Davies and O’Driscoll: Centre Combination

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My piece over on the Elverys Sports Blog today takes a detailed look at what Jonathan Davies and Brian O’Driscoll contributed for the Lions in the second test. Have a read of that piece by clicking here. The video above highlights the lack of understanding between the pair, which I talk about in the article. I feel that Jamie Roberts has to start at 12 for the third Test, with Brian O’Driscoll outside him. Let me know your thoughts by leaving a comment over on the Elverys Sports Blog.

Pride and Frustration

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“We’re a good team when we play” – Brian O’Driscoll

I don’t want to become one of those critics who find fault with every single Irish performance but frustration is the overriding emotion right now. That was an immense effort from our lads and we came so close to our greatest ever result. There were technical elements that let us down (as well as some easy penalties in the first-half), but there were multiple positives too. The desire and intensity was incredible, and we attacked at a much higher tempo than we have done for a long time. But today’s game simply poses the question of why this type of Irish performance is so rare?

From the first minute, Ireland’s physicality was through the roof. Every single player threw himself into collisions again and again. Gone was the respect for the mighty and unbeatable All Blacks. This was just plain old New Zealand. During the week, Dan Carter claimed that Ireland were always “ferocious” opponents. We didn’t see that last weekend, but it was evident today. Once again, we dominated the breakdown. Most welcome of all was how we got on top in the scrum in the second-half. All huge positives, and part of a strong display overall.

It reminded me of the Rugby World Cup win over Australia last year, and the big win over England in the 2011 Six Nations. It could be argued that these three games were Ireland’s only three strong showings in the last couple of years. Why are they so rare? Why can Ireland not motivate themselves to this degree more regularly? If we could match today’s level of intensity and physicality more often, we’d be a truly successful international team. The quote from Brian O’Driscoll immediately after the game says it all. Ireland need to work out a way to “play” more consistently.

It might seem particularly harsh to be critical in the aftermath of such a narrow loss to the best team in the world. On Thursday night, Roy Keane blasted the Irish soccer team for their losing mentality. He was critical of the fact that Irish fans were singing and supporting, even at 4-0 down. I don’t want it to come across that I’m doing something similar here. It’s a very different scenario. While Ireland doesn’t have players with enough quality to get anywhere near the world’s best in soccer, we do in rugby. Today was the very proof of that.

O’Driscoll and his team mates certainly won’t be accepting of this loss. They will analyse it and dissect it on Monday morning. They’ll look at the dropped balls, lineout misses, and the number of visits to the New Zealand 22 which brought no points. The provincial success of first Munster, and now Leinster, has given this Irish squad a winning mentality. They will be critical of themselves and look to improve next weekend. So why should us supporters and critics not look for more too? We should certainly praise the many positives in today’s display, but equally we should question why we don’t see them more often.

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I’ll try to do some of that analysis myself on Monday morning, looking at the strengths and positives, as well as the areas where Ireland can improve. Watch this space.

All Blacks Watch: Stopping Sonny Bill

Sonny Bill Williams is one of the best centres in the world, as well as a heavyweight boxing champ and a beautiful man. Jealous? Me? (c) Geoff Trotter.

With Steve Hansen having hinted that he will give Ma’a Nonu a rest during the upcoming three-test series against Ireland, it now looks almost certain that Sonny Bill Williams will be wearing the 12 jersey for the All Blacks. Even if Nonu wasn’t to be given a break, SBW would fully deserve to be starting at inside centre. The 26-year-old has been one of the best players in Super Rugby this season. His spectacular form for the Chiefs means Ireland will have to watch him very closely on Saturday.

The Hamilton-based franchise sit top of the overall Super Rugby table after 13 games. Sonny Bill has been a huge part of the success so far. His attacking game has been razor sharp, and he looks like a far more complete player than when he first switched from league. He’s gained the 4th highest number of metres in possession, with 984, behind only Hosea Gear, Andre Taylor and Ben Smith. Williams is joint 3rd for line-breaks on 11 and is the clear leader in the offloading table, with an incredible 29 in his 13 games.

