Ireland Team Talk XII: Farrell's First Fifteen

The thing that jumped out to me rewatching it was just how physically draining that last sequence was.

NZ tackled well and committed players to almost each and every ruck, so some guys absolutely broke themselves clearing rucks.

I distinctly remember the play (Phase 30 above) where Beirne looks absolutely shattered, and literally just folds down when he gets the ball, but to his credit, that was his fourth carry of this sequence (and two of them were very effective) and he was super busy clearing rucks (with one particularly huge clear out along with POM which saved a near turnover). He was literally spent at that point and had nothing in his legs.

Similarly, Joe McCarthy is a guy who has subsequently come in for a lot of justified criticism for his poor attempted clear out on Whitelock for the ultimate penalty which decides it, but he'd actually shown up very well before then throughout the attack, similarly carrying a number of times and clearing a lot of ruck ball. He had one hugely significant clear out on the right touch line when Conan looked isolated which saved a turnover.

Every single Irish player on the field contributed in this sequence and had multiple involvements.

I think it was mentioned in one the press conferences. Lancaster mentioned speaking to a player that should focus on playing at 7 if he wants to play for Ireland

The issue with this post is that one man’s “moves it to the left / spins it out the back” is another’s man’s “shovels it on”.

Sexton 100% was not the problem some on here would have him be here. We lost this game in other areas (Barrett holding up Kelleher, Doris' spill, Sexton's missed kick, our general poor start, Barnes screwing us on the scrums) but we didn't lose it here at the death.

Again, nobody has been saying they weren’t bigger factors in the loss.

But that can be the case and posters can still think it was a mistake not to bring on Crowley.

Yeah, well you could apply that distinction to virtually every out half running an attack if you wanted to.

Most wouldn't, of course.

The skillset Sexton was most prized for was exactly the one he demonstrated throughout this attacking sequence, his ability to direct the attack, call the plays, and know where and when to attempt the line breaks.

The fact that three times in this sequence our momentum stalls (none of which were on Sexton IMO) and we once again manage to manufacture go-forward ball and momentum again to me speaks volumes to how well in command of the attack he was.

This is also the part of Jack Crowley's game that is probably the very weakest part of his skillset as a 10. No one anywhere denies that he at that point versus Sexton at that point was a better running threat, but for whatever delta there is there, it's relatively small compared to the difference between their respective rugby IQs and ability to structure an attack, and that's exactly the reason why the coaches left Sexton out there.

At that point in a game, you don't want your 10 carrying it willy nilly into contact anyway. Sexton (or any 10) is of far more value to us there on his feet and able to consistently organise our attack rather than chancing a half break and missing three phases while he's on the ground.

I don't agree with @ersatz above when he says it looked inevitable we would get turned over; the play where Retallick latches on was a superb bit of play from him, but other than that (and Savea's near steal on the near touchline a few phases earlier), we were actually continuing to gain very good momentum and the impact of us repeatedly moving the point of the attack was very visibly exhausting NZ's defenders too.

The game was on that knife edge pinnacle point where the players on both sides were at breaking point, and it was probably going to be decided one way or another within a phase or so of when it was; either we'd have gotten that one last crucial line break and scored and won or we'd be a second late on a clean out and lose. The latter happened. It's ****, but it is what it is.

Why we're all rehashing it now for what feels like the 200th time though I don't really get.

Great post. Really impressive. But wasn't it Whitelock that got the final steal?

Yeah, we all saw how Farrell’s decision worked out in the end 🤣

The Lions hangover thing is very real I think - so many of those guys have been injured or struggling to find form. The sole test Lion for me who’s playing well is Joe McCarthy, and he got injured and missed a chunk of time so basically got a full reset.

Leinster looked absolutely gassed today with about 20 mins left (some of that was the impact of last week’s game too).

Three very unconvincing performances from all three provinces so far today, with Connacht still to come. Far from ideal just before 6N selection.

I’d be glad to see him gone.

Cannot ever remember a time when Leinster conceded tries off first phase attacking plays (that weren’t even anything particularly special).

He’s stealing a living. I was optimistic when he arrived, but it is increasingly clear Rassie is the man who was the Boks brain trust and leader.