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Analysis: Schmidt's attack strikes but ruthless edge needed against France

Ireland manufactured seven linebreaks against the Welsh but could have converted more chances.

HAVING LIMITED WALES to zero linebreaks in Sundayโ€™s 16-16 draw in Dublin, Ireland would have been enthused to create seven of their own.

Thatโ€™s a higher number than England, Australia, Uruguay or South Africa managed at the World Cup, although the creative Fijians did also manage to cut Warren Gatlandโ€™s men seven times in their Pool A clash.

While the number of linebreaks is a clear positive for Ireland from last weekendโ€™s fixture, they only scored one try and 16 points, meaning Joe Schmidt will have pointed out the need for his men to be vastly more ruthless against France in Paris on Saturday.

Opening flourish

Given how poorly Ireland had started against Wales in last seasonโ€™s Six Nations โ€“ when they gave up a 12-0 lead in less than 14 minutes โ€“ and their most recent fixture against Argentina in the World Cup โ€“ a 17-0 deficit in less than 14 minutes โ€“ a strong start on Sunday was crucial.

With their very first attacking possession of the game, Schmidtโ€™s men ensured they got exactly that. Robbie Henshaw was nailed in midfield by Jamie Roberts off the scrum platform, but Ireland recovered and worked an opening intelligently.

Having carried at the Welsh through Henshaw, then CJ Stander and Rory Best close to the ruck, Ireland looked to add a little variety on fourth phase and Simon Zebo delivered with a superb line to the inside shoulder of Jonathan Davies.

Schmidtโ€™s men looked to sit the Welsh midfielders down with multi-layered movement in front of them on several occasions in last weekendโ€™s game and this is one such instance.

Zebo:Payne Lines

As highlighted above, Zebo runs the hard, direct line [yellow] off Johnny Sexton, targeting the inside shoulder of Wales centre Davies. Meanwhile, Jared Payne is bouncing out behind Zebo [red] to run towards Daviesโ€™ outside shoulder.

The double-layered movement causes exactly what Ireland are hoping for, namely Davies sitting back on his heels [blue], rather than continuing to move his feet as he comes towards a tackle.

There are two options for him to cover and heโ€™s left in an indecisive position.

Zebo:Payne Lines.1

Daviesโ€™ planted feet mean that when Zebo receives the ball, the Welsh 13 is poorly set up to react. We see above that he rises up slightly out of that planted position, but his feet still havenโ€™t moved. Already, this is a collision that Zebo is going to win.

Thatโ€™s exactly what occurs and though Zebo doesnโ€™t break clean through โ€“ Davies actually does well to bring him down in the end โ€“ Ireland are right in behind Wales and opportunity beckons.

Quick ball is needed and like so many of his teammates on Sunday, Henshaw ensures that Conor Murray is provided exactly that.

Henshaw Clear

The retreating Sam Warburton has thoughts of a possible poach on an isolated Irish attacker, but Henshaw arrives in with a nice right-shouldered shot on the Welsh back row to clear him away and provide utterly clean ball for Murray.

As we see in the initial clip, Ireland convert that front-foot into a genuine linebreak for Sexton, with Stander doing extremely well to put the out-half away.

Stander Pass and Shield

Stander is best renowned for his ball carrying of course, but here the Munster man appreciates that the space is to the outside of the exposed second row Luke Charteris and softly moves the ball on to Sexton.

Whatโ€™s most impressive about the debutantโ€™s contribution is how he stays big after his pass, continuing upfield and stepping in front of Charteris to ensure the lock has even less of a chance of scragging Sexton.

Instead, Charteris has to rip Stander out of his path and by the time that happens, Sexton is away. Subtle but important from Stander.

Davies does superbly to cover across and haul Sexton down, cleverly slapping down the out-halfโ€™s fend in the process, before that disciplined Welsh defence recovers its shape extremely quickly and slows the Irish progress. Stander is the man to speed it up again.

Wales attempt the choke tackle, meaning the ball is up off the ground even when the contest is taken off its feet. Stander rapidly identifies the opportunity as Wales are slow to put a pillar defender in place on the right side of the breakdown.

Again, the Welsh cling on as Warburton dives in low on Stander. One of the complexities of rugby is that a linebreak or half-break can actually leave the attacking team so susceptible to a turnover.

