certainly can address those problems as they have the talent at their disposal just as Wales are capable of shedding that Jekyll and Hyde personality if they work hard at it.

A great game first up and well done to Ireland for an away win and breaking a sequence of narrow losses to Wales and a great comeback from Wales. More will be needed from both sides in the coming games but both sides demonstrated what they're capable of to make life difficult for their opposition.

Ireland's atrocious kicking and inability to control a game will result in defeats to England and France. They just hoof it up in the air, lose possession and have to expend huge amounts of energy defending. It's such a waste.

When we hold onto the ball we can cause problems and score points, so why keep kicking away the initiative when under any pressure at all?

I don't think Ireland should read too much into the second half.

In some ways they were just too good for Wales in the first 50mins and it brought out a nothing to lose mentality in the welsh.... Which often reaps significant reduction in points deficit.

Think gilroy was quite poor in his decision making... He made big tackles yes but some of his kicks were dreadful..... He needs to shore this up pronto as England are a significant step up from Wales.

They played the last 20 mins with a man down.... Don't under estimate the impact of this.

Their frailties were not from being a man down. Indeed when you're a man down you try to take the ball out of open play as much as possible if you're leading to run down the clock. The kicking was dreadful for much of that second half and the control was lacking.

It doesn't matter Wales had a do or die approach. What matters is that they were effective in taking the ball up and gaining yards all too easily. Ireland will come up against teams who ask questions of them in defence through taking the game at them at pace. Also, they won't get such an armchair ride in the first half against other teams. There still seems to be a hangover from that 60 - 0 thrashing in NZ which is a sign of what can happen when play goes against them. Their performance in the first half is a sign of what can happen when they're controlling a game. The trick is to become a better side at controlling the game to how you want to play it against better opposition.

It was actually quite a high-quality game attacking-wise, few handling errors, apart from Davies and Cuthbert in the first half I guess.

Each half really just told us what we know about Ireland already. If the opposition plays badly we can rack up points and actually look really good. When the opposition gets momentum we can defend quite well but cannot turn that momentum around because if we do turn it over we just kick ineffectively and in no time are back to square one defending our line.

Wales were really very bad in the first half. They looked like a team with zero confidence or belief. But as soon as it looked like game over and the pressure was off they put us under enormous pressure. They scored, what 19 unanswered points? That would normally be enough to win any game if you hadn't just conceded 30 first.

I don't think either side will beat France or England although both are capable if they get it right. This match has probably decided 3rd/4th in Ireland's favour.

Feckless Rogue wrote:

I don't think either side will beat France or England although both are capable if they get it right. This match has probably decided 3rd/4th in Ireland's favour.

Feckless,

I agree with that bit as long as we start our games against Italy and Scotland like we finished today.

If we start like we did today then both those sides can beat us.

Good article Kia. Agree with much of wha you've written. Wales need to play 80 minutes of rugby at the second half intensity and pace. However, full credit to Ireland for smelling blood and going in for the kill.

A good game which I enjoyed watching, sort of...!

Intensity and pace are vital, Griff, but the missing ingredient is footballing ability. We had enough ball and field position to have won the match, but were still looking for contact rather than drawing defenders to create space.

Have a look at Billy Twelvetrees's performance against Scotland: he didn't do anything flash, but he held the ball in both hands and was always looking to draw the man and pass. It's nothing revolutionary; it should be second nature. But there was so little of that from our backs on Saturday. The best footballer we had on show was Tipuric.

Wales are not a bad side.

But you are spot on about winning and confidence.

Dont wanna blow my own trumpet but i have sated many times you cant just flick a switch and stop the bad run

It truely is a game of margins.. If Wales had just got over the line against Aus earlier on in the year- they would be a completly different team...

There is no other team in world rugby that plays of confidence or negativity in the same way that wales do.

Its uncanny how they can win GS- then finsh 4th- GS then finish 4th!!!

Once they win - i have a feeling they could hurt any team- but untill then!!!!