Malcolm O’Kelly: Mixed bag so far, but plenty of hope for the future

This week, Malcolm reflects on what has been a mixed Six Nations campaign so far, how important the lineout has become and picks what he thinks should be the Irish starting XV against Scotland next week.

 

It’s been something of a mixed bag in the Six Nations for Ireland so far and it’s hard to know how Declan Kidney will truly feel after two games; certainly he would have been a whole lot happier had Ireland won their home game against France. Last weekend was certainly a match that Ireland should have won but they didn’t and I can’t imagine he’ll have been too happy about that, but there’s still loads to play for. Ireland have shown that they have great potential at times and they have a right to be optimistic that they can beat Scotland in Murrayfield.

It would bring so much more to Ireland’s game if they can just get their lineout in order so hopefully we’ll see that in the rest of the competition.

England are on top of the table and going well and looking back, their win over Wales seems more significant now considering that Wales seem to be going quite well having done a job against Scotland in Murrayfield last week. That game was in the Millennium Stadium as well which is a tough place to go and get a win, and then they continued their good run when they did a demolition job on Italy last weekend. They starved Italy of possession and used their own possession very well; they were very structured and produced some clinical finishing from the likes of Chris Ashton. They exposed Italy’s weakness in defence and in their play in general and also Italy’s lineout didn’t function, which brings me on to the theme of the lineout in general, as it has been a big factor in the competition so far.

Lineout

It seems that if teams can look after possession in the lineout, they seem to be holding on to the ball for long spells. Ireland’s lineout, like their play in general, has had its highs and lows – in the first half against France it was going really well but it struggled afterwards, whereas against Italy it didn’t function at all, just as Italy’s lineout failed to function against England. It’s hard to know exactly what the problem is with Ireland’s lineout so far because there’s so much to a lineout that it could be any number of things. Gert Smal is a very good lineout manager, as is Paul O’Connell, but whether a lineout functions or not comes down to choice, it comes down to hookers and it comes down to the structure or the design of a lineout. France, for example, would have a very good defensive lineout and I had been fearful for Ireland before the game because the lineout had been so poor against Italy.

In the first half against France, Ireland did just enough to win their own ball, but they certainly took a step forward from the Italy game and Jamie Heaslip coming back into the team certainly helped in that regard. Going forward, if Stephen Ferris was fit he would offer another option in that area but it looks as if that’s not going to happen, so we just need to get a bit more clinical and try and take the safer option if at all possible. In fairness, it’s hard to really analyse it when you’re looking at it from the outside, but it’s certainly an area that needs working on.

Ireland's lineout hasn't functioned as well as expected so far

The lads will have analysed it this week, but will have tried to focus on the positive aspects of the lineout rather than harping on about the negatives. It could be to the detriment of the lineout to gloss over something that needs to be worked on and improved on, but there will certainly be a lot of honesty as far as the players are concerned. In cases such as this, someone like Paul O’Connell might put the blame on himself instead of blaming it on other players, but they won’t shy away from bearing the brunt of the criticism either. When it comes to a lineout, so many things can cause an error, but to be fair we haven’t seen England or France mess their lineouts up, they have been clinical in that area. It would bring so much more to Ireland’s game if they can just get their lineout in order so hopefully we’ll see that in the rest of the competition.

There are so many elements to a lineout that it can be all about trying to find the key element that makes it work or it could also be a case of working with what you have rather than trying to adapt another structure. For instance, Rory Best tends to throw the ball in very direct and a lot of the time the French jumpers were able to get in front of the Irish jumpers and mess up the lineout. Maybe Ireland should have tried to get in front of the French jumpers and get the ball in as quickly and as directly as possible. There are ways and means of working with what you have rather than trying to work in a system that doesn’t suit the hooker.

The self-analysis won’t be confined to the lineout, however. The rest of the players are well used to being criticised and they’ll have put their hands up over mistakes made in the last couple of games. Certainly, they wouldn’t be where they are today if they took a blasé attitude to the errors that have been made.

Lack of harmony affecting Ireland’s ambition

The open, running style of rugby that Ireland are trying to play has been evident in both games so far, but the amount of errors made has been the major issue; the players don’t seem to be in harmony. For instance, at one stage in the France game, Seanie O’Brien took the ball up at great speed and tried to pop it inside to Paul O’Connell and whether he wasn’t expecting it or what, the move broke down, just one example of the absence of harmony between the players that’s been evident in the opening couple of games.

Ireland are trying to play a more advanced style of rugby and at the moment they look like a team that need more games. Hopefully in the remaining games in the tournament we’ll see more growth from Ireland and start to see little things to come off that haven’t so far – the likes of gathering passes or claiming possession from the kick-off to the blindside. The way the game has gone, it’s all possession oriented and you can’t afford to throw it away. The use of little chip kicks is a good example. If they come off, they’re brilliant - like the one that Isa Nacewa pulled off against Cardiff on Saturday night, whereas Andrew Conway did one that went too deep and it nearly ended up being a try for Cardiff. These are the choices that players have to make on the pitch and at international level those sort of choices are becoming more and more important.