Stander Fight

The situation above exemplifies that, as Warburton goes low on Stander and it suddenly looks like fullback Liam Williams is going to have a wonderful opportunity to jackal over the ball without any Irish support in close proximity.

Stander recognises that too, however, and shows excellent fight to just plant his left leg out in front of him and delay the completion of the tackle until Murray has had a chance to make up ground.

Stander Fight.1

Again, a small detail but an important one as Ireland retain possession after getting behind the Welsh.

Schmidtโ€™s men revert to their traditional one-out hammering tactics thereafter to draw a penalty from the Welsh nine phases later for creeping offside, though the real damage was done earlier for the 3-0 lead.

Variety

Ireland have consistently faced criticism for the lack of variety in their attacking game under Schmidt, though such arguments are unfair at times. Against Wales on Sunday, there was a degree of variety in how Ireland attacked.

Above, we saw a simple screen play, a straightforward two-pass phase for a linebreak and a pick-and-go, as well as the well established one-out stuff.

For Irelandโ€™s second score of the afternoon, there was again a nice element of variation as they forced their way into the green zone.

Ireland go direct for two phases off the initial lineout through Henshaw and Stander, before we see Sexton bouncing back against the grain at the start of the clip above.

Thereโ€™s no success in terms of a bust but Ireland make metres by allowing Henshaw to use his footwork against a relatively surprised defence. A phase later, they go direct with Stander, but the blindside uses his acceleration well to locate the space to Rob Evansโ€™ outside shoulder.

Next up, thereโ€™s a three-pass phase from Ireland as Sexton moves the ball to Best, who opts to pass to Jamie Heaslip and again Schmidtโ€™s men are over the gainline, this time into the all-important 22.

Pass

Passing is an interesting topic when it comes to Ireland. At last yearโ€™s World Cup, Schmidtโ€™s side had the highest average number of passes per game in the entire competition with 191.

Thatโ€™s four more passes per game, on average, than Argentina and nine more than New Zealand.

However, Ireland were some way down the table in terms of phases of attack that included three passes or more. While New Zealand had three or more passes on 27% of their phases of attack and Argentina were at 22%, Ireland only came in at 14%.

Even more revealing is the fact that only 13% of Irelandโ€™s passes in the World Cup came from forwards. Only the USA, with 10%, had a lower percentage than Schmidtโ€™s men in that department.

The World Cup numbers also tell us that 55% of Irelandโ€™s passes in the tournament came from the scrum-half, and only South Africa, Japan and the US had higher percentages than that.

Now add in the fact that Ireland had the highest average of rucks/mauls per match at the World Cup with 122 โ€“ and a successful retention rate of 96% at those rucks and mauls โ€“ and weโ€™re getting a very clear statistical picture of what they often did with their possession in that tournament.

Back to Sundayโ€™s draw with Wales and the stats tell us that Ireland had 124 rucks in the game, with a retention rate of 97.6%.

In total they passed the ball 178 times, but interestingly 16% of the passes came from forwards. Thatโ€™s obviously not a major leap from the World Cup but it will be intriguing to see if that small rise becomes a trend moving forward in the championship, or whether this particular game just suited a handful more passes from forwards.

With 98 passes in total, scrum-half Murray contributed almost exactly 55% of Irelandโ€™s passes on Sunday, so that was very much a continuation of what occurred during the World Cup.

Attempting to justify a statistical shift based on one game is of course not fair, but even still, something as simple as Best moving the ball to Heaslip in this instance in order to allow Ireland over the gainline is encouraging.

Pass

We will follow any developments in this area with interest, but it is telling that simple passing from an Irish forward โ€“ topped by an excellent Heaslip carry โ€“ allows them into good field position.

Once Ireland get into that 22, they largely revert to familiar habits with the type of one-out attack off Murray that ensures their scrum-half pass ratio and rucks-per-game figures remain so high.

Perhaps the greatest success of Schmidtโ€™s reign is the rucking efficiency of Ireland, typified by Sundayโ€™s win as Ireland hammered Welsh bodies away from the tackle zone.

In the clip above, after Best has helped Ireland into the 22 with one of his six passes during the game, itโ€™s Jack McGrath who provides a powerful example of the effectiveness Schmidt likes to see post-tackle.

