If you can stop Billy Vunipola you can stop England. But when there are two Vunipolas on the pitch it's almost impossible. The English number eight is like Neo in The Matrix – swatting away Irish players turning terrible ball into gold. Much of Saturday's match went as predicted. The English are every bit as monstrous as the French but much fitter and certainly hungrier. Yes, Eddie Jones has made massive improvements in the six principles of rugby but one in particular stands out – apply pressure.
Clearly England's priority was to win the game. It sounds obvious but I fear that when we meet them next time Jones will have them flying on so many more fronts. Yes, they could win the Grand Slam but they are far from the finished product. Several times Ireland, as they did against Argentina, had fatties in midfield. On 36:40 as England's pressure was gathering momentum Ireland had numbers two, one, three and four as the only defensive line. England simply didn't notice the gilt-edged chance and failed to exploit it. In time they will, as they certainly won't be happy with the scoreboard at half-time or two yellow cards. Jones will be furious.
Ireland had options, such as the box kick, but when Conor Murray launched his first one it landed in the hands of Billy Vunipola and off he went. England got their first penalty score shortly after. Beyond that Ireland had an attacking plan to get outside the English press defence with two pull back pivots. The problem for Ireland and Josh van der Flier was that put the ball 15 metres behind the gain line and that is where man and ball was met by the English offensive defence.
The three Irish debutants all performed. What a difference though it was to CJ Stander’s opening cap against Wales where he got on the ball three times early in proceedings. I noted Stander’s first carry in anger on 39:13 and again 20 seconds later.
Going backwards
It proved a very different experience for Van der Flier who however looked very much at place in Twickenham. His problem was Ireland had but 40 per cent of the ball and terrible territory in that opening half. A player with Van der Flier’s instincts will always hunt forward for the anticipated linebreaks, offering an aggressive positive support line, but for much of the match he was going backwards.
The other two also looked like internationals. Stuart McCloskey is a big unit and offers many options that can be built on Saturday’s opener. It’ll take time before his “new” team-mates get on his wavelength in anticipating his powerful fend and offload. With that physique he’s a backrow’s dream.
But the newest Kerry man in the secondrow Ultan Dillane look like he was having wonderful fun. Notably he looked very comfortable in open space, ball in hand. Is this a possible nod to his coach Pat Lam and the style Connacht are playing? It is no coincidence that a secondrow from a team that are topping their league but are way out ahead on points scored – and more notably on try bonus points – have a player that is happy with the ball. Being a Kerry man might help!
Clearly England, as predicted, placed no white jerseys in the breakdown; hence no offside line as no ruck was formed which added real pace to their defensive line. Ireland struggled to get the ball and to build phases, especially in the first half. Tactically it appeared Ireland wanted to get around the English but paradoxically it was at the heart of the breakdown where the potential for yards was available. The stats improved hugely in the second half but Ireland continued to struggle against the white wall.
This escalated the value of our lineout and scrum. Getting eight English players into one small space was significant so losing four of our 11 lineouts proved exceptionally costly. One lineout in particular where the wonderful athlete Maro Itoje stole high in the air as Ireland mounted an attack. Moments later Devin Toner, having learned, took towards the front away from Itoje and Ireland got their maul going. From it Murray scored his try by attacking the fringe of the ruck.
Constant pressure
In fact it was the fourth Irish lineout on 20:45 when England were finally sucked into one point on the pitch. Ireland mauled and although the ball was eventually spilled in passing it was an insight into what Ireland could have been doing: maul, maul and maul again.
What a performance from Mike Ross. How does he do it? Happily he kept Joe Marler under constant pressure which allowed Ireland and in particular Murray to fill the field defensively. On one particular occasion England had a midfield attacking scrum, stacking four backs left and two right. Ireland “matched” up three on three with Murray having the task of filling the blank space off the scrum as soon as the ball went live. Ireland’s ability to scrum made Murray’s role a tad easier.
Then, after all the ground work was completed, Jones brings on his bench. Clearly ours is threadbare with injuries limiting the impact of what could be available but I struggle to spot Simon Zebo's role on entering. He is way too good not have an impact where fullback might be the best spot for him to launch his skills against a fatiguing opposition. liamtoland@yahoo.com
