Whatever Ireland lack next Saturday, it won't be motivation

Under Discussion: Ireland's controversial loss in Cardiff and Round 4 of the Six Nations

Chatting were: Alan Good, Peter Jackson, John Kelly, Tony Leen and Simon Lewis

 

PETER JACKSON, veteran rugby writer: Good morning from Cardiff, where Mike Phillips is a national hero!

TONY LEEN, Irish Examiner sports editor: Is it Mike Phillips or Peter Allan is the Welsh national hero? All fun aside, will he be stood down over this, or does rugby not do the soccer thing with officials' cock ups?

ALAN GOOD, Irish Examiner rugby writer: I think Declan Kidney was admirably restrained in his comments on the incident, but his line about there being plenty of people and procedures in place to ensure such a massive cock-up doesn't occur is spot on. The IRB should haul Allan and Kaplan in to demand an explanation at the very least.

SIMON LEWIS, Irish Examiner rugby correspondent: Drop them immediately. They have to be punished for an embarrassing series of mistakes, though their masters at the IRB should be chastised for taking the TMO option out of the equation.

JOHN KELLY, former Ireland wing, Irish Examiner rugby columnist: Linesmen and referees should be accountable in the same way managers and players are. What galled me so much was the way Allan was so adamant that the correct ball was used.  I would have preferred to hear him saying he didn't know what ball was used.

SIMON LEWIS: I agree, it was like he was struck by panic at the thought of having to make the call when he clearly didn't have a clue.

JOHN KELLY: Players understand that referees make mistakes and have to make decisions when they might not have all the facts. However, communication at the time of the incident and post match would have also been appreciated.  Why can't they hold their hands up and acknowledge a mistake?

PETER JACKSON: The first thing I did after the match was to ask to speak to the referee. How naive! I'd have got through to the president in the White House by the time they explained that the ref was off limits.  Here we are, 36 hours after the event, and still not a peep from the Six Nations or the IRB about an incident which could have been avoided with sensible use of the technology. Surely there's a simple solution. Instead of restricting technology to in-goal decisions, why not extend it to the act of scoring the try.  That would have allowed Kaplan to call the TMO, and justice would have been seen to be done in 20 seconds.

TONY LEEN: And yet and yet and yet... was there still not a strong whiff of Irish mistakes on and off the field, which could have made the Welsh try issue redundant? Donal Lenihan said this morning he could not understand the timing of the O'Gara-Sexton substitution. And being as benevolent as I can, how did Paddy Wallace not put Earls in for the last gasp try? The latter was particularly ironic because one thing Ireland have been on the opponent's 22 this season is clinical..

ALAN GOOD: There are plenty of us who have wondered for quite some time about Wallace's inclusion in the 22 in the first place instead of Fergus McFadden, who is also a third goal-kicking option and covers the three-quarters far better. No-one can say with certainty he would have made the pass to Earls though. The Millennium Stadium is not a happy hunting ground for poor Paddy - almost cost the Slam in 2009, and now this!

JOHN KELLY: Ireland always looked comfortable in defence against the Welsh.  There was never even a hint of try apart from the dodgy one. Wallace was also not an option to replace Luke Fitzgerald, who was having a poor game. McFadden should be on the bench.

ALAN GOOD: I'm with Donal on the out-half substitution. Simon and John, do you buy into this theory that we now have two out-halves who don't know where they stand, due to Kidney's musical chairs? Which one of them should start against England?

PETER JACKSON: Confusion's hardly the word for it. O'Gara has to start on Saturday.

SIMON LEWIS: Ireland seemed to have become paralysed by indecision as a result of the fly-half issue. They've gone from running the ball too much to the point where Sexton seemed scared NOT to kick. O'Gara may not have been enjoying his best game, but he had done little to warrant the big hook so early in the second half.

ALAN GOOD: Kidney said afterwards that Sexton brings a different skill set, yet he came on and kicked the leather off the ball (admittedly, he did it well after a horror start) whereas only a few weeks ago we were chastising him for running it too much. Are there mixed messages coming from up top, or are the 10s just trying to play what's in front of them?

JOHN KELLY: I think if you start Sexton, it makes sense to introduce O'Gara because he has the temperament to come on with a cool head and turn a game around.  When Sexton comes off the bench, he tries to force his way back onto the starting 15 by forcing the game. O'Gara should start on form, and also, Sexton shouldn't come off the bench, because he hasn't added anything in the two games where he came on as a replacement.

ALAN GOOD: Do you think that's an experience thing John?

JOHN KELLY: Ultimately this is the difference between Sexton and O'Gara. Sexton plays to a game plan. O'Gara adapts a game plan to what he thinks is right when he's on the pitch.  I think Sexton will develop this attribute in time, but he is not there yet.