Deal with Pest

Warburton has a cut at the ball at the previous ruck, kicking it and almost spoiling the Irish possession, but McGrath gets a fine opportunity to aggressively remove the Welsh captain at the very next breakdown.

Warburton is in a relatively good position here after bringing Tommy Oโ€™Donnell to deck and his intention is to clamp around the ball.

Deal with Pest.1

However, McGrath identifies the threat early, accelerates into Warburton and makes contact with plenty of venom, forcing the Wales flanker to instantly release his hold on Oโ€™Donnell and ensure more clean ball for Ireland.

Three phases later, Irelandโ€™s one-out pressure game pays off as Roberts fail to roll away from a tackle on McGrath and the penalty arrives, bringing with it a 6-0 lead inside those opening 14 minutes.

Certainly a better situation at that point than in Cardiff in 2015.

Set-piece strikes

Another pillar of the Schmidt era have been the strike plays from set-piece platforms, although this element of Irelandโ€™s attack was not quite as effective in the bigger games at the World Cup.

Against the Welsh, we saw signs of Ireland heading in the right direction in their use of set-piece foundations.

Stander very nearly had his first international try off the clever lineout play we see above, a peel move around the back of the lineout that sent the dynamic Munster man hurtling towards the Welsh tryline.

Itโ€™s an intelligent move from Ireland, as they play around the expected Welsh resistance to what looks like itโ€™s going to be a straightforward catch and maul from Ireland.

McGrath and Toner

The movement of McGrath [1 above], Stander [6] and Devin Toner [5] is crucial to the play, as they will peel around the tail and create the opening for Stander to thunder forward.

Toner initially appears to be the main jumping option, but instead shifts towards the front of the lineout to allow Heaslip in to lift Oโ€™Donnell from the front, with Mike McCarthy performing the same role from the back.

McGrath, Toner, Stander

With the ball still in the air from Bestโ€™s throw towards Oโ€™Donnell, we can see McGrath, Stander and Toner have already begun their movement towards the back of the lineout set-up.

As Oโ€™Donnell lands, Toner is in position to accept the transfer of the ball and the Welsh reaction here โ€“ they donโ€™t compete in the air as they expect a traditional maul โ€“ is to engage in a counter-drive.

DM 1

Instead, Toner spins out and away from Oโ€™Donnell as McGrath arrives to latch onto the towering Ireland lockโ€™s outside shoulder, providing a further screen to the ball.

Again, the Welsh reaction is that thereโ€™s going to be a maul formed, but this time on Toner. In essence, itโ€™s a second dummy maul from Ireland within the space of a second. Evans and Scott Baldwin, the Welsh tailgunner, are lured towards Toner.

DM 2

As we know, Toner and McGrath are operating in a state of subterfuge here as the lock flicks his pass out to Stander, who is already moving at some speed.

The actions of Wales second row Charteris are absolutely crucial here. Go back to the original lineout and he can be seen at the front for Wales, lined up opposite Stander.

Charteris

The Racing 92 man reads the Irish movement around to the back of the lineout, first into that secondary dummy maul created by Toner and McGrath, and then, even more intelligently, he picks up the pass to Stander rather than hammering into that dummy maul.

It proves to be important as Stander hurtles past Baldwin โ€“ who is lured towards Toner and McGrath just enough to miss his reactionary tackle attempt โ€“ and into the tackle of Rhys Priestland.

The replacement out-half does well to go low around the legs of the Ireland back row, but itโ€™s notable that Charteris arrives in high to ensure that Stander is stopped in his tracks.

Charteris.1

There was still George North in front of Stander to prevent any big stretch for the tryline, but Charterisโ€™ involvement means the right wing is not needed to complete the tackle.

Oโ€™Donnell is the man to pick the ball from the breakdown, but it would have been interesting to see Best scoop it up on the move instead.

Besty

The Ireland captain is moving at such pace that any pickup would have truly tested his skills, but there is space in front of him. His first thought โ€“ as always for Schmidtโ€™s side โ€“ is to hammer any bodies away from the ball, as he did brilliantly for Paul Oโ€™Connellโ€™s last Ireland try, but thereโ€™s no one to hit here.

Instead, Oโ€™Donnell has a dive only for Samson Lee and Roberts to combine to prevent him from scoring, before Stander is cleverly held up by Justin Tipuric.

Even taking into account the failure to score, itโ€™s a lovely set-piece strike from Ireland and they did force their way over from the scrum resulting from Stander being held up.

