IT MIGHT HAVE been frantic in the stands and seemingly out on the pitch, but Ireland boss Simon Easterby insisted the chaos in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon didn’t extend into the Irish coaches’ box.
Even when Wales wing Ellis Mee seemingly scored in the left corner in the 73rd minute, potentially handing Jarrod Evans a chance to give the Welsh the lead with a conversion from wide on the left, Easterby and co. still felt confident.
It wasn’t a score at the end of an extended TMO review but Easterby said he’d have backed his team if the decision had gone the other way.
“I still felt that we had more in us and we had the ability to go and win the game, even if they had gone ahead at that point,” he said after his side’s 27-18 win.
“We still felt we had it in us to take the game away from them.”
It didn’t come across as something said in hindsight with the benefit of victory having been confirmed. Instead, it spoke volumes of the belief this Ireland set-up have in their ability to find a way out of tricky spots.
There was a bit of pre-match disruption with replacement back row Cian Prendergast unfortunate to be ruled out after falling ill on Friday night with a bug that didn’t spread to anyone else.
Ryan Baird came into the matchday 23 in his place and proved to have a telling impact off the bench when Jack Conan was forced off injured early in the second half.
“He’s got so much energy,” said Easterby of Baird. “He’s got a point of difference in his athletic ability and we saw some real signs of that today in terms of his work-rate on and off the ball.”
Easterby also praised Bundee Aki, Finlay Bealham, and James Ryan for their efforts off the bench in the second half but he was also pleased with how his starters managed to recover from going 18-10 down while Ireland were reduced to 14 players during Garry Ringrose’s 20-minute red card.
He pointed to Jamison Gibson-Park’s kicking game as important, while also highlighting how 22-year-old out-half Sam Prendergast balanced mistakes with big moments.
“He’s only going to get better from those experiences,” said Easterby. “He can do things that a lot of players can’t do. The kick he put over Blair Murray’s head at one stage was just incredible, to get that 50:22 at that stage of the game, it takes a lot of balls to to that.
“But he’s being pushed as well. Jack [Crowley] is sort of in the shadows waiting to get his opportunity. That’s the great thing about the group, they push each other, and Sam is benefitting from that competition.”
Ireland have already turned the page to being preparations for their round four clash with France, who scored 11 tries as they mixed panache and pure power in their 73-24 hammering of Italy in Rome yesterday.
The huge win underlined just dangerous Antoine Dupont and co. will be when they face Ireland in Dublin on 8 March. Having lost to Ireland in their last two meetings and with the victors moving into pole position to win the Six Nations title, les Bleus should be ferociously motivated.
“They can play the game in many ways,” said Easterby. “They can deliver up front and they’ve got backs that can light up any game. They’re going to be a real challenge. It’s exciting that we get a chance after two away games to go home and play in the Aviva.
“We’re really looking forward to that and I’d say it will be a cracking atmosphere. They will be challenging, of course they will. We’ll feel like we’ve had a couple of good wins against them recently but we also know they’ve got great strengths and we need to get better ourselves.”
Ireland seem likely to be missing centre Ringrose after his red card, with a suspension presumably to follow, but should be fine in that area with Aki and Robbie Henshaw in good form, while Jamie Osborne provides strong cover.
Easterby is hopeful that Caelan Doris will be back from his knee issue, having been encouraged by the captain running during Ireland’s training session in Cardiff on Friday.
Hooker Rónan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong could also be back in the mix from their respective neck and calf injuries.
“They’re kind of similar [to Doris],” said Easterby. “We expect them to be back with us next week and we’re hoping that they’ll come through.”
Hugo Keenan is also expected to come back into the team at number 15 after Osborne got a chance to start there in Cardiff, linking back up with James Lowe and Mack Hansen in the back three.
Gibson-Park and Prendergast will continue as the halfbacks barring injury, while Josh van der Flier and Peter O’Mahony seem likely to be in the back row with either Doris or Conan.
Joe McCarthy had an impactful return against Wales and could go again with Tadhg Beirne in the second row, although James Ryan is in flying form. Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan seem likely to be joined by Finlay Bealham or potentially Furlong in the starting front row depending on the Wexford man’s fitness.
There will be a decision to make in the number 17 shirt between new cap Jack Boyle’s dynamism and Cian Healy’s experience but the Irish matchday squad should have a very familiar look to it.
It should be a riveting game against the French in two weekends and Ireland know that if they can win, they’ll be in position to claim the Grand Slam a week later against Italy in Rome.
Easterby said they’ll leave that kind of talk to others.
“We know there’s something special at the end of this Six Nations but it won’t be if we don’t prepare well and get ourselves in the prime space to prepare against France.”
The score was 0-21 to 1-14 so a 4 point win not 0-21 to 0-14 and a seven point win as mentioned in the article. Very poor quality article I must say.
This report is all over the place
And jake Dillon doesn’t play for Offaly!!
Are you sure that is 5 from frees and not 5 from play?
That part is right, Shanahan scored 8 points from play in his best intercounty performance yet