THE IRISH BACK row is a fluid situation at the moment with Sean O’Brien looking at a move abroad, Jamie Heaslip possibly heading on the same flight, Chris Henry and Iain Henderson just back from injury, Jordi Murphy steaming into contention, Stephen Ferris reportedly close to a return for Ulster, and Peter O’Mahony still searching for his best position.
Into the mix you can add Tommy O’Donnell, Shane Jennings, Kevin McLaughlin, James Coughlan, Dominic Ryan and Rhys Ruddock, one or two of whom will probably feature during the Six Nations. The back row selection will dictate both the style and the success of Joe Schmidt’s debut season in the Six Nations, but even with all those options Ireland are already on the back foot without O’Brien.
If a coach, hypothetically, was given unlimited resources and told to build a team from scratch, he might start by buying Sean O’Brien, Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip, three of the best all round athletes in the game. If they can hold off (and return from) injury, gather a few more trophies with Toulon or Ulster or Leinster or Ireland, then they have a shot at becoming the greatest players to play for their country in their respective positions.
Back rowers are the key influencers, the non-specialists who have to be good at everything. The international players in these positions would all make decent heptathletes. The good ones can run fast, they can run for a long time, they have explosive power for the hits, but a grinding machine-like power for mauls and scrums.
Rugby used to be a game of set plays, of distinct moves, short bursts of activity book-ended by props faking injury and two minute penalty kick routines. The game had little or no pattern to it, with a random mix of scrums, line-outs, rucks, mauls, garryowens, back-line moves, grubbers and clearance kicks.
The sport is now more fluid, the dominant play is the ruck, and the trends indicate that will continue. There’s no worldwide average, but in a World Cup match there are about 150 rucks per game. Between the 2007 and 2011 World Cups there were seven fewer line-outs on average per game, and 18 more rucks and mauls.
Jamie Heaslip is one of the finest athletes Ireland can call on. ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.
On a dry day there can be as few as 10 scrums per game. Compared to 1995 there are 40% fewer scrums and line-outs per game, while there are now twice as many rucks. If a rugby game was a Dickensian workhouse, the back rowers would be the ones beating the drum.
For Joe Schmidt’s game plan, they assume even greater importance. In his time with Leinster he once admitted if he was an opposition coach playing against a Schmidt-led side, he would focus on flooding the breakdown, throwing numbers at it. Not a revolutionary insight, but still revealing.
In the Six Nations, O’Brien will probably be replaced by Chris Henry, who is as good as O’Brien at poaching and tackling, but nowhere close on all the other measures. O’Brien’s importance is such that his loss may involve a complete re-think on how Schmidt approaches the tournament.
Rugby teams go through good spells and bad spells, but in each game there will come a point where they run out of ideas and lose all momentum. In this situation every country has one easy out. The mentally lazy, but in the circumstances, only option: give it to their blunderbuss.
France have Louis Picamoles, South Africa have Bismarck Du Plessis, New Zealand have Kieran Read, Ireland have the Carlow man.
The positive thinkers will point out that his absence will force Ireland to think laterally, to kick more strategically, to keep the brains on red alert and it may squeeze the best out of the other ball carriers; but in the same way there’s still a giant Stephen Ferris-sized hole up in Ulster, there’s no replacing the chunk of muscle, bone and gristle that is Sean O’Brien.
Imagine the hand full it would be defending a team containing Healy, Ferris and O’Brien.
Hugely looking forward to Ferris’s return.
With POM and Henderson to come off the bench. What a team we could have in theory…
Fez’s body has taken far too much punishment for the way he played so close to the edge, and after over a year out if he comes back at all it’s doubtful he’ll be the same player.
You don’t have to imagine it ,it happened on Feb 5th 2012 only problem it ended 23-21 to Wales
Sean Dougall deserves a mention in the first two paragraphs in fairness to the lad.
It is a massive blow not having O’Brien, but over the last 15 years or so, Ireland has always had an abundance of top back row players, and we still do!! I mean, other teams would kill to have somebody like Ferris as a backup to O’Brien!!
Is ferris fit?
Not at the mo but is close to comeback with Ulster, and here’s hoping he can get a few games under his belt before 6 nations and put himself into contention.
There’s only two Heinken Cup games left before the start of the 6 nations.There’s no way Ferris will be in contention for Ireland. Can’t wait for him to get back eventually though. Hopefully he’s still the same player
If Ferris does make a comeback this season it will be at Pro 12 level at most. A fit and raring to go Fez in August/September would be great with World Cup 2015 to target.
POM is too light weight to be an international 8. His tight carrying would suffer! Heaslip has to stay fit! Nervous about the next couple of games. We lose Heaslip before the 6N and we’re screwed! I’d like to see Henry start instead of SOB with Heaslip at 8. We’ll need a work horse at 6. Can’t see POM being dropped (he’s done nothing to deserve being dropped), but in SOB’s absence, he’ll have to up his workload ten fold! Ferris is nowhere near a 6N return, so lets forget about him for now. I’d like to see Murphy get the bench, his versatility alone should secure it for him.
Robin Copeland in my view could pack a similar punch going foward to SOB. This time next year he could be in contention after some Munster Starts.
Pity Leinster didn’t sign him! I would think though that the thinking behind letting Lote Tuiquri go was in order to keep SOB and Headlip funds wise!
Sean is centrally contracted meaning the IRFU pay his wages not Leinster themselves, I reckon Tuqiri was brought in as short term cover till Kirchner was available.
Why does Irish rugby folk think a No 7 jersey is just a number and not a specialised position. We by and large stick any old back row player there rather then nurture a real ground hog.
Henry is a seven through and through he just has that state of mind. Plus he is perfect for the type of rugby Schmidt has coached in the past and Ireland with its many talented wingers.
Ground hog you say?? Dougal is your man in that case
Yeah I agree he would be my second choice, far more of a seven I think, of what I have seen
Heaslip at 7 could replicate O’Brien’s contribution rather than Henry, if that’s the plan and possibly move O’Mahony to 8 and McLaughlin to 6 with Henderson and Jordi Murphy on the bench covering 6, lock 7+8 between them and acquiring game time experience leading to the RWC. Otherwise it will be O’Mahony, Heaslip, Henry. but the two, Henderson and Murphy, should be included on the bench, in my view.
SOB out! There goes Ireland’s chances of the 6 nations
It is a big loss Sean but our back row is powerful Ferris on his way back might take over Henry for Ireland POM will start and hopefully Heaslip will play good that besides the New Zealand game he hasn’t played good for a while hopefully on the bench Tommy and Henry and maybe give James Coughlan a game at 8 he always does good in big games for Munster
Irish times saying O’Brien is about to sign for Toulon.
Heaslip will take it upon himself to do the breakdown stuff so we need another carrier now that Heaslip will play the role of 7 from number 8
There’s no loss to Schmidt!? He’s going to a league where the ball hardly gets outside the front 8, his game will improve and he’ll be still wearing green come tournaments