It wasnโ€™t the only nice set-piece play from Ireland on Sunday, with the backline getting in on the act in the second half. Once again, however, they couldnโ€™t seal the deal with a try.

The forwards are important again as Best finds the Heaslip and Stander-lifted Toner, who pops down to McGrath, the prop in turn finding Ruddock as he drifts out from the initial scrum-half position behind the lineout.

Centres Henshaw and Payne are the decoy men as Irelandโ€™s backs run a double screen play after Ruddock finds Murray moving across the pitch, with Sexton mirroring the scrum-halfโ€™s line a few metres further across the pitch.

Strike .1

Ruddock finds Murray behind Henshaw, the Connacht man running ahead of the ball in a successful effort to tie down some of those inside Welsh defenders.

As the ball arrives into Murrayโ€™s hands, we see Henshaw arc his initial unders [against where the ball is coming from] line back outside to ensure that he gets a nudge in on Tipuric, as highlighted below.

Strike .2

That leads Ireland nicely into the next mini-section of this play, a second screen with Payne acting as the decoy on this occasion and Sexton bouncing out behind the Ulsterman.

Payneโ€™s timing on this decoy run is worth noting, particularly at the very beginning of his movement. The temptation is to burst straight into an acceleration to lure a defender, but Payne is patient enough just to stutter his steps until he identifies his cue to turn on the pace โ€“ namely the ball arriving into Murrayโ€™s hands.

If Payne leaves any earlier, heโ€™ll be too far ahead of Murray to be a viable target for a pass. Instead, Payneโ€™s late arrival means Roberts has little chance of sighting him and Payne therefore gets a vital block in on the Wales centre.

Strike .3

Essentially Roberts has been removed from the game and the space suddenly available to Sexton is obvious. We should note that never once does Roberts look up or scan for Payne as Irelandโ€™s play unfolds inside โ€“ he totally loses track of Payne.

Outside Roberts, Davies is presuming that Roberts has read the play, identifying that the ball is going out the back door of Payne to Sexton. Indeed, Roberts does read that but Payne takes him out of the game due to that lack of even a glance up.

That leaves Davies drifting out on to Zebo in the presumption that Roberts has his inside shoulder to deal with Sexton.

Strike.4

Sexton has a gap of more than five metres to burst through and he tucks the ball into one arm to do so after completely selling Davies out with that final dummy pass towards Zebo.

Sexton strides forward to draw in Wales fullback Williams before throwing an absolutely scintillating pass wide to Andrew Trimble on the touchline.

Sexton Pass

Itโ€™s aesthetically pleasing of course, massively so, but the end result is a Wales lineout and a chance to clear the ball from their territory. So thereโ€™s a major positive in the construction of these two set-piece strikes.

The dummy maul is built on the belief that Wales will counter-drive against an expected traditional maul, while this backline play exposes the Welsh centres with that same multi-layered movement we mentioned earlier.

But Ireland donโ€™t convert the pressure into points. How might Ireland have converted Sextonโ€™s linebreak on this play into scoreboard movement?

Itโ€™s worth stressing that itโ€™s an easy job to point out better options with the benefit of multiple replays of an event that happens at extreme pace in the reality of Test rugby. Nonetheless, Sexton and co. will hope to be more ruthless when they create such an opportunity against France on Saturday.

The option from Sexton is not necessarily a bad one, and Tom James does brilliantly to recover from a dab at the ball in the air to tackle Trimble, but Sexton had other options.

Strike.5

Carrying the ball himself is the most conservative option of course, but Sexton could have looked closer to home with Zebo coming up fast on his outside shoulder.

Was there communication from the Ireland fullback here? Itโ€™s impossible to know, but that short slipped pass from Sexton may have been the most ideal option of all, even if it involves slightly slowing his own run as he draws in Williams.

Whatever about the actual option and decision making, the set-piece attack from Ireland is excellent but they will have targeted a great increase in their ruthlessness at Stade de France once they get in behind.

Try time

Ireland, like so many teams around the world, go to the grinding method once they get close to the opposition tryline. One-pass phases, rapid tempo and ferocious breakdown work are the hallmarks of how Ireland attempt to force their way over those hugely demanding final few metres.

Murrayโ€™s try on Sunday was a fine example of that.