Despite the errors that have littered the games, I think that the style of play that Ireland are playing is worth persevering with. When it comes to World Cup time there will be a lot of warm up games and players will have to get used to playing with each other. I think it is crucial that Declan Kidney sticks as close as possible to the team he’s playing at the moment. He should be looking at giving these players as much time together as possible. If Ireland are going to continue trying to play this fluid game, he needs to give these players time to start working in harmony and that can be achieved in the rest of the Six Nations.

Malcolm's starting XV v Scotland

Changes

Looking ahead to the Scotland game, there will be probably be a few changes made. I would put Tommy Bowe back in to the team straight away, because I think you need your best players on the pitch. Personally, I would put him in instead of Keith Earls. In the two games Ireland have played so far, I think Fergus McFadden has shown more intent to get on the ball and try and make something happen. Granted, the ball has come askew to him on a few occasions, but he took his try well and I think he’s the type of player that has an eye for a try. I don’t think Earls has been as evident as McFadden has been so far, so I would replace him with Bowe and leave the back three as it is besides.

I think that when Sean O'Brien does get used to it (international rugby), he’ll be a massive player for Ireland.

In the centre, there have been suggestions that Gordon D’Arcy might be replaced by Paddy Wallace or even by Fergus McFadden moving inside with Earls and Bowe on the wings, but I think in terms of keeping your best players on the pitch that Gordon D’Arcy is a more valuable player than either Wallace or Earls. He certainly hasn’t been playing his best in the last two games, but saying that, he probably made only one mistake in the game against France, it was just unfortunate that it a major one. In fairness to him though, players were putting balls down all over the place and Ireland should have had a few scores on board that would have meant that his mistake and the French try would not have been as important as they turned out to be.

At half-back, I’d like to see Jonathan Sexton and Eoin Reddan play together. Ireland are trying to play a more open style of rugby and it just seems to work with Leinster. Deccie seems to be quite happy with Tomas O’Leary though and I would be surprised if he made a change to that position for the Scotland game. O’Leary did give a better performance against France, but I would still like to see Eoin Reddan given an opportunity at some stage.

Sean O'Brien can develop into a massive player for Ireland

With Stephen Ferris unlikely to be fit, I’d say the back row will remain as is, although hopefully Sean O’Brien will have more of an influence on proceedings. You can see what Sean has been trying to do, you can see his speed and what he brings to the game, it’s just about getting used to the international game and the added physicality that comes with it. I think that when he does get used to it, he’ll be a massive player for Ireland.

In the second row, I can’t see there being any changes made either. Donncha O’Callaghan has put in two strong performances around the park and although I do think that Leo Cullen brings more to the side as far as the lineout is concerned in terms of attack and defence, there’s nobody better than Donncha for putting the effort in all over the pitch. I would like to see Leo getting more time on the pitch though. I know he’s been without Paul O’Connell for a long time, but if Deccie’s going to persist with Leo as a substitute he’s got to give him more time on the pitch, certainly more than the few seconds he got against France, which was a bit of a joke on Leo and on Deccie and also diminished the value of a cap in the process. In the front row, I wouldn’t make any changes. I think that Damien Varley is a great prospect for the future at hooker, but for me, for the moment, Rory Best is still number one.

Scotland

As far as Scotland are concerned, obviously they will be very disappointed with their performance against Wales; they were inept and unable to put anything together. I imagine Andy Robinson will have been livid with his team and he will have had two weeks to do something about it. Scotland always bring physicality and an ‘in your face’ style of play to the table and although Ireland have been playing a more elaborate style of game so far, they will have to deal with Scotland’s physicality first and be content to offload the ball post-contact rather than shifting it prior to contact and running it into trouble.

It will be a massive challenge to deal with Scotland’s physicality, but I do think that if Ireland can deal with that and with Scotland’s intensity, they can win the game. At the moment, Scotland are like a lion without teeth, they’re not really firing and I think there’s an opportunity for Ireland if they can keep mistakes down and be clinical. They should still try to play rugby and if they can improve relationships with each other and be more aware of each other, opportunities will arise. Putting my head on the block, I’m going to be patriotic and go for an Irish win. Having lost at home to France, it would be a disaster for Ireland to lose. I think as a squad, Ireland need a win next weekend and I would be confident they can get it.

Malcolm O’Kelly’s Ireland team to play Scotland:

15 Luke Fitzgerald

14 Tommy Bowe

13 Brian O’Driscoll

12 Gordon D’Arcy

11 Fergus McFadden

10 Jonathan Sexton

9 Eoin Reddan

1 Cian Healy

2 Rory Best

3 Mike Ross

4 Donncha O’Callaghan

5 Paul O’Connell

6 Sean O’Brien

7 David Wallace

8 Jamie Heaslip