Every time we get a strut on, we walk into a pane-glass window.
Three times in Irish rugby history we have collected 10 consecutive wins and climbed the world rankings, only to suffer vertigo.
Ireland’s aerial bombardment of Wales, last year, was key to their handy win in Dublin. Combined with the rolling maul, Joe Schmidt’s side dominated the Welsh and cantered to a home win.
Both aspects of Ireland’s game failed badly today, as they lost 23-16, but poor decision-making by Ireland’s on-field leaders did not help matters.
With Ireland trailing 12-3, midway through the first half, Ireland were awarded a penalty straight in the posts. They had fought their way back into the match after a whirlwind start and had the chance to make it a six-point game. Instead, they went for the line.
It was a move that had Paul O’Connell stamped all over it but, even before the throw was taken, it rang World Cup 2011 bells. That bleak, sad day in Wellington, Ireland went for the line on three occasions in the first-half and came back with ‘0’ points.
Ireland looked like they had a Schmidt Special [trick play] planned as Rob Kearney and Tommy Bowe jogged over to get involved in what would be a 10-man maul. It was supposed to be a cheeky wink at Warren Gatland’s famous 13 and 15-man lineouts.
All that went up in smoke as Rory Best’s wayward throw was snatched by Sam Warburton and a penalty was conceded. The turnover boosted Wales and it could have easily been avoided.
GAA in Wales?
Lauded as the world’s best 9-10 combination, Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton had days to forget. The decision-making of both players, against rabid Welsh defence, was poor. Murray dished passes at teammates’ shoulders and knees while Sexton had his worst game in a green jersey in recent memory.
The out-half kicked restarts out on the full, chipped possession away into the Welsh midfield, dragged a penalty wide, missed tackles and put too much on his kicks out of hand. On the occasions he did find his aerial range, Welsh players such as Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams and even Jamie Roberts dominated the skies.
Having earned plaudits for the GAA background of each of the Irish back three, ir begged the question: ‘What GAA clubs did these Welsh lads play for growing up?’
Passionate defence against passionless attack
The incredible figure of 289 Welsh tackles will long be proclaimed as the crucial factor in the home side’s win.
It is impossible not to admire the commitment and sheer fitness required – in the particular cases of Warburton and Luke Charteris – to make more than 30 defensive hits and get back up for another.
Here are the cold, hard stats of Ireland’s loss:
Where Ireland lost the game v Wales. #bbc6nations pic.twitter.com/KP8jXm1xGS
— Conor McNamara (@ConorMcNamaraIE) March 14, 2015
Ireland were not helped by referee Wayne Barnes at two key stages. The eight-minute siege of the Welsh line between 45 and 53 minutes and the attacking Irish maul in the left-hand corner at the end. Wales were constantly going offside and not releasing in the tackle but Barnes decided to penalise the attacking team.
He was never going to give a second penalty try, at the death, but to whistle Ireland when they had the forward momentum was plain wrong.
Barnes was blinkered when it came to scrums. Ireland bossed that area but only once did they get a penalty. Wales fans would argue Barnes yellow-carded two of their men and awarded Ireland a penalty try.
However, the glaring omission from Ireland’s game was their lack of invention in the backline and inability to work the ball and manipulate the numbers to create clean breaks. They had four in the whole game and two were from O’Connell.
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