Change needed to reverse front-row problems

There are few positives to take from a tour on which we lost all three matches, and things have to change if we're to redress the balance for next season, writes JOE's rugby columnist Jerry Flannery.

 

The reality of the summer tour is that we played three games and lost them all, so we’ll get judged on our results. There’s no doubt that things didn’t go to plan. We didn’t achieve on this tour what we set out to achieve.

But you have to look at whatever positives you can, and what we can take from it is that we have more strength in depth as a result of this tour. Players have now played at that level – lads like Rhys Ruddock, Damien Varley, Dan Tuohy, Ed O’Donoghue, Chris Henry and John Fogarty all making their first appearances for Ireland. They’ll be much better players for that experience and that will stand to them and us in the long term.

Before the Australia game we really felt like it was a great opportunity for us. Nathan Sharpe is a big player for them and when he was ruled out we really thought that this was going to be a big chance for us to finish off the tour with a win. I was looking at their team and without Sharpe they didn’t look like they’d have much of a front five. They were very, very beatable but we just didn’t have any ball in the second half.

We gave them a couple of soft scores but they never looked they were building pressure on us. They had a lot of ball but didn’t really threaten, so my overriding feeling about it was that it was a missed opportunity. Their two tries came from isolated mistakes and they capitalised on them. We watched it back and Australia had so much possession, especially in the second half, and I don’t think they really did anything with it, whereas when we managed to have a bit of possession we ran really good lines, put together some good phases. It was frustrating, because we felt that if we could get enough ball we were going to be able to create a lot, and pose problems for Australia. But it just didn’t work out - we couldn’t get enough of the ball.

We need to get more Irish props playing rugby at a high level. So much of scrummaging is about experience . It’s a position where you need to go through the mill to learn

They had problems up front and we weren’t able to take advantage of that, so we have a lot of work to do. The front row situation is something that I’m right in the middle of and the general feeling is that there is a problem there. You look back at the season with Munster and Leinster, and it’s clear that it’s very hard for a team to do well if you don’t have a good scrum. If there is a positive it’s that Tony Buckley got plenty of rugby against top quality opposition but the front row and the scrum in general is something that we’re going to have to really target with the Six Nations in mind and the World Cup just around the corner.

What has to happen for things to improve? The biggest thing is to get more Irish props playing rugby at a high level. If a coach feels he needs to strengthen his scrum he can’t afford to take a long-term view over three years or so – he needs to be doing it straight away. Munster have signed Peter Borlase and Wian du Preez, two foreign props, for next season. For most of last season Leinster had Stan Wright and CJ van der Linde as their first choice props. Ulster have BJ Botha.

There are a lot of foreign players playing in England and France but they also have a lot of teams so it doesn’t affect the national side so much. But we only have four teams so if there are a lot of foreign props there, it is going to mean that Irish players are going to miss out. What could happen is to farm out young props, who aren’t getting much game-time, into the first division in England. So much of scrummaging is about experience . It’s a position where you need to go through the mill to learn. The more players we have like that, the more they go up against top-class props, the more options we’ll have. Timmy Ryan has done it – he moved to Toulon and has got a move to Newcastle recently, and that has to happen a bit more.

Everyone’s looking forward to a break. You can go away, have a holiday, have a few burgers, a few beers. Get the mental freshness back

It’s not going to happen to a third-choice player because you need cover but if it’s a fourth- or fifth-choice player, then that option is there, and loaning those players out will benefit everyone – the players will benefit, the clubs will benefit and the national side will benefit. There is a loan system in place and although it hasn’t been utilised a whole lot, I think it would be a good idea. It would be good for everyone if Munster were to send a young prop over to the first division in England and he got six months rugby under his belt.

As for the immediate future, everyone’s looking forward to a break. The players get well looked after by the IRFU, we’re all rotated and rested well, but it’s been a long season. When you’re playing rugby for a long time you do get niggles. You can manage them for a while but the four-week break at the end of the season is necessary to let the body heal and recover. You can go away, have a holiday, have a few burgers, a few beers, and that helps to give you the mental freshness you need to really look forward to getting back into training.

For myself, it was disappointing to come out here and not be available for any of the games. On the plus side, I’ve been able to put in a lot of good work and I’m back to stage now where I can pretty much take part in training. I’m 80 per cent there, so I can take a break now. The four weeks off should have me fully ready to get stuck into it again.