From the scrum platform created by Stander being held up in the first half, Ireland keep their foot on the throat wonderfully. This is the kind of ruthless edge that Schmidt will demand more of.

Henshaw, as so often, is the first to carry from the set-piece, powering over the gainline as Priestland goes low on him. Quick ruck ball is the primary focus now for Ireland and Sexton and Oโ€™Donnell are the men to deliver.

Ruck 1

Tipuric is the threat on this occasion, but Sexton and then Oโ€™Donnell arrive in low to shift him backwards. As importantly as actually hitting the Wales openside, the Irish rucking pair put Tipuric to ground well beyond the ball.

Ruck 1.1

Not only does that open up the back of the ruck to allow Murray the ultimate quick ball, but it also provides a stumbling block for any Welsh defenders attempting to fold around the ruck to get into play on the next phase.

The next phase sees Heaslip chopped low and powerfully by Taulupe Faletau, but we see the work rate of the number eight as he gets his left leg back out for one more drive towards the line, at the same time as Stander [6 below] helps out smartly.

Stander

The Munster blindside wraps himself onto Heaslip and actually looks to drag him forward, at the same time as Payne hammers in from behind to keep the momentum going. Henshaw contributes again to provide more clean ball for Murray.

McGrath is up next, smashing into contact with a Toner leech and Oโ€™Donnell again getting beyond the ball. More quick possession and Murray picks out the defensive error to score.

Final Ruck

As the pillar defender, Tipuric has to deal with Murray until the ball is clearly passed away but he instead shoots off from his position as he buys the dummy from Irelandโ€™s scrum-half.

Itโ€™s a defensive error, but Murrayโ€™s identification of it is certainly important too. The 26-year-old is now one of the leaders in this squad and itโ€™s always encouraging to see players take responsibility close to the line and follow through on it.

Murray is aided over the line by the most subtle bit of work from Mike McCarthy at the front of the ruck.

Final Ruck.1

The Ireland lock starts in a sort of โ€˜guardโ€™ position to the right of the ruck in front of the ball, but itโ€™s worth noting how he ever so slightly shifts forward a step as Lee is folding across from the left.

He doesnโ€™t get any major contact on the Wales tighthead at all, but his movement does interfere with Leeโ€™s line of running and provides Murray with that extra little whisper of time and space, helping him to stretch out in Leeโ€™s eventual tackle and score.

Under Schmidt, every little action makes a big difference.

Punishing period

At 13-0 with 28 minutes played, Ireland were coasting. The Welsh were absolutely always going to come back into the game or have a purple patch at some point, but the manner in which Ireland contributed to that was hugely disappointing.

The ten minutes before half time and the 13 minutes after the break ultimately cost Schmidtโ€™s side a win on the opening day of the championship.

On the very first exit after the Welsh restart following Murrayโ€™s try, thereโ€™s an error from Ireland as Zebo completely misses Williams on his chase. The Wales fullback kicks directly into touch after he darts past Zebo, but itโ€™s an error nonetheless from Ireland.

Zebo has to make some contact here, get a shoulder or even an arm on Williams after he catches the ball, but instead he loses concentration and allows his opposite number past.

Ireland get a lineout from Williamsโ€™ poor kick and with it another chance to be solid and secure following that try scored only moments ago. Instead, itโ€™s one of the shakiest lineout wins of the afternoon.

The throw is a real stretch for McCarthy to gather even at the apex of his jump and then the transfer to Oโ€™Donnell is initially sloppy. The ball is secured, however, and now Ireland really need a confident, positive action.

Instead, the box kick from Murray sails directly into touch, allowing Wales an instant chance to build some attacking pressure back on Ireland.

On the very first phase of that attack, Wales go wide to the right and Keith Earls is penalised for a dangerous tackle on Williams. Itโ€™s another error โ€“ whatever about oneโ€™s view of the incident โ€“ and means four in the space of a minute and a half for Ireland.

Wales suddenly find themselves back in the game after a bout of Irish mistakes, and their try follows soon after.

Missing chances

Another three points for the Welsh after the break, this time from Irish indiscipline bring the scoreline back to 13-13, before Ireland build a strong attacking position in the 50th minute after they fire up their maul and drive to within striking range.

They look to ramp up the tempo and ruck work once again, but the lack of ball security in the instance above ends the period of pressure with no return on the scoreboard.

