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Ronan OâGara: Six Nations, Grand Slams ⌠theyâre nice, but no longer enough
When we talk about this being the greatest Irish team ever, then they have to be getting to a World Cup semi-final at least?
Ronan OâGara: Six Nations, Grand Slams ⌠theyâre nice, but no longer enough
SINKING FEELING: Irelandâs Caelan Doris dejected after Saturdayâs loss to the All Blacks at the Stade de France. Pic: Dan Sheridan, Inpho
FRI, 20 OCT, 2023 - 08:34
Ronan OGara
Ronan OâGara
THE emotional head-wreck that is another failed Ireland World Cup campaign is not lost on me. Believe me when I say that. Exiting at the quarter-final stage in the manner this group did against New Zealand, and the long road to 2027, is beyond torture but Iâm not sure either that the mass glorification of the effort at home has struck the right note.
The most interesting part of what comes next wonât come next. It must wait a while. What does Ireland and Andy Farrell do to resolve this cursed problem? Hopefully nothing like the strategies post the World Cups of 2003-2019 inclusive, because that means we will turn into the new year full of piss and vinegar, on a heroic mission of atonement to win the Six Nations, and better still, another Grand Slam. Hurrah for that.
And on it will go for the next 36 months of climbing all the peaks apart from the one that towers above all and throws a shadow past their bedroom window every morning from here to Australia in 2027, whispering: Ah, but you havenât conquered the big one⌠We might delight in successes between World Cups and, perhaps 12 months out from the 2027 renewal, we will again slam on the brakes and wonder how are we going to find the energy to get it all together for Australia.
New Zealand, South Africa, France, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Argentina, England, Wales, you name them, will all agree that judgement day is the Rugby World Cup, and will plan accordingly.
Who am I to give Andy Farrell advice? Ireland were within six inches, or whatever the depth is of Jordie Barrettâs frame, from advancing to the last four. But the quarter-final was not lost in that moment, nor in the subsequent drop from Caelan Doris around midfield, though it was symptomatic of the untypical sense of unease around Ireland at the Stade de France. Periodising for the World Cup has become Irelandâs holy grail, and everything should be synchronised around this single objective. How many more times are we going to either get the cycle wrong or mis-calibrate our run-in of selections in some way. Winning the Grand Slam should never be seen as a distraction, but it can no longer be the priority for Irish rugby.
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Is that harsh? This team has made significant progress and are a joy to watch but am I missing something here? Some of the public reaction since the loss last weekend, the sense of bad luck and Mayo-like curses preventing Irelandâs progress beyond the quarter final has been too much. This is corroborated from the head shaking at Ireland in this corner of the world.
I went and hid when I lost those World Cup quarter-finals.
Last Saturday produced a cracking game that went down to the last play and Ireland could easily have won. Itâs important to state that. But the balance is important between that and the need to properly analyse why we canât get beyond the last eight at any World Cup.
The need to establish whether the RWC is the priority for Irish rugby is all-consuming now. Is the Six Nations and a Grand Slam on the same level in terms of importance?
I donât know the answer to that.
When we talk about this being the greatest Irish team ever, then you have to back that up. All that talk was on the assumption of getting to at least a World Cup semi-final. Instead this teamâs legacy will be that the best Irish team is the next one. Or whenever one comes along that gets beyond the quarter-final. And thatâs the next step: We are a long way away from winning a World Cup, and some people donât understand that. When you get to finals footie, you are 240 minutes from the summit.
Ireland failed after 80 minutes.
The most facile assessment of the game is that we didnât reckon with a wounded animal, but itâs no less worthy of interrogation for all that. There has to be an appreciation that when you dent heritage and history, there will be consequences. Ireland going to New Zealand and winning a summer test series was wonderful in creating history but of greater import was the mark they made on the fabric of New Zealand rugby. They changed the way the All Blacks played the game and that is the ultimate compliment.
