A resurgent Ireland triumphs over Scotland

Feb 25th, 2008 | Test Rugby | 2 Comments | | print

In one of three exciting Six Nations matches this past weekend, Ireland with an impressive 5-try effort emerged victorious over Scotland. Ireland flashed memories of last year’s Six Nations further quelling any speculation that after their disappointing World Cup campaign that they were on a downturn. After narrowly defeating Italy in their opening match and staging a miraculous, near victory comeback against France in Paris, Ireland appear to have rediscovered their form from a year ago.

Ireland began the match on their heels as Scotland pounded the ball successfully downfield for the first 7 minutes of the match only to concede a penalty to Ireland after often hot-tempered Nathan Hines took a swing at Denis Leamy. While Ireland’s defense looked suspect at times often looking a little lax, their attacking lines were very effective and in some instances showed some glimpses of the renewed “French Flair” that we have seen from France’s Six Nations squad. Ireland played a very balanced match against Scotland continuing their surprising pack play and spinning it out wide to the backs, Ireland’s strength in recent years. Still, Ireland’s lineout struggled once again losing several lineouts and looking sloppy at times. Perhaps the return of feared lock Paul O’Connell will remedy Ireland’s lineout woes when they face off against undefeated Wales at Croke Park on March 8th. O’Connell received tremendous applause when he came onto the field for Mick O’Driscoll most certainly having an impact on Ireland and even further lifting their spirits and confidence with the return of their massive lock.

Ireland it would seem has been brought back to life after some key line up changes that had been called for by many at the start of the Six Nations. Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan began his Six Nations campaign under fire even before the first whistle because of his selections to face Italy. O’Sullivan has often been accused of “favoring” certain players who have become fixtures at certain positions over the years. Former Ireland skipper Keith Wood sounded off stating that Ireland has to include it’s younger, developing players if they are to remain competitive on the world’s stage.

O’Sullivan made some of those changes in France and again in Scotland, albeit a few changes were due to injuries. O’Sullivan received the most heat from his omission of Jamie Heaslip in the opener against Italy. Heaslip had been emerging as Ireland’s next star with his impressive play for Leinster. O’Sullivan had chosen to go with Simon Easterby in the first match once again chosing to stick with the more familiar players in his initial lineup. One could speculate that O’Sullivan was reluctant to make any big changes with his job on the line, choosing to stick with what had once been a successful squad. I happen to agree that O’Sullivan was a little gun shy about making any dramatic changes like French coach Marc Leivermont has been doing throughout the Six Nations.

Other changes included Rob Kearney at the wing, Mick O’Driscoll in place of Malcolm O’Kelly at lock, Andrew Trimble at inside centre and Tommy Bowe at the other wing. Trimble came in at centre after Gordon D’Arcy broke his wrist against Italy. In my opinion, D’Arcy never lived up to his expectations and never seemed to make much of an impact. Trimble with his bigger frame and youth has made a noticeable impact at centre having a huge match against Scotland. Trimble made a huge tackle on Rory Lamont that forced Lamont to knock the ball on and assisted Tommy Bowe on his first try taking an incredible behind the back pass from Ronan O’Gara and running off to find Tommy Bowe. Kearney and Bowe have been enormous at the wing combining for 3 tries against Scotland. Kearney has played brilliantly with his speed and powerful left boot, while Bowe despite the age of 23, has impressed with his spot on support running and heads up play. Despite being forced to make certain changes due to injury, the changes paid dividends for Ireland against France and Scotland putting into question the futures of certain players.

Certainly the most noticeable change was made only several days before the Scotland match with the replacement of the injured Girvan Dempsey by the underacheiving Geordan Murphy. Murphy had been given the nod at wing in the matches against Italy and France and particularly against France, looked dreadful on defense conceding 3 tries to the speedy Vincent Clerc. Murphy had been removed from the 22-man squad to face Scotland because of poor form in the previous two matches. But with Girvan Dempsey going down to to a hip injury sustained in training on Thursday, Murphy was given the chance at redemption. Murphy has often expressed his preference for fullback and had been impressive at the position for his club Leicster. As previously mentioned though, Dempsey had been a fixture at the position under Eddie O’Sullivan. One man imparticular had no doubts about Murphy’s abilities at the fullback posiitons. When the announcement came that Murphy would be filling in for Dempsey at full, Ireland skipper Brian O’Driscoll warned about what “Geordie” could do. O’Driscoll couldn’t have been more right as Murphy seemed to be everywhere on the field challenging every kick and running superbly with the ball. Murphy seemed to set up nearly every Ireland try and was awarded Man of the Match for his outstanding performance. Coach Eddie O’Sullivan will certainly have his hands full when choosing his starting 15 to face Wales. But I’m sure he’s not lamenting about having all of this young talent to choose from.

With all of the momentum and emergence of some new Irish players, one thing that has stood out as unusual is the low-key play of skipper Brain O’Driscoll. O’Driscoll historically for Ireland has always been a try scorer for them but since the end of the World Cup, he has yet to cross the try line even in play with his club Leinster. This is not to say that his play has been bad, but it is certainly not to the form we’re used to from the talented O’Driscoll. O’Driscoll had his best match against Scotland making several nice hard runs and sending a perfectly timed passed over to Rob Kearney on the wing seconds before being tackled. Some have speculated that O’Driscoll simply receives more attention on the field these days because of his talents, therefore keeping him out of the try zone. So while O’Driscoll may not be putting up points, he certainly is still a factor in every match, running hard, making good passes and exhibiting solid defensive play. O’Driscoll has also been bothered by a nagging calf injury that has slowed him up a bit. I’m reluctant to question O’Driscoll’s form just yet because in my eyes, a player does not have to be scoring tries to contirbute to his team. O’Driscoll is important in so many other ways on the pitch for his team and in my opinion, makes the players around him better.

With all of that being said, Ireland is back in the hunt for the Six Nations title with their renewed confidence and will have perhaps their toughest test yet against a revived Welsh club that has flourished under the guidance of former Ireland head coach Warren Gatland. If Ireland can hand Wales their first loss of the tournament at Croke Park on March 8th, it’s off to Twickenham for a shot at the title, something that would serve Ireland well putting any memories of their World Cup failure behind them.

Josh Houston posted this article under Test Rugby on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment or trackback from your own site. View Technorati Linkbacks. print .