IRFU Engage With Scrum Issue

The Irish scrum was solid all tournament until the English match. (c) Ken Bohane.

In fairness to the IRFU they haven’t hung around in attempting to remedy the catastrophic scrum failure at Twickenham on Saturday. Yesterday, on their website, the governing body of Irish rugby advertised the newly-created position of High Performance Scrum Coach. The harsh lesson England gave us at scrum time shows just how lacking in depth our front-row is. Tom Court, a loosehead prop for his province, was asked to replace the clearly irreplaceable Mike Ross at tighthead and the results were disastrous and dangerous.

The new Scrum Coach will be responsible for implementing the “recently established” High Performance Scrum Programme on behalf of the IRFU. Presumably, that programme means teaching young Irish props how to hold their own and hopefully dominate this particular set-piece. The current lack of depth of props anywhere near international level is alarming. There are certainly players with the potential to step up, but lack of exposure, even at provincial level, has held them back.

A lot is made of the need for props to gain years of experience before being unleashed in high-level rugby. We often hear that props don’t hit their prime until late in their careers, often after they turn 30. But look at England’s pair who demolished us on Saturday – Dan Cole is 24 and Alex Corbisiero just 23. Our own Cian Healy is 24 too, and his scrummaging has been progressing until this hiccup. Clearly, if he is good enough, a prop is old enough.

Healy and Ross coped well against Italy. Can we take it to the next level? (c) Ken Bohane.

Jamie Hagan is a fine prospect at tighthead. Age? 24! Still uncapped, the Leinster man hasn’t even featured in an Irish squad yet. That’s despite a strong season at Connacht last year when he was first-choice. While he hasn’t been a starter in the big games for Leinster this season, he has 15 appearances, 2 more than Court has made for Ulster, at loosehead. With the lack of cover for Ross at tighthead, surely Declan Kidney could have given Hagan a chance at some stage over the last year or so, even just off the bench?

The new Scrum Coach will need to stress to Kidney the importance of getting Hagan involved as soon as possible. At Munster, Stephen Archer is a 24-year-old tighthead with plenty of talent. He’s in his third season with the province and has picked up 7 starts this season. Archer will also need to be worked with closely, getting his scrummaging up to standard. Ulster’s Adam Macklin at 22, is another with potential. A converted back-row, the Belfast Harlequins man still has plenty to learn, but why not in an international environment?

On the other side of the scrum, Healy is first-choice but we need more competition here too. Court is good player for Ulster, but looks uncomfortable at international level. His teammate Paddy McAllister, 22, has looked solid in his 15 appearances for Ulster this season. Leinster’s Jack McGrath is the same age and another potential international. John Ryan of Munster, 23, and Ronan Loughney of Connacht, 28, can play on both sides of the scrum.

John Andress of Exeter Chiefs, 28, is a tighthead who played for the Wolfhounds back in ’09. Brett Wilkinson, also 28, has had plenty of involvement with the Irish squad, but no caps so far. Also at Connacht, Rodney Ah You and Dylan Rogers battered the Irish scrum in a World Cup warm-up last August and could be naturalised soon, both joining in 2010.  There are plenty of options!

Competition is needed for Healy at loosehead too. (c) Ken Bohane.

Last Saturday, Ireland paid the price for not investing time and resources into developing props who are up to an international standard. It has been a long-term issue, but with John Hayes and then Mike Ross having stayed largely injury-free, it has never really come to the fore. That’s exactly what happened in Twickenham, and the spotlight was merciless. The IRFU have been forced to act swiftly, knowing that something should have been done a long time ago.

The main point is that it’s not all doom and gloom. Yes, we got an absolute beasting at the scrum against the English, but there are young players in this country with the potential to play international rugby. If the IRFU can get the right person to fill the new Scrum Coach role, allied to their succession plan, which should mean more provincial exposure for Irish props from next season onwards, then things can be put right.

In the short-term, Kidney must include some of these young players in the tour to New Zealand, even if he doesn’t feel they are ‘ready’. The only way to find out is to give them a chance. As we’ve seen with players like Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony, some guys are just made for international rugby and the step-up is natural for them. To use Cole and Corbisiero as examples again, both were 22 when the made their England debut. Now, both look like possible Lions contenders next year.

Kidney needs to take a leap of faith in his squad selection for New Zealand, not just in the prop positions. As discussed on The Touchline already, he needs to get competition for every position back into the squad. Who knows what heights Cian Healy and Mike Ross could be pushed to with hungry young props breathing down their necks? If there had been replacements at a sufficient level of ability, could they have been rested at some stage in the 4-game run and thus come into the England game ready to attack their scrum? Some balls in June will have huge benefits down the line.