It’s this ability to play the ball out of the tackle that makes Williams such a dangerous proposition. At almost 6’4″ and 108kg of pure muscle, he has a physique which has helped him to become the heavyweight boxing champion of New Zealand (video at bottom of this piece). William’s size and power allow him to take the tackle on his own terms and he always gets his hands through. As soon as SBW gets the ball, the offload is the first thing on his mind. It’s one of the most effective attacking weapons in world rugby.

Williams is extremely powerful. (c) Luton Anderson.

Gordon D’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll are both very powerful men, but at 5’11” and 5’10” respectively, may struggle to deal with Williams. The All Black will be confident of getting his hands through the tackle against both, and with Conrad Smith and Israel Dagg running the intelligent lines off him, Ireland could be cut to shreds. So it there a way to stop the Sonny Bill offload? It’s easier said than done, but O’Driscoll and D’Arcy have the experience and intelligence to dull the big man’s effectiveness.

Last Saturday, the Chiefs beat the Blues 41-34 in a brilliant, exciting game. Williams was excellent opposite his All Blacks’ rival Ma’a Nonu, clearly coming out on top of their individual battle. He scored one try with a powerful finish and set up countless opportunities for his team mates with his offloading game. However, there was one poor offload following a searing line-break. Williams was in open field and tried his signature one-handed offload despite the fact that he hadn’t actually been tackled.

That missed pass against the Blues at the weekend betrayed Williams’ obsession with playing the ball out of the tackle. It’s as if he needs to do it every time he’s in possession. Ireland have to turn it against him, frustrate him at every opportunity. Defenders either side of the tackle need to expect it every single time, try to intercept it or get a hand to it. The Irish must be prepared for him to get the ball away and be alert and ready to react decisively.

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It’s pointless to say that the Irish centres simply need to double up on Williams in the tackle. If it was as easy as that, then he wouldn’t be top of the Super Rugby stats chart for offloading. If they can team up, then one goes low and chops him as early as possible, while the other targets his ball-carrying arm rather than trying to wrap his upper body. That second tackler has to be deadly accurate when he targets Sonny Bill’s arms. But Williams will get one-on-one with defenders, so what’s the best thing to do then? If you go in high, he has a strong fend and real power in contact.

The defender has to take him low because if he does bump them off, Williams has the pace to punish the Irish defence. The simple fact is that the Chiefs man will get the ball away in the tackle. The Irish defence must have a collective awareness, particularly the back-row as they sweep across from set-piece play, and Conor Murray/Eoin Reddan as they sweep behind the defence in phase play. When Williams makes those offloads, these guys need to be in like a flash, smashing the All Blacks’ support player.

It’s just one aspect of the All Blacks’ game that Ireland have to deal with, but it’s a particularly lethal one. The in-form Williams represents an altogether different challenge to anything D’Arcy and O’Driscoll have faced so far this season. The battle in midfield should be a treat, especially with O’Driscoll looking so sharp himself in the Heineken Cup final (as the All Blacks recognised). Saturday’s 1st test should be tasty, and there’s no doubt that Sonny Bill Williams will be central to the outcome.

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Photos courtesy: Geoff Trotter, Luton Anderson.

The Master and the Apprentice

Brian O’Driscoll celebrates after Leinster’s magnificent Heineken Cup win on Saturday. (c) Ken Bohane.

There’s plenty of coverage in today’s media of Leinster’s incredible win over Ulster in the Heineken Cup final on Saturday. There’s really no need for me to cover the game in a general sense, because it’s all been said by now. Instead, I’m going to focus on one of the key individual battles which Leinster won. They came out on top of most of these positional match-ups across the field, although Paddy Wallace, Dan Tuohy, John Afoa and Craig Gilroy all impressed.