In sport there is always another day. There was a very telling insight into body language when the camera lingered on Sam Cane in the tunnel. That may be considered an old school view, but a game of rugby is a war before itâs a match. New Zealand won the contact in the first 20 minutes and set Ireland back on their haunches. When you are on a 17- game winning run you forget how to lose. The flip side of that fortune cookie wisdom is when you go behind to a side who are the emblem of their nation, the climb is steeper. Were Ireland at their absolute Sam Cane pitch? They will never say it, they can only ask it of themselves in the aftermath. Certainly Ireland were spooked by something in that opening quarter, this was not the smooth running engine we have enjoyed in the two years.
Comments from the Ireland camp about playing a different game of rugby now to when Joe Schmidt was in charge was interesting and understandable in its own context, but not without irony. Ireland did things last Saturday night that they would never have done under Joe Schmidt in terms of ball carrier, one clear out, ball carrier, and, er, do players know their precise role here?
The margins are that tight. Pressure can do strange things. Johnny Sexton misses a kick at goal, an important kick, and even with all his nous and experience, overreached to compensate in its aftermath. A poor kick and chase? Release of pressure for New Zealand.
In this World Cup ding-ding battle, the lead never changed hands. If Kelleher had dotted down â and even that was a prime example of white line fever â who is to say New Zealand would not have responded?
The first twenty minutes killed Ireland in every respect. They win the game by ten points if they start with intent and poise and good execution. Hindsight is not the preferred sanctuary of this column, but when Ireland were backing themselves to score five- and seven-pointers early doors, did they factor in that itâs 6-0 New Zealand? Ireland had to score next, but instead it was the All Blacks who got the try, now itâs 13-0.
There has been some commentary on the space in midfield that allowed Beauden Barrettâs kick and chase find grass for the opening try. Typically, that space is the job of the No 9 and/or 8, theyâre the second line defence. You have 10-11 in the front line, nine sweeping, and two kickers at the back with the eight floating in the event of a Garryowen in or around 20m. So the two boys at the back take the 50m kick, the 8 and the 9 take the 20-25m kick, and the front line handle the running threat. They can look at that one, but Ireland had regained the whip hand by the time Ronan Kelleher was rumbling towards the line at the back of a maul for the go-ahead score.
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Now, it took a remarkable piece of defending from Jordie Barrett to prevent it but Kelleherâs giddiness in breaking off was symptomatic of the edginess all night. If he hangs on an extra second, theyâve already got a penalty off a driving maul, the last thing he needs to do is make it a one on one. Thatâs World Cup quarter-final pressure. White line fever. This fella backs himself and, literally 99 times out of 100, you donât have to respect the process, because heâs a big, powerful guy who is going to blow a back out of it. But in this instance, by virtue of an unbelievable save from Barrett, it was exposed as the wrong call.
We will return to Joe Schmidt next week, but he put 14 points on Ireland in Paris. Thatâs the fact of it. Richie Moâunga produced a moment for the Jordan try that no-one with the possible exception of Romain Ntamack would pull off. Small differences at elite level.
One canât gainsay the Irish management for sticking with Sexton to the death, for all of Jack Crowleyâs nascent talents. They are a different team with Johnny playing and kept the All Blacks honest even if they probably recognised in the final quarter that Irelandâs attack was beginning to go less north-south and more east-west.
There was so much more to savour and intrigue from the two Paris quarter-finals. South Africa got their rub when Eben Etzebethâs hand stopped the pass for a near certain try, and what would have been a 14-0 France lead. Then the Boks employ their aerial game and itâs 7-7. After that, though France cannot have any complaints. One team had absolutely massive faith in their 23, while the hosts were wondering what theyâd get off the bench.
We saw the best four sides in the world over the course of 24 stunning hours. Etzebeth, Bundee Aki and Sam Cane are in the podium positions right now for player of the tournament, with Ardie Savea coming up hard behind.
All I can think about is the scenes in the French dressing room, with VIPs and celebrities, draped off every player, on September 8th when they beat the All Blacks in the opening game. Nobody here remembers that now.
Ireland have had some statement wins, but they depart with the same regrets as France and bigger problems to solve.
That mountain gets higher.
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