*As an aside, the IRB must expand the size of the bench in international games to 8 players. Asking a prop to cover two specialist positions is unfair and dangerous, as we saw with Court last Saturday.

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Photos courtesy: Ken Bohane.

Dragons Fail to Fire in Ulster Rain

Match Report

Ulster 30-12 Newport-Gwent Dragons

Friday 11th February @ Ravenhill

Ruan Pienaar scored a try as well as kicking 10 points for Ulster. (c) Ken Bohane.

Ulster kept their PRO12 play-off push on course with a bonus point win over an extremely limited Dragons side on Friday night. In what was a week of disorder at the province, with the public revelation of the long-standing decision not to renew Brian McLaughlin’s contract as coach, Ulster will be happy with the five points gained on a wet night at Ravenhill. This Dragons team was blunt in attack and has definite concentration issues. Despite prolonged spells of possession, the Welsh region never looked like manufacturing a try-scoring opportunity.

That said, the Dragons’ start to the game was lively. Ex-Wales U20 international outhalf Jason Tovey gave his side the lead with a long-range penalty after Craig Gilroy failed to release the tackled player. Ruan Pienaar had the chance to draw Ulster level with a penalty of his own soon after but was wide to the right from 40 metres out.

Tovey’s kicking from hand was poor all day, and it was from his kick directly into touch that Ulster scored the opening try. From just outside the Dragons’ 22, hooker Andy Kyriacou hit Robbie Diack coming short at the front of the lineout and after juggling the ball, the South African No.8 went through Jamie Smith’s tackle to touch down. From the right-hand touchline, Pienaar was narrowly off target to the left.

Ulster then scored almost directly from the Dragons’ restart with a try that had McLaughlin’s fingerprints all over it. McLaughlin has always encouraged his charges to play with freedom and that’s exactly what Ulster did. From inside their own half, the ball swept through ten sets of hands, starting and finishing with Ruan Pienaar. In between, Gilroy beat two mean and Willie Faloon offloaded off the deck for one of the best tries in the PRO12 so far this season. Pienaar added the gloss with the conversion from under the posts.

Ulster’s indiscipline allowed the Dragons to stay in touch through two Tovey penalties. First, Lewis Stevenson grabbed the arm of Adam Jones while in the air at a lineout. Gilroy was the culprit several minutes later as he entered a ruck from the side. Needless penalties, as the Dragons attack was completely toothless. A strong scrum from Ulster then resulted in Nathan Williams dropping his bind. From the penalty, Pienaar extended the Ulster lead back out to 15-9 before half-time.

Dan Tuohy (5) was involved in some big collisions. (c) Fabio Beretta.

With the rain starting to sheet down, the opening ten minutes of the second-half became loose and scrappy, ending with another silly penalty against Ulster. Paddy McAllister, just on the pitch, didn’t roll away after tackling, and Tovey knocked over the easy three-pointer. However, the Dragons’ lack of concentration struck again as Ulster scored immediately from their own restart.

The Welsh side failed to get under Ian Humphreys’ hanging drop-off and Ian Whitten pounced on the bouncing ball. The centre offloaded to Mike McComish and swiftly recycled ball allowed Humphreys’ skip pass to send Gilroy over in the right corner. The winger finished the move with a strong fend on Martyn Thomas. Pienaar was wide to the left again from the tee.

The Dragons were given an early opportunity to get themselves back into the game when Faloon was sent to the bin following Ulster’s repeated infringements at the breakdown. However, the Dragons’ subsequent attack was lateral and failed to take advantage of the extra man. Dan Tuohy put in some big hits as Ulster defended strongly.

Faloon’s return didn’t halt the Dragons’ favourable amount of possession, but time and again the Welsh side lost their concentration in good positions. Two promising lineouts in the Ulster 22 both brought knock-ons at the tail of the maul. A yellow card to Whitten for a stupid slap-down at ruck-time gave the Dragons yet another chance out of touch inside the Ulster 22. This time referee Carlo Damasco pinged them for obstruction.

With Ulster looking for the fourth try that would secure a crucial bonus point, a penalty on the halfway line with two minutes remaining looked like the perfect opportunity to kick to the corner. But captain John Afoa made a strange decision to go for goal, and Pienaar duly obliged, banging over the three points from 40 metres out. Ulster got their chance at the death though, and took it well.

After a knock-on by Robert Sidoli, Nevin Spence was first to the loose ball and his offload to Ali Birch on halfway looked to have sent replacement Ali Birch over. However, the substitute back-row was hauled down just 5 metres out. After a few phases close to the breakdown, the ball was sent out to Humphreys and he put Stefan Terblanche through a massive hole in the Dragons’ defence. Pienaar completed the scoring with the last kick of the game. This win means Ulster move up to 5th in the PRO12 table.