Having played in the centre myself, the midfield area usually draws much of my attention. Saturday’s game saw a really interesting battle of the master versus the apprentice at outside centre. Brian O’Driscoll is a legend of the game, a once in a lifetime player. Opposite him was Darren Cave, of whom I’m a big fan and had previously suggested worthy of a place on Ireland’s summer tour to New Zealand. Cave’s performance on Saturday was excellent, but O’Driscoll proved far more decisive.

Ulster had a strong start to the game, flying out of the blocks and looking more up for it than Leinster in the first five minutes. Cave made a scything break after just 3 minutes (11.50 mark on the video below) as he dummied to an inside runner, completely bamboozling Leo Cullen. Cave almost got around Rob Kearney for the opening score of the game, but the fullback just held on to him. Cullen recovered well to illegally steal the ball and Leinster got away with their early lack of concentration.

(c) Ken Bohane.

It was a clear indicator that Ulster’s outside centre was up for this game. In the piece linked above, I wrote that Cave needed some standout displays on the big stage to win over the doubters and the 25-year-old was definitely intent on leaving his mark. He continued to pose a threat to Leinster’s defence for the remainder of the game, with his 11 runs leaving him behind only Ferris and Afoa in Ulster’s carrying stakes. Cave topped the charts for his side in terms of metres gained while in possession, with 41.

Defensively, the main highlight for Cave was his try-saving tackle on Eoin Reddan in the 22nd minute ( starting at 33.20 on the video below) when he came from a long, long way back to grab the scrumhalf after Gilroy had missed his own tackle. Cave has been defensively excellent all season long, with missed tackles a rarity. He reads the game well and more often than not, puts himself in a good position to make his hits. But shackling O’Driscoll was a far greater task than what he had faced previously.

O’Driscoll again proved himself a medical freak to be playing at all. Once again, massive kudos to Leinster’s backroom staff for enabling him to take to the field. The effort was hugely worthwhile, as BOD was a class above almost everyone else on the pitch. There were only two occasions when he got one on one with Cave, but both times he got around his opposite number. O’Driscoll doesn’t possess the same top-end pace as he once did, but his footwork was enough to show Cave that he has a distance to go if he is to challenge for Ireland’s number 13 jersey.

O’Driscoll’s performance bodes will for Ireland’s prospects in New Zealand. (c) Ken Bohane.

Both times, O’Driscoll shifted his feet, forced Cave to sit back on his heels, then got outside him with a little burst of acceleration. As I said above, Cave’s defensive positioning is a strength and against any other opponent he would have completed the tackles. But O’Driscoll just slipped past him twice. It’s exactly the level that Cave would want to be tested at, and the experience will have been of great benefit to him. (The best example is at 37.36 in the vid below).

O’Driscoll added some world-class touches throughout the game to really stamp his mark. That offload in the build-up to Cian Healy’s try showed exactly how much intelligence and vision Drico possesses. Watch it again from 43.20 in the video and you can see that the Leinster centre knows exactly what he’s going to do  even before the ball is in his hands. Genuinely talented players go through the game with their heads up, scanning the defence and immediately recognising what’s on. It’s yet another example of O’Driscoll’s genius.

Cave appeared to be inspired by the master’s demonstration of skill and even threw in his own little flick pass in the second half, when he ran a switch with Trimble. The flick wasn’t really necessary, but it was encouraging to see that Cave had the confidence to bring it off. And this inspiration is exactly what Cave should be looking to get from the tour to New Zealand now that he has been selected.

He has certainly earned his place on the plane, after what has really been his breakthrough season for Ulster. This is an incredible opportunity for the twice-capped midfielder to take his game to the next level. Training against and learning from O’Driscoll every day will almost certainly show him exactly what he needs to do to push through at international level. Just as playing opposite O’Driscoll on Saturday brought Cave to new heights, touring alongside him is the next step in his learning curve.

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Photos courtesy: Ken Bohane.

PRO12 Returns

The PRO12 returns to the foreground this weekend. (c) Sum_of_Marc.

