Irish players, regardless of position, should be capable of adding value to the ball

IT WASN'T until very late in Anthony O'Dwyer's Limerick pub that the occasion finally struck me. The subtle difference between the Munster juggernaut and so many others was viewed three times on Tuesday. There was the game live, and then there were the replays in the pub where all and sundry voiced their opinion. But what caught me flat was the respect accorded the minute's silence, for the second and third time. At a little after 11 that night O'Dwyer's fell silent.

During the RWC 2007 I was fortunate to co-commentate for Setanta in France. The highlight was in Marseille where Argentina played Namibia. The atmosphere was as close to Tuesday night in Thomond Park as I can imagine.

Argentina were obviously wrecked from the highs of beating France four days earlier, but the gods were with them and with Ireland's crucial upcoming clash around the corner, I noted that it would take a very special team to stop them.

And Munster's performance was very special. However, the conundrum continues between Red and Green. How can the Munster Seconds play on Tuesday when the Irish couldn't last Saturday? There are obviously many reasons, but if you don't want to do something then one excuse is as good as the other. The Munster players to a man wanted to play for their tackle bags, their lives, their families, their team-mates, and especially their jersey.

Argentina were flawed that night in Marseille where their heavy kicking masked some deficiencies but in one area they excelled and this is the area that Irish rugby needs to focus.

For all our class players and domination at provincial level where our players carry ball in the high-tempo fixtures of Magners League and Heineken Cup, they are struggling to replicate it at the top level. In Marseille that night each player regardless of position was capable of adding value to the ball. We have seen all our provinces achieve this Toulousian style. But at international level we lack consistent positive intervention on the ball.

Take the battle of the secondrows. Ireland's starting pair, both Lions, produce rampaging performances in red and do so too in green, but need to carry more ball.

Last Saturday Ali Williams and Brad Thorn both carried, with Thorn scoring the winning try. The South African secondrows likewise can wreak havoc on the ball. Santiago Phelan, the Argentinian coach, has such a tough task ahead of him tomorrow. He is a man with a great international career but crucially no professional experience as coach or player but he has the pick from RWC 2007 in hooker Mario Ledesma, prop Rodrigo Roncero and secondrow Patricio Albacete, who are extraordinary ball carriers.

Albacete does all his core work but he also carries, both off the fringes and in the open. Why is this so important? With the exception of David Wallace how many carries did the Irish front five make last Saturday? How many times did they exploit miss-matches? How many times did the forwards interchange going forward, adding value, staying on their feet and off-loading to a support runner for him to add his value?

Last week the All Blacks didn't play well as a team but they could go forward in the tightest of traffic, with support runners running hard lines giving options. If each Irish forward can work hard to get into the correct field position, get on the ball and make anywhere between one to 10 metres before off-loading it would be a success. If the front five do this five times each half, it will result in 50 tackles for Argentina, 250 extra metres gained and very tired Pumas.

The next step is to integrate the half-break over two metres into an advantage. When Wallace mimicked the All Blacks last Saturday and made several wonderful breaks he quickly left his support behind. On arriving to the point of no return he searched for an off-load, but time and again he was surrounded by All Blacks. Surely that is no reward for a great break. Again last Tuesday proved that a half-break of one metre can result in 50 metres gained when the support arrives. Just as Mick O'Driscoll and Donnacha Ryan displayed. With this in mind I would not like to face Paul O'Connell or Donnacha O'Callaghan at full flight.

Forgetting the qualifying statistics for RWC 2011, Ireland have to play in order to win. Similar to RWC 2007 Geordan Murphy will not transform the team, but he can be an excellent catalyst.

Therefore, the two areas for immediate focus against Argentina is the ball carrier and the support runner. Whether it be Murphy counter attacking with real support, or the front five inching forward, makes no odds. Tuesday night proved that the skill levels are abundant and combined with determination to beat your opposite man even the best side can be dominated.

I've watched the All Blacks over and over again and they have so much to teach us. As we bid farewell to them the real lesson I've learned is based on their rucking. For so long I've assumed a degree of illegality to their play which still pertains, but they have perfected the art of creation.

On arrival to the breakdown, Richie McCaw and others size up the situation and always enter over the ball. As soon as they are in this position they swing 45 degrees at which stage they're joined by their support players. All three then pump their legs whereupon a new ruck is created. The ball hasn't moved but they have created a new offside line, they steal the ball and they drive the crowd mad!