ALAN GOOD:  Speaking of game-plans, we are increasingly seeing the credit Declan Kidney built up from the 2009 Grand Slam being eroded by criticism. How much blame should he and the coaching staff take for this defeat?

PETER JACKSON: It would be a mistake for Ireland to cite the Kaplan-Allan debacle as the reason they lost. They had enough time to repair the damage but in the end weren't clinical enough to break a Welsh defence which had been leaking tries to the Big Three last November.

SIMON LEWIS:  The players have to take the flak for the error count and decision-making that allowed Wales to edge the win. It's difficult to blame coaches for dropped balls but there does seem to be something not quite right in the way Ireland are conducting themselves psychologically in games. They have supposedly been on the 'cusp' of great things for some time now and yet we are still waiting for that killer 80-minute performance. What's stopping that?

ALAN GOOD: Which brings us nicely to England at the Aviva. Will the carrot of stopping a Grand Slam for the auld enemy be enough for Ireland to click into the right place mentally? And on that note, how will this England side handle that pressure? They did a good job of dampening expectation yesterday!

PETER JACKSON: If that doesn't motivate Ireland, nothing will. Lob a burning sense of injustice over the Welsh try into the mix and whatever Ireland lack on Saturday, it won't be motivation. I take them to win, which would leave England with the title, unless Wales exploit the French team which Marc Lievremont has reduced almost to the state of a national laughing stock. England at Twickenham yesterday strengthened my conviction that Ireland will beat them. They hardly looked a Grand Slam side in the making.  Ireland will fancy their chances, provided they don't make any more substitutions as damaging as the one involving O'Gara. I'm still baffled by that. Lucky Wales.

SIMON LEWIS: I've had a hunch for some time that Ireland could finally click with the English in front of them, and allied to their performance against the Scots that should still be the case. I think though that Ireland took a big backward step in losing to Wales and the loss of momentum may be too much to stop Martin Johnson's men. However, the Scots should Ireland the way to subdue and frustrate England: a solid, quick and hard-hitting defence and slowing down their ball at the breakdown as well as crowding out the half-backs. Ireland have the defensive capabilities but the breakdown will be a worry.

JOHN KELLY: Ireland are due a big performance.  Players are the ones responsible for their own poor performances and to a large extent their own psychological state.  Coaches are responsible for selecting the right players.  I think selection has been Declan's greatest strength as a coach. If he gets this right and the players perform, it will be an Irish win.

ALAN GOOD: John, you've been in plenty backs-to-the-wall situations with Munster and Ireland, how will the boys in green get themselves ready for this one?

JOHN KELLY: Munster players do siege mentality well.  When they're being criticised in the media and there is no belief in the supporters, then the old 'chip' kicks in. Munster do bitterness better than most teams. Hopefully this bitterness will have spread.

ALAN GOOD: Having watched Kidney and Brian O'Driscoll bristle post-match, I have every confidence it will have! Peter, you touched on the French fall from grace. Their media are comparing Lievremont to Raymond Domenech, and some are even calling for his head just a few months out from the World Cup. What's going on there?

PETER JACKSON: It beggars belief. How can a coach accuse his players of 'obvious cowardice' and survive, especially when the coach in question has picked more than 80 since taking over from Bernard Laporte? You could not make it up. Imagine Sir Alex saying that about his players?

SIMON LEWIS: Lievremont's selection of Chabal was always suspect but dropping Harinordoquy was lunacy. He's like Claudio Ranieri, the tinkerman, and France have finally been made to pay in the most humiliating fashion. It's great for Italy, of course, who have come so close against Ireland and Wales this season, to have finally gone on and taken a bigger scalp.

ALAN GOOD: Let's finish on that note, a positive one - what a victory that was for Italy! They really needed that one. Peter, your man Sergio Parisse came up trumps again, and he's already the undisputed player of the tournament in your books - any dissenting voices there?

PETER JACKSON: I think he's been the man of the tournament from the opening round. Italy have done the Six Nations a massive favour, and the victory will do wonders for a sport which has always been swimming against the tide in a country obsessed by another code of football.

JOHN KELLY: Parisse is a fantastic player; He had a brilliant game against Ireland. It's good for the tournament to see Italy doing so well. They could easily have six points from their three home matches.  Entry into the Magners League seems to be improving them.

SIMON LEWIS: Difficult to argue with Parisse, although James Haskell has also been consistently very good in the England back row this season. Parisse, though, is inspirational and Italy are clearly lost without him.

ALAN GOOD:  And with the Scots next up, they could very well nab two tournament victories, a rare achievement indeed! Thanks for your time gents, we'll be back next week to see how it all finished up!

 

Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/cvw4AzRYDlQ/post.aspx

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