Min 50 -PM L.1

Thereโ€™s two sides to every story in rugby, of course, with Davies producing a brilliant strip of the ball but itโ€™s an area where Ireland just cannot afford to allow themselves to be turned over, particularly after the Welsh have drawn level.

Itโ€™s hugely frustrating for Ireland, but a poor exiting kick from Wales after the subsequent scrum hands Ireland the opportunity to enter the 22 on attack for a second time in the space of a minute.

First of all, itโ€™s thrilling to see any side cut through the opposition on kick return and itโ€™s not something that Ireland have done a lot of at all under Schmidt. This poor kick from Wales scrum-half Gareth Davies gives them an excellent chance and Zebo takes it.

Even before Trimble has fielded the ball, we can see below that Zebo is scanning the pitch ahead to search for that opportunity to cut the Welsh.

Kick Return Break.1

Itโ€™s a really positive mindset from Zebo, even if the space in front of him is quite clear as Roberts gets totally disconnected from Alun Wyn Jones and the rest of the advancing Welsh pack.

Zebo knows exactly where heโ€™s heading as soon as the ball is in his hands, but again a subtle piece of work from McCarthy aids his cause.

McCarthy Block

McCarthy is retreating after the Welsh kick but recognises Zeboโ€™s intent to break into the space the lock himself is occupying. Instantly, his attention turns towards doing whatever he can to be a nuisance. Jones becomes the Ireland lockโ€™s own little project.

McCarthy Block.1

Again, thereโ€™s no excessive contact from McCarthy in blocking the Welsh defender, but he intelligently holds his ground and ensures Jones canโ€™t a firm shoulder into Zebo.

He does get a hand to the Ireland fullback, but McCarthyโ€™s contribution helps to ensure thatโ€™s not enough as the Munster man powers through Jones and Robertsโ€™ despairing tackle attempts.

Itโ€™s an encouraging break and Ireland again find themselves in a hugely promising attacking position. They go back to the familiar grind, but another error lets the Welsh off the hook.

Stander is the man turned over again, this time by Welsh openside Tipuric.

The blindside flanker had a phenomenal debut game, but might look back on this incident as one in which he could have made a better decision. He opts to pick and jam around to the right-hand side of the ruck, but heโ€™s acting alone in this instance.

Tipuric Steal

Murray is scanning to his right and planning to pass to that area, and Stander is alone in his pick-and-jam intention. There is space to Faletauโ€™s right at the ruck and Stander is possibly thinking of his excellent earlier foray in the Welsh 22.

On this occasion, however, he might have been better waiting for a tap of support from behind before carrying the ball, that comforting pat on the arse or back that signifies that a teammate is ready to latch onto him and ensure Ireland are likely to both make gains and retain the ball.

Tipuric Steal .1

Instead, Faletau makes a good low tackle and Tipuric has enough time to show an extremely clear release before targeting the ball for what is a clean turnover.

Murray might feel he could have reacted better, but the point again is that Ireland have let the Welsh off the hook.

Fast forward three more minutes and yet another Ireland attack comes up with nothing as Schmidtโ€™s men spill the ball when attempting to pass under pressure. There is space for Zebo if he can gather, but it must go down as another missed chance to apply real pressure and convert into either a penalty or try.

Kick return

The linebreak from Zebo in the kick return instance above was one of the most positive things Ireland did, even if it was made more straightforward by the fractured Welsh defence.

As Ireland look to continue to grow under Schmidt, this is certainly an area where they can make big strides.

Later in the game, we get another kick return chance for Ireland inside the Welsh half after a very poor clearing kick. Again, Trimble shifts the ball inside to Zebo, but on this occasion a second pass looks to be the best option for Ireland.

Counter -CTP - Henshaw

We can see Henshaw working hard to provide width for Ireland as he retreats, and Zebo also has Earls and Payne outside him and running into space. The opportunity appears to be on the outside edge, or perhaps through a one-on-one for Earls, but Zebo tucks and carries.

That is, of course, the safest option of all as Zebo is therefore closer to more support and Ireland can then look to build their attack from that starting point. Other sides would take the โ€˜riskโ€™ here and shift the ball to the left edge in a bid to exploit the Welsh, trusting their backs to resource any ensuing ruck.

Even later in the game, Ireland had another chance to return a Welsh kick.