Ulster: 15. Adam D’Arcy (Danielli, 57), 14. Craig Gilroy, 13. Ian Whitten, 12. Nevin Spence, 11. Stefan Terblanche, 10. Ian Humphreys (Marshall, 64), 9. Ruan Pienaar, 8. Robbie Diack, 7. Willie Faloon (Birch, 64), 6. Mike McComish, 5. Dan Tuohy, 4. Lewis Stevenson (Barker, 73), 3. John Afoa (capt.), 2. Andy Kyriacou (Brady, 55), 1. Callum Black (McAllister, 48).                                        Subs: 16. Nigel Brady, 17. Paddy McAllister, 18. Adam Macklin, 19. Timothy Barker, 20. Alistair Birch, 21. Paul Marshall, 22. Mike Allen, 23. Simon Danielli.

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Photos courtesy:  Ken Bohane, Fabio Beretta.

Four on Form

PRO12 Round 12 Matches

Photo via Jukka Zitting.

As always, Four on Form looks at four Irish-eligible players who hit top form in their province’s fixtures over the weekend.

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Mike McCarthy

McCarthy was one of the stand-out players for Connacht as they came up inches short against Leinster on New Year’s Day. The second-row was clearly desperate to help Connacht end their long run of defeats. He carried and defended ferociously for the full 80 minutes. McCarthy was also crucial to the lineout as Connacht always looked to find him from touch.

30-year-old McCarthy won his first cap for Ireland last August in the World Cup warm-up game against Scotland. Declan Kidney selected McCarthy at blindside flanker in that match but McCarthy eventually missed out on selection for the subsequent tournament. The London-born man’s ability to play in the back-row means that his strong ball-carrying and high work-rate come as no surprise.

McCarthy claims lineout ball against Gloucester in the Heineken Cup. (c) Eoin Gardiner.

McCarthy began his career with Wasps in London before joining Connacht for one season in 2003/04. He left to spend three years at Newcastle until he re-joined Connacht in 2007. Since then, McCarthy has passed the 100 cap mark for the province and become a key part of their forward pack. McCarthy showed exactly why with his performance against Leinster.

Of the 10 lineouts Connacht threw, McCarthy claimed 6, as well as pinching one of Leinster’s. McCarthy made 8 carries throughout, getting over the gainline nearly every time. His defensive game was equally important as he successfully made all 8 of his attempted tackles, most of them dominant hits. McCarthy’s importance to Connacht was particularly obvious in the build-up to their two tries. Both scores began with lineouts and it was McCarthy who secured possession both times.

International rugby is possibly beyond McCarthy now but displays like this one will certainly make the Irish management take notice. McCarthy’s versatility is useful in any squad. With no obvious first-choice lock to partner captain Paul O’Connell, McCarthy will recognise that continuation of this kind of form will put him in contention.

McCarthy’s key stats vs. Leinster:

Kick/Pass/Run: 0/5/8     Metres gained on ball: 26     Defenders Beaten: 1      Tackles made/missed: 8/0     Lineouts won on own throw/stolen: 6/1

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Luke O’Dea

O'Dea (15) in action for Shannon against Young Munster. (c) Liam Coughlan.

While Munster looked fairly toothless against Ulster in a 33-17 loss, winger O’Dea was lively every time he was involved in the action. The Munster Academy player only made his debut for Munster in November, scoring a try against Edinburgh in an impressive performance. He followed that up with a strong showing against Connacht, setting up a try for Sean Scanlon. The 21-year-old continued this form with another promising display against Ulster, one of the few positives on a disappointing evening for Munster.

O’Dea earned his chance with the senior Munster team through his fantastic performances with Shannon in the Ulster Bank League in recent seasons. He has also come through the Munster ‘A’ set-up, like many of the young players in this Munster squad. O’Dea’s natural position is at full-back and we may see him there eventually but he is doing an accomplished job on the wing at the moment.

O’Dea is exciting on the ball, as he showed against Ulster. He has the ability to always beat at least one man. This was exemplified by how he took his try. From Keatley’s cross-field kick, with Adam D’Arcy in front of him, the Ennis-born back-three player had the confidence to take him on in very little space. The safer option, and the one which D’Arcy seemed to anticipate, would have been to look for Will Chambers inside. O’ea backed himself and made no mistake.

It’s refreshing to see Munster wide men backing themselves in this manner. While Denis Hurley and Johne Murphy are solid professionals and haven’t let Munster down, they’re not the type of players who beat defenders too often. O’Dea looks to be a natural broken-field runner and he showed that soon after his try against Ulster. Receiving the ball in very little space down the right-hand touchline, O’Dea burned past Pedrie Wannenburg and almost stepped around D’Arcy. The move came to nothing but displayed O’Dea’s ability to beat defenders.

