SPEAKING IN QUEENSTOWN on Thursday, Keith Earls revealed some advice he had received from former Munster teammate, Rua Tipoki.
‘Play the man, not the jersey’, counselled Tipoki, a proud Kiwi.
Ireland found out on Saturday that the man in the All Black jersey, whether on debut, a grizzled veteran, superstar or a bit-part contributor, was two levels above where they want to be.
Declan Kidney was travelling to New Zealand, we were told, to win the series and to keep a ‘small eye on the future’ of the Irish rugby playing pool.
First starts were awarded to Declan Fitzpatrick, Simon Zebo and Dan Tuohy in Auckland.
Chastened by a 42-10 defeat, the small eye was blinkered by the fear of further heavy losses and, come the third Test in Hamilton, Paddy Wallace, fresh from an interrupted family holiday in Portugal, was lining up at number 12.
Kidney, Sean O’Brien and Brian O’Driscoll all declared that last weekend’s performance in that agonising 22-19 defeat would mean little if Ireland could not produce a similar effort.
The final loss was the most galling and, despite an excellent showing in the second Test, a long summer awaits.
2009 feels a lifetime ago
There will be the inevitable, and in some cases justified, calls for many Irish players to take a step back from the international scene following this season but it must be acknowledged that the team has been through some major changes since the captured the Grand Slam in 2009.
The front row is completely new – no more John Hayes, Jerry Flannery or Marcus Horan – and while Donnacha O’Callaghan was a fleeting and ineffectual replacement, his second-row colleague Paul O’Connell missed out through injury and has not got many playing years left.
Denis Leamy, Shane Horgan and David Wallace have retired while Tomas O’Leary and Peter Stringer, who shared the scrum-half duties, are surplus to requirements.
With Jamie Heaslip, Tommy Bowe, Luke Fitzgerald, Stephen Ferris and Gordon D’Arcy all injured, only two players that began the Grand Slam-clinching game against the Welsh were in the starting XV against the All Blacks.
Ronan O’Gara, who started in 2009, remarked to TheScore.ie earlier in the week that the current side lacked the willingness to do anything and everything it took to get over the finish line.
Perhaps that is why Kidney called up Wallace, a replacement that day against Wales, to bring back some of that Grand Slam spirit that had served the Irish so well.
May 19 is a distant memory
Rob Kearney admitted post-match that it had not been a great season for the national side.
Sure, he added, there were close games against Wales, France and the All Blacks (in Christchurch) but a win was not forthcoming in each match.
Rob Kearney fails to halt the bullocking Liam Messam. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
The Ireland U-20s performed above and beyond expectations at the Junior World Cup and out-half JJ Hanrahan was nominated for the World Junior Player of the Year but Kearney believes it is too soon to promote from such youthful ranks. He said:
They have had a really impressive World Cup down in South Africa so I’m sure a lot of them will feature for their provinces next year. That seems to be the natural progression through.
“I’d be loath to suggest that they come out of the 20s World Cup right into the national set-up but I think that provincial rugby is the perfect stepping stone between those.”
Kearney was one of 11 Irish players lining out in jerseys 1-15 in Hamilton that started for Leinster or Ulster in the Heineken Cup Final on 19 May.
It is a shame that, for those players, the highly competitive day in Twickenham will feel like a life-time ago.
*You can follow all the comments, reactions and fall-out from the Irish camp by following @patmccarry on Twitter and by regularly checking in with TheScore.ie.
Wallace has never been the answer. That’s been clear from the gran slam. He nearly lost that for us. I dont know why he was called up this time.
Was he on the razz in Portugal when he got called up? Can’t put blame on him if so, all down to who called him up!!
Horse sh1te Kearney ! Blood the young guys. Other countries have no problem with it. A lot if the Irish team are too comfortable in their positions – the young guys will give em a run for their money
Renal failure
Ireland’s visit to the land of the long white cloud has cast dark shadows over Irish Rugby. The only consistent thing about Irish Rugby is our unpredictability. We have the best club sides in Europe but can’t reflect this onto the international stage. Is this down to our strategic foreign imports that assist us in winning the European cup? Is it down to poor Selection? Is it down to the Coaches? Is it down to game plan? Is it down to the players being over used? Or is it simply we are just not good enough, consistent enough, skilled enough and clinical enough to take on the Southern Hemisphere? The Selection for the 1st and 3rd tests were wrong, that has to be a black mark against selection and a slap in the face for the players. The Irish selection for the 2nd test was the only one They got right, all players selected played well and were the better side on the day even though we lost. Even though we have limited resources in Ireland we still have a pool of quality players. Why did Kidney bring in Paddy Wallace against NZ? He wasn’t considered good enough for the tour in the 1st place. Why wasn’t Sexton, Cave or McFadden used at centre? Why wasn’t Trimble selected on the Wing? When the likes of Darcey and Heaslip were not available for the 3rd test the game was always going to be a struggle, not an annihilation. The scoreline is one thing, being outplayed is acceptable but capitulation as it came across on the day is not. Players do not take to the pitch in a negative manner, so we must ask why We were flat footed off the pace and lacked urgency every where apart from the set piece, the weeks training perpetration needs to be looked at hard. Our game plan was what? With the ball Play a wide game and Stretch the NZ team! In defence hang off and let them run at us! It was similar to our game plan against the Welsh in the 6 Nations, which was totally wrong. I assume that there will be some sort of sole searching done, a lot of mirror time carried out a lot of Ego’s to massage and more importantly repair. Out of all the players on the Irish side only one stood out and that was Cian Healy. Some players tried hard Ryan, O’Brien, O’Mahony, some players tried Murray, McFadden. Others just looked as if they took part Best, Ross, Kearney. Others played below par O’Driscol, Earls, Sexton . Ireland have been humiliated which is hard to take. Under the current coaching regime there is no consistency in results or playability. At present we lack an edge we lack presence we lack hardness but most importantly we lack consistency. nHow do we put it right? Change the game plan. Introduce the youngsters now. Change the coaches. Keep Kidney.
Maybe now, after yesterday’s mauling 9-0 in tries, the minority rugby public who have been on here slagging off the football team will feel hugely embarrassed and will chose to keep their mis-placed distain for the Ireland football team to themselves in the future
Nigel, both the Irish soccer and rugby teams were an an absolute disgrace. No effort or pride for their country.
Shame on them and also to anybody who supports their behaviour.
You’re like a broken record sesal. A right pain in the haych!!
Here, here Nigel, rugby, the doyen of the rich elite along the Stillorgan dual carriageway, when there’s an adequately funded rugby team in Finglas, Tallaght and the city centre, it can be considered inclusive, won’t happen though, wouldn’t go down well in Ashtons or McSorleys
Sisal – GFY !
Ha ha you absolute loser.
Should you not be watching the hurling Sesal? After all, it’s the “majority” sport in the land. lmao
Look on the bright side they didnt win by 100 points.
Why don’t the Irish buy a team in the southern hemisphere and see if the Irish players could hak it for two seasons or even three that should show if they can or not then we will know whether it’s the players or the teams we are playing against or even the type of coaching