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Rugby Focus February 3, 2010 |
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Written by Len Dinneen
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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 |
Ireland kicks off its Six Nations campaignIreland kicks off its Six Nations campaign
IRELAND begins its defence of the Six Nations title at 2.30pm next Saturday in Croke Park, where their opponents will be Italy.
Ireland will be odds on to get over the first hurdle, but they know that the Italians will target the scrum and hope to upset Ireland in the line-outs.
It has been 62 years since Ireland was in the same position, looking for back-to-back Grand Slams. They failed back then and the odds are heavily stacked against the current team doing it, as we have to travel to France and Twickenham this year.
At this stage the French game looks the key fixture and if we could win in Paris on February 13, we would fancy our chances against England in Twickenham on February 27, Wales at home on March 13 and finally Scotland at home on March 20.
The game of rugby has changed utterly since we won our last Grand Slam.
Since the game became professional, the TV cameras are at every ground and the video analyst is in his element.
Ireland are lucky that they have a very good one in Galway man Mervyn Murphy, who played for Galwegians, Connacht and Ireland A.
Everything is dissected and can be viewed simultaneously from four different camera angles.
Ten laptops can be connected to the main server and the players can view every set piece and play of their opponent’s last games.
The coaches even spend time lip-reading the pack leader at line-out time, to see if they can work out the line-out calls.
God be with the days of the 1950s, when Mick English, a brilliant out-half for Munster and Ireland, would use simple but effective tactics.
Mick had a great belt of the ball and when he was asked what tactics he would use, he would say: “I’m going to put the ball up in the air in the first half and I’m going to put it up higher in the second half.”
Mind you, Mick would still be able to hold his own in the modern game as there is a lot of kicking, and I’ve witnessed the bold English belting the ball from one end of Thomond Park to the other.
The late Terry Moore of Highfield, Munster and Ireland spoke of one Munster Cup game at Thomond Park, when ’Field, who had a massive pack, worked their way inch by inch up the touchline to the Bohemians goal line.
“We thought we had a chance of a try,” said Terry, “but English got hold of the ball and belted it right down the field to get a touch five yards from our line.’
Tactics were simple then but, as I have said before, the game of rugby is fast becoming like American Football.
When I played my first senior game for Old Crescent in Priory Park (now Jackman Park) the line-out was very simple.
Billy Leahy, our scrum half, would stand opposite the player who was to get the ball,
Mick Manning one of our wingers would then throw in the ball, as hookers didn’t throw in the ball then.
The great Tony O’Reilly often said that throwing in the ball was often the only time he got the ball when playing for Ireland.
Manning, who held the Irish 100 yards sprint title back then, would invariably throw the ball to Mick Spillane who would be standing at 2. There was no lifting then but any opponent who tried to take the ball from the very strong Old Crescent and Munster second row got a sharp reminder not to do it again.
A few weeks ago, I spoke to Paul O’Connell and I had to stop him after 10 minutes talking about the line-out.
The poor hooker would need a maths degree to work out what happens there now.
As the Number 2 stands there with the ball in his hands ready to throw, all hell is breaking out in front of him.
He has an opposition three-man pod put up at two to block his view of where he is going to throw. Northampton, who had a 6ft 7in man standing at two, did this very successfully against Munster and Denis Fogerty was forced into a number of bad throws.
There will be a lot of video analysis done by the Munster forwards before the Heineken Cup quarter-final game against Northampton in April.
Ireland will hope to get off to a good start in the Six Nations on Saturday.
Italy will put up a strong challenge, particularly in the scrums, but I think the lads will weather the storm up front and win the game in the end.
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