Despite only getting on the ball six times on Friday night, O’Dea made two clean line-breaks and beat two defenders. The prospect of O’Dea having with a little more attacking space from full-back is an exciting one. Judging on his first three Munster caps, we will be seeing a lot more of O’Dea in the future.

O’Dea’s key stats vs. Ulster:

Kick/Pass/Run: 1/0/5     Clean line-breaks: 2     Defenders beaten: 2               Metres gained on ball: 48     Tackles made/missed: 3/2

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Chris Henry

Ulster enjoyed a dominant display over Munster with a 33-17 win at Ravenhill on Friday night. Henry was one of the reasons that Ulster were on top as he got through a mountain of work. Henry was always earmarked as a future Irish international from his time with the Ireland U21 squad. Now at 27, the back-row has just one cap to his name, having played against Australia on the tour down under in 2010. This season, the spectacular performances of Stephen Ferris have meant Henry’s good form has been somewhat masked.

Against Munster, Henry was clearly to the fore. He was unmissable as his huge appetite for hard work shone through. The 107kg back-row lined out at blindside for this match, showing his versatility within the back-row. He can play all three back-row positions and this has perhaps held him back a little throughout his career. His natural position is at No.8 but the South Africa Pedrie Wannenburg occupies that role for Ulster.

Henry in his natural position of No.8 against Munster in 2009. (c) Liam Coughlan.

Henry was Ulster’s top ball-carrier against Munster with 12 carries for a total gain of 50 metres. His tackle count of 14 was second only to captain Johann Muller’s 16. While Henry did concede 2 penalties, that merely highlights how much spoiling of the Munster ball he did. For Ruan Pienaar’s bonus-point try, it was Henry who tackled Duncan Williams at the back of the Munster scrum, forcing the ball loose and allowing Pienaar to pick up and finish.

Henry was also crucial to Ulster’s second try, eventually scored by John Afoa. Henry beat off a tackle to cut through the Munster defence after they had seemingly recovered following Ulster’s initial break-out from their own half. Henry showed his power as he went through du Preez’s tackle to put Ulster back on the front foot.

With Ferris out, Henry assumed to role of primary ball-carrier to great effect. His work-rate in defence was equally accomplished. As has been mentioned here before, Ireland’s strength in the back-row means it will be hard for players to break into the international squad in that area. All Henry can do is consistently put in mammoth displays like this one and hope that a chance presents itself. At 27, he still has time on his side.

Henry’s key stats vs. Munster:

Kick/Pass/Run: 0/5/12     Defenders beaten: 1     Metres gained on ball: 50  Tackles made/missed: 14/0     Turnovers: 1     Clean line-breaks: 1

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Paddy McAllister

In the first half of Ulster’s match against Munster, it looked like McAllister could have been included in a hypothetical Four Off Form. Munster’s tighthead, Stephen Archer, seemed to be winning the scrum battle against McAllister, lining out at loosehead for Ulster. Munster won three penalties as they dominated the scrum in that first half and McAllister looked to be beaten. However, he is included in this week’s Four on Form for the manner in which he helped turn the scrum around for Ulster in the first 20 minutes of the second-half.

The 22-year-old’s battle with Archer, only 23 himself, was always going to be interesting. Archer was the clear victor in the first-half. The half-time interval was McAllister’s saviour as he came out a different player after the break. Obviously the Ulster scrum is a unit, not just McAllister acting on his own, but he played a major role in the two huge shunts at scrum-time that led to two Ulster tries. The tries were scored by Ian Humphreys and Ruan Pienaar (see them over in the RaboDirect Round-Up), but they belonged to the Ulster pack who sent the Munster scrum back-peddling on their own put-in.

Their will always be suggestions from the scrum which is going backwards of illegal scrummaging on the dominant packs’s part but whatever way McAllister did manage to get on top of Archer he must be applauded for it. Both these young props showed serious potential at different times of the match and that can only be a good thing for Irish rugby. While McAllister didn’t have a chance to showcase it against Munster, he is also a strong ball-carrier and has the mobility to contribute well around the pitch. The McAllister vs. Archer battle is one we could be seeing regularly in a few years time.

McAllister’s key stats vs. Munster:

Kick/Pass/Run: 0/1/6     Turnovers: 1     Tackles made/missed: 5/0                  Ulster scrum on own feed win/lost: 6/0

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Photos courtesy:  Eoin Gardiner, Liam Coughlan, Jukka Zitting.