With the Six Nations done and dusted, it’s time for the provincial game to take the front seat again. Many supportes will be delighted to get back to supporting their home team, especially after the inconsistent Irish displays over the last couple of months. With only 5 games left until the play-offs, Leinster, Munster and Ulster are all well in contention while Connacht are hoping to rise as high as possible in the table. Even with the Irish internationals getting a precious weekend off, there are plenty of big names to whet the appetite.

Leinster are first up on Friday night against the Ospreys. They welcome Brian O’Driscoll and Leo Cullen back into the fold after recovery from shoulder and achilles injuries respectively. The initial prognosis on BOD after his surgery in November was that he could miss the remainder of the season. The fact that he is back already speaks volumes for the man. He is a legend of the game and will play a huge part as Leinster look for PRO12 and Heineken Cup glory.

Captain Cullen coming back into the mix on the same day that Brad Thorn is set to make his Leinster debut is more good news. Leinster have been stretched for numbers in the second-row department in recent times, but now look well-stocked. Thorn’s obvious pedigree should help Leinster maintain, and possibly improve, the high standards they have set for themselves over the last few years.

Drico is back for Leinster, rejoice! (c) Art Widak.

On Saturday afternoon Ulster are in Italy to take on Treviso. Sitting 5th, just one place off the play-offs, Brian McLaughlin’s men face a tough run-in. This Treviso game and Aironi at home the weekend after are must-wins. Ulster’s final three games are away to Connacht, home to Leinster and away to Munster. Not ideal. After a good first half to the season Treviso have faded away and are no longer in contention for the play-offs. Clearly, a win for Ulster is essential.

Darren Cave and captain Johann Muller make their returns from injury to give Ulster a lift. Cave’s foot injury was unfortunately-timed in the build-up to the Six Nations as he was in excellent form. He’ll be looking to pick right up where he left off in a bid to secure a place on Ireland’s tour to New Zealand this summer.

Finally, on Saturday evening it’s the big derby in Galway, Connacht vs. Munster. Tony McGahan’s side come into the game placed 2nd, on course for a home play-off. Connacht are at the other end of the scale in 10th, just 5 points off the bottom. It would appear that Munster have more to play for, but this is exactly the type of game that Eric Elwood and his team will have targeted for a win. Expect another ferocious battle in front of a capacity crowd at the Sportsground.

O'Leary is back for Munster's derby with Galway. (c) Ivan O'Riordan.

There’s been plenty of positive news coming from Connacht relating to next season’s squad, which we will look at in more depth over the next few days. For now, minds will be focused on this term’s run-in. Elwood will be keen to at least match last year’s 9th-place finish and 7 wins. With only 4 wins registered up to this point, a good finishing streak is needed. Home fixtures against Munster, Aironi and Ulster offer hope, as well as the clash away to the Dragons. Here’s the Connacht team.

Munster will be unconcerned with aiding their nieghbours’ positive finale to the season. They are focused on securing that crucial home spot for the play-offs in May. Ireland squad members Damian Varley and Tomas O’Leary are involved this weekend. O’Leary will be keen to get straight back into action after his involvement at Twickenham. Meanwhile, David Wallace and Felix Jones both continue their resurgence after long-term injuries.

The underestimated PRO12 is often demeaned as a dull league when pitted against the Heineken Cup and Six Nations. However, it’s vitally important to the game in Ireland, and gives our talented youngsters a chance to get on the pitch. With just 5 games left, Leinster look safe at the top of the table. Behind them, there are 6 teams, including Munster and Ulster, with realistic hopes of a play-off place. Further down, a successful run-in for Connacht could give them their best-ever final position. Plenty of reasons to tune in.

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Friday 23rd March

Leinster vs. Ospreys @ The RDS. Kickoff – 19.05 (RTE2)

Saturday 24th March

Treviso vs. Ulster @ Stadio di Monigo. Kickoff – 15.15 (BBCNI)

Connacht vs. Munster @ Sportsgrounds. Kickoff – 19.45 (TG4)

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Photos courtesy: Sum_of_Marc, Ivan O’Riordan, Art Widak.