After a draw and a defeat Ireland’s grip on the Six Nations trophy is loosening.
With a trip to Twickenham in a fortnight, a poor scrum and a growing injury list, the problems look almost insurmountable for Joe Schmidt.
However RTÉ pundit Ronan O’Gara believes the 10-9 defeat in Paris was the result of Ireland’s conservative tactics, the former Munster fly-half arguing that a lack of tries means Test matches are virtually unwinnable.
Ireland have scored only one try in this year’s Six Nations, having scored just eight in retaining their title last year – only bottom side Scotland (6) scored fewer.
“It reminds me of going back 10-15 years ago, starting out with Munster, it was always 3,6,9,12, but that’s an awful slog for a team.
“You cannot win Test games by just the boot. That is the difference between the hemispheres at the moment, the ability to score from anywhere,” said the Racing Metro coach.
“We didn’t do it (get over the whitewash) for Munster for years and it bit us on the backside.”
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