This time, Ireland do shift the ball from edge to edge, using three passes from Sexton, Zebo and Trimble to create a two-on-two. The outcome is negative for Ireland, however, as Earls and Payne misread each other.

The switch does look to be on, but Payne hesitates at the last moment and the breakdown occurs. Ireland still have much progress to make on kick return.

Comfort outside structure

Perhaps the biggest concern about Irelandโ€™s attack under Schmidt has been an apparent discomfort when they move beyond their pre-planned structures and plays. Despite having a large number of individual players who would seem suited to more off-the-cuff rugby, itโ€™s not an area in which theyโ€™ve excelled.

We looked yesterday at the promising signs in their transitions from defence to attack against Wales, and there were a couple of other glimpses of Schmidtโ€™s men making good decisions even without pre-called plays.

Above, we see Payne run a simple trail off Earls, who immediately enters the mindset of a two-on-one with Roberts in front of him.

Itโ€™s some of the most simple play youโ€™ll see, but itโ€™s encouraging to witness two of Irelandโ€™s more creative players linking in this manner. For Payne to follow it up with an excellent offload โ€“ the only one from Ireland all game โ€“ is even better.

Heaslip floods onto Payneโ€™s offload for a momentous carry too, bringing Ireland into the Welsh half as Oโ€™Donnell follows up. We then instantly see Ireland switch back into a bit of shape, but itโ€™s positive this time rather than restrictive.

Ireland set up with a simple two-forward pod of Nathan White and McCarthy outside Sexton and have Payne hanging behind, but even that basic shape gives them options and poses questions for the Welsh defence.

Sexton hits White, who goes out the back door โ€“ a forward passing the ball โ€“ to Payne, whose pass on towards Zebo in a degree of space draws a penalty from Priestland attempting and failing to intercept.

Thereโ€™s no end result, but even that glimpse of Ireland invention on the initial Payne bust and offload, then the ease at slipping into shape on the next phase is exciting for Ireland.

The decision not to kick for the posts with this penalty, the game still at 13-13, is one Ireland may well have pondered briefly post-match.

This is Ireland

Ireland showed relative variety in their attacking game against the Welsh, impressing in certain patches but showing a lack of ruthlessness in others. In reality, we saw many similar traits to so many of Irelandโ€™s previous games under Schmidt.

They have a well-established process when they enter the green zone in terms of looking to convert territory into pressure, while their attack further out the pitch is varied and sometimes inventive.

They are intelligent and accurate on their set-piece strikes, but like most teams can convert those ideas into points more often. Among the encouraging signs were a linebreak on kick return and the sight of forwards showing slightly more willingness to pass the ball.

As with their defence, Ireland will feel they have established a strong base to build on in terms of their attack for the rest of the championship. Given Franceโ€™s try-scoring potential, Schmidtโ€™s men may well need more than 13 points on Saturday.

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    Jul 1st 2019, 2:55 PM

    This guy is completely overratted

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    Jul 1st 2019, 3:09 PM

    @jay bernard: donโ€™t know how he warrants a contract of that size given his achievements in the game. He needs to start scoring regularly especially if the Wissam Ben Yedder rumours are true. WBY is a real fox in the box, Deschamps really rates him.

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    Jul 1st 2019, 4:38 PM

    Best goal tally for 21 and under in the EPL, La Liga & Seria A in what was a shocking season under two different managers. 200k going to 300k based on incentives. Manchester born and bred. Heโ€™ll turn out to be some player yet

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    Jul 1st 2019, 3:56 PM

    An absolute joke.

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    Mute Brian
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    Jul 1st 2019, 3:23 PM

    Itโ€™s 200k a week max as per Simon Stone โ€“ reliable United journo

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Jul 1st 2019, 5:49 PM

    @Brian: and you think that even ยฃ200,000 is acceptable for a player that scored 10 league goals last season. Heโ€™s English!!! He has been overhyped and overrated since they Day he broke into the first team by the British press, ยฃ200,000 per week for a very average player that would be more suited to playing for a team like Newcastle, Everton or Southampton. Mid table player at best, that shouldnโ€™t be earning anything over 100,000 never mind 200,000 or 300,000.

