Murray Kinsella reports from Rome
EVERYONE WILL HAVE their own theory as to what’s going on with Ireland after three consecutive performances in which they have been short of their best but, in truth, no one really knows the answer.
Even Ireland themselves, which is perhaps the biggest concern.
Ireland were disappointed by their performance in Rome. Source: James Crombie/INPHO
Is the training environment too tense under Joe Schmidt? Not intense enough after last year’s glories? Too much contact in training or not enough contact? A dropping of energy after an incredible 2018 or the opposition teams raising their game against the champions?
The ways in which Ireland are coming up short are identifiable – poor passes at key moments, set-piece failings at crucial times, kicking deficiencies, handling errors, the failure to take attacking opportunities – but the why is harder to pin down.
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To go along with the confusion, Ireland leave Rome with a clear sense of relief, having managed to eke out a bonus-point 26-16 victory after a real scare at Stadio Olimpico.
“There’s a sense of relief because we didn’t play as well as we would have liked and because we were down 16-12 at half-time and we were up against an Italian side who have proven in this competition that they are tough to beat,” said Schmidt post-match.
“There’s a sense of relief because while we did create opportunities, I don’t think we made the most of them.
“The last phase of the game sums up the performance to a degree, where Jacob Stockdale does an incredible job from the in-goal out to the halfway line, one man to beat and the pass doesn’t go to hand and we knock it on and we’re left scrambling around on the ground trying to grab the ball.
“At the end of all that we are relieved.”
As tends to be the case in professional sport, fingers are pointed at individuals after underperformances and Ireland’s short-of-form halfback pairing of Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton will take some of the brunt of that.
Schmidt watches the closing stages from the sidelines. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Schmidt is backing his two key men to work back into form but he hinted at displeasure with the performances of others.
“There were some players given an opportunity today and some of them took it in parts and not in other parts,” said Schmidt, who had introduced Sean Cronin, Dave Kilcoyne, Ultan Dillane and Jordi Murphy to his starting team.
“They were so very keen to get things right that sometimes that can adversely affect the way that they execute things because we weren’t as accurate as we would have liked to have been.”