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    Mute Adam Gibson
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    Jul 1st 2019, 9:37 PM

    @Devilsavocado: And eventually he will be destroyed by the British press too, I wish Utd would sell him on now

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    Mute Alan Brazil
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    Jul 1st 2019, 4:25 PM

    Beans Beans Beans

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    Mute CHAUNCY GARDENER
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    Jul 2nd 2019, 12:16 AM

    @Alan Brazil: is all you eat. Stand well back!

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    Mute munsterman
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    Jul 1st 2019, 5:13 PM

    The club is a circus. Run by clowns who arenโ€™t football men

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Jul 1st 2019, 5:54 PM

    @munsterman: and if you look at the nonsense that ich bin Brendan has been scribbling up there, it seems they are supported by a few clowns as wellโ€ฆ..

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    Mute Ich bin brendan
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    Jul 1st 2019, 5:58 PM

    @Devilsavocado: haha! G!mp

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Jul 1st 2019, 6:20 PM

    @Ich bin brendan: come on,, seriously mate, you really donโ€™t believe the nonsense that you were writing in your previous posts do you?? There isnโ€™t a club that finished in the top 5 above Utd that the lad would get into as a first team player. Not a single club that will be in the champions league next year had a bit of interest in buying him, heโ€™s at best a bench player for Utd, but a 200,000 a week bench player??? WTF is going on at Utd that they offered that much money to him?? Where else was he going to go, they easily could have halved that and even then he should still consider himself lucky to be wearing the Utd jersey,, come on, I canโ€™t be the only one who sees thisโ€ฆ.

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    Mute Ich bin brendan
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    Jul 1st 2019, 6:50 PM

    @Devilsavocado: quit looking for validation. Iโ€™ll correct myself in that he didnโ€™t score v pool in their 3-1 spanking but everything stated is fact inc. turning the best rb inside out and scoring in every debut. Barcelona were being touted as making an official approach, how much of that is being true is as truthful to say not a single team were, it would take a team of that stature to pull a local lad away from his local team. Apart from Kane for Spurs there isnโ€™t a top 5 team that would produce an academy player like him. 200,000K is daft money but thatโ€™s the state of the club atm, not many want the Glazers there but thatโ€™s what theyโ€™re working with. Iโ€™m delighted heโ€™s there for another 4 yrs, heโ€™s got the wage now itโ€™s upto him to start earning it, I believe he will.

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    Mute Devilsavocado
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    Jul 1st 2019, 8:38 PM

    @Ich bin brendan: ok fair enough, you have your opinion on the matter and people that actually know a bit about football have thereโ€™s. Letโ€™s be honest here, I doesnโ€™t matter that your opinion is obviously that of a delusional fan that canโ€™t look at things without your fan glasses on but thatโ€™s ok,, we will leave it there and Iโ€™ll let you get back to your colouring book and crayons, thereโ€™s a good boy,, donโ€™t stay up to lateโ€ฆ :) validate myself, ha ha ha ha ha..

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    Mute Ich bin brendan
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    Jul 1st 2019, 9:12 PM

    @Devilsavocado: โ€œthat actually know a bit about footballโ€ you have me stumped, youโ€™ve trouble validating your opinionated drivel. โ€œHa ha haโ€ like I said before, G!mp

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    Mute Niall James Fergal McCormack
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    Jul 1st 2019, 4:24 PM

    Heโ€™s got to start delivering on his promise . A lot of cash for a man still not scoring regularly but he does have the potential to be an absolute world class player I just hope he does start getting 30 odd goals a season .

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    Mute Ich bin brendan
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    Jul 1st 2019, 4:44 PM

    On his debut heโ€™s scored 2 in the EPL, same in his Europa, 1 Champions league and on his derby debut. Also turned the best rb in the country inside out to score against their biggest rivals, with the golden glove winner in goal!

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    Mute Ich bin brendan
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    Jul 1st 2019, 5:09 PM

    @Ich bin brendan: can throw in his debut in the EFL & FA Cup as well. So every cup comp available to him. Calling him over rated is being bias, heโ€™s proven heโ€™s capable, needs consistency with age.

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    Mute Richard O'Brien
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    Jul 1st 2019, 6:36 PM

    Reminds me of Ian Rush
    His nose is offside

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    Mute Ian D
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    Jul 2nd 2019, 9:33 AM

    Even as a man utd fan, I think he doesnโ€™t deserve this, prove your worth then get the money, he didnโ€™t prove anything last season to